New member from Virginia

Love to shoot. Have owned quite a few guns over the years primarily for competition but age and arthritis have slowed me down.

Currently carry concealed a 26 ounce S&W 908 TDA 9mm 8+1. A completely reliable pistol. It seems to get heavier and heavier as the day goes by; therefore, I'm in the market for a much lighter daily carry gun. I have always liked Kahrs because they have excellent reputations for reliability and feel great in the hand. I like the triggers as well.

Looking at a P9 or an S9.

Questions:
(1) Are the internals and frame rail systems the same for both guns or is the S9 an improvement?

(2) The article in the recent NRA magazine mentions that the S9 is "broken-in" at the factory and doesn't require the first 200 rounds. Moreover, the gun has standard rifling and gave darn good groups off of sandbags. Does this indicate an advanced frame to slide relationship over the P9? If so, then why buy a P9 with the polygonal barrel?

(3) I have read that the proper way to load a mag is to do it with the slide at slide lock rather than slingshot it. Seems like a design flaw.

(4) Do any of the holster makers support the S9 because of the rail or should I get the P9 with polygonal rifling and forget the S9?


Thanks in advance for your replies.

Tony

Spent a few hours reading lots of info on this Forum. Seems like the best thing to do to aid reliability is to purchase Lakeland 9mm followers for each mag and that should solve the slingshot question.

Tony

This fellow Virginian welcomes you. I shoot at a new range near Richmond. I've enjoyed a bunch of Kahrs over many years.

The S series is most similar to the C series as well to all other Kahrs in that the overall design is the same in all of the polymer guns. The S series differs only in the three dot sights, front serrations, reversible mag release, and accessory rail that are unique to the S series only.

Construction; rails, slides, trigger, etc. remain the same.

I have never had a problem loading by slingshot or lever method with any of the eight Kahrs I've owned. One does have to remember not to ride a Kahr slide. That may cause problems. You must let the spring do the work at full speed. The Lakeland followers help in this IMHO.

The guns are all accurate enough. Either barrel cut will do. I personally like polygonal barrels because they are easier to clean. Otherwise I don't much care.

Don't know about holsters. I would guess the accessory rail rules out some holsters.

If I were choosing between the S or P series, I 'd like the three dot sights and rail of the S. I'd like the barrel, available in all black feature, steel sights and third mag of the P series. If I planned to carry the gun I'd upgrade sights anyway. A laser is available for either model. Personally, I'd go with a P if I'd carry or the S if it's only a range gun and save a few bucks.

Hello riply16.

Thanks for your reply.

I shoot at Bedford Rifle & Revolver Club (www.bedfordrrc.org) . Reliability is everything to me -- that's my interest in slingshot vs. slide release. I noticed over my shooting years that the rear sight dots, dashes, etc., are best all black for my aging eyes. Sounds like the P9 would be my best buy because it's available with a black slide while the S9 is not at this time. Further, holster options for the P are endless while the railed S would be very limited.

Can you recommend IWB & OWB right hand holsters for the P9?

Tony

Sling shot will work every time on any Kahr if it is executed properly. Slide release is recommended because many partially due to the compact size and strong springs don't execute a proper sling shot.
It needs full travel and no riding the slide forward to work in some. Others especially having been shot some chamber with ease even riding the slide.

I had no issues with my PM45 and the sling shot right out of the box.

I'm using a Garrett Silent Thunder for IWB. Took me a bit to warm up to it but I wear it almost exclusively these days.

For OWB I really like Mernickle, they ride high and tight. Mine is the PS6 model. Good people at both places.

Howdy!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tony S45

Love to shoot. Have owned quite a few guns over the years primarily for competition but age and arthritis have slowed me down.

Currently carry concealed a 26 ounce S&W 908 TDA 9mm 8+1. A completely reliable pistol. It seems to get heavier and heavier as the day goes by; therefore, I'm in the market for a much lighter daily carry gun. I have always liked Kahrs because they have excellent reputations for reliability and feel great in the hand. I like the triggers as well.

Looking at a P9 or an S9.

Questions:
(1) Are the internals and frame rail systems the same for both guns or is the S9 an improvement?

(2) The article in the recent NRA magazine mentions that the S9 is "broken-in" at the factory and doesn't require the first 200 rounds. Moreover, the gun has standard rifling and gave darn good groups off of sandbags. Does this indicate an advanced frame to slide relationship over the P9? If so, then why buy a P9 with the polygonal barrel?

(3) I have read that the proper way to load a mag is to do it with the slide at slide lock rather than slingshot it. Seems like a design flaw.

(4) Do any of the holster makers support the S9 because of the rail or should I get the P9 with polygonal rifling and forget the S9?


Thanks in advance for your replies.

Tony

---

Welcome to the forums:)

In regards to your questions:

(1) Are the internals and frame rail systems the same for both guns or is the S9 an improvement?

As I've not handled an "S" series, the following is supposition based from reading the manual for the S series (http://www.kahr.com/PDF/Kahr-S-Series-Manual.pdf).
With the exception of the magazine release the internals seem the same as my CW9. The S series does have a pinned on front sight like the CW9 were as the P9 has a front dovetail. The S series has a three dot ... sight. the P9 uses the dotted i style. The S series frame rails look to be the same in the manual as the those on other poly Kahr pistols.


(2) The article in the recent NRA magazine mentions that the S9 is "broken-in" at the factory and doesn't require the first 200 rounds. Moreover, the gun has standard rifling and gave darn good groups off of sandbags. Does this indicate an advanced frame to slide relationship over the P9? If so, then why buy a P9 with the polygonal barrel?

I've not seen that magazine. My conventionally rifled Kahr pistols shoot just as well in my hands as those that have polygonal rifling. Polygonal rifling wouldn't be a deciding factor for me when choosing from the Kahr lineup. The P series does have the front sight dovetail, different aesthetics, and a tool steel slide stop pin.


(3) I have read that the proper way to load a mag is to do it with the slide at slide lock rather than slingshot it. Seems like a design flaw.

My experience mirrors what others have written about using the slingshot method to chamber the first round: it works well, but it must be properly executed. There's the rub, with the exception of my CW45, I've found the poly frame guns to be technique sensitive when chambering a round via slingshot. There are ways to mitigate that. One can modify the stock follower, use the Lakeline product, or find some of Kahr's old steel followers.
Modified stock follower:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsiMzD5MwHM
Lakeline LLC follower:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGcxqd5WFWI
FWIW: recently, we've seen a new design of follower from Kahr and they have the Lakeline follower on their website.


(4) Do any of the holster makers support the S9 because of the rail or should I get the P9 with polygonal rifling and forget the S9?

Kahr has some holsters listed for the S9 on their website: http://www.kahr.com/s9-holsters/s9-holsters.asp

Regards,
Greg

Thanks for the welcome and the info.