Kahr PM45 - US Concealed Carry
Kahr PM45 - US Concealed Carry
Kahr PM45 - US Concealed Carry
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100% Independent, No-Fluff, No-B.S., NON-SPONSORED Gun & Gear Reviews...<br />
<strong>Kahr</strong> <strong>PM45</strong><br />
Pre-Review Comments:<br />
These slide serrations<br />
should go all the way to<br />
the top of the slide.<br />
I am excited to really put this gun to the test. Why? Well,<br />
it is a single-stack, .45 ACP pistol which is EXACTLY the<br />
same style of gun I carry right now. Yep, I carry a Glock 36.<br />
And I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that the <strong>Kahr</strong> <strong>PM45</strong> was<br />
designed specifically to compete against the G36.<br />
The first thing I notice is that the <strong>PM45</strong> is considerable<br />
smaller than the G36. I mean a LOT smaller. Yes, it does<br />
hold one less round than the G36... but man, I just can’t<br />
believe how small this gun is.<br />
I can’t wait to shoot this thing and see how it compares.<br />
Nitty-Gritty Specs:<br />
Caliber<br />
Gun Type<br />
Capactiy 5+1<br />
Height<br />
Length<br />
Thickness<br />
Weight (Unloaded)<br />
Weight (Loaded)<br />
Quality, Fit & Finish:<br />
.45 ACP<br />
Double Action Only<br />
4.69 in.<br />
5.81 in.<br />
1.12 in.<br />
1.195 lbs.<br />
1.471 lbs.<br />
Concealability Factor 2.041<br />
Barrel Length<br />
Sight Radius<br />
Sight Type<br />
1st Trigger Pull<br />
2nd Trigger Pull<br />
3.14 in.<br />
4.741 in.<br />
notch + dot<br />
7.0 lbs<br />
n/a<br />
MSRP $805<br />
Street Price (New) $680<br />
Used Price $590<br />
While the PM9 and the PM40 are nearly identical guns,<br />
the <strong>PM45</strong> is quite a bit different. For some reason, the rear<br />
slide serrations stop about half way up on the slide. I can’t<br />
figure out why the <strong>Kahr</strong> engineers did this. It just doesn’t<br />
make sense.<br />
Well other than the shortcomings of the rear slide<br />
serrations, this gun is very nice. As I’ve mentioned in the<br />
PM9 and PM40 reviews, the aluminum trigger is second<br />
to none. I love the front and back strap, injection molded<br />
stippling. I also like the giant slide release. This makes for<br />
Nice finger relief<br />
under trigger guard.<br />
Yeah... this sight is not my favorite.<br />
I prefer a more open notch on the<br />
rear sight if I’ve got to dot the I!<br />
Dot the I with this<br />
sight.<br />
The standard <strong>Kahr</strong> sights<br />
leave a little to be desired.<br />
Grip feels great with deep,<br />
and somewhat sharp front<br />
and back strap serrations.<br />
I love this aluminum<br />
trigger. Feels perfect.<br />
The plastic mag plate<br />
is PERFECT for this gun.<br />
Perfect pink stop.<br />
Awesome, giant slide<br />
lock lever!
super-fast, tactical reloads. Some might complain that this<br />
giant slide lock release could get caught on clothin and/or<br />
holsters. But the <strong>Kahr</strong> engineers put some nice chamfering<br />
on the edges of lever, so that shouldn’t be a problem.<br />
The last thing I’ll say is that I love the fact that <strong>Kahr</strong><br />
includes two identical, 5-round magazines with this gun.<br />
Furthermore, both of these magazines include a plastic,<br />
injection-molded floor plate that acts as a great place to<br />
stabilize your pinky finger when shooting. Also, these mags<br />
dropped free everytime I actuated the mag release button.<br />
Ergonomics & Shootability:<br />
Well, I’ve gripped and held the <strong>PM45</strong> about a hundred<br />
times now and compared to my regular, every-day carry gun<br />
(Glock 36), It is very difficult to say which one I like more.<br />
I’m certainly more used to the G36, as this has been my<br />
main carry gun for more than 5 years.<br />
If a person had hands that were on the smaller side, I can<br />
certainly see the <strong>Kahr</strong> <strong>PM45</strong> being a more comfortable gun<br />
to hold. The grip is considerably smaller, yet not too small.<br />
The only think I really DON’T like about this <strong>PM45</strong> is the<br />
standard sights. <strong>Kahr</strong> uses a “Dot-the-I” setup but the rear<br />
sight has a very narrow opening. This makes it a little more<br />
difficult to adjust your sight picture if you’re too far off on<br />
initial target acquisition. (But heck, it’s not too difficult to<br />
put new sights on a gun!)<br />
Reliability & Accuracy:<br />
I was surprised how nice this gun was to shoot. I was a<br />
little concerned since the <strong>Kahr</strong> <strong>PM45</strong> is so small. As it turns<br />
out the perceived recoil was no more than my Glock 36. As<br />
you can see from the target, I managed to shoot a decent<br />
group with this gun.<br />
Concealability:<br />
The concealability rating is determined by the formula below. The lower<br />
the number the better! Cfactor = (LxWxTx(loaded weight))/(7*π)<br />
This gun gets a concealability rating of 2.041 which<br />
is fantastic for a gun that shoots the .45 ACP round. By<br />
giving up one round of ammo, the <strong>Kahr</strong> <strong>PM45</strong> reduces its<br />
concealability rating by almost 30% when compared to the<br />
Glock 36. That is VERY impressive. (Note: I just realized<br />
that <strong>Kahr</strong> sells 6 round magazines for the <strong>PM45</strong>. Dang, now<br />
this is even MORE impressive!)<br />
Conclusion & Summary:<br />
Well, I don’t think I’m going to replace the Glock 36 just<br />
yet. Maybe after I fire a found thousand rounds through the<br />
<strong>Kahr</strong> <strong>PM45</strong>, I’ll be more apt to start carrying it. I have to<br />
admit though, the small size and weigth of this gun make<br />
it a very tempting every-day carry gun for those of us who<br />
prefer the .45 ACP round.<br />
Excellent manual.<br />
Trigger Lock.<br />
Second 5-round<br />
magazine.<br />
Inside the manual is<br />
a handy parts and<br />
accessories list.<br />
There is also a little<br />
<strong>Kahr</strong> catalog in here<br />
as well!<br />
Padlock for trigger lock.<br />
Things I LIKE:<br />
¨¨I love how thin, small and light this gun is. It’s amazing<br />
how small this really is.<br />
¨¨The aluminum trigger is great.<br />
¨¨I love the big, bad slide-lock release lever.<br />
Things I DONT Like:<br />
¨¨I don’t like the rear slide serrations on this gun. They<br />
should go all the way to the top of the slide.<br />
¨¨I don’t like the standard <strong>Kahr</strong> sights on this gun. But, it’s<br />
not too tough to fix this little problem!
If we throw out the one “wild<br />
round” then I shot a 2.2” group<br />
from 21 feet while sitting on the<br />
ground.