Micro-Nine Pistols

By Rich Grassi
Editor, The Tactical Wire (www.theoutdoorwire.com/specials/2012conc...story.html?id=226739)

Selection


Standard pressure 9mm loads are better in small pistols as this minimizes the recoil recovery time between shots.In this short space, there won't be an exhaustive treatment of all unusually small 9mm pistols. I've selected two; one is very new and the other has been around a few years. The concept is considerable power in a small, but controllable, envelope.

I've searched for the right concealment pistol for many years. I was astonished at Kahr Arms when they opened way back in the 1990s. Here we had a slender, powerful pistol of compact dimensions that handled like a service size pistol. The K9 had the feel of the Browning Hi-Power and the size of a Walther PP (normally chambered in 7.65mm or 9mmK).

Fast forward to the 2004-5 time frame, which ushered in a new development by Kel-Tec, the PF-9. A lightly built compact 9mm, it was hammer-fired DAO and not a bad effort.

Since then, Beretta has a Nano, SIG-Sauer has the P290 (which is really quite a shooter) and Ruger developed their LC9. The LC9 wandered in here as the result of some gun trading skullduggery.