View Full Version : PM9 VS P380 racking and recoil?
Bmxovich
10-13-2012, 03:11 PM
I posted in the P forum about pricing on a P380, and have a question. How is the racking and recoil of the little 380 vs the PM9 once broken in? My wife has an interest in one and am trying to gage it against my PM.
Thanks in advance.
muggsy
10-13-2012, 04:06 PM
Recoil of the P380 is very mild. Less than that of the PM9 by about 1/3. Racking the P380 for most women isn't a problem if they employ the proper technique. Heal of the hand against the left side of the slide, all four fingers curled over the top of the slide. Push with the right hand and pull with the left. (For right handers.) Rack the slide with an empty mag in place to lock the slide to the rear. Insert a full mag and use the slide stop lever to chamber the first round. Remove and top off and reinsert mag. Good to go. My p380 is my constant companion. Back-up to my CM9. Both great little guns.
jocko
10-13-2012, 04:25 PM
RECOIL IS FINE. its a great gun IMO for a man but not a woman. beforeu buy her that gun take her to a sho that has one, and show her the gun, u hand rack it, then hand it to her and see how struggles with it. Very vew women can propery rack the P380 slides. small ass gun, extremely stout recoil springs, MO a real bit*h. I have been around guns all my life and I had alot of trouble hand racking properly my P380. aftrer some hundred or so rounds the gun did loosen up some more and I think I got on to how to doit but still to this day, If I hesiate a slight bit in thge racking process it will fail/.
A woman can shoot any semi, if u load it for them, that is a given, they think , hell this is cool I want one. If she can't rack the slide, if she can't clear a jam or misfire, if she can't unload the loaded gun with ease, then IMO it is not a gun for a woman. I know I get criticized somewhat here but we have seen it here many times even and with men no less.. Sure gals like Mellissa and a few others her can do it. There are exceptions to every rule but by and large a woman cannot handle the P380. My two cents and just sayin
The hand over the top thing might work great on bigger framed guns but IMO ur gonna play hell in clearing a gun or a jam or unloading it, as ur hand will cover the entire ejection area
wyntrout
10-13-2012, 04:52 PM
Of course, it depends on the woman, but the P380 is hard for my wife to rack... it seems all autos are.:rolleyes:
She's not really into shooting, but had to be proficient for her 20 years in the AF with S&W revolvers... model 15's and 18's with .38 ball ammo.
The P380 is easy to shoot, but BB +P makes it feel like +P 9mm. :D
Both pistols are really tight and quite a rack for most women. Whatever she gets, she has to be able to rack to load and clear malfunctions.
I'm not much help, but that's what I've seen with my wife. She's getting a job after being laid off about 3 months and hasn't been to the range or done anything towards getting a CWP.:rolleyes:
Wynn:)
Bmxovich
10-13-2012, 04:56 PM
RECOIL IS FINE. its a great gun IMO for a man but not a woman. beforeu buy her that gun take her to a sho that has one, and show her the gun, u hand rack it, then hand it to her and see how struggles with it. Very vew women can propery rack the P380 slides. small ass gun, extremely stout recoil springs, MO a real bit*h. I have been around guns all my life and I had alot of trouble hand racking properly my P380. aftrer some hundred or so rounds the gun did loosen up some more and I think I got on to how to doit but still to this day, If I hesiate a slight bit in thge racking process it will fail/.
A woman can shoot any semi, if u load it for them, that is a given, they think , hell this is cool I want one. If she can't rack the slide, if she can't clear a jam or misfire, if she can't unload the loaded gun with ease, then IMO it is not a gun for a woman. I know I get criticized somewhat here but we have seen it here many times even and with men no less.. Sure gals like Mellissa and a few others her can do it. There are exceptions to every rule but by and large a woman cannot handle the P380. My two cents and just sayin
The hand over the top thing might work great on bigger framed guns but IMO ur gonna play hell in clearing a gun or a jam or unloading it, as ur hand will cover the entire ejection area
All extremely good points. And that's the kind of insite I was looking for. I totally agree shooting one and being able to deal with one, FTE's etc is paramount. She shoots a PK380 right now that racks if you blow on it. Great gun to shoot but hard to conceal. I plan on buying a p380 for myself before next summer. Maybe I'll bump it up a get one sooner, and she can see if it's for her or not. Thanks Jocko!
Bmxovich
10-13-2012, 05:08 PM
Of course, it depends on the woman, but the P380 is hard for my wife to rack... it seems all autos are.:rolleyes:
She's not really into shooting, but had to be proficient for her 20 years in the AF with S&W revolvers... model 15's and 18's with .38 ball ammo.
The P380 is easy to shoot, but BB +P makes it feel like +P 9mm. :D
Both pistols are really tight and quite a rack for most women. Whatever she gets, she has to be able to rack to load and clear malfunctions.
I'm not much help, but that's what I've seen with my wife. She's getting a job after being laid off about 3 months and hasn't been to the range or done anything towards getting a CWP.:rolleyes:
Wynn:)
Thanks Wynn, you guys a really so damn helpful.
jocko
10-13-2012, 05:24 PM
All extremely good points. And that's the kind of insite I was looking for. I totally agree shooting one and being able to deal with one, FTE's etc is paramount. She shoots a PK380 right now that racks if you blow on it. Great gun to shoot but hard to conceal. I plan on buying a p380 for myself before next summer. Maybe I'll bump it up a get one sooner, and she can see if it's for her or not. Thanks Jocko!
see if can rent one, not to many rages do that with the P380. Quite ossably u have not handled a P380 either, to see what I and others are sayin. Proof is in the puddin they say. Not all guns are for all people.
I like u can damn near blow on my G19 and rack it, it is just that easy but again 13# recoil springs against a K9 with 20# springs. I have nboclue what other 380 are but I know my Ruger lcp was a breeze compared to my P380..Take ur time with her on buyin her a gun ANY GUN A gun show would be a nice palce for her to see all and most will let her handle them to. Just sayin
JERRY
10-13-2012, 05:24 PM
ive let me wife try several semi autos....my LWS, S&W 3rd gen, and my glock 9mms are about all she can rack the slide correctly and safely with. her house guns are a J frame S&W, a glock 26 and for ccw its the LWS. she really isnt very pistol savvy.
jocko
10-13-2012, 05:30 PM
and ur not forcing her into a gun she can't handle either, I would think the G26 would be OK for her. Just sayin
Just kind of hard to be a J frame for all its features that any woman can make work
JERRY
10-13-2012, 09:00 PM
the more revolveresk a semi-auto is the easier it is to use for anybody, particularly a novice like my wife.
DAO triggers, no thumbsafeties or keyed locks, or decocking levers....bla bla bla....insert a loaded mag, drop the slide (or rack it) and its ready to go like a revolver. the fewer fine motor skills required the better.
the glock, kahr, and LWS meet this criteria.
muggsy
10-13-2012, 10:15 PM
Never underestimate the power of a woman. My sister could rack my my P380 after I taught her how and she doesn't weigh 120 pounds. We have women in the military who don't seem to have a problem racking the slide on a Beretta 92FS. Let her decide what she is capable of handling. Proper training, not physical strength, is key. I'd like to hear from the ladies on this subject.
kingfish15
10-14-2012, 06:09 PM
Say you hurt one of your hands and get into a strange gun fight (the odds of this are slim). You probably will not be able to rack the slide until you can find something to push the slide down on to get it back. Not a good position to be in but there is one thing you can do to stay in business. DO NOT fire the last round in your load, when you fire the next to last round, eject the mag and slam a new one home. Then just keep firing. If it looks like you need more firepower, just do the same thing again. You can go through endless mags this way without having to rack the slide after the initial rack.
This will not help you with a malfunction, but it can keep you shooting when you cannot rack the slide anymore. Being that I have over 4000 rounds thru my P40 without a malfunction, I don't worry about having one very much.
One of the local ranger rats pointed that out to me when he saw me struggling with the slide. I had a second set of bypasses and they took a lot of stuff out of my left arm, and my hand strength sucks. Exercise, sqeezing rubber balls, complaining to the doc---none of that seems to work at all so I'm stuck with it. I can rack the P40 but not easily, It takes some grunting and groaning and cussing but I can get er done. I can rack a Glock 19 with no problems, and I cannot rack a Ruger LCP at all. The fatigue factor comes into play with the P40. I may rack it 2 or 3 times and the next one becomes almost impossible. Leaving one in the pipe avoids that problem.
The LCP is not broken in yet so it should get a little easier to rack. Time will tell, but I won't carry it now, and maybe I never will. This little guy looks like me racking a slide---:31::31::31:
jocko
10-14-2012, 06:23 PM
Never underestimate the power of a woman. My sister could rack my my P380 after I taught her how and she doesn't weigh 120 pounds. We have women in the military who don't seem to have a problem racking the slide on a Beretta 92FS. Let her decide what she is capable of handling. Proper training, not physical strength, is key. I'd like to hear from the ladies on this subject.
bet the Beretta 92 is hands on alot easier (factory power 13#) than hand racking the P380. again we are talking about some women in the militarty to. not the average housewife. I thnk it does take some physcal strength to, not just propper training...
No real argument from my point of view, as it makes no difference to me one way or the other. It is the man buying the gun for his woman and he must analyze the situation and live with the results be they positive or negative.
gasem
10-19-2012, 07:57 AM
The more you rack the stronger you get. The stronger you get the more you rack. It just takes practice
Tinman507
10-19-2012, 07:59 AM
http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o542/tinman507/handracking.jpg
Bmxovich
10-19-2012, 03:30 PM
We actually got to borrow and shoot a p380 yesterday. I seriously want to pick one up for myself. My wife was able to rack it pretty damn well once she put her mind to it, but it's a well broken in pistol. I'd say shooting it for her was a challenge. Small compaired the pk380 she has, but thats what drew her to it. So it's a trade off that she needs to decide on. We're going to let her shoot a couple of Glocks tomorrow, g19, and 26, and see what she thinks.
TominCA
10-24-2012, 09:52 AM
My P380's were very difficult to rack when new - Now at least 1000 rounds and 2000 rounds and several recoil spring changes later they are easy - These little guns are tight and ammo sensitive. They don't recoil all that much; my PM9 actually recoils more. My P380 recoils less (or feels like less) than my Bersa 380 (also a nice pistol!)
I would get her to try one first if possible - You can do the "racking" part at the gun shop and some ranges have them for rent.
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