PM9 External Safety Review

[mike4400]

I just picked up my new MA compliant PM9. I was super excited. Ready to ditch the XD9SC for something lighter. I bought the MA compliant version because I really wanted the external safety. Unfortunately, I now regret my decision.

The safety is not at all like I expected. The safety does not snap into position like on other handguns. The safety lever is VERY thin, sharp, stiff, and remains stiff through the entire arc. It is NOT something that you intuitively flick with your thumb while drawing like on any other handgun I own (currently around 15). You have to visually locate the tiny safety and push very hard with the tip of your thumb as it is recessed into a little pocket. I have practiced trying to draw and disengage the safety about a dozen times and my thumb is already raw.

I know the safety is thin to help keep the overall gun thin but I dont think it is a good idea to have a safety that you have to actually look at to disengage. Has anyone else had this experience? Any fixes? I think I might remove the safety lever and try to file down the sharp edge. Might help a little. If not, I guess I'll just carry it with the safety off. :(

Oh I almost forgot.... other than the stupid safety the gun is awesome!

[Bawanna]

I just picked up my new MA compliant PM9. I was super excited. Ready to ditch the XD9SC for something lighter. I bought the MA compliant version because I really wanted the external safety. Unfortunately, I now regret my decision.

The safety is not at all like I expected. The safety does not snap into position like on other handguns. The safety lever is VERY thin, sharp, stiff, and remains stiff through the entire arc. It is NOT something that you intuitively flick with your thumb while drawing like on any other handgun I own (currently around 15). You have to visually locate the tiny safety and push very hard with the tip of your thumb as it is recessed into a little pocket. I have practiced trying to draw and disengage the safety about a dozen times and my thumb is already raw.

I know the safety is thin to help keep the overall gun thin but I dont think it is a good idea to have a safety that you have to actually look at to disengage. Has anyone else had this experience? Any fixes? I think I might remove the safety lever and try to file down the sharp edge. Might help a little. If not, I guess I'll just carry it with the safety off. :(

You don't indicate where you live but sounds like not MA. Lots of folks in MA who are required to have those would be very happy to take that off your hands probably at no loss of $$ to you. You having around 15 guns are no doubt gun savy and know how the various designs work. There's really no mechanical reason to have a safety on the PM9. It's safe just the way it is. The MA compliant model was created to appease some folks who obviously are clueless about such things.
While filing the sharp edge down would help comfort, it would not help the safety manipulation, not sure that could be slicked up or not, having never seen one. Your idea to carry with the safety off is sound but why not carry the more asthetically pleasing non safety model and help our friends who have to have that version in MA?

[mike4400]

The external safety thing is not really that big of deal to me but my wife insists on it so I made a compromise. New gun with a safety -- vs -- no new gun :).

I sat at my desk and moved the safety lever back and forth at least a few hundred times and it is much easier to move now. I got a lot of plastic shavings out from around the safety lever so my guess is that it was binding up on the plastic recessed area. You can sort of feel the normal safety detent now.

Anyway, it is now a lot easier to move but still very hard to locate in hurry or under stress. Once the blisters on the side of my thumb go away I'll start practicing again :).

This is my first Kahr and, overall, it is a very nice gun.

[jocko]

just leave the safety off at all times and you will soon train yourself to know it is never on..

[Bawanna]

And take your wife shooting with that thing before you get it working too slick. Make sure whenever you hand it to her the safety is on. Let her experience what a detriment it really is in a real world situation. Time her after she shoots some and gets confident. A shoot or be injured scneario.
I'd tell ya to man up and let her know who wears the pants around your house but if my wife ever happens to read this, she'd beat the *%#&$% out of me and that happens too often as it is.
I mean no disrespect to your wife or to you for letting her boss you around, but get her to understand how things work and we can add another body to the common sense side of the people scale.

[joshh]

i actually couldnt disagree more. this is the only carry-type pistol i own that has a safety and i think it is very functional. the safety is actually why a friend of mine bought the kahr over a pps. i feel that flipping it up with my thumb is very easy while drawing. mine was a little stiff at first but after using and cleaning it a few times it has gotten much smoother. ive shot a couple hundred rounds with it now and cleaned & lubed it every 100. i do put a drop of oil on it and let it seep in.
some people say the kahrs have sharp edges even on the slide release that they file down. i really havent noticed it but i work with my hands all day so maybe i'm used to it. ive been using the safety purposely while drawing after changing clips to become accustomed to it and am confident that it wont be an issue. if it is i'll carry with it off. where in mass

[Swat_dude]

Other than my dad's .38 special revolver, I was birthed on a Glock. I hate manual safeties!! The only thing they are safe for is the criminal and they will never subsitute for safe firearms handling!!! I am a firm believer in the KISS principle and a manual safety is just one more thing for Murphy to have his way with.

If you are going to carry a gun with a manual safety, you must assume that it could inadvertantly be switched to "safe" at anytime and train like it is always on. You are going to have to draw that gun and flick it off at least 500 times in order to get some muscle memory going that will sustain you in a fire fight. Once you get this down, you will find your thumb rubbing a smooth slide when you transition back to a gun without a dumb switch. Personally, I think it is a really bad idea to have numerous handguns with manual safeties, because they are all in a slightly different location and require a SLIGHTLY different action. Or GOD FORBID, one swipes up for 'F' while the other swipes down for 'F'. I can't imagine having to worry about a manual safety in a warrant or combat situation. Call it OCD but I would do about 10 chamber checks when we stacked up for an entry just to relieve my paranoia that I wasn't going to drop the striker on an empty chamber. I can't imagine having to worry about switching that stupid thing off.

I would never live in a state with such a stupid law. Do they require safeties on revolvers too in MA??

Manual Safeties are like "Gun-Free School Zones". They are totally worthless in reality, but are great for giving the ignorant masses a FALSE sense of security. For me it is just as easy to keep my finger of the Da-- trigger until ready to fire as it is to switch something off.

Educate your wife. Teach her the two basic rules of gun safety. NEVER point the gun at anything you aren't willing to kill or destroy and ALWAYS treat the gun like it is loaded (even if you just racked the slide 10 times and did 10 empty chamber checks.) If you follow these two rules, even if you do some other stupid thing and have an AD, you won't kill your wife, blow up your TV, or blow off your pinky on your support hand.

Done with my rant.... :D

[joshh]

swat, i couldnt agree more with the fact that you should always treat a gun like its loaded. the loaded chamber indicator is stupid. i carry a glock22 in ma often & this pm9 is my first carry with a safety switch. for some reason here in ma a revolver doesnt have to have a safety switch. technically nothing does. nor do you have to carry with the safety "on." the one good thing about the safety was it allowed kahr to use their standard trigger pull which is awesome. most new "ma compliant" pistols feel awful. the gun laws here make no sense at all! if it passes the "safety tests" the attorney generals (martha coakley - the one scott brown beat) office then gets to look at it and decide if its "safe" for mass residents.

[jocko]

wow, to think one would move out of a state that he more than likely is making his livelhood in just because he has to have a manual safety on his gun.

[Swat_dude]

wow, to think one would move out of a state that he more than likely is making his livelhood in just because he has to have a manual safety on his gun.

My wife's dream is to retire to the People's Republic of California. I told her she needs to become a 2nd Ammendment activist there if that's her plan. Otherwise, we'll be sweating in good old Arizona.

[joshh]

i am headed from p.r.o.ma. to florida as soon as kids finish school! i have family there and cant take this place anymore. but it has nothing to do with the safety on my pm9>lol.