CalBig
06-14-2011, 12:25 AM
I picked up my new PM40 on Sunday, and have now taken it out to shoot twice. Having done a lot of reading about the PM40 I was a bit apprehensive. I have always purchased firearms that have a reputation for flawless operation and have only ever had one problem in the past (extractor issues with Ruger MkII / 10/22 known issue, fixed by replacing extractors in both). Comparing the PM40 against any of my other centerfire handguns probably isn't fair. Comparing it to others experiences with pocket guns, it does well. My thoughts.
Size: Damn small. My hands are big. I was worried about being able to hang on to it. This has turned out not to be a problem. It is perfect for what it is in this area.
Trigger: Smooth break: 10. Reasonable weight: 8. Length: 2. The smoothness and weight of the trigger are great for a carry gun. Not going to cook off a round by accident, but can get accurate shots on target. The pull is just so long though. As much as I am not in love with the glock trigger, I think they have done a slightly better job with adding a crisp break at the end of the moving of the striker to the fully cocked position.
Recoil: Not as bad as I expected, both with powder puff range loads and my self defense loads. This is totally functional. I'm not likely to punish myself by putting hundreds of rounds per range day through this weapon, but practice is not a miserable event and accurate follow up shots are not a problem.
Reliability: I had a number of the issues that have been described by other posters during break-in (fail to feed, slide lock back when mag not empty, difficult to eject mag) but after firing about 150 rounds through it, cleaning it, and firing 50 more, I only have one issue remaining. I'll describe it.
Using the 6-round mag (5-round works fine) and PMC Bronze 165gr semi flat nosed FMJ rounds, the first and second round always fail to feed. The stronger spring in the 6-round mag causes the round to hang up just slightly exiting the mag, causing the nose of the round to tip down and the extremely steep ramp plus the semi flat nosed round equals fail to feed. The 6 round mag combined with my grip also contribute to the issue because the mag sits low in the gun. Palming the rear of the slide doesn't usually help, but tapping the mag hard usually does. My self defense rounds (Hornaday Critical Defense) feed fine. They are a VERY sharply pointed round and looking at the angles involved it's clear why they feed so much better on the Kahr feed ramp. Ramp is polished and very smooth. It's not very wide though, and it's very steep.
I intend to try some different ammo. If I can't shoot flat nosed bullets in this pistol I think that will end up being fine for me. It's unfortunate since all of my other center fires feed anything and everything (HK USP Expert 45, USP Compact 45, Springfield XD 45, Glock 23 (.40 cal)).
Any oddball thoughts that might allow me to clean up this one issue? I'm guessing it will just be a quirk of this gun, which is probably OK. It's also really too bad that the trigger is so long. Overall these are issues that I can live with in what I think will turn out to be a very useful tool for a very specific purpose (carry when the Glock 23 is too big).
-Adam
Size: Damn small. My hands are big. I was worried about being able to hang on to it. This has turned out not to be a problem. It is perfect for what it is in this area.
Trigger: Smooth break: 10. Reasonable weight: 8. Length: 2. The smoothness and weight of the trigger are great for a carry gun. Not going to cook off a round by accident, but can get accurate shots on target. The pull is just so long though. As much as I am not in love with the glock trigger, I think they have done a slightly better job with adding a crisp break at the end of the moving of the striker to the fully cocked position.
Recoil: Not as bad as I expected, both with powder puff range loads and my self defense loads. This is totally functional. I'm not likely to punish myself by putting hundreds of rounds per range day through this weapon, but practice is not a miserable event and accurate follow up shots are not a problem.
Reliability: I had a number of the issues that have been described by other posters during break-in (fail to feed, slide lock back when mag not empty, difficult to eject mag) but after firing about 150 rounds through it, cleaning it, and firing 50 more, I only have one issue remaining. I'll describe it.
Using the 6-round mag (5-round works fine) and PMC Bronze 165gr semi flat nosed FMJ rounds, the first and second round always fail to feed. The stronger spring in the 6-round mag causes the round to hang up just slightly exiting the mag, causing the nose of the round to tip down and the extremely steep ramp plus the semi flat nosed round equals fail to feed. The 6 round mag combined with my grip also contribute to the issue because the mag sits low in the gun. Palming the rear of the slide doesn't usually help, but tapping the mag hard usually does. My self defense rounds (Hornaday Critical Defense) feed fine. They are a VERY sharply pointed round and looking at the angles involved it's clear why they feed so much better on the Kahr feed ramp. Ramp is polished and very smooth. It's not very wide though, and it's very steep.
I intend to try some different ammo. If I can't shoot flat nosed bullets in this pistol I think that will end up being fine for me. It's unfortunate since all of my other center fires feed anything and everything (HK USP Expert 45, USP Compact 45, Springfield XD 45, Glock 23 (.40 cal)).
Any oddball thoughts that might allow me to clean up this one issue? I'm guessing it will just be a quirk of this gun, which is probably OK. It's also really too bad that the trigger is so long. Overall these are issues that I can live with in what I think will turn out to be a very useful tool for a very specific purpose (carry when the Glock 23 is too big).
-Adam