Concealed Carry Pistol

 

     In 2007 my two handguns were a Glock 22 and a Glock 27, both chambered in .40 S&W.  One a full sized pistol, the other a sub-compact for concealed carry.  the G22 had served me well for 12 years and I had brought on the G27 to fit my binary 'one large/one small mentality when it comes to rounding out my gun collection.  It was not long after buying the G27 that I realized I needed to rethink both Glocks.
     The G27 was a pistol that should have never been made.  Putting a high pressure round into a lightweight sub compact pistol that did not allow a full grip was a horrible combination.  Even with magazine extensions, and sledge hammer grip, the gun would find a way to work itself out of ones support hand during rapid fire causing the shooter to constantly readjust.  I love hard recoiling, big bore revolvers of every caliber.  These pistols have grips and weight that are made for that type of shooting.  Shooting the .40 in a subcompact was just annoying.  In addition to this width and squared off shape of the pistol made it harder to conceal and uncomfortable to carry. 
     I sold both and went with a Glock 34 to be my full sized pistol that I previously reviewed and began my search for a single stack 9mm.  Back in the mid 2000's, the field of single stack pistols was much smaller than it is today and Glock had not released a single stack pistol despite practically the entire gun world asking for one to be added to their lineup.  Just a few years prior Kahr was selling their PM9 for $700+ when Ruger brought the LC9 to the market at around $350.  I am guessing Kahr took notice.  Before Kahr had nicely cornered the single stack 9mm market.  They had well machined, quality double action only pistols that were great for concealed carry.  Seeing the competition Kahr made a few very minor changes to the PM9, called it the CM9, and offered it for half the price. 
     The priorities for concealed carry handguns are reliability, shootability, and concealability in that order.  This means that it has to work, it can not be so small that one cannot deploy and work the controls, and it cant be so large that it "prints" or broadcasts to the world that you are carrying. 
     Granted my CM9 does not get used as much as it should, but it has never failed in the time I have had it.  It is not fun to shoot since it is so small and light, but it does have a very smooth trigger that breaks near the back of the trigger guard.  It has quality sights that are fast to pick up.  They consist of a vertical line on the rear sight that matches up with the dot on the front sight so aiming is a matter of dotting the "I."  It is only one inch wide making it very easy to hide and its rounded smooth edges make it comfortable to carry. 
     As I have mentioned before, when purchasing a firearm, consider its viability as something you can compete with in the future should you decide to pick up a match one weekend.  This pistol qualifies for the BUG (back up gun) classification in IDPA.  Trying this type of competition would be a fun and challenging way to practice defensive shooting under stress against a variety of targets. 
     I see many people switching between endless varieties of carry pistols as the market for them keeps expanding at a rapid pace.  With every new pistol released, I have to ask myself if it is truly an upgrade from what I have.  Not once in the past 12 years I have I regretted this purchase.