What Carry Round For My New Kahr MK9

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faiello5

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I bought a new Kahr MK9 recently. It has a 3" barrel. What carry ammo would you suggest for this gun AND WHY that particular round?

I am interested in sufficient penetration first with reliable expansion second. I would assume that I need a +P round to assure expansion due to the short barrel's affect on velocity.

I presently have 124g Hydra-Shoks (non +P) and Remington 115g +P+ (this is not the Golden Sabre). Would be interested in thoughts/experiences with those 2 rounds. I have heard and read that the 115g +P+ is not a deep penetrator, so I am hesitant to carry it. I have also heard that out of the short barrel, the standard HS probably won't expand, so I am hesitant to carry it.

Looking at the following rounds and would like to hear thoughts/experiences with these:

1. ProLoad 124g +P
2. Remington 124g Golden Sabre +P
3. Speer Gold Dot 124g +P
4. Georgia Arms Shear Power Plus 124g +P
5. Federal Hydra-Shok +P

Are they all going to give comparable terminal performance to the point where I should pick any of the above or the cheapest of the above so long as they function 100% in my gun? Thanks for the input.


Frank
 
Hello. I'd go with Triton or Cor*Bon +P 115 gr JHPs in the short-bbl'd Kahr. These should still be well above 1200 ft/sec and provide good expansion. Penetration should be more than at 1350 ft/sec as expansion is not likely so severe. Be sure, whatever you pick, to check for reliability; it's paramount in your defensive piece. Were I going to go with a 124 gr bullet in this lenght bbl, I'd likely go with Cor*Bon's 125 gr +P JHP as it uses the gaping Sierra bullet. This assumes reliability. Best.
 
1. ProLoad 124g +P
2. Remington 124g Golden Sabre +P
3. Speer Gold Dot 124g +P
4. Georgia Arms Shear Power Plus 124g +P
5. Federal Hydra-Shok +P

All of these are good rounds, use which ever one gives you the best accuracy and reliability in YOUR gun (at least 200 rounds without ANY malfunctions).
Robb
 
While the Fackerites don't like the Remington +P+ round, the Border Patrol and Secret Service apparently used it successfully.

Regarding the Federal Hydrashok 124gr, I found that it has a HUGE muzzle flash.

In general, lighter bullets seem to be recommended by the Facklerites when using a short barrel. The heavier bullets don't get enough velocity out of a short barrel to reliably expand.

Jared
 
Congrats on the purchase of a fine pistol -- do a search on TFL with regard to rust as it has been my personal experience (along with others on this board) that rust is a problem with the MK9 and the Kahr line in general.

With regard to ammo, the current trend (for the past half dozen years or so) has been to use lite & fast ammo for self defense. Prior to that, slow & heavy was the way to go and prior to that, it was lite. See a pattern here? Right now there is overwhelming evidence for lite & fast just like there was evidence for slow & heavy a dozen years ago.

Since I've never been shot, nor have I ever shot another human, I do not have first hand knowledge in this area but since the logic over which type of bullet is best seems to go back & forth every decade, or so, I feel a little bit uncomfortable trusting my life to what is the "in" thing right now.

As a result, I alternate the ammo in my MK9 every other round with Winchester 147gr SXT and Remington 124gr GoldenSaber (I use to use Cor-Bon 115gr but I understand that the company has been having some quality control issues over the past few years and the last thing that anyone needs is for a bullet to fire when you might need it the most).

Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
fud-nra.gif
 
Actually, the move is towards "medium weight and fast." Remember, when the "morgue monsters" (as people who study actual shootings are called) began their work, there were 88-90 grain 9 mm rounds out there. The ones that worked best were the 115 grain rounds, the heavyweights of their time. Now that the 147 grain JHP exists, the 115-124 is the middleweight rounds. And these are still the best 9 mm rounds available.

The 155 grain .40 loads and 125 grain loads are also middleweights and tops in their class.
 
FUD:

Realize that there are two main camps in the ammo wars: 1) Marshall & Sanow and 2) Fackler et. al. There seems to be bad blood between the two camps. You can see the Facklerite camp at http://www.firearmstactical.com

Whether or not the Facklerites claims about Marshall & Sanow are correct, there do seem to be some siginficant questions about the reliability of the M&S statistics on "one shot stops."

The Fackerites focus on penetration results in ballistic gellatin test. They prefer the heavy 147gr 9mm from full size pistols.

Jared
 
There are significant questions on both sides. A friend of mine who's a coroner has rather interesting stories about Fackler, to the effect that he started up the International Wound Ballistics Association as his own show because his opinions got him booted from other groups.

I have no knowledge of the accuracy of this info but, then again, neither do most of the people attacking M&S. I just find it interesting that so many law enforcement agencies would still talk with M&S if they are supposed to be disreputable.
 
buzz_knox & M1911, my point exactly -- I really don't know whose right. They both present convincing arguements and the side with the better arguement MAY not be correct. Since I don't know for sure, I go both ways by alternating ammo every other round -- better to be half wrong than all wrong. Regards,
FUD
fudeagle.gif

Share what you know, learn what you don't.

M1911, by the way, thanks for the link -- I've been looking for it ever since I switched computer nearly a year ago.

[This message has been edited by FUD (edited May 16, 2000).]
 
I would have to agree w/buzz_knox,and favor medium weight bullets at higher velocities.The debate between the two camps can really make one's head spin.Light&fast/vel.&energy(m&s)vs.slow & heavy/penetration(fackler).I chose to fall in the middle,I prefer the 124gr. weight in 9mm,155/165gr.weights in 40,and in 45acp,185/200gr.hp.I look for a load that can come as close as poss. to meeting the important aspects both camps present.This way,I figure both basis are covered.Good shootin'...long shot!
 
faiello5,

First of all check out: http://www.geocities.com/goldenloki/firearms.html for some info on various JHPs and chrono data from a Kel-Tec P-11 and Glock 26 which should be pretty close to what your MK9 will generate.

Being that I own a Glock 26 and Kel-Tec P-11 I asked the same questions you are. Through the testing of myself and others I am pretty confident in my current load selection.

I carry the 124 gr. +P Gold Dot loaded by either Proload or Georgia Arms. The Proload ammo is nice and utilized nickel plated brass to enhance feed reliability and corrosion resistance. The Georgia Arms is actually a little hotter than the Proload and seems to be as clean and has the same low flash. But, the Georgia Arms stuff is in standard brass cases which you may have an issue with (I don't). Also, the Proload stuff comes in 20 round boxes while the Georgia Arms stuff is in 50 round bags. This is part of the reason that the Georgia Arms ammo costs as little as it does.

In my testing with short barreled 9mms I found that the 124 gr. +P Gold Dot expanded every time when fired at water soaked phone books. Also, it penetrated about 33% further than the 147 gr. Federal Hydrashock believe it or not. The Cor-Bon and Triton 115 gr. offerings expanded violently and fragmented. Their penetration was about half of the 124 gr. +P Gold Dot. I think the 115 gr. +P JHPs generally penetrate between 8 and 11 inches or so depending on what source you read and individual load. For me, I like the extra penetration of the 124 gr. Gold Dot. In tests it has penetrated between about 12 and 18 inches which is in the range I want.

As for the loads you wanted info on that I haven't written about so far:

The Remington 124g Golden Sabre +P is supposed to be pretty good. I have heard some say that it has shed its jacket part way through its wound track during testing though.

The Federal Hydra-Shok +P is only available to LEOs last I heard. It might be a good performer but I have no experience with it.

But, even with all this information find a decent load to use by trying various ones in your gun and see how accurate you are with them and if their recoil is easy to deal with. There is no one single load that is right for everybody. Try a few out and see what you shoot well since shot placement will ultimately save your life over a specific load choice.


Good Luck,

Dean
 
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