I recently purchased a Kahr PM9 to carry a back up for my GLOCK 19. The little Kahr is a very nice weapon, and functions flawlessly with everything I have tried EXCEPT Gold Dots. I have tried several types of ball, 115 and 147 grain truncated cone, and UMC and Silvertip HP, all of which feed great. The wide, round nose, and large cavity of the GDHP, unfortunately do not seem to be compatible with the Kahr's feed ramp.

I have been carrying the 124 grain +p GDHP in my GLOCK for so long, that I haven't looked at any different ammo 9mm self defense ammo in years. I love the perfromance of the Speer round, and although the Silvertip feeds well, I feel the design is somewaht dated.

I would like some reccomendations for a good carry load for my Kahr. It needs to be a fairly short round, and a tapered nose like the Silvertip. I would also like a high velocity round so a +p would be preferable.

The Black Hills 124 and 115 grain +p rounds look promising. How is the performance of the Federal Expanding FMJ? It should be a smooth feeding round, and at 105 grains, leaves the muzzle at 1250 FPS. What about the Hornady TAP ammo? How is the Cor-Bon stuff? Any other suggestions?

I carry my PM9 with nothing but Gold Dots: 124 +Ps and 147s. No feeding problem with either in the past year. Avoid EFMJ. They have well documented failure-to-expand issues.

You may want to polish your feed ramp. Also, have you fired at least 200 rounds through your Kahr to break it in? They are tight little guns and require break in before they run 100%. I had some FTFs during break in, but none since.

Gun Tests rates the 9mm 147 Grain Gold Dot as the best of the heavy weight 9mms in their March 2006 issue.

I carry my PM9 with nothing but Gold Dots: 124 +Ps and 147s. No feeding problem with either in the past year. Avoid EFMJ. They have well documented failure-to-expand issues. You may want to polish your feed ramp. Also, have you fired at least 200 rounds through your Kahr to break it in? They are tight little guns and require break in before they run 100%. I had some FTFs during break in, but none since.

About how many rounds of the Gold Dots have you fired through your PM9?

Gold Dots will not reliably feed in my PM9. I have polished the feed ramp and throat to a chrome like finish, but the wide nose of the GDHP gets caught on the right egde of the feed ramp about once every 40-50 rounds. I bought the gun with about 300 rounds on it, and I've put over 400 through it myself.

might try the ranger sxt or whatever it is being called this week.

I will be getting a karh sometime this year, I hope it does the gdhp well, as it's my favorite as well.

TXL

I am extremely happy with Cor-bon DPX as well as their service.
I feel neither could ever be beaten

Remington Golden Saber 124gr +P

Damn, Gold Dots are my favorite and would what I'd recommend. Since you can't use them......

Best advice would be look up some stats, find a bullet that has a reputation for functioning well in your firearm, make sure it functions flawlessly and go with that.

+1 about avoiding EFMJs, some expand, most don't. From what I've seen, they are mostly marketed to police departments whose policies prohibt the use of JHPs. In that case, they are better then FMJs, but it makes no sense to buy them who you have a bunch of good hollow points to choose from.

Quoted: Remington Golden Saber 124gr +P

The Golden Sabre has the same wide nose and rounded profile as the Gold Dot I don't think it would work in my pistol either.

I picked up a few boxes of this stuff today.


It's Triton Hi-Vel 125 grain +p JHP. The bullet in this ammo is even more tapered than the 115 grain Silvertip and is no longer even though it's 125 grains.

You can tell by the photo below that the Triton(center) is shorter than the 124 grain Gold Dot(right) and no laonger than the Silvertip(left). You can also see how much wider the nose of the GDHP is than either of the other rounds.

The Hi-Vel 125 grain +p load is no weakling, listed at 1250 FPS and 434 FPE from a 4" barrel. With its short overall length and sharply tapered profile, it looks promising. I will run a couple hundred rounds of this ammo through my Kahr and report back with the results.

Quoted: Quoted: Remington Golden Saber 124gr +P The Golden Sabre has the same wide nose and rounded profile as the Gold Dot I don't think it would work in my pistol either.

You wont know untill you try, and the GS bullet is about as close to a ball profile in a JHP that I can think of. Remingtons 115gr JHP load is pretty close to the same profile as well.

FYI the Black hills 124gr +P 9mm load uses the Gold Dot bullet...The boxes I have on hand have a shorter OAL than the Speer load, so they might function better. I *think* the standard 9mm load is using XTP bullets, but I'm not 100% sure.

Pick a proven load from this list of proven loads: (Courtesy DocGKR and TactialForums):

9 mm:
Barnes XPB 105 & 115 gr JHP (copper bullet)
Federal Tactical 124 gr JHP (LE9T1)
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P JHP (53617)
Winchester Ranger-T 124 gr +P JHP (RA9124TP)
Winchester Partition Gold 124 gr JHP (RA91P)
Winchester Ranger-T 127 gr +P+ JHP (RA9TA)
Federal Tactical 135 gr +P JHP (LE9T5)
Federal HST 147 gr JHP (P9HST2)
Remington Golden Saber 147 gr JHP (GS9MMC)
Speer Gold Dot 147 gr JHP (53619)
Winchester Ranger-T 147 gr JHP (RA9T)

And try it, preferably several hundred rounds. You wont know for sure untill you've ran a few boxes through your pistol.

I can tell you from what I have on hand or have seen that HST, and the Federal Tactical 124gr (LE9T1) have a fairly rounded shape. The 147gr Ranger-T has a wider nose than the 127gr +P+ version also.

EFMJ dosn't expand consistantly. Hornady TAP uses XTP bullets, and suffers from poor performance against barriers, but it does penetrate well. Cor-Bon generally dosn't penetrate very well, and suffers against barriers.

I personally would try to stick with Ranger-T, Gold Dot, Federal Tactical or HST. I'd try the Golden Saber in 124gr +P and 147gr next, if I could get them. Does your Khar run on WWB 147gr JHP? In a pinch, I wouldn't sneeze at this load, but it wont perform as well as the "premium" rounds... that'd would probably be my last pick.

you might want to look at the Georgia Arms 9mm 115gr. +p loads, they're Gold Dots, but loaded somewhat shorter than Speer factory loads, they might feed better, and they've been 100% reliable for me in my Glock 19, accurate too.

I favor Winchester Ranger T.  The small Kahr would probably have my opting for standard velocity or +P 124gr. You could try the +P+ 127gr, but I don't think you'll enjoy shooting them.

Email [email protected]  He'll hook you up with what you need.

I use the Federal HST, 115 gr. +P+.  It has a more rounded profile than some of the others.  I think ammoman carries it, plus he usually has pics so you can see for yourself if it's what your looking for.

Quoted: I favor Winchester Ranger T.  The small Kahr would probably have my opting for standard velocity or +P 124gr. You could try the +P+ 127gr, but I don't think you'll enjoy shooting them. Email [email protected]  He'll hook you up with what you need.

+1

I have some ammo on the way from Jerry ([email protected]) for my Glock 26.  I ordered 147gr and 127gr +P+. The 127gr +P+ is running near .357 SIG velocity. You have to send him check or money order but he's a great guy to deal with! I found his email address from a thread on the Glock forum. The Ranger ammo is a bit tapered so it will probably work well in your Kahr.

I order 2 boxes of 127 grain Ranger from Jerry.  I plan to do it every other month.  I reload using the Montana Gold 124 grain driven by WSL or Tightgroup because they shoot to the exact point of aim as the Rangers.  I get a lot of practice that way.

Maybe you need to keep shooting it to smooth it out some more.

Mine runs good on 147 gr. Gold Dots and that's what I carry.

It's a tack driver with the 147 GDs.   Groups like a Sig 226.

Win Ranger T 127gr +P
i'd opt for a +P load to get the most vel out of the shorter bbl

Don't laugh too long and hard, but Winchester 147gr JHP white box at WalMart is suppost to be about as good as anything in the heavy loads.  I know it sounds crazy, but someone in here did some test with them back a few months ago remember?  I really like them.

I carry PMC Eldarado Starfire 124gr in my 9mm (2 mags) the 3rd mag is the 147gr winchesters.

At the end of the day 2 to the chest and one to the head will do it, even if it is 115gr fmj.

Quoted: Maybe you need to keep shooting it to smooth it out some more.

+1
147 Grain Gold Dots are a good all around load, and seem to bridge the middle ground between barrel length, pistol type, and performance that one can achieve.

Past that, something that starts with .4, end with 5........

Hornady TAP

Remington Golden Saber 147 gr JHP is what I carry in my  Sigma SW9VE, but as previously mentioned, a couple shots in the torso will drop em'.  I bought a box of Remington 115gr. JHP 100rd. box for 15bucks at wally world that I have yet to fire.  Will be shooting tomorrow though and will let you know how they turn out to be.  The round looks like it has a smaller diameter feed than the gold dots.

Where can I find info on the efmjs not working?

I got a box for winter carry here....the folks who tend to need be shot tend to wear heavy winter coats, etc.  I figured that the EFMJs would have a better chance of expansion through several inches of material than an HP.  I have some Gold Dots for summertime, and a bunch of silvertips/WWB JHP's as well, mostly for plinking.

tag

Federal HST.

tag

Quoted: Where can I find info on the efmjs not working? I got a box for winter carry here....the folks who tend to need be shot tend to wear heavy winter coats, etc.  I figured that the EFMJs would have a better chance of expansion through several inches of material than an HP.  I have some Gold Dots for summertime, and a bunch of silvertips/WWB JHP's as well, mostly for plinking.

EFMJs do their worst through heavy clothes. See the pictures posted by Dr. Roberts in this thread.

www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=78;t=000913#000000

my top 3 choices for 9mm are:

147gr TAP CQ (this is what I am using now)

124gr Speer Gold Dots

Corbon DPX ( i have been really impressed with the testing I have read about concerning this ammo)