Kahr Arms fans were delighted at last year’s SHOT show to see the company’s trademark K9, locked breech, striker-fired, single-stack 9mm micro-compact finally complete its natural evolution into the double-stack X9. The new pistol is polymer-framed, shaving off about three ounces from the original steel-framed K9. However, it picked up an extra three rounds of magazine capacity (from 7 to 10 rounds). This makes it a genuine competitor to the Sig Sauer P365 (10-shot magazine) and Springfield Armory Hellcat (11-shot magazine).
The Kahr Arms X9 Double-Stack 9mm
The X9 still uses the same time-tested K9 engineering principles with a few clever changes. As a result, it accommodates that double-stack magazine without getting any thicker. The X9 has a slightly greater overall length than the Springfield Hellcat and P365. However, it has a barrel longer than both at 3.5 inches.
Its polymer frame is also more robust, and its front and rear steel slide guide rails have more engagement than the Hellcat but less than the chassis-based P365. The X9’s lock-up in battery was noticeably tight.
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The X9 Exudes Precision
Internally, the relationship between parts is more stable and controlled by design. This minimizes mechanical variations from one shot to the next. There is an obvious air of precision about the X9 that is uncommon in polymer-frame guns.
The trigger, recoil spring guide, and slide cover, parts that are often plastic on modern guns, are steel on the X9. You’ll find none of the stamped sheet metal parts common in modern firearms here either.
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The wide (0.40-inch) two-stage trigger has minimal left or right movement. Correspondingly, the trigger bar, which also serves as the disconnector, is rigidly held in place against a ledge inside the polymer frame by the front and rear guide rail assemblies. No slop there.
The sear and safety release that the trigger bar acts on rotate on a pin secured inside the rear guide rail assembly, limiting their movement to a single axis. No slop there either.
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The trigger pull is two-stage with 0.55-inch overall travel. After 0.21 inches of take-up, you feel it come up to a wall. Another 0.27 inches of pull gets you to a clean break.
When measured by gauge, I found the trigger pull required from 8.5 to 9 pounds of force to fire. However, the pull felt lighter when actually shooting it. This is probably because the wide trigger face spreads out the pressure on a larger part of your fingertip.
The Double-Stack 9mm In Hand
Thirty years ago, the K9 was the first purpose-built, concealed-carry 9mm micro compact. The X9 carries on that principle with the modern features we now expect.
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For mounting a tactical light or targeting laser, there’s a 1.3-inch, three-slot, Picatinny rail molded in the frame dust shield. On top of the slide, a metal cover plate is screwed down over a milled cut for direct mounting of a Holosun K-footprint red dot optic.
For a more secure hold, the sides of the grip frame and magazine bases are nicely stippled. Likewise, there are heavier stepped lines along the front and rear backstraps. The shooting hand thumb and trigger finger rest in shallow depressions molded in the sides of the grip behind the triggerguard. The latter has a slight undercut where it meets the frontstrap to edge the hand closer to the bore axis.
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The top rear of the backstrap is deeply relieved for the web of the thumb to nestle in. This reduces the distance your fingertip needs to reach to get to the trigger. Something small-handed people will appreciate. That backstrap cutout also helps to consistently index and anchor the hand in place on the grip frame.
The X9 is also fully adaptable to right or left-handed shooters with an ambidextrous slide lock release lever and a magazine release button that can be switched from left to right.
Two 10-round stainless steel body magazines come with each pistol. One has a flush fit floorplate for deep concealment, and one has a nice pinky extension that allowed me to get nearly all three fingers fully on the grip. There’s a small, loaded chamber window in the barrel hood and front and rear slide gripping grooves. The front sides of the slide are beveled for easier reholstering.
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Shooting the X9
The sights are rugged steel, dovetailed on the slide for windage adjustment, and slightly tapered front and back to resist snagging on clothing during the draw.
For fast sight alignment and aiming in low light, the front sight has an inset white dot, and the rear sight has a wide white line inset in the center of the “U” notch. When aligned, they form a lowercase letter “i”. The “U” notch in the rear sight is cleverly undercut on the backside. This makes it less likely to be washed out by reflection in bright sun.
Kahr has always advised shooting 200 rounds through their pistols to break them in. That’s good advice for any pistol you plan to stake your life on. I had no failures of any kind with it during or after the break-in period.
To truly understand its capabilities with the issue iron sights, I tested for accuracy at 25 yards from the bench using an inexpensive Caldwell Pistolero rest with three factory loads of varying weights and bullet geometries.
The most accurate was Hornady’s Critical Defense 9mm FTX JHP. It averaged 1,049 feet-per-second (FPS) and five-shot groups averaging 3.43 inches.
Federal Syntech Training Match, 124 grain, looking like something the Papal Guard might use with its purple jacket, averaged 1,102 FPS and groups of 4.45 inches.
Heavy 147-grain Fiocchi Defense Dynamics JHP averaged 885 FPS and groups of 4.57 inches.
Every round fed and ejected perfectly, and accuracy was much better than average for a micro compact.
The Embodiment of Affordable Quality
In light of the quality of the American-made X9, I was astonished to see it had an MSRP of $549. Its street price is around $100 less. I’d say the X9 was the embodiment of “Make America Great Again,” but for the fact that Kahr guns were always great.
Kahr Arms X9 Double-Stack 9mm Specs
| Caliber | 9 x 19mm |
| Operation | semi-auto, locked breech, striker-fired |
| Material | polymer frame, stainless steel slide |
| Finish | black |
| Capacity | 15-round magazine +1 |
| Barrel Length | 3.54 inches |
| Length | 6.13 inches |
| Height | 4.2 inches with flush fit magazine baseplate |
| Width | 1 inch across slide grip frame, 1.2 inches across slide lock release levers |
| Weight | 20.3 ounces |
| Trigger | two-stage, 8.5-9-pound pull |
| Sights | steel, snag resistant, dovetailed on the front and rear, with an inset white dot and post, and windage adjustable. Slide cut for Glock MOS optics system |
| Accessories | Extra 10-round magazine, extra 15 and 17-round extended magazine stippled sleeves and floorplates, plastic case, cable lock. |
| MSRP | $549 |
Performance
| Hornady Critical Defense | |
| Bullet Weight & Type | 115 FTX JHP |
| Velocity | 1,049 |
| Best Group | 2.33 |
| Fiocchi Defense Dynamics | |
| Bullet Weight & Type | 147 JHP |
| Velocity | 885 |
| Best Group | 4.17 |
| Federal Synthech Training Match | |
| Bullet Weight & Type | 124 truncated cone flat nose TSJ |
| Velocity | 1,102 |
| Best Group | 4.24 |
Performance was tested with a series of five-shot groups fired at 25 yards from a bench rest with a Competition Electronics Pro-Chrono Digital Chronograph set 15 feet from the muzzle. Bullet weight is in grains, velocity in feet-per-second and the group size in inches. TSJ = Total Synthetic Jacket.
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