The Kahr K9 Elite 98

By Dick Tracy

I recently obtained a Kahr K9 Elite 98. I was asked by a friend to give a review on this gun to share with all of you. I am not a wealthy man so I was only able to come up with three different loads for this little test, loads were as follows: 100 rounds of 124 gr. Fed Hydra- Shoks, 100 rounds of 115 gr. Win. Silvertips, and 200 rounds of 115 gr. UMC FMJ. Targets used were home made by no other than myself. They are a simple six inch outer ring , a four inch inner ring, and a two inch center dot made on my computer.

First I started with the UMC ammo to warm up. Firing double taps from the seven yard line, a total of thirty rounds ended with twenty six rounds in the two in. dot and the remaining four in the four inch circle. No malfunctions. Next I moved to the ten yard line to repeat this exercise. Results: seventeen rounds in the two inch dot, eleven inside the four inch ring, two within the six inch ring, no malfunctions.

So far this little gun is surprising me as it shoots as good and as easy as many handguns twice its size. Moving on back to the fifteen yard line I decided to take each shot just one at a time for I am not all that and a bag of chips as a marksman with a pistol! Taking my time I was able to keep 11 rounds in the two in. dot, and the rest in the four in. ring. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the target.

I then proceeded to fire ninety-five rounds at pop cans and such to have a little fun at anywhere from five to fifteen yards (leaving fifteen rounds for shooting groups from the bench but more on that later). It’s amazing how easy it is to hit things with this little gun. As for the hollow point ammo, I tried the Hydra-Shoks first. At seven yards twenty one rounds were in the two inch dot and the rest were in the four inch ring. At ten yards, twenty were in the two inch dot, nine in the four inch ring and one in the six inch ring. Because I wanted to shoot at least three five shot groups from the bench later I only fired twenty five of the Federals at fifteen yards. They shined here as well with twelve rounds in the two inch dot, and the rest in the four inch ring. So far still no malfunctions.

Now to the Win. Silvertips which are said to be an excellent load for small 9mm handguns. Well my gun was not real impressed with them. At seven yards I had two in the two inch dot, seventeen in the four inch ring and the rest in the six inch ring. The ten yard line was a little more pleasing though. Seven in the two in. dot, twenty in the four in. ring and the remaining three were in the six in. ring. I know that seems kinda’ backwards but there it is. I also fired only twenty five rounds of the Silvertips at fifteen yards for the same reason as the Hydra-Shoks. Holy cow! Did that ever stink! eighteen rounds in the four inch ring, two(!) in the six inch and five completely off the target. Whew! Oh well, to the bench.

I fired three five round groups with each brand of ammo (I almost didn’t even try with the Winchesters but for the sake of completeness…). I figured I would just shoot groups at fifteen yards but a friend I had with me to load mags challenged me to “just do it” at twenty five. Sooo…I did! Hard to say no to a challenge from someone you usually compete against. Well needless to say I was SHOCKED! Pleasantly so. The Federals were king once again, averaging 2.5 inches. The UMC ammo averaged 3.8 inches, and the Silvertips a slightly disappointing 4.5 inches. All in all the K9 is one fun gun too shoot! Reliability was 100%. I believe I’ll hang on to this one for life. I have owned the following at one time or another, S&W (1), Glock (3), Berretta (3), Ruger (5,do love them Rugers though), and a couple of Stars. Only one other handgun has impressed me so much as to become a keeper and that’s my beloved CZ75. I highly recommend the K9. I will carry it to protect my family when we are away from home (when my CZ isn’t). I can’t give the K9 a better compliment than that!