Shooting yesterday.

[44man]

Friend came up from Georgia and brought a Kel-Tek little Nine, DAO to shoot. What a terrible little thing, trigger pull must be 20+#. Set a bottle of water out close and between four of us nobody could hit near it.
I had my .500 BFR in JRH. Both my friend and I took water bottles at 100, his first time so big too.
After a while I wanted to blow the close bottle with the JRH so I started shooting off hand and nothing happened. Went down and I had 5 shots dead center in almost one hole but a nine had nicked the bottle and the water was gone.
Learned one thing, the only way to hit with the little gun is if a perp has his hands on your throat or already stabbed you.
Give me a 1911 any day.

[bangerjim]

Those little light pimpy semi's give a bad sense of personal safety. A friend has a teeny 380 and the times you are not recovering from a wrist sprain from the horrible kick-back, you can mabe hit a 12" target at 10 feet! And that is WITH the built-in laser (glorified cat chaser).

I see so many guys and their wives/girlfriends at gun shows picking out lightweight plastic "pink" handguns for the lil' lady to shoot. BAD IDEA. Obviously the guy has never shot one or he would be looking at some serious weight to the thing.

[44MAG#1]

I had a Kel Tec 9 years ago and could do fairly well on a defensive target, B27 I believe.
These guns are for people that will practice with them. They are not for beginners or those that refuse to practice.
Plain and simple.
1911 or a Glock all the way.
I love the XDs in 45 Auto as of now.

[RobsTV]

Had similar results with Kel-tec 9 and 380's. Pretty much 5 feet max. A true belly gun.

But have also had excellent results with better 380's and 9's. Little S&W Bodyguard 380 could hit small plastic bottles floating in the waves of the Gulf from 20 feet, with boat bobbing up and down as well. A real hoot! But horrible trigger as well. Sig P238 also decent with 2-3" groups offhand at 30 feet. And a good SA trigger.

[44man]

I really am saddened by some protection guns. you know it is your life and your loved ones at stake.
I think you should shoot before purchase in any case.
The trend today is smaller and lighter to carry, but it is not your friend. It is all a money making thing.

[pjames32]

I prefer my 1911, but..........I find myself carrying my Rorhbaugh tiny 9mm most of the time. It fits in a pocket holster in my front pocket and I can hit with it consistently from the 7 yard line.
You must practice with your defense loads.
PJ

[44man]

I think it is the DAO stuff. I prefer not having to cock the hammer with a trigger pull. SA, cocked and locked. These little DA pistols do not compare to a good DA revolver.

[Bulldogger]

Relative to your comment about no one being able to hit a target at a distance, my Kel Tec compact 9 has a very low natural point of aim compared to the sights. The sights are non-adjustable, so I put on a rubber hand grip sleeve and a slice of hard rubber on the backstrap under the sleeve. This raised the point of aim, and as long as I don't look at the sights and just fire, it is accurate to minute-of-crackhead and good enough for my needs.
As others commented, these little guys are very often only belly guns. You have to be able to smell their breath to use them, but that's the balance of concealment and size.
Bulldogger

[Thumbcocker]

The Ruger LC9s has a very good trigger and is sighted dead on a 7 yards. You can throw dirt on cans at 50 but you have to hold very low. For what it is and what it costs I was impressed.

[Bullwolf]

One of my shooting buddies has a small little plastic Kel-Tec DAO 9mm with a belt clip. Unfortunately for him, he's a single action only shooter. He calls it a belly gun, and can't shoot it for beans. To be fair he often brings it to the range, shoots it a couple of times and then puts it away and goes back to his single actions.

His Kel-Tec 9mm pistol groups amazingly well for me. I can ring my 50 yard gong all day long with the little DAO pistol, and make respectable groups on paper with it, but I cut my teeth on DOA revolvers, and he's a tried and true single action guy.

I'm not a big fan of plastic, or tiny semi autos, (it's light enough to recoil pretty snappily) but I can really shoot that little pistol. I don't know if they are all that way, or if he just got a nice one. I'm not enough of a gambler to purchase a brand new one to find out either.

I recall shooting the early Grendel 380, (loaded from the top with a stripper clip) it wasn't the worst fixed barrel pistol, but I would not have wanted one myself either.

However IF my buddy ever wants to get rid of that particular Kel-Tec 9mm pistol, I would purchase it immediately, without even hesitating.


- Bullwolf

[44man]

It was the horrible trigger pull, get the hammer back and to finish breaking the sear, it seemed to need another 10#.
Recoil was nothing.
I sure did not want to take it apart to see what could be done. The tiny hammer is so small it needs a strong spring. Trigger spring could be changed out and parts polished.
My BFR JRH has about a 2# trigger so it spoils me.
Dang, you should have seen the ground behind the bottle. Half way to China!

[bgw45]

My EDC is a Kahr CM 9. Good to 21' and heavy enough to help with the recoil. I shoot a box of 50 every month and have no pain from shooting the box.

[376Steyr]

A buddy, who isn't much of a pistol shooter, announced he wanted a Kahr CW40. I told him to hold off until we could get to the range. I let him shoot my CW9, which is pretty snappy with factory ammo, and then bang away with my Ruger SR40, which is also a handful as a service pistol. He rapidly reconsidered his desire for a CW40.

[hpdrifter]

But have also had excellent results with better 380's and 9's. Little S&W Bodyguard 380 could hit small plastic bottles floating in the waves of the Gulf from 20 feet, with boat bobbing up and down as well. A real hoot! But horrible trigger as well. Sig P238 also decent with 2-3" groups offhand at 30 feet. And a good SA trigger.

My experience with the BG380 is the same as yours. It is accurate for me at reasonable self defense range even though the trigger is a bit stiff.