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Editor's Notebook: Old and Slow
By Rich Grassi
I find, as I age, that minor aches and pains are order of the day. What with this or that medical issue - all happily minor - carrying as I used to just hasn't been happening.
During the time of minor infirmity, I found myself carrying only one handgun, a light one at that. Bad move. Guns quit working for one reason or another and they demand to be fed at the worst possible time - like during a fight. Knowing I had to carry another gun, I pulled a small white box out of the safe and got the Kel Tec PF9.
A single stack, trigger-cocking pistol, the PF9 is the "large" Kel Tec. This means it's diminutive. The box magazine holds seven rounds of 9x19mm (9mm Parabellum), a decent cartridge in a number of loadings. The gun weighs in at around 18 ounces or so loaded and it's only about an inch thick.
Not bad for a 9mm.
The gun is never cocked unless the trigger is being pulled. Some people call that "double action only." It's okay with me if you call it that. The trigger isn't a target trigger but this is a self defense gun. If you need it, the adrenalin will help you pull the trigger.
The polymer grip frame is grooved front and back and has a pattern or raised rectangles separated by deep valleys. It makes for a positive grip on the gun. The PF9 is a "hood locker;" it's a locked breech design that locks at the barrel hood and ejection port. This means that any of us can rack the slide - something difficult with a straight blowback design that would have to be more heavily sprung. There is an accessory rail up front if you want to hang stuff on the little gun. I didn't.
This gun has been around a while, having come in for T&E and staying for an extended test. It's been 100% reliable thus far. It hasn't been shot as much as a gun meant for competition nor have I attended any shooting schools with it. It and I have qualified and it's been around for some knock about shooting. I don't run +P ammo in the little gun as a rule. I know that it will shoot +P but the laws of physics have yet to be repealed and I think nothing good would come from it. The load in it right now is the Hornady 124 grain XTP. It's accurate and reliable.
Such a flyweight gun can be carried in deep cover, something handy this time of year. I've been carrying it as first up ahead of the S&W M&P340 - which is my everywhere-all-the-time gun. As the M&P was pocket borne, the PF9 resided in my waistband inside the Tucker Gunleather "Cover Up" IWB. The two guns have seen me through my feeble times and now I can carry something bigger that holds more ammo. But the PF9 and Tucker holster are close by if needed.
Like all of William T. Tucker's IWB holsters, the Cover Up can serve as a "tuckable" - a holster that fits inside gun and shirt for cover-garment-free concealment. I found myself carrying the PF9 in the Tucker Cover Up every day along with the M&P340 in a Safariland pocket holster.
I found the Cover Up and the PF9 to be great deep concealment wear. The Cover Up was my introduction to Tucker Gunleather. Based on my experience with it, I think you should take a look if you are up for a new concealment holster. His field holsters and Kydex look good too.
To find out more about the PF9, check Kel Tec at www.kel-tec-cnc.com/. To see more of Tucker's Gunleather, see http://rlcompanyusa.stores.yahoo.net/index.html.