Ammo for Kel Tec PF9

[m41]

I am trying to find the best ammunition for a Kel Tec PF9 with the lowest recoil. My wife likes the feel of this pistol but all I had was Winchester bulk pac fmj and she didn't like the recoil. I am trying to get her to use this gun as her ccw because she like the feel and weight so I am trying to find the best ammo with the least recoil so she will carry it. I know anything is better than her carrying nothing at all. Thanks for any help.

 

[sw702]

9mm

Federal made a 95gr soft point, works good in the PF9. low recoil . Ammo to go had some.

 

[tbone2]

Most PF9 owners steer clear of 147gr ammo. They say it doesn't feed reliably. I have never tried any in my PF9 so I don't know. I shoot Speer Gold Dot 124gr +p in mine. I have previously shot the standard pressure Gold Dot 124gr and it handled pretty nicely. Federal makes a 115gr standard pressure round, 9BP. It is known as a pretty solid performer and is the standard pressure version of the famous 9BPLE +p+ load.

 

[38-44HD45]

One more for Federal 9BP here, and one more to suggest avoiding 147s. I presently have my PF9 loaded with some old Federal 124gr. Nyclad, which has little, if any more recoil than 9BP. I'm getting ready to switch it out for 9BP. One problem you'll encounter with the PF9 is that any ammo that is reliable in cycling is going to have pretty snappy recoil, given the gun's light weight and thin grip profile. It just is not a very comfortable gun to shoot, for many people.

Another option is Cor-Bon Pow'rBall, which is a 100gr. JHP with a nylon plug in the nose cavity. It is fairly hot, but recoil is not bad, due to the light bullet weight. Penetration is likely not great with the Pow'rBall, though.

 

[SWAT Lt.]

How about the new Hornady Critical Defense? I've not fired any in 9mm, but CD the other calibers I've shot were lower in recoil compared to other self defense or LE rounds I've used.

 

[flop-shank]

Powerball does tend to be a shallow penetrator. For some reason my brain tells me that 100 gr. Powerball is a 9"-10" load. There may be gel results in the Test Bed forum an www.stoppingpower.net .

Corbon had a 90 gr. DPX load in the works designed around the Rohrbaugh pistol. X bullets penetrate nice and deep for their weight, so that load may be the hot ticket.

 

[Pisgah]

The Federal BP load and the Remington 115 gr. JHP load are about as light-recoiling as you are going to find conveniently, although as mentioned there are some lighter-bullet loads made. Unfortunately, either of the loads I mentioned are going to be just about indistinguishable in recoil from the Winchester load you say is already too much for her.

I have to say that if the PF9 and standard-pressure ammo is too much for her, you may need to get her a heavier gun, or switch to a .380 about the same size as the PF9, of which there are several.

 

[flop-shank]

To add to what Pisgah said, keep in mind that a locked breach .380 of a given weight will generally recoil less than a blowback type design.

If your wife is willing to use a snubby, with target wadcutters, she should be well served by such a set up. My cute Laotian wife is 4'7"/90 lbs. and she can shoot light target wadcutter reloads from my 360PD. She doesn't like them, but she can shoot them. A slightly heavier Airweight with wadcutters might be the ticket?