Unfortunately, its numerous and consistent stoppages completely rule it out for this role. I’d hoped the C9 would be the answer to someone’s prayers for an affordable self-defense pistol and was expecting to be won over by its, er, homely looks. When employed as a tomahawk, the C9 exhibited acceptable combat accuracy, impacting slightly low and right of its 15-yard group.

The overall feeling of top-heaviness was hard to ignore as the slide cycled, but the recoil impulse was soft and manageable when using normal-pressure ammunition. The magazine release was smooth to operate and fell naturally under the thumb. A left-handed shooter would have more difficulty during stoppage drills, as a southpaw really needs a third hand in order to hold the slide open by engaging the safety lever in the takedown slot. The C9’s grip shape proved to be comfortable and the pistol pointed naturally. Much to my surprise, they fed and ejected just fine. Why? Because (a) I happened to have them lurking in the bottom of my range bag and (b) I was getting desperate to find something, nay anything at all, that would run reliably in this test. Sights are adjustable and easy to pick up, but failed to survive use as an impact weapon.Ĭontrary to all sensible protocols, I eventually tried a magazine or two of my off-the-charts 115-grain TMJ Major reloads, which scream out of my shorty racegun at around 1,450 fps.

Hi point compact 9mm 3.5