Speer Lawman shot the best group during the testing of more than 200 rounds fired through the Kahr P45. Speer Lawman uses a 230-grain full-metal-jacket projectile.

Manufacturers of self-defense pistols have always struggled with conflicting design requirements. Creating a small pistol for a bigbore caliber has never been easy. The smaller the pistol, the easier it is to carry and conceal. But generally speaking, the more successful designs have also been made in a variety of small calibers. There are more than a few who disagree with the latter aspect of these guns and absolutely demand a bigbore diameter because, after all, these things aren't being carried as a fashion statement. They are carried for a purpose, and big calibers generally work better at this purpose than smaller calibers.

So, what to do about these dilemmas?

Well, if you're Justin Moon of Kahr Arms you design a .45-caliber semiauto pistol that's based upon your highly successful 9x19mm and .40 S&W semiautos, and you call it the P45.

SPECIFICATIONS Kahr P45
MANUFACTURER:	Kahr Arms
CALIBER:	.45 ACP
BARREL LENGTH:	3.54 inches
OVERALL LENGTH:	6.3 inches
WEIGHT:	18 1/2 ounces (w/ magazine 20 1/2 ounces)
CAPACITY:	6 +1
SLIDE WIDTH:	1.01 inches
HEIGHT:	4.8 inches
ACTION:	Trigger-cocking double-action only
GRIPS:	Textured Polymer
FINISH:	Black textured polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide
SIGHTS:	Drift adjustable, white bar-dot combat sights (tritium night sights optional)
PRICE:	$760 ($870 w/ tritium sights)

The gun is a revelation. It is not a reinvented cut-down, "I hope it works," super-short, radical modification of the venerable 1911 pistol, which has been the vehicle for most of these .45-caliber exercises in the past. Nope, not at all; this gun is a continuation of the brilliant Kahr design. But here Kahr has achieved what many thought impossible. Its size in terms of height and length is not extraordinary, but it is lighter by a wide margin, thinner and among the most comfortable .45 Auto pistols on the market.

Kahr handguns are all characterized by a double-action-only trigger action that is both smooth and easy to operate. All are relatively slim guns, and they have all established a good reputation for reliability, but designing one in .45 ACP caliber would be something only a few would attempt.

Before getting into the actual dimensions of this new self-defense .45 Auto, let's examine its main characteristics. As mentioned, it is a DAO pistol like all the other products in the Kahr line. It utilizes a polymer frame with two short but thick steel pads at the rear of its polymer receiver to carry the slide and two much longer rails located lower in the dustcover portion of the polymer frame to carry the front of the slide. This is a distinct departure from most every other polymer design. Just about everyone else uses four equal-size steel pads at the same relative height to carry the slide.

The Kahr P45 when fieldstripped consists of seven major components: the slide, the barrel, the slide-stop pin, the recoil spring and guide rod, the magazine and the polymer frame.

The operating system involves a Browning-style dropping-barrel design that is activated by a cam slot located under the chamber portion of the barrel. The cam slot operates via the slide-stop pin to drop the barrel once the pressure lowers in the chamber. The recoil spring is free. That is, it is not a captured design, and the recoil-spring guide is steel as opposed to polymer. The rear portion of the cam lug under the barrel also serves as the feed ramp, but here it is positioned slightly off center to the gun's left because space comes at a premium. Some space must be reserved for the double-action drawbar found on the right side of the polymer receiver, but not to worry: The polymer frame is molded in such a way as to fill the space to the right of the feed ramp, as well as protect the trigger drawbar just beneath it. Like all Kahr pistols, the P45 uses a striker-fired mechanism located in the slide, and it works off the DAO trigger.