The stainless steel barrel is 3.54 inches long and features a one-turn-in-16.38-inches right-hand twist rate. It locks to the slide via the front edge of the ejection port, not through use of separate barrel-lug or matching recesses inside the top of the slide.

The Kahr P45 is lighter by a wide margin, thinner and among the most comfortable .45 Auto pistols to carry concealed on the market currently. The slide-release lever is the only control lever found on the left side of the pistol. This is a simple gun to operate.

In terms of actual physical dimensions, the P45 is close but still smaller than the traditional cut-down 1911 variant if only by the smallest of margins. The Kahr P45 has a slide length of 6.024 inches, while the oldest of the 1911 variants (my personal Colt Officer's Model) measures close to 61?4 inches, and that doesn't include the extra length provided the hammer spur or even the abbreviated grip safety on the Officer's Model. The overall length of the P45 is listed as 6.4 inches, but that's because the muzzle of the barrel protrudes slightly from the front of the slide and the rear portion of the polymer grip extends beyond the rear of the slide.

In terms of its height, as measured from the top of the slide to the bottom of the grip or the magazine, the Kahr P45 is actually a little taller than the Officer's Model by about two-tenths of an inch. However, this is a little misleading because the P45 magazine uses a plastic baseplate that also acts as a bumper pad during the reload and does not fit flush against the bottom of the polymer grip. The magazines for each gun, the new Kahr and the older Colt design, sport the same capacity: six rounds.

The Officer's Model has a little thinner slide than the Kahr by approximately .08 inch, which isn't much in the overall scheme of things. There is no comparison in the thickness of the respective grips. The Kahr P45 measures only .987 inch. (The factory lists the slide thickness as 1.01 inches, but my caliper said .987 inch.) The older Officer's Model is more than a quarter-inch wider.

Chronograph And Accuracy Test Kahr P45 .45 ACP
Factory Loads	Bullet & Type	No. Rounds Tested	Avg. Vel. (fps)	Extreme Spread (fps)	Best Group @ 50 Ft. (ins.)
Black Hills	230-gr. JHP	5	809	15	1.75
Speer Blazer	200 gr. JHP	6	901	86	2.0
Speer Lawman	230 gr. FMJ	5	803	39	.75

Comparing the weight between the two, the Kahr P45 wins hands down. It weighs only 181?2 ounces, without the magazine, compared to the much heavier weight of the all-steel Officer's Model in the same condition.

The weight advantage is achieved through the use of a well-designed polymer frame, but the frame also seems to cushion the felt recoil. Admittedly, this is a subjective evaluation, one each shooter will have to determine on a personal basis, but I found the Kahr easier to shoot over a long string of fire than any comparable carbon-steel semiauto pistol.

It is the thinness and the lighter weight of this design that create a an overall package that leaves one impressed, even if some aspects of its overall size are comparable to previously seen designs. The P45 is an extremely user-friendly package for just about everyone except those with fists the size of a canned ham. It would seem an especially good choice for the ladies interested in a lightweight, easy-to-carry self-defense pistol in a serious fighting caliber. Its overall size, shape and balance are real achievements.

As with all previously seen examples from the Kahr product line, the P45 has no restrike capability. That means if the chambered round doesn't fire, the operator must cycle the slide to extract and expel the chambered round and chamber a fresh round. (The idea is that the operator should not waste time trying to get a round hit once already with the striker to fire with a second strike of the striker assembly. Just get rid of it.)