Nice pocket gun in 9mm

[ryan2]

I have some remanufactured 9mm ammo that won't recycle G19 but runs perfectly in DB9. It is pleasant to shoot it because of less recoil than using standard ammo.

 

[rickyp]

Got a link to it?.

MASTERMIND TACTICS SHOP SPECIALIST COVERT

ADD TO CART TO SELECT SIZE CLICK HERE FOR BELT SIZING GUIDE SPECS: Designed for pants without belt loops and discrete tuckable carry 1.5” width Made with specialized gripper webbing Handmade in the USA

www.mastermindtactics.com

 

[John from MD]

Picked up my DB9 Gen 4 today. I won't be able to shoot it until Thursday or Friday but I can tell you a little about it.

It is lite. This means, as stated in most shooting reports, it will be snappy. I think it will be snappier than the Kahr PM9 as it is lighter weight. I suggest wearing thin gloves for break in and paper punching.

The gun is mostly MIM parts and they have edges. No smoothing has been done ($159 gun) but everything fits well and it doesn't look or feel cheap.

The trigger is similar to a Sig 365 just a heavier. Out of the box, with no polishing, my trigger is 8 pounds. It is not a bad trigger at all for an inexpensive gun. The break has a little creep (normal for striker fired guns) and then a clean break. The reset is just as short as the Sig.

The sights are Glock 42/43 pattern and I will be changing these out for either HIVIZ or TruGlo in the near future. They are quite usable as is but there are stories of the paint dots popping out of the sight.

Comes with 1 mag and two base plates. The mag is made in Italy and is marked ACT-MAG. It looks just like a Meg-Gar. It has a very stiff spring. I have ordered a second mag from the factory for $21. I plan to use the extended floor plate for practice and the flat floorplate for carry.

The stippling on the grip allows for a firm hold on the gun. There is no slippery feel at all. While I never have used the off hand finger on the front of the trigger guard, this trigger guard has a good surface area and its location allows you to wrap your finger around it. I'm sure this will aid in keeping muzzle flip down.

The slide cuts give you a good purchase and even with my arthritic hands I had no trouble racking the slide, at least while it is empty. I have read were folks have wound up with stovepipes when trying to slingshot with a full mag and recommended using the slide stop for releasing the slide. I don't know what version gun or mag they had but will report back as to my experiences.

Over the years, I have found that fabric band aid or moleskin in certain areas keeps injuries to a minimum. On this pistol, the trigger guard does not have much of an undercut so I added some band aid to it to keep my knuckle from bleeding.

Update: I have lubed the gun with CLP and did a bunch of slide operations and about 200 dry fires. It has smoothed up quite a bit. I still plan to stone the striker and sear.

 

[Kman]

Crap. Now I'll probably get one.
Everytime I think I'm done...
Just bought a Hellcat and I like it a lot and thought that was as small as I would go in a 9mm.
Oh well, at least it's inexpensive.

 

[Brickman301]

Nice write up, John.
Hopefully, yours performs as well as mine does.
I honestly not find the recoil all that bad, I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it is.
I find that the slide is easier to rack than the original LCP.

Looking forward to your range report

 

[John from MD]

Nice write up, John.
Hopefully, yours performs as well as mine does.
I honestly not find the recoil all that bad, I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it is.
I find that the slide is easier to rack than the original LCP.

Looking forward to your range report

The original Kel Tec P3AT and its clone, the original Ruger LCP were terrible to rack. I wound up putting a piece of skate board tape on top of the useless skateboard serrations and it worked out pretty well. The DB9 Gen 4 really surprised me at how easy it is. I would say it is similar to the force needed to cock the Sig P365.

Once it is broken in, I will only shoot my lighter cast loads and not too often so my hands don't give up the ghost. It's funny, I shot my M&P 40c yesterday and the recoils felt lighter than the P365.

 

[John from MD]

Shooting Report.

I had to get my eyes examined this morning so I was only able to take the DB9 out for a couple of hours at the club. I ran over a hundred rounds of ammo through without any problems at all except me seeing the target with dilated eyes.

The ammo I used consisted of 124gn lead PC handloads, Underwood 90 gn and 90gn +P extreme penetrators, Federal 135gn HST deep, Winchester 147gn silver tip, Federal American Eagle 115gn and some other odds and ends.

I didn't want my arthritic hands to hurt so I used thin leather driving gloves. As it was, the only time I experienced pain was if I tried to use the pad of my finger instead of my finger joint to touch it off. When using my finger pad, it would start to hurt after three rounds from trigger slap. Using my finger joint I had no pain.

This gun is very controllable for a small light pistol. The sights were dead on at 7 yards and the bullet went into the center of the target. Slow fire off hand produced 1 inch, 3 shot groups from both Federal HST deep and Winchester 147 silver tips. This is amazing since I was staring at blurry sights due to the dilation. I should have expected it though as I recently viewed several videos showing how accurate this gun is. One guy started shooting 5 round strings at 20 yards at a steel plate (8" I think) and kept backing up until he missed two shots. This happened at 40 yards!

As for handling, the unusual shaped grip points perfectly and the stippling makes it very manageable. I was keeping double taps in a two inch group without working hard. As I said, this isn't a hole punching pistol. I was taking my time so I didn't get beat up to bad although the recoil was less than with a Kahr PM9 and that is a heavier gun.

Pocket carrying is heavier than the Ruger LCPII which is to be expected. It fits in the same DeSantis holster though and still looks like a wallet. Once I am finished breaking it in, I plan to carry either the Federal HST deep or Underwood 90gn Extreme penetrators as these had less felt recoil which made getting back on target faster.

Ok, all you guys on the fence can run out and get one now.

 

[John from MD]

Another shooting report.

I ran through another hundred rounds yesterday without a blip. The DB9 runs like a clock with no FTF or FTE with all sorts of ammo and reloads. The Ameriglo orange sight is great and I am replacing my M&P front sight also.

The snap is less with Federal 135g HST deep and with Underwood 90gn (non plus P) Extreme Penetrators so that is the mix I have decided to carry.

I'm hoping that this pistol will get popular enough so that MCARBO will make a flat trigger for it. So far, five people from my club have said they are going to purchase one.

 

[Harrys]

Call me old fashion, I like solid built guns with no Tupperware. I recently retired my Kahr 40CW as it has a Tupperware frame. Now I exclusively carry my Kahr K40 and have an MK9, Matte Stainless Slide w/ Night Sights on its way. Other than revolvers more and more semiautos are being made with tupperware lowers. Just my opinion and what I like.

 

[John from MD]

Our latest USAF bomber, the B21, is made of a lot of tupperware.

The tupperware guns are lighter which makes them more comfortable to carry.

 

[Harrys]

Our latest USAF bomber, the B21, is made of a lot of tupperware.

The tupperware guns are lighter which makes them more comfortable to carry.

Carbon fiber structure is not tupperware molded injection composites are. Yup, tupperware guns are lighter but that is all they have going for them. Could you imagine a WWII colt 1911 made out of tupperware back then? More than likely, they would not be around today if they were.

 

[John from MD]

Carbon fiber structure is not tupperware molded injection composites are. Yup, tupperware guns are lighter but that is all they have going for them. Could you imagine a WWII colt 1911 made out of tupperware back then? More than likely, they would not be around today if they were.

I agree but I won't be around much longer either so I won't miss them.

 

[Michigander08]

How do you compare it to the M&P Shield? The Shield isn't much bigger?

 

[John from MD]

Look for yourself, I attached the handgunhero overly app to this message.

The shield is bigger, heavier, cost more and you have to buy an aftermarket trigger to get it as good as the DB. I have a couple of shields and they really aren't pocket guns.

Diamondback DB9 G4 vs Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield size comparison | Handgun Hero

Compare the dimensions and specs of Diamondback DB9 G4 and Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield

www.handgunhero.com

 

[Kman]

Look for yourself, I attached the handgunhero overly app to this message.

The shield is bigger, heavier, cost more and you have to buy an aftermarket trigger to get it as good as the DB. I have a couple of shields and they really aren't pocket guns.

Diamondback DB9 G4 vs Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield size comparison | Handgun Hero

Compare the dimensions and specs of Diamondback DB9 G4 and Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield

www.handgunhero.com

And handgun hero doesn't use DB flat mag base that shaves another 1/2 to 3/4 inch from height.
Personally, I don't care for pocket carry and have tried to pocket small pistols. I can only get the LCP to work in some cases.

 

[Brickman301]

Another shooting report.

I ran through another hundred rounds yesterday without a blip. The DB9 runs like a clock with no FTF or FTE with all sorts of ammo and reloads. The Ameriglo orange sight is great and I am replacing my M&P front sight also.

The snap is less with Federal 135g HST deep and with Underwood 90gn (non plus P) Extreme Penetrators so that is the mix I have decided to carry.

I'm hoping that this pistol will get popular enough so that MCARBO will make a flat trigger for it. So far, five people from my club have said they are going to purchase one.

Somehow, I missed your range report. Your experience with the DB9 sounds exactly like mine. It’s never skipped a beat for me either. I even feed mine steel cased ammo for plinking at the range. I should have ordered another from the link you provided.

 

[Brickman301]

And handgun hero doesn't use DB flat mag base that shaves another 1/2 to 3/4 inch from height.
Personally, I don't care for pocket carry and have tried to pocket small pistols. I can only get the LCP to work in some cases.

That’s true that they don’t give you the info for flat based mags. I actually prefer the flush fit mags. It’s easier to pocket carry, and I just learned to wrap my pinky under the mag.
I’ve pocket carried both the DB9 and the LCP. I find little to no difference between them while in my pocket.

 

[John from MD]

That’s true that they don’t give you the info for flat based mags. I actually prefer the flush fit mags. It’s easier to pocket carry, and I just learned to wrap my pinky under the mag.
I’ve pocket carried both the DB9 and the LCP. I find little to no difference between them while in my pocket.

The DB feels a little heavier (which it is) than my LCP II but they pretty much fit the same way in a DeSantis Nemisis holster.

I have moded many holsters over the years to be more concealable and the Nemisis is no exception. I have formed and taped a piece of stiff leather on the outside so that it prints just like my wallet does. It hasn't changed the accessibility at all.

 

[Michigander08]

No one mentioned this "micro compact"?

https://palmettostatearmory.com/sig-p938-sas-9mm-micro-compact-pistol-black-938-9-sas2b.html

 

[John from MD]

No one mentioned this "micro compact"?

https://palmettostatearmory.com/sig-p938-sas-9mm-micro-compact-pistol-black-938-9-sas2b.html

Probably because it is a single action only. Most people who carry pocket guns just want something you can pull out and pull the trigger. Just my .02.