Everything a Concealed Carry Gun Should Be
Sometimes old, fat and slow is just what it takes to get the job done.
You know I am talking about the .45 ACP cartridge here, do you not? The cartridge is legendary, not only for its performance, but for its longevity, as well. Lots of shooters will tell you that you “need” a defensive handgun chambered in .45 ACP. They will talk about bullet weight, stopping power and devastating impact. But the only person who can effectively determine what is required in a defensive handgun is reading this story right now.
What I can say is that in most serious, life-threatening situations what is required is a defensive handgun. The best gun in a fight is the gun you have when the fight starts. That means you need to be carrying your gun WHEN you need it. THIS is where the CT45 really shines.
Kahr Arms has brought the single-stack .45 ACP into the modern era with a sleek, easy-to-carry design that bridges the gap between a full-sized pistol and a comfortable concealed carry piece. The CT45 is both. The company says the CT45 is part of its Value Series and with an MSRP of less than $500 you get a whole lot of pistol without giving up a big wad of cash.
Fit and finish of the CT45 is excellent and the brushed stainless steel slide is not only good-looking but durable, too. Slide serrations are at the rear of the slide only. They are simple vertical cuts that offer great purchase. The polymer frame is aggressively textured on both the frontstrap and the backstrap, but offers what can only be called “marbling” on the sides of the grip frame. This combination provides plenty of traction but does not cause any undue rubbing or chafing when the pistol is carried. There is no light or accessory rail. This keeps costs down and keeps you from searching with your “loaded flashlight.” I good hand-held light will serve your purposes and makes a great force option before you have to draw your gun. But that’s another story.
The first thing you will notice about the CT 45 when you pick it up is just how light and thin this gun is. For me, the first word to come to mind was “nimble.” And that is not a word one often associates with the single-stack .45 caliber guns from way back in 1911. Overall weight is just 23.7 ounces when empty and the width is just a tad over an inch wide at 1.01 inches. The weight is right in line with most other polymer pistols and the width is something you just can’t beat for everyday carry with what amounts to a full-sized gun. It may be full-sized, with a 4-inch barrel and a full-sized frame, but it is still easy to carry. The gripframe is designed with a very high tang that allows the bore axis to stay low in your hand and help reduce muzzle flip; you need every bit of that advantage because the CT45 is a light gun throwing a heavy bullet.
On the range the CT 45 handles wonderfully. It points naturally. All the controls are where you would expect them to be. The recoil is not uncontrollable, but you certainly know you are shooting a .45 ACP. After shooting a lightweight 9mm with 115-grain loads, shooting the 24-ounce CT45 with 230-grain ammo is a noticeable difference. But no one at the range complained. The gripframe is aggressively textured and the ergonomics make this pistol very easy to hold. It took only one magazine and a bit more focus to get the rapid fire rounds falling into a nice cluster at both 5 and 10 yards. When I did miss I tended to miss low, so I may have been pushing forward into the pistol in anticipation of the recoil. The sights are easy to see and, best of all, the rounds impact where the sights point—every time. To say the CT45 is accurate would be an understatement. It is certainly not a match pistol, but for defensive work, this pistol gives you more accuracy than you need. Take no offense when I say this pistol shoots better than you do.
The trigger is pure Kahr, if you know what that means. Some will like it, some won’t. The Kahr system is a trigger-cocking, double-action-only unit that leaves the pistol uncocked until you press the trigger. That means you have a long trigger pull and long trigger reset. But it is not unmanageable and actually breaks pretty nicely for a DAO trigger. It may be longer than a typical single action trigger stroke, but it is smooth. Very smooth. You won’t be able to blame the trigger for missed shots with this pistol. It will take some time to master the double-tap with this trigger, but that’s what training is for. The size, weight and power of this pistol combine to make this a great carry piece for those who want a full-sized gun and full-sized round, without any extra weight or thickness. The two-tone color scheme, a black frame beneath a stainless slide, is just plain good-looking.
The Kahr system is a trigger-cocking, double-action-only unit that leaves the pistol uncocked until you press the trigger
Testing revealed no malfunctions with either ball ammo or various hollow-points, but once, early on, the slide did fail to lock back after the last round. Again, it was a single incident and we could not create a repeat performance.
Even for those with very large hands, the CT45 sits well and frankly just feels good while shooting. Pistol accuracy has a lot to do with establishing a solid shooting platform. The thin nature of this single stack CT45 allows you to get lots of flesh on the gripframe for full and complete control of the pistol. But that thinness comes at a cost. The CT45 offers seven-plus-one capacity. Notice I didn’t say “just” seven-plus-one, because I think eight rounds of .45 ACP is a pretty good payload in a pistol that is light, easy to carry and fast and accurate on target. This is one of the many tradeoffs of selecting a defensive pistol. You can’t get something for nothing, so if you want the big, fat, flying ashtray of a projectile coming out of your muzzle, you have to either choose fewer rounds, or a MUCH thicker gun that will weigh a whole lot more when fully loaded. I think the CT45 has found the right balance here.
Fieldstripping is a snap and all the major components are right there and easy to clean once you have the pistol in pieces. If there is one thing I love about modern pistol design it is the ease with which modern pistols come apart and go back together.
Field Stripping the Kahr CT45 is a breeze
There are some little things that must be mentioned about this pistol: I love the Kahr sights. The white rear post and white front dot are easy to see, quick to align and perfect for what this gun is designed to do. Take a close look at the magazine follower. While the follower is polymer, it contains a metal insert that activates the slide lock. I can’t tell you how many magazine followers I’ve gone through on my Austrian-made pistol. The first thing to wear out, it seems, is the catch on the follower that holds the slide back after the last round. This metal insert should mean the Kahr magazines will last longer between rebuilds. Some people will wince when told the Kahr CT45 is shipped with only one magazine, but, again, the CT is from the value line and every effort is made to keep costs down. You can buy a spare magazine right off the Kahr website for $48 or $30 at gunmagwarehouse.com.
Spare Mags are Fairly Easy to Find and Recommended
The CT45 does a good job of balancing all the important elements of a top-notch carry gun. In every decision there are some tradeoffs. As I said above, you can’t get something for nothing, but with this pistol you certainly do get a lot of what you really need. So, if you demand the performance of .45 ACP, but also want the reduced weight of a polymer pistol and the hand fit that comes with a nice, thin, yet robust, single-stack magazine, the CT45 from Kahr should give you everything you want in a handgun.
Kahr CT45
Technical Specs
Caliber: .45 ACP
Capacity: 7+1
Operation: Trigger-cocking DAO; lock breech; “Browning – type” recoil lug; passive striker block; no magazine disconnect
Barrel: 4.04″, polygonal rifling; 1 – 16.38 right-hand twist
Overall Length: 6.57″
Height: 5.25″
Slide Width: 1.01″
Weight: Pistol 23.7 ounces, Magazine 2.4 ounces
Grips: Textured polymer
Sights: Drift adjustable white bar-dot combat rear sight, pinned polymer front sight
Finish: Black polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide
MSRP: $494
To locate a dealer near you visit www.lipseys.com/dealerfinder