Garand Thumb tests the KH9-SD, a quiet revival of the Spectre M4

Garand Thumb's latest looks at B&T's KH9-SD, a gun that exists mostly because company founder Karl Brügger wanted it to. The video frames the KH9 as a modern revival of the Italian Spectre M4 submachine gun, engineered from scratch after the original tooling was destroyed.

Key points

• Integral suppressor: The SD stands for the built-in sound dampener, which the video says ports gas to drop 124-grain 9mm loads from roughly 1,100 fps to about 990-1,000 fps, below the speed of sound.
• Shooting impressions: Through bill drills, transitions and a Mozambique, the trigger comes across as an odd single-action/double-action setup, better than B&T's TP9 but not as crisp as the APC9K, with notably flat recoil for a straight blowback gun.
• Size surprise: Next to a TP9 with its older, larger suppressor, the KH9-SD measures almost the same length, despite how much bigger it looks.
• Long-range tradeoff: At around 130 yards, impacts turn inconsistent, which the video puts down to velocity variation, calling distance work "not the gun's forte."

Quick take

This is less a conventional review than a look at a passion project. Garand Thumb enjoys the quiet operation and shootability, and is upfront about the limits past close range.

Watch the full video: Garand Thumb