Good ideas will be copied. Glock’s reliable, accurate, and efficiently made Safe Action polymer pistols changed the way we thought about handguns. They’ve been around long enough that the ideas embodied in Glock’s core patents are fair game for imaginative people to expand on. This leads us to the example set by Anderson Manufacturing with its Kiger 9C Pro.

The Anderson Kiger 9C Pro

You could argue that Glock’s fundamentally conservative approach to innovation set the stage for ZEV Industries. Likewise, PSA, Polymer 80, Shadow Systems, Faxon, Full Conceal, and many others have taken a bite out of their market.

Anderson Manufacturing of Hebron, Kentucky, is one of the more recent companies to take a shot at improving the Glock. The company chose the popular Glock 19 as the basis for its Kiger 9C line of pistols.

Anderson Manufacturing became famous in gun circles by supercharging the AR-15 market. First with value-priced, quality parts, and then complete rifles made in their production facilities.

The company applied the same precision manufacturing skill sets to the Kiger 9C but with somewhat less spectacular sales. That’s no fault of the gun, in my opinion. They are very good guns for the money. However, it’s tough to compete with a company with Glock’s level of brand recognition and solid reputation.

Potential buyers always wonder if the copy is as good as the original. Especially if the copy is less expensive—as is the case with the Kiger 9C.

Anderson Manufacturing operates in an efficient manner, and the owners are not inclined to blow their own horn or brag. However, I am very familiar with the company’s high-quality work. So, I expected the Kiger 9C to be at least equal to the Glock19. After testing it, I decided I liked it more in several respects.

Nearly Identical to Glock 19 GEN 3

Mechanically and functionally, Kiger 9C pistols are nearly identical to the Glock 19 GEN 3. I happened to have a Glock 49 (a slide Glock 19) on hand and used it for a side-by-side comparison.

I tested the Kiger 19C Pro model, which has no direct Glock 19 counterpart and differs from the standard Kiger 9C in a few ways. The slide is already cut for RMR footprint optics. Correspondingly, the iron sights, which are durable steel, are tall, so you can co-witness them with the optic if necessary.

They’re tall enough (0.38-inch rear and 0.365-inch front) that you could call them suppressor height. They are serrated horizontally on the rear face to reduce distracting reflection. The rear is windage adjustable in its dovetail. By the way, Anderson offers a threaded barrel for $62 for suppressor enthusiasts.

The Kiger 9C Pro is also slightly lighter than the standard model. This is due to the rebated panels and window cutouts in the slide, fluted barrel, and plastic cover over the optic cut.

I like the Kiger polymer frame more than Glock’s, the latter having always seemed a bit slick for my tastes.

Anderson used deep grooving on the front and rear of the grip, as well as the front and bottom of the triggerguard. The sides of the grip are aggressively stippled except in the area scooped away to accommodate the thumb. Likewise, the sides of the frame also have a rebated and stippled trigger finger rest.

The Kiger 9C Pro in Hand

Notably, the triggerguard has two pronounced hooks to help the supporting hand index the finger for recoil control. The first is in the usual position at the lower front corner. The second is on the bottom at the front of the finger undercut. I think this is more practical for most shooters. Not to mention, the only practical option if you have a weapon light or laser backed up against the triggerguard.

The undercut itself is also slightly deeper than the Glock 19. I always felt Glock was rather stingy in offering only one slot on its front accessory rail. The Kiger 9C has four, giving it more flexibility when it comes to accessory mounting.

The Kiger 9C magazine well is also superior to the Glock. Friction between the magazine and the well is greatly reduced by casting it oversized with six narrow guide rails to center the magazine. Even empty, the magazines drop free.

If the exterior of the magazine or the inside of the well were dirty or muddy, that extra clearance could mean the difference between seating or not seating the magazine.

Anderson also made some dimensional changes to the controls that I liked. Though not ambidextrous, the slide lock release lever has a raised area at the back that essentially doubles its height, making it easier to operate.

The reversible magazine release is also narrower, taller, and closer to the front strap. I found it easier to activate and less likely to be accidentally activated while shooting.

Running the Glock Clone

The one thing that didn’t particularly appeal to me was the apparent excess of magazine hanging out of the grip. The 15-round Magpul PMAG GL 9 magazine functioned perfectly. However, this pistol cries out for a flush-fitting magazine to lower its overall height for more discrete concealed carry. Medium and smaller hands won’t gain any improved control from the 0.40 inches of magazine base plate sticking out the bottom.

The Kiger 9C shot well using three different premium hollow-point self-defense loads. There were no malfunctions of any kind. Average five-shot groups from the bench at 25 yards ranged from 3.45 to 3.75 inches.

To make things a little easier on myself, I installed a Meprolight MPO-F red dot, which fit the optics cut perfectly. At 1.25 inches wide, it was close to but not wider than, the thickest part of the pistol. It’s very durable with a heavy aluminum shield but a fairly low profile.

Features include user-selectable reticles starting with a 3 MOA dot, 10 day and 2 night vision brightness settings with manual and automatic adjustment. Likewise, battery-saving automatic off and motion activation help preserve battery life, which delivers 20,000+ hours run time on a single CR1632 battery when set at the middle of the brightness scale.  IPX7 water resistance protects the optic in inclement weather.

MSRP is $320, but the street price seems more like $290.

Buying the Kiger 9C Pro

Current online retail for the Anderson Manufacturing Kiger 9C Pro is about $512. That’s around $100 less than you would expect to pay for a current production Glock 19 GEN 5 with the MOS optic mounting feature. That kind of price difference could cause Glock brand loyalists to do some soul-searching.

For more information, please visit AndersonManufacturing.com.

Anderson Manufacturing Kiger 9C Pro Specs

Performance

Performance was tested with a series of five-shot groups fired at 25 yards from a bench rest with a Competition Electronics Pro-Chrono Digital Chronograph set 15 feet from the muzzle. Bullet weight is in grains, velocity is in feet-per-second, and the group size is in inches. BJHP=Bonded Jacketed Hollow Point.