Most local stores around my house have the ruger pc9. But only one has the sub2k but it is like 2h driving but unfortunately they don't have the ruger in stock. In other words, i'll have to spend hours driving back and forth just to try them out.
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Because of the recoils , depending how you hold it, the stock might pinch your face a little more .
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Freegun, apparently I care a lot about this thread! I just sat down for a quick comment and this happened:
Too bad you can't handle the options side by side, you would probably have no trouble deciding then. If I were in your shoes and I was very serious about this purchase, I might suck it up and make the drive. Or, if the credit card allows I would order my top two (or three) options online and try a few mags through each, side by side at your home range. Choose your keeper and remove all doubt. If you buy smart you'll lose relatively little selling the others. Great learning experience, too.
Feel is mostly subjective, and the handling is just so different with many of these... You could easily try just one and wind up thinking that PCCs are not for you because it felt weird. Or it gradually turns you off as the novelty wears off and shootability becomes more important. For example, while they're undoubtedly a great option for many, the Ruger options all feel terrible on my shoulder. And I mean terrible.
As said above, the Sub 2000 is really built for a different application from the other PCC options. For casual and infrequent use, any choice will probably work well enough. For serious and/or high round count use, choose something other than the Sub2000. If lightweight and packable is what you want, go for the Sub2000. Or the TNW ASR, actually - If you want to be able to change calibers for whatever reason, the TNW is unique in that regard. If you really don't like tinkering, it seems like the Ruger or JR Carbine or FX9 might be your best bet (while some of these fail, they appear to be more reliable on average).
Regardless of the folding feature (which may or may not be useful to you), the Sub2000 is very different from the other options both because of the light weight and balance (magazine in the grip changes everything). Many probably work just fine out of the box, and a tinkerer can get them to be "reliable enough" if yours doesn't. I would gladly own one for a woods/beater/plinking rifle just because they carry and handle so nicely. But for me they cost far too much for what they are. They have a very cheap plastic feel that's hard to describe unless you've handled another KelTec. Like, if it's really cold out you have to be careful putting it down on a shooting bench. This is in stark contrast to the solid, quality plastic feel that most polymer pistols have. And the Sub2000 stock sights are poor (but usable, at least until they break). I really like it for what it is, but the build quality is really not in the same league as the other options.
The Sub2000 is the lightest option by far, so simple physics dictates that it has the greatest free recoil. Coupled with a balance point closer to the operator, there is going to be more perceived recoil. Also, since many people have to really mash their cheekbone onto the buffer tube to get a usable sight picture, the recoil impulse is less pleasant. One of the KelTec accessories is a buffer tube pad just for this. Unless you step way up the PCC food chain to the Kriss Vector, all of these options have the same straight-blowback action. Among the common semi auto actions, this type has the greatest perceived recoil. The heavier platforms (like the Ruger) have less perceived recoil than the lighter options just because of physics. In my understanding, physics also tells us that the heavier options will tend to be more mechanically reliable at least partly because they are more tolerant of users "limp shouldering" them during firing - The same idea as malfunctions in a pistol due to "limp wristing". We'll probably never see good data on this, but it could explain a good deal of the apparent difference in reliability that we see between the options.
