Being a gun nerd and an unabashed H&K fanboy, there was zero chance I wasn’t going to pick one of these up ASAP. I picked up one at Clyde’s Armory in Bogart GA on Friday. It was $619, which seemed fair considering Glock 17s run around $530in the same area. An H&K quality product for $70 or so extra bucks is a no-brainer for anyone but the deepest drinker of Gaston flavored Kool-aid.
image by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
I took the gun out to the range when I got back home and picked up some 9mm. 100 rounds of WWB, 50 rounds of Blazer aluminum, 50 rounds of 115grain Remington JHP, 25 rounds of Hornaday “Critical Defense” and 15 rounds of Gold dots. Today I followed up with 350 more rounds, 300 WWB and 50 more Blazer Aluminum for a total of 590 rounds for the weekend.
Ergonomics.
The gun’s ergonomics are nearly perfect. The grip, as with the P30, is the best in the business. I prefer the small inserts, but no autoloader, other than the 1911, matches the P30/VP9s grip adjustability. Further, the mag paddle is faster than any other design. If you have monkey hands, use your thumb. If you have medium, small hands, use your trigger finger. Either way, it is fast as hell, and totally ambidextrous. I was really sad when Walther bent to popular will and switched to the single sided button release. A real step back from a functional standpoint.
H&K has improved the slide release levers. Both Walther and HK went overboard designing ambidextrous slide levers on their designs, which has lead to a lot of grouching from people who ride the lever hard and keep the slide from locking back (which also happened to folks using extended Glock levers). They made it harder, but not impossible to ride the levers (as demonstrated by the “MAC” dude in his video and the NRA yo-yo in the early video). It now takes a little more push to drop the levers. Some have found this to be a problem but since actually drop the slide with my strong hand thumb and trigger finger getting leverage is not an issue. For someone like me who thinks “sling shot” reloads are unnecessarily slow, I consider this a win. Other than a P7, no gun drops its slide quicker than a Vp9/P30.
image by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
Shooting characteristics….
The trigger is excellent. Basically, it is better than any Glock or M&P trigger I have ever felt, including Apex and other aftermarket triggers I have fooled around with over the years. Essentially, it is in the same class as a PPQ. I feel that the HK is better, but at this point it is a Mercedes vs. BMW type argument. The weight feels to be at least two pounds lighter than a standard Glock trigger, and much smoother. Frankly, the Glock trigger is so overmatched here it feels like it is a completely different class of gun. Let’s not even talk about the M&P. There is very little chatter in the take-up and the trigger only moves a short distance after a true surprise break. The reset is extremely positive (audible and tactile) although I still think Glock will remain king for the bump humpers.
This is a gun that needs to be shot more than a mag through to get a proper feel for it. The recoil is not the same as a Glock. It isn’t the same as a 9mm 1911 either. Once I had a few mags through it I acclimated to the recoil characteristics and my split times during Bill drills are as good or better than I can do with a Glock or my Springfield 9mm Range officer. This is impressive to me since I was never able consistently do this with my P30 or even my M&P. I think this is where the trigger starts to show its’ stuff.
Accuracy is outstanding. Again, this has come to be expected from H&K guns. Even people who hated the USP/P30 etc usually grudgingly acknowledged the H&K’s mere “mechanical” accuracy. I shot the gun at 21f, 30f, 25 yards and 50 yard gongs. The gun is POI/POA from 30f to 25 yards. Basically, the bullet hits exactly as listed in the manual.
image by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
Miscellany
It appears that HK may have solved the trigger return spring breakage issue that haunts Glock and their own LEM guns by putting a relatively large, AK style, braided trigger spring in the right grip wall. I will be surprised if we ever see one of these break.
The VP9 seems to be a steel framed gun with a large plastic shell. The frame insert is huge, and it appears replaceable. This means, as far as I can tell, the VP9 will be fixable forever. If you break off a frame rail get a new block. The frame itself, which is serialized, basically is just a shell that you push roll pins through.
Ejection is very constant and proper. The brass is ejected forceful at 4 o’clock, as God intended. No BTF.—not that I expected it. H&K has always seemed to know how to do this.
I like the charging handles. It makes working the slide a snap, and I didn’t see them in my sight picture after the first few mags. Frankly, they are a hell of a lot more useful to me than forward serrations. Still, it was wise of HK to make the removable for folks who can’t use them. As pointed out in another forum, I foresee these slots being used as a part of a RDS mount for some enterprising soul. I also imagine some fool will install an enormous AR gamer style handle at some point.
Obvioulsy I am happy with the gun. How happy? My M&P’s can be found on consignment at Oakridge customs and I will be selling my holsters and other doodads on the EE shortly.
Looks like another regular for the stable...
image by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
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Nice pics, better firearms. What camera or phone do you use for those photos?
Originally Posted by Greg Bell
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