H&K VP9?

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What are the thoughts about this pistol? Anyone own one and can share experiences? I handled one a few days ago and the ergonomics seem to be pretty good and thought I am not looking to replace my Walther P-99AS, I can always use another pistol (LOL). I plan to rent one at the local gun range soon and shoot it to see how it fares, but I thought I would see what others think.

TIA!
 
I don't own one but know enough about them that they are decent enough for a carry gun. The only bad thing is they don't pass some of the YouTubes torture tests including wet tests, so if you plan to go swimming with it you might have reliability issues.
 
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
What are the thoughts about this pistol? Anyone own one and can share experiences? I handled one a few days ago and the ergonomics seem to be pretty good and thought I am not looking to replace my Walther P-99AS, I can always use another pistol (LOL). I plan to rent one at the local gun range soon and shoot it to see how it fares, but I thought I would see what others think.

TIA!


I shot one and liked it. It was like a G19 with better ergos and I was impressed. If I had not invested in the M&P platforms, I would probably buy one.
 
I bought this H&K USP 9 some years back. Just to see what all the H&K hoopla was about. I wouldn't buy another. For one, the gun was overpriced for what it is. A Polymer service pistol. The gun won't do anything a Glock will, except cost more doing it. The trigger is OK. The magazine release pinches your fingers where it's located. Magazines are somewhat hard to find. And overpriced as well when you do find them. They are not metal lined like a Glock mag is. The high capacity mag they sell for this gun runs around $120.00, or some such nonsense. Compared to the metal lined $39.00 Glock 33 round mags, you can buy all day long for that price. In short, I like the gun enough not to sell it. But I sure won't stand in line to buy another. And as another poster pointed out, they do poorly in torture tests. Especially compared to Glock's.

 
Well Tim over at the Military Arms Channel carried one of these for a while..until he put it through the ringer and saw it fail spectacularly. While it would be okay for a range gun or nightstand duty, I would not use it for much else. He put his in a puddle and it repeatedly would have failures to fire until it was broken down, dried, and cleaned. By contrast, a very Walther'esque Canik was able to do much better at half the cost. The problem was that water got into the striker channel and impeded its forward motion causing light primer strikes.

HK makes decent firearms as a whole, but they are selling them at rather inflated price points.

If you are looking for another striker fired polymer pistol, I suggest you look at the Steyr M series. They were designed by a former Glock engineer, and I have had AWESOME luck with mine. I particularly love the fast acquisition sights they use. They are roughly G19 sized and come in a bit cheaper than their fellow Austrian tupperware guns.
 
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Funny...the H&K does poorly in specious, uncontrolled You Tube "torture" tests...and great in actual, controlled, organized military reliability tests.

I was part of a group of eighty guys with brand new H&K USP pistols. We were shooting in the sand, and dust, of the desert on all temperatures. Over 1,200 rounds each, without cleaning or even lubrication during that time. Roughly 100,000 rounds through those H&K pistols.

Not one failure. Not one jam.

As reliable as any pistol ever built.

I got my USP compact, in .40S&W, LE trigger, tritium sights, for $500. Yeah it was a special deal. But I'm glad I have it. It's a great gun. No safety, as a carry gun should be. My only complaint is the heavy trigger pull on the DAO trigger. It comes it at about eight pounds. Some day, I may modify it. After a few thousand rounds, it's a bit smoother, but not much. I like the ergonomics and the fit of the pistol in my hand.

And folks don't care for the H&K magazine release, but I've never seen any H&K magazine come loose during firing because the shooter had a tight grip and inadvertently squeezed the magazine release button.

However, I have seen this happen to 1911s, M&Ps and even Glocks. With a few thousand practice reloads on my H&K, I can hit that button with the middle finger of my strong hand, drop the mag and reload in under a second. The USP Compact is my carry gun and there is no more reliable pistol made.
 
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Tests, even ones done by a military like ours can be less than genuine in their results. Remember that the first AR platform rifles were issued to troops in Nam with no cleaning equipment after testing, acceptance, and procurement because they "didn't need cleaning". Well certainly that was not true as we all know. That is just one example of odd results from military testing...there are plenty of others through out modern military history.

Had the VP9 been a hammer gun like the USP, I bet there would be no light primer strikes. Yes, there are lots of You Tubers out there that beat up guns, but there are only a handful I truly listen to, and Tim is one. For one, he doesn't treat them well at all. They don't get cleaned or oiled often, and he is a former long serving military man. And if a gun is worth its salt...it should not need constant hand holding to function well. If a puddle of water defeats it....probably not the best design.

I am glad you like your USP...but its not a VP9
 
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That's a good point, Robenstein, the VP9 isn't a USP...

Even Porsche makes a few odd models...
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
That's a good point, Robenstein, the VP9 isn't a USP...

Even Porsche makes a few odd models...


Don't get me wrong...there are HK's I love....I own a couple PTR copies of their roller locked guns...and I would love a hard chromed P7.

But there were also the HK 4's which were not the best initiation of the Mauser HSC...indeed some were unsafe in certain chamberings if I recall. And let us not forget the VP70. Although it was forward thinking in the use of polymers. Indeed it is the father of the tupperware wonder nines, it had a HORRID trigger that made it a devil to shoot with much accuracy.

Not every swing will produce a home run.
 
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Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Tests, even ones done by a military like ours can be less than genuine in their results. Remember that the first AR platform rifles were issued to troops in Nam with no cleaning equipment after testing, acceptance, and procurement because they "didn't need cleaning". Well certainly that was not true as we all know. That is just one example of odd results from military testing...there are plenty of others through out modern military history.


A lot of the early 60's failures of the M-16 was because of political pressure applied by then Secretary Of Defense Robert McNamara, to rush the weapon into service. Politics are bad enough. But when you blend them with guns, the result is all but guaranteed to be a disaster. It was. That guy's middle name wasn't "Strange" for nothing.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Tests, even ones done by a military like ours can be less than genuine in their results. Remember that the first AR platform rifles were issued to troops in Nam with no cleaning equipment after testing, acceptance, and procurement because they "didn't need cleaning". Well certainly that was not true as we all know. That is just one example of odd results from military testing...there are plenty of others through out modern military history.


A lot of the early 60's failures of the M-16 was because of political pressure applied by then Secretary Of Defense Robert McNamara, to rush the weapon into service. Politics are bad enough. But when you blend them with guns, the result is all but guaranteed to be a disaster. It was. That guy's middle name wasn't "Strange" for nothing.


The problems pre-date even him. Without re-typing a bunch of my masters thesis (I did it on small arms modernization in the U.S. military during the period of 1945-1970), I can say he inherited a problem and just made it worse.
 
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How about our guys being overrun and killed in Afghanistan in much more recent memory? Well documented by DoD..
Political pressures? That gun is a laughing stock of the world.
 
Any chance that we can get a copy of your master's thesis?

I know that you've recommended "The Great Rifle Controversy" but even on Amazon, it's $90...a bit much for a casual read...and I would love to know what you concluded...
 
Originally Posted By: Y_K
How about our guys being overrun and killed in Afghanistan in much more recent memory? Well documented by DoD..
Political pressures? That gun is a laughing stock of the world.


Not a fan of the 5.56mm cartridge...

I own an MSR in 5.56...great for teaching people to shoot. Light weight, easy handling, low recoil, high capacity. But not great at putting down bad guys at range...
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
The problems pre-date even him....... I can say he inherited a problem and just made it worse.


I'll agree with that assessment. I've never been a fan of the 5.56 MM cartridge either. At least not as a military round. It's a sizzler of a range toy and varmint cartridge however. Today it's become a weapon the military is stuck with. Both politically and financially. With the liberal progressives today, slashing and burning the military wherever possible, it's doubtful we'll be seeing it go away in the near future, that's for sure. It isn't really what anyone wants. It's just the best anyone can do at this point.

A bit like being married to a lousy woman you can't divorce, because she costs too much to get rid of.
 
In fact, when I bought my first MSR, it was a DPMS in 7.62. A more versatile rifle. Still light weight, easy handling and high capacity, but with a bit more recoil and a LOT more round effectiveness...

This one: http://www.dpmsinc.com/AP4-308762_ep_129-1.html

The direct impingement design works fine if you keep it lubricated. A bit of a pain, but the tradeoff for simplicity and light weight.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
In fact, when I bought my first MSR, it was a DPMS in 7.62. A more versatile rifle. Still light weight, easy handling and high capacity, but with a bit more recoil and a LOT more round effectiveness...

This one: http://www.dpmsinc.com/AP4-308762_ep_129-1.html

The direct impingement design works fine if you keep it lubricated. A bit of a pain, but the tradeoff for simplicity and light weight.


I agree. My DPMS AP-4 Carbine is my favorite AR platform rifle. The .308 puts the little .22 to shame.

 
I dont put much stock in YouTube torture test. If you regularly store your guns in buckets of water, sand, or mud, then perhaps you should pay attention. Guns with tighter tolerances will not do good in these test.

The VP9 is a good gun. Someone else mentioned the Steyer guns, which are also good. But the op's Walter P99AS is perhaps the best polymer duty size gun on the market. A fantastic pistol. Buy the VP9 if you want it, but it wont do anything that the Walther cant do.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I dont put much stock in YouTube torture test. If you regularly store your guns in buckets of water, sand, or mud, then perhaps you should pay attention. Guns with tighter tolerances will not do good in these test.

The VP9 is a good gun. Someone else mentioned the Steyer guns, which are also good. But the op's Walter P99AS is perhaps the best polymer duty size gun on the market. A fantastic pistol. Buy the VP9 if you want it, but it wont do anything that the Walther cant do.


I only pay attention to dirt, sand, water tests because lets say you get involved in a struggle with an assailant and the gun gets dropped. It could very easily be in a situation where it falls in some crud or a small puddle of muddy water before getting picked up and fired. So it is in the realm of possibility.

For a home defense gun, well then it isn't applicable.
 
Originally Posted By: Y_K
How about our guys being overrun and killed in Afghanistan in much more recent memory? Well documented by DoD..
Political pressures? That gun is a laughing stock of the world.


Actually, it's being adopted by more and more countries, and beating out all contemporaries.

You are probably walking about Wanat. Many changes have occurred since then, and the M4 is not an LMG, anyway. it would be like calling a Porsche GT3 a POS because it got hung up on a boulder offroading.
 
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