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Impulse buy with range review (HK VP9)

5K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  bunk22 
#1 ·
I was at the gun shop yesterday looking at a gen 4 glock 19 for my buddy who is looking to buy his first gun. Its a small gun shop about a mile and half from where I live. The owner is the only dude who works there and he has the lowest prices around. I go there about once a week to fondle some guns.

I have never really been interested in HKs as I prefer striker fired pistols. Well, the guy handed me the HK VP9 and all I could say was Wow this feels great in my hand. Then I dry fired it... WOW, it has the best trigger of any striker fired gun I have ever shot or dry fired. The trigger has very little creep, a very crisp break, and my favorite thing is the trigger does not break super far back like a lot of striker fire guns. I have very long fingers so having the trigger break earlier was great. Also, I liked that the sights glow in the dark (even though they have to be charged by light and may not be glowing when you need them). I still believe they are better than standard sights but not as good as true night sights.

The guy was asking 640 for it. I offered him 600 cash (OTD) and he agreed. I went shooting yesterday and today. I put 100 rounds of wolf ammo through it yesterday, 50 rounds of wolf ammo today, and 60 rounds of federal ammo today. Below are the pros and cons IMO:

Pros-
1. The trigger and grip felt great when shooting. the ability to change up the backstraps @ side panels really changes the feel of the gun. Most other guns I have handled with interchangeable backstraps all kinda sucked (not the gun the backstraps) you get the medium size which feels regular, the large side which creates a huge freaking hump in an awkward place on your hand, or the small which is like completely flat and just feels weird.

2. The gun is extremely easy to shoot accurately. I shot it noticeably better than my glock 36 and glock 30. I shot it a bit better than my xdm 45c as well.

3. Follow up shots were fast and accurate. The gun begs to be shot fast!

4. the gun is completely ambidextrous (Im a southpaw). It has a slide release on both sides and the paddle mag release can be used from either side. I have read that it was designed to be used by the trigger finger, but I have no problem reaching it with my thumb. I actually really like the paddle mag release.

Cons-

1. The slide failed to lock back 3 times (or maybe just 2). Every time i think it was with the same mag, but I may have just had pressure on the side release.

2. I had a total of 7 failures to eject! 5 the first day and 2 the second day. A quick search showed that Wolf ammo has a history of FTE among many different kinds of firearms (both pistol and rifles) due to the steel casing and coating on the cases. I also believe the cases expanded more than most do after being fired. They were all extremely difficult to hand rack the slide to eject the shell. Regardless, it did not install confidence in the firearm for me.

3. The VP9 only holds 15 rounds in the mag, which is the same as the glock 19 which is significantly shorter. the VP9 is almost the exact size of a glock 17 which holds 17 in the mag. To me, this is not a big deal at all.

4. Kinda big for CCW but doable. I have been wearing it around the apt today in my hidden hybrid holster for my glock 30s. its not to terrible but prints more when moving around (kneeling down, kneeling over, etc). Regardless, I probably will not be carrying this weapon as my glock 36, XDM 45c, and glock 30s has me covered for pretty much any situation.


A few random observations.

1. I hate the finger grooves on the glock 19. My fingers do not align with the groves and they end up on the hump part of the grip.
2. The difference between the 45 recoil and 9mm is noticeable but not extremely different. I have shot lots of 9mm but its usually just my friends so I only put 5-10 rounds through it during a range session. The 9mm seems to have close to the same muzzle flip as the 45 but the 45 also has more push straight back... I dont know its kinda hard to explain. I was able to shoot follow up shots faster with the VP9 than my 45s.


The verdict- I really love the VP9! Its a great hand gun with a great grip and trigger.

I was planning to post a couple target pics, pic of were the trigger breaks at, pic of the sights glowing, and a pic of the gun but I am having issues uploading the pics. I will try again later.
 
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#9 ·
Here is 5 rounds from today. The target is 3inch across. I was shootin at a pretty good pace but def not rapid fire. The miss up and to the left was from when I was shootin earlier . I was trying to transition between the 2 small targets and the head. I tried to put one round in each. I missed both the small targets.
 

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#10 ·
Congrats on a great purchase. I love my VP9 however I picked up a P30L yesterday and for now it is my new fave. I love the LEM trigger.

But for striker fired none better than the VP9! And yes with the HKs I have to watch resting my thumb or the slide will fail to lock back when empty.
 
#11 ·
Congrats on a great purchase. I love my VP9 however I picked up a P30L yesterday and for now it is my new fave. I love the LEM trigger.

But for striker fired none better than the VP9! And yes with the HKs I have to watch resting my thumb or the slide will fail to lock back when empty.
How does the lem trigger compare to the striker fired trigger of the vp9?
 
#12 ·
It's a totally different system. The VP9 is striker fired like Glocks, M&Ps, XDMs etc. The P30L has a hammer based system.

The LEM is DA. If the hammer is not cocked (you can't visually tell with the V1) it is a very heavy DA pull. Cocked it is a very light long pull until you hit resistance and then it is a very light almost SA pull.

It's hard to describe and not for everyone...I just happen to love it. I'll see if I can find the vid which really explains it
 
#18 ·
Congrats! I really like the VP9 a lot. I wish mags were cheaper and more readily available. I'm just glad mine came with 3.
 
#25 ·
Congrats on your new HK VP9. I think the gun itself is very impressive. HK's customer service, however, not impressive at all from what I've been hearing. And no matter how well crafted something is, even an HK, there's always a chance that it may need to be sent in for repair. No matter how small that chance is, I don't believe it should ever be over-looked. And that's the part that has been holding me back from getting a VP9 so far. I don't like the idea of a gun being tied-up for months until it gets the service it may need.
 
#28 ·
OP: Have you handled or fired the Walther PPQ? THAT has THE best trigger in a striker fired polymer pistol I have ever fired.

That being said, I also have the VP9 and like it. But the PPQ is just a tad better to me.
I have handled and dry fired the PPQ. The PPQ's trigger has a better break but I really like that the VP9's trigger does not break all the way back. The trigger not having to be pulled all the way back is really feels great.
 
#29 ·
Congrats, great gun IMO. I have a VP9, PPQ 5" and the HK P30SK V1....all have great triggers but slightly different. I think the break on the PPQ is crisper, lighter than the VP9 but lots of take-up on it. Short reset on both and one really has to like the V1 Light LEM but I'm a big fan of it. Can't go wrong with any of them.

 
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