Recently John had an opportunity to go spend a few hours at the range with Scott Ballard to review the H&K VP9 9mm striker-fired pistol. They covered all the details of the gun from the slide to the magazines. They also fired some test shots to get an idea of how it felt, what the sights were like, and what they thought about the ambidextrous magazine release. 

This review was recorded out in the field, so you'll be able to hear gun sounds (ahhhh, the sound of freedom!), wind blowing, and all the fun stuff that make for less-than-ideal recording conditions. 

If you're seriously looking at buying one, you'll definitely want to listen to this VP9 review. 



In addition to this review of the VP9, Daniel did a video review with Funker Tactical that you can check out. 



Host: John McGregor

Co-Host: Scott Ballard

Introduction/Timeline: Stephanie Kimmell

1:54 John and Scott are at the Sig Sauer Academy with Scott Ballard to look at the VP9 by Heckler and Koch. This is going to be of John's first impressions, but Scott's had a little more experience with it. 

2:28 Disclosure, John works for Sig Sauer so any time he is evaluating a firearm from another manufacturer, feel free to take it with a grain of salt. He wants to get some kind of initial impression. He's been shooting it for a few minutes now and thinks he has some valid opinions on it (or will have shortly), but Scott's had a lot of experience with it. 

3:00 Scott says they were evaluating it for some protective security details, and they actually did choose the VP9. It met the needs. That being said, it was a European detail and H&K has a much better following over there. Interpol and  Europol use H&K P30s. That P30 heritage gives the VP9 a boost in that arena because though it's not the same thing, it is a derivative of the H&K P30. In fact, it's actually very close.



The bottom end feels exactly like a P30. The grips, the different grip panels on the side, the backstrap, and mag release are all P30. It even uses P30 magazines. So, transitioning over from the P30 to a striker-fired gun, they did their homework. 

The P30 was traditional double action. They had four different versions. Scott says the one they worked with was the DA/SA with the decocking lever button on the back, left of the hammer. 

When it comes to the slide and stuff like that, quite a bit of the VP9 is exactly the same as the P30. Scott thinks H&K wasn't necessarily trying to reinvent the wheel, they were just trying to get a good striker-fired gun. But remember, they're no strangers to striker-fired polymer. They made polymer guns long before Glock ever did. 
A Close Look at the VP9 Slide
5:27 Aesthetically, the VP9 is a nice looking gun. For John, coming from a background of Sigs, it's definitely different from what he's used to. 


Sights
6:19 According to the H&K website, they worked on the VP9 design for four years. They describe it as having an HK Light Pull trigger. The model John and Scott are using for this review is the civilian version. The sights are different than the version seen in Daniel's video review. He had the VP9 with LE sights. The sights on the civilian version are not tritium, they're day-glow. The rear sight's also more of a straight ramp so it wouldn't be that great for hooking that rear sight on any gear, whereas the LE rear sight has a little bit more of a ridge.

7:23 Scott mentions other sight options. He says that Heinie, Trijicon, Meprolight, and 10-8 Performance all have good sights. For Scott, the glow in the dark part of the sights are like glow in the dark toys. On his guns, he pops them out real quick, no different than if you buy a Glock. The sights have got to go. 

So if Scott was going to carry the VP9, he'd switch the sights out. The nice thing is that they're dove-tailed in and it's a quick change. 
Cocking Striations
8:11 Looking at the slide, it's got cocking striations on the front and back.