New Pistol...slight concern...advice

[BlinkingDuck]

Second post here and new pistol shooter. I decided on getting the H&K vp9. Something about the pistol and I ...just get along. I shoot well with it that more than a few people look at me skeptically when I say I am very, very new to shooting.

Anyway question on new pistol.

It seems to have some issues loading the ammo correctly in the chamber. I.e. it jams with the bullet not in the chamber. This happened several times in 60 shots. In addition, more rarely but happened 3 times in 60 shots it didn't eject the shell correctly and the slider 'caught it' when it was ejected.

The helpful people at the gun club (who also sell the pistol) told me what I suspected...that it is likely that the gun is new and so 'stiff' and the problems will go away after fired a bit. Another gentleman said that I should give it a good cleaning because when they send the gun out new they can tend to overdo the storage of it to prevent rusting and such when it is being transported and sitting on the shelf waiting to be bought.

My question to you all is...it seems reasonable...is it? Also, any advice is appreciated. Remember I am brand new so assume I am Sgt Schulz/John Snow and know nothing.

The pistol shot well though. Very well much like the test pistol I used when trying out pistols to see which one I liked. The guys at the gun club say I shoot very well for a beginner and I don't think they are being 'nice' because I get to see the people in the lanes next to me shooting

[WobblyPossum]

What ammunition were you shooting? HKs generally do better with higher velocity ammo such as NATO spec 9mm compared to lightly loaded bulk ammo. I’ve seen multiple reports of HKs needed a good break in before they were reliable with softly loaded ammo.

[LittleLebowski]

Try different ammo with a differing bullet weight.

[BehindBlueI's]

Semi-autos need proper lubrication to run reliably. Have you lubed it using a quality lubricant and hitting the lube points the manual tells you to?

[03RN]

Actually the gun range advice seems pretty good.

The preservative guns get shipped in is not always a lubricant.

Clean it good and re oil.

After that you shouldn't really need to clean it as well. Just oil the moving bits.

[lwt16]

My son’s VP9 on our first range session had a few stovepipe malfunctions. Once I switched him over to hotter 124 grain ammo, the issues went away.

Regards.

[Oldherkpilot]

HK advises not to use aluminum cased ammo, at least for the P30 and P2000. If you were shooting that stuff, try brass cased ammo.

[BlinkingDuck]

YES!

After about 400 rounds...I just came back from shooting 5 clips.

Not a single jam

Basically doing what you and others said...clean it, use higher grain ammo, oil it etc.

[Spartan1980]

To give you some contrast I have a VP9 and a couple of P30s. Also a brace of M&Ps and Glocks in the safe. I used to shoot a USPSA match or two every weekend and load my ammo to just above minor power factor. This load has run in every gun I've tried it in and friends guns too when they needed a few rounds at a match. Quite a few examples there.

My HKs mostly run it but not one of them will not lock the slide on empty. As mentioned they are simply not meant to run on wimpy ammo. I'd expect after breakin of a few hundred rounds they would run anything 124 grains and above at standard pressure and any ammo a +P or +P+ pressure. I don't have a lot of rounds through my HKs but have shot them all enough to get an idea about them and that's my impression. I've never had an issue with them that wasn't caused by me messing around with the ammo I'm feeding them being gamer loads or cheap bulk 115s. They are my "hell or high water" guns and they are stoked with Ranger 127 +P+ ammo. I have over a case and they like that just fine. When it's gone I'll switch to Gold Dot +P for them.

[ECK]

YES!

After about 400 rounds...I just came back from shooting 5 clips.

Not a single jam

Basically doing what you and others said...clean it, use higher grain ammo, oil it etc.

Probably just needed to be cleaned to remove the packing grease they shipped it in, and maybe even a little break in.

Once past the initial cleaning, I clean infrequently but lube often. As in shoot 3 matches a month plus one or two live fire practice sessions, and only take the slide off to clean at the end of the month or if I shot in the rain. But I lube every time I go to the range.

Oh, and for most semi-auto pistols it’s “magazines” not clips (unless you’re shooting a M1 Garand).