VP9 best striker fired 9mm?

[HCM]

I have (2) VP-9's....One has 25,006 flawless rounds and still operating with the original RSA and the other over 3,000 round count. The VP-9 was in R&D for 4.5 years prior to release. That's remarkable and unheard of in today's manufacturing process. HK doesn't BETA test their firearms via releasing to the public and fixing flaws on the fly. Being an HK armorer as well as several other platforms, the VP-9 is in my opinion the best out of the box striker fire pistol produced and I've grown to really appreciate the VP 9 platform. The pivoting striker safety is absolutely ingenious. I could type for awhile on the engineering on this platform. Call someone like a Rick Holm, Robert Burke or James Williamson and ask them these questions. They go into great detail on this platform and it's pure HK German Engineering.

Stop being cheap and change your RSA,

[HCM]

Anyone have any idea why the VP9SK's consistently have better out of the box trigger pulls than the full size VP9 ?

[HALO51]

I agree on most counts. Love HKs. Think the VP9 is quality.

Things I don’t like:

1. I can make the striker fall without pulling the trigger. Just hit it in the right place with a hammer.

2. The slide releases are really over sensitive. I have found this on the P30 as well. They routinely auto forward on mag insertion, and are super sensitive to grip. Perhaps due to their length and or weak mag springs?

While I appreciate the engineering, it does nothing for me as a reliable, durable bullet launcher that a Glock or PPQ doesn’t do just as well.

Enel:

I’m not sure why you said you can make the striker fall without pulling the trigger by beating on it with a hammer? I guarantee you can’t make it go off with a hammer. I’m extremely familiar with this platform being an Armorer since it’s introduction into the market. This firearm was vetted for 4.5 years and has been through so many destructive tests, drop tests etc, too much to type by HK as well as many agencies in the European region. The GSG9 anti terror unit put the VP9 through tremendous tests as well for many months and it passed there criteria and now it’s their issue firearm. I will tell you that you are flat out wrong and it’s irresponsible to purposely utter false statements. Obviously you aren’t familiar with the striker safety on the VP 9, the safety features, how it works, how it can”t be defeated if used as OEM, how the rotating safety swivels as well as other safety features. The rotating safety alone will NOT move I don’t t care how much you beat on it. Please try and educate yourself on the VP9, and then re-enter the conversation.

[BCL]

Enel:

I’m not sure why you said you can make the striker fall without pulling the trigger by beating on it with a hammer? I guarantee you can’t make it go off with a hammer. I’m extremely familiar with this platform being an Armorer since it’s introduction into the market. This firearm was vetted for 4.5 years and has been through so many destructive tests, drop tests etc, too much to type by HK as well as many agencies in the European region. The GSG9 anti terror unit put the VP9 through tremendous tests as well for many months and it passed there criteria and now it’s their issue firearm. I will tell you that you are flat out wrong and it’s irresponsible to purposely utter false statements. Obviously you aren’t familiar with the striker safety on the VP 9, the safety features, how it works, how it can”t be defeated if used as OEM, how the rotating safety swivels as well as other safety features. The rotating safety alone will NOT move I don’t t care how much you beat on it. Please try and educate yourself on the VP9, and then re-enter the conversation.

@Enel tested it on this forum last year, with a Youtube video:
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....l=1#post579013

I dug into a few guns today.

The Sig 320 is really an ingenious design for drop safety. It is completely cocked, and has a pretty short take up. Less than a Glock or VP9.

I did notice that the sear could possibly release with a sharp stroke to the bottom of the gun. I have not tested this with a rubber mallet or anything so it is theoretical.

I tested it simply by pushing down on the striker catch and watching it go down without a trigger pull. The VP9 shares this vulnerability. A Glock or PPQ will not allow the striker catch to descend away from the striker tab without a trigger pull.

Even if the striker catch descended and released the striker on the VP9 or P320, in either case, the firing pin block would catch the firing pin assuming it was working. Perhaps this is how it is safe from such an impact.

I would appreciate anyone who understands the guts of these two pistols better to chime in.

The VP9 does indeed drop the striker. The P320 did not. The striker block caught the striker.



I spent a little time comparing take up on triggers as EL commented about how length of trigger pull can be more important than weight. A Glock and VP9 actually have decently long take up. The P320 is shorter than a PPQ slightly. A LEM trigger is longer, but not hugely more than a VP9. It would be interesting to compare the numbers.

None of the striker guns or the LEM is as easy to -not- shoot as the DA pull on a P226 Legion. Interestingly, none of the striker guns or LEM is as easy -to- shoot as the SA pull of the same Sig. I think I am starting to understand the appeal of TDA for carry.

[JAD]

I don’t care much for striker fired guns with no manual safety or means of controlling the striker. That has kept me from investigating the VP9, which has a lot of other stuff going for it.

[HCountyGuy]

Enel:

I’m not sure why you said you can make the striker fall without pulling the trigger by beating on it with a hammer? I guarantee you can’t make it go off with a hammer. I’m extremely familiar with this platform being an Armorer since it’s introduction into the market. This firearm was vetted for 4.5 years and has been through so many destructive tests, drop tests etc, too much to type by HK as well as many agencies in the European region. The GSG9 anti terror unit put the VP9 through tremendous tests as well for many months and it passed there criteria and now it’s their issue firearm. I will tell you that you are flat out wrong and it’s irresponsible to purposely utter false statements. Obviously you aren’t familiar with the striker safety on the VP 9, the safety features, how it works, how it can”t be defeated if used as OEM, how the rotating safety swivels as well as other safety features. The rotating safety alone will NOT move I don’t t care how much you beat on it. Please try and educate yourself on the VP9, and then re-enter the conversation.

You might ought to look in to the testing Enel has done with video documentation presented to us here on the forum.

Also he never said he was able to get it to “go off”, but rather could cause the striker to fall. The other safeties thus far keep the striker from contacting and igniting the primer, but the problem is that if you were to fall and bump the pistol just right you could have a dead trigger.

You may want to take your own “get educated” advice before coming unglued on someone with verifiable evidence of his claims.

[JBP55]

You might ought to look in to the testing Enel has done with video documentation presented to us here on the forum.

Also he never said he was able to get it to “go off”, but rather could cause the striker to fall. The other safeties thus far keep the striker from contacting and igniting the primer, but the problem is that if you were to fall and bump the pistol just right you could have a dead trigger.

You may want to take your own “get educated” advice before coming unglued on someone with verifiable evidence of his claims.

I would like to see this test done with a magazine in the VP9 and a dummy round in the chamber.

[MGW]

This is a Glock-centric forum so the VP9 doesn’t get much love around here.

It's a fairly Glock-centric world.

[JonInWA]

We've had a couple of comments recently on this thread that I think are worthy of further comment.

First, Pistol-Forum historically has been a straightforward, no-bs type forum, based substantively on empirical experience, and has always eschewed rampant fanboi-ism. Weapons and techniques are objectively measured in under the cold light of actual performance-no how much we, or others might be initially inclined to be predisposed towards a specific pistol, technique,, or piece of kit.

That doesn't mean that there isn't disagreement, but the vast majority of the time it's couched in a professional manner, and objectively supported. Sometimes we may "agree to disagree," but preferably in a professional, collegial manner that keeps the door open for future amicable discourse (and/or evidence).

Second, P-F member Enel performed a major service for the community on his investigation regarding the viability of the safety systems on the HK VP9, and very convincingly laid it out. The unfortunate reality is that manufacturers, for a variety of reasons simply cannot be totally relied upon regarding their assertions of their weapons' capabilities, performances, or safety. Some are more trustworthy on their face than others, but as ToddG and others here have pointed out, none are immune to failures in design, manufacture, quality control, and aftermarket customer support. None.

Third, additionally, it should be noted that manufacturers have been know to quietly change, replace, modify, and/or outsource components during a weapon's production cycle. And when I say "quietly," that means that it not unknown for their field representatives, trainers or national corporate structure in a given country to be kept in the dark-let alone end users and/or using organizations.

Any, and every weapon, technique, piece of kit, etc. will have constraints to their operating parameters. Individually and collectively we can increase in our knowledge so that we can make intelligent choices and selections.

Personally, I like and utilize HK (including an HK VP), Beretta, Glock and Ruger platforms primarily. But that's me, and my choices might be an anathema to others. But for my usage and operating parameters, I'm ok with that-but I always like to remain open-minded towards the informed opinions, experiences and expertise of of others. This forum has been a superb platform for that-and for me personally- and I'd like to see it continue.

Best, Jon

[Sensei]

Bellow is a picture of the M&P mag with rounds lodged together from a bottom view:
Attachment 28060

That is an interesting picture. While I (and many others) have experienced a similar malfunction with the M&P45 using early generation magazine springs, this is the first report that I’ve seen in the M&P9 or 40.