HK's Americanized VP9-B

The two thugs yanked their captive roughly to his feet, a black hood over his head and his hands secured with a zip tie. Any normal man would have panicked, but this was no normal man. James Bond willed himself to remain calm. His heart rate remained in the low 60s. Underneath the hood he smiled thinly.

They paused outside the vehicle and Bond sensed the henchmen on either side through the hood. With a sudden twist of his wrists he brought the edges of his restraints in contact and popped them loose. He pivoted sideways and wrenched the gun out of his assailant’s hands by feel, snapping off two quick rounds into each operative at contact range.

Tearing away the hood he glanced at the liberated pistol. It was a superb Heckler & Koch VP9. It was obvious SPECTRE was employing a higher grade of scum.

Little Become Big

No matter how far advanced we become as a species we all remain tribal creatures at heart. My dad can beat up your dad, Fords are cooler than Chevys, and the United States of Freedom-Loving America sets the unrivalled standard for awesome the world over. In keeping with this immutable mantra certain mechanical attributes of the combat handgun seem to be irrevocably associated with our particularly American brand of gunfighting.

The details all spawn from John Moses Brown ing’s timeless American icon, the 1911. The VP’s grip to frame angle approximates that of Mr. Browning’s centenarian wonder. Gaston Glock’s eponymous plastic pistol, by contrast, reflects more the geometry of Georg Luger’s P08 Parabellum. For those of us raised on the 1911 the VP9 just feels more right.

The magazine release on the 1911 is a handy push button sitting underneath the thumb when shooting right-handed. The Walther P99 and P22 as well as the HK USP and P30-series handguns all sport a nicely ambidextrous bilateral pivoting lever, as did the original VP9 and VP40 series. However, that’s just not really the way we do it over here on this side of the pond. As a result, the new VP9-B offers a 1911-style magazine release for those of us who just cannot bring ourselves to assimilate.

Better’s Now Better

The Heckler & Koch VP9-B pistol represents HK’s latest effort to further optimize what I believe is already the most optimized combat handgun in the world. The basic VP9 chassis includes six interchangeable grip sideplates along with three backstraps. There are also the niftiest little polymer charging supports on the back of the slide to make jacking the slide much easier. Clearly this is a solid, customizable design.

With the more familiar American-style reversible push button, HK has fine-tuned their already superb design to produce the ideal modern combat handgun. Combine all this with an ergonomic chassis and outstanding striker-fired trigger, and the end result does indeed flirt with perfection.

Details

The VP9-B push button magazine release is just that, a button that drops the magazine. However, the button is easily reversible by anyone with even the most rudimentary mechanical proclivities. It is also nicely stippled with the same sort of grippy pattern defining the rest of the frame. Stroking the magazine release naturally drops the empty magazine away freely and instantly.

HK calls them touch points. These are the particular aspects of a handgun’s geometry interfacing directly with your sensitive flesh. It’s in the nuances of this interface which muscle memory develops with practice and allows you to run your gun quickly, intuitively and effectively, even in the dark. For the sticklers among us the American-style push button really does complete the total package. The VP9-B pays homage to the institutional adoration we all seem to have for the 1911 while offering the modest weight, reliability and magazine capacity we have come to expect of Information Age combat handguns.

Denouement

Let there be truth among us — my home defense VP9 has the old lever magazine release. I prefer the new pushbutton, but not enough to bin my old standby and start over from scratch. However, if you’re looking for the perfect polymer-framed Information Age combat handgun with which to arm a corn-fed American shooter you’d be hard pressed to find anything better.

The HK VP9-B is a bit spendier than its sundry competition at the local gun emporium, but it also brings just a little bit more to the table. HK arms Delta Force, the British SAS, DevGru and James Bond. Love ’em or hate ’em, Heckler and Koch is the go-to mob when the finest shooters in the world need firepower. If you’re serious enough about your craft to assess touch points and covet perfection, the new HK VP9-B will get you there.

For more info: www.hk-usa.com, Ph: (706) 568-1906

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