Best personal defense ammunition for a VP9?

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GamestopDorito

New member
I love the VP9, particularly the trigger and grip. My experience with the VP9 has been that it's a straight shooter and reliable but can be a little finicky with the ammunition used. Because it's a picky eater, I wondered what others who rely on the VP9 for home defense might feed it.

Specifically, has anyone had any issues with nickel plated like Hornady Critical Defense? Should I just stick to brass hollow points?
 
Define "finicky." What type of ammo is causing problems?

I would expect a properly-maintained VP9 to run reliably using any new commercially-available ammo. If not, I think I'd be sending it back to HK.
 
HK has already admitted this gun was not designed for serious duty use. It is a range and competition gun. Sell it and get a P30.
 
Try HST, Gold Dots, Golden Sabers, Critical Defense, Critical Duty.

If it can't digest one of those reliably, your gun has problems.
 
...but can be a little finicky with the ammunition used
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A lot of VP9’s have the same problem, call HK customer support and tell them you need an RMA to return this firearm for repair.
 
To his point, I remember back when I was a more active member of the HKpro forum that there were a number of people that reported issues with feeding for 45ACP Hornady ammo in the HK45 However, I don't remember of any issues with the 9mm Hornday. A quick Google search does show a number of threads for the 45ACP.

I've never been a particular fan of Hornady. I can generally find Federal HST and Speer Gold Dot for cheaper and in the comparisons I've seen Hornady, Critical Duty or Defense, doesn't perform notably better. I generally stick to HST or Gold Dot. The Lucky Gunner ammo test is a good resource in that it's a consistent testing method for the data they have, which is what you want for the sake of comparison. https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/. All of that said, the big test is what will run reliably in your firearm. Regardless of mass production and what should be interchangeable parts, always test the defense ammo you choose with your firearm before putting it in active rotation.

HK has already admitted this gun was not designed for serious duty use. It is a range and competition gun. Sell it and get a P30
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Please stop. Your constant use of satire without the ability to make it clear that what you're saying is satire really does no one any favors, especially when it's a new member looking for honest information. If it's an attempt at comedy the delivery is terrible. You've done this multiple times in the past and it didn't work then (ala the M9/92 series of pistols, the M17, etc.).
 
Thanks guys! I don't think my gun has issues, it just didn't like the 124 grain aluminum I tried on it. Had three failure to feed between two magazines. No other failures on any brass I've put through it. And I've read that the VP9 hates steel jacketed so I wouldn't put it in my gun.

I realize the VP9 has a mixed reputation and I'm a bit of a newbie. I like the gun. Just want a mag I can tuck in my safe next to the gun and feel confident so I figured I'd poll more experienced owners. I'll give the critical defense a try and some regular hollowpoints!
 
Model12Win said:
HK has already admitted this gun was not designed for serious duty use. It is a range and competition gun. Sell it and get a P30.
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Baloney! Can you provide a source for such information from HK? HK has closed on some large contracts in Europe for the VP9 but is is called a different name over there that escapes me at the moment.
 
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The VP9 is known to not like low powered ammo for the first couple hundred rounds. Ammo like Blazer, UMC,and Federal Champion. After a few hundred rounds even those will work fine.

Pretty much all quality self defense ammo is loaded considerably stouter. For specific recommendations any Federal HST and Speer Gold dot would be fine. My SD ammo of choice is HST 147 +P for my VP9 and other pistols.
 
1st aluminum cases ammo is usually very cheap and very low powered. Many guns don’t like aluminum cased ammo. Work in your VP9 with a box or 4 of 124 grain NATO or 147 grain stuff or any hotter or heavier ammo. Make sure it is clean and well lubed. After that it should run most any decent ammo.

2nd defensive ammo needs to run in your gun and the fact is even the best ammo may not run in the best gun. You need to try 50 or 100 rounds to make sure it runs fine. I don’t think you need to run thousands of rounds to be sure but make sure you shoot one handed, load the mag fully and top off etc. to give it a decent test. Run it in multiple magazines as well.

3rd HST, Gold Dot, Golden Sabre, PDX, Ranger etc. any and all are top tier defensive ammo pick one or more and give a test. NONE are wunderbullets that will bring with it the hand of God.

4th Didn’t the German National police just accept the SFP9 (VP9 by another name)? Must be good enough for them. Just sayin’.

5th I don’t like the VP9 and much prefer the P30.....full disclosure and all that. :).
 
Baloney! Can you provide a source for such information from HK? HK has closed on some large contracts in Europe for the VP9 but is is called a different name over there that escapes me at the moment.
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If you do a search, you'll realize that this person's posts are largely trolls, with very little content of substance.

Which is a shame, since many people come to this forum looking for honest and important information relating to self defense and firearms, both of which are serious topics.
 
Hadn't put any SD ammo through the gun when I posted the thread. Just thought it was a little picky with the aluminum and of course steel and wanted to narrow my choices based on other recommendations. Specifically, I'd been recommended that Hornady Critical Defense and wanted to know if the nickel-plating on the brass caused any issues. Sorry if I wasn't totally clear. I have never had a problem with regular brass and I've got a bunch of regular brass hollow points to fall back on.
 
Nickel plated brass should be fine. The problem with aluminum and steel ammunition, besides the often weaker powder charges, is that those materials expand differently than brass and have different hardness levels than brass. That all factors into the extraction and eventual ejection of spent cases.

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OP, try as many brands and types as your budget allows and go with whatever one functions 100% and shoots where you want it to go; hollowpoint, FMJ, whatever works best is what you need to use.
 
Nickel also tends to be slicker so you should be fine assuming your gun likes that ammo.

Steel and aluminum ammo tend to be bottom of the barrel stuff generally speaking.

A steel case anecdote, I ran some .357 Magnum steel cased through a revolver and damn near had to hammer the cases out of the cylinder. It just expands and sticks.
 
GamestopDorito said:
Hadn't put any SD ammo through the gun when I posted the thread. Just thought it was a little picky with the aluminum and of course steel and wanted to narrow my choices based on other recommendations. Specifically, I'd been recommended that Hornady Critical Defense and wanted to know if the nickel-plating on the brass caused any issues. Sorry if I wasn't totally clear. I have never had a problem with regular brass and I've got a bunch of regular brass hollow points to fall back on.
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How does it run with basic, brass-cased practice ammo? WWB or Blazer Brass, things like that? Does it seem particular as between bullet weights?
 
My VP9 eats up anything I put in it. I have about 1000+\- rds through it and it has been flawless. Actually the least likely gun I own to malfunction.
 
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