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H&K Newbie, Just inherited this...

3K views 19 replies 15 participants last post by  Green57 
#1 ·
Hello new friends, I just inherited this .45 and was able to fire it once before everything got FUBAR. Well, not everything, but when I was trying to reload the magazine, it just sort of popped and the dang thing flew everywhere. I have left a spring and a magazine casing. The pistol fired beautifully and didn't jam or anything. But, now I can't seem to find either a replacement magazine or all of the parts that I need to rebuild this current magazine. I don't really know which is the best route to take, either, since the magazines seems to be at a premium for the prices I am seeing online. Anyway, the pistol belonged to my grandfather. I never knew he even had it. Regarding the pistol itself, I am doing my own research on the history of it, trying to find age, and where he might have picked it up, because he was a Korean War & Vietnam vet. But, he never went to Germany or anything. I apologize for my ignorance, but the H&K brand was just nothing I ever pursued. The fact that when I fired this pistol it was so amazingly straight and smooth, I was overwhelmingly impressed. My go to's have been another German brand & an American one that have always done me just fine. But, this .45 was so dang accurate I couldn't help but get a little zealous for what I sort of fell into. Hence, I joined this site. That said, I now want to be sure I can get this thing back in working order and ready to fire again, ASAP. So, here are my questions,
1) Should I replace or rebuild the magazine? 1a) Is one much more expensive to do than the other?
2) Does the "made in Germany" refer to a specific part, or just the brand? Or was this particular pistol actually made in Germany?
3) How old is this pistol? How can I find out?
4) Sincerely not going to sell this pistol, but is it ok to ask what the approximate value might be? Thanks.
Gun Firearm Trigger Starting pistol Gun accessory
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Firearm Gun Trigger Gun accessory Starting pistol
Gun Firearm Trigger Gun accessory Starting pistol
 

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#2 · (Edited)
It looks like a couple of parts flew off from the magazine (parts #3 and #5 from the diagram below).

1. Follower (210312)
2. Spring Support (210313)

Don't replace the mag. It's very expensive (around $100). Rebuild it if you can find the parts. Keep googling for the parts. But if you want to buy a new mag.

Date code is HH - That means 1977. See the codes here.

Gun is all German.

You can't ask for value in the public forum but you can in the paid Premium Member's forum, which you are a member of. Post it there.

I assume you would want something to read?

P9S Armorer's Manual


 
#8 ·
Lucky man! The .45acp version of the P9 was produced in fewer numbers than the original 9mm version. I have one in .45acp, it shoots like a dream, as you’ve already discovered. @Blitzkrieg mentioned Numrich Arms, that was where I bought extra recoil buffers for mine. With that in mind, they might have the magazine parts you need.

Magazines are hard to find, and expensive, I suspect due to the overall low numbers of .45acp versions of the handgun that were produced.

Good luck
 
#10 ·
Thanks for all the data and solid input, my new friends. I truly appreciate your efforts and believe I will have a working magazine by the end of this week, because of all of the places you've given me to look. Unless I cannot actually put the thing together, I expect to be firing this baby again very soon. BTW, Leperchuan0311, perhaps I am not trusting enough, but the idea of actually sending a weapon to anyone on a board seems a bit odd to me. Maybe it's my own experience living in Cali, or retiring from the Army, but, I don't let anyone else handle my weapons if I can't at least shake their hand. I appreciate the good-faith recommendation, just not my thing. Maybe I need a bit more schooling on the whole shipping of firearms etc. And in case any of you were wondering, I got both parts I needed from the brownell site to which toosixy sent a link. You are all awesome and I feel very welcomed already. Take care y'all. I will get back to you when the project is complete for sure. And perhaps there will be some additional things on the way that will have me posting. For now, there is so much good reading on this site, I will be busy enough just gathering info.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Hang out here long enough and you will figure out who he is and why he was recommended. Guys send hime pistols worth considerably more than yours all the time for work and reconditioning. I however do understand your reservations. Welcome to the site.
 
#14 ·
Rest assured, Marine003 is safe to send your P9 to. He will give it a complete work-up, and return it to you in like factory new condition. James also works for Zenith Firearms as their roller-lock armorer.
 
#15 ·
... and maybe it is worth mentioning (and confidence-building) that marine0303 is ‘retired’ military as well (Major USMC - if memory serves me right). But I understand OPs reservations, better safe than sorry.

For more info: teufelshundtactical.com
And have a look at the third pic on the ‘About’ page ;-)
 
#18 ·
Send it to James (Marine 0303). He is honest and works on these pistols quite frequently. He worked on one of my m8s and also on a P9S and does outstanding work. Since HK will not service this pistol (p9s) anymore, James is my go to guy for any repairs. I would send your P9s to have it thoroughly gone over and have the buffer replaced before you shoot it again so you do not have any more problems. Just my two cents.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Welcome, you have an heirloom that you have inherited - make sure you treat it right!

The P9s has a very brittle plastic buffer, that if not replaced can severely damage your inheritance. That’s an expensive firearm you have there, even shooting it the first time was a bit premature without having it checked out.

I would strongly recommend sending it to Marine0303, James is THE only armorer I would trust in the entire US to work on these. He has serviced a couple of my P9s pistols before, service was fast, reliable, and perfect.

HK’s aren’t cheap, and older ones even more so. Treat this one with care, it’s a mighty expensive collector’s piece at this point.
 
#20 · (Edited)
CDGmgPreacher,

You have received a lot of good advice that should be heeded, especially about having the recoil buffer replaced. If, after you read about how to replace the buffer in the armorer's manual and you decide its a task you can't or don't want to perform, send the Pistol to marine0303 to have him service the buffer. If you want to give it a try, ensure you have a proper set of gun smithing screw drivers and a way to firmly hold the pistol as you turn the screws. Needless to say but I'll say it anyway, buggered up screw heads from trying to use normal screw drivers, or a scratch from a slip will devalue your pistol.

If you continue to fire your P9S with a bad buffer you run the risk of damaging or worse, breaking your buffer housing. the 45. buffer housing is not as strong as the 9mm and can't take the same amount of abuse. The last time I looked, the buffer housing for the .45 was getting hard to find and rather expensive.

Now, that being said, P9S magazines don't just pop apart. You need to find the root cause of why this happened to your magazine in the first place. There were two versions of the .45 P9s mag (I'll try and post some picts when I get home) during the production of the P9S. The first version had a problem with the mag cracking on the back at the root of the feed lips. This sounds like what might be wrong with your magazine. If the spring tension overrides the tension on the feed lips to keep the rounds in the mag, the feed lips will spread and allow the rounds and follower to pop out of the mag. Does that sound like a familiar scenario?

Inspect the back of your magazine, look at the back at the base of the feed lips where they make the ninety degree bend from the back to the side of the mag. They usually crack on both left and right sides. Let us know what you find.

You might need a new magazine if yours is cracked. One of the micro welders might be able to weld the cracks. The service life of the mag will be extended depending on the quality of the job. But it would be hard to say for how long.

G57
 
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