[Kodiak]

Hey guys, I recently picked up a VP9 that supposedly has had one box fired through it. I believe the original owner as it looks mint, with little to no wear. Anyway, I took it out today just to run a couple of mags through it and on two occasions the slide did not go fully forward to chamber the round. The first time was about midway through the mag, the second time was on the last round. It happened both times with Federal American Eagle 115g. with two different mags. It did not do it with Remington BPT 147g, but I only ran a few of those rounds through it. The one that happened in the middle of the mag, I ejected the round and it fed the next one fine.

I have had several semi's and have never had one do anything quite like this. I attached a pic and you can see the round in the chamber with the slide not quite fully closed. The gun looks bad because of some dust and Balistol on it, but the gun is in mint shape. Any thoughts on what it could be?

 

[dEX]

Strip it. Clean it. Lube it. Try again.

 

[Kodiak]

Strip it. Clean it. Lube it. Try again.

Will do, but I had just cleaned and lubed it before I took it out and the very first mag had the problem. Hopefully it's just a minor break in issue and it's not ammo picky. Never had problems with American Eagle in any other handgun. Next time I will take 3 or 4 different types of ammo with me.

 

[Crashmc]

Did you check the OAL of the round ?

 

[Sergiodpk]

Maybe a weak recoil spring.

 

[Kodiak]

Did you check the OAL of the round ?

I did not, in fact didn't even think about it. But now that I think about it, it was the same round that did it both times. When it happened the first time, I ejected the round and it looked fine. So, I loaded it first into the 2nd mag, which is why the 2nd mag had the last round do the same thing. Doh! I hadn't even thought of that until just now. Hopefully it was just one faulty round. But I did end up shooting it after putting it back in the mag by itself and firing it. I have no way of measuring it now and since it did fire normally, I have to assume the OAL was ok.

 

[HKMatt365]

The rounds that did not feed, measure the diameter with a micrometer and see if the casing is bulged oversized or something. I mention this as you say one brand of ammo worked fine

 

[Kodiak]

The rounds that did not feed, measure the diameter with a micrometer and see if the casing is bulged oversized or something. I mention this as you say one brand of ammo worked fine

Like I said above, the round that malfunctioned previously, worked fine when fired from a mag by itself. I will try and get out again soon with different types of ammo and see if it does it again.

 

[BlueMule]

I had several of this same malfunction using Freedom Munitions 9mm reloads in a brand new VP9 with brand new VP9/P30 15rd mags two weeks ago. Happened 4-5 times I believe. The same 4-5 rounds would not allow the slide to fully go into battery whether loaded in a mag with other rounds and cycled during fire or dropped into the chamber manually. I attributed it to bulging cases as the 4-5 rounds were from a large lot or reloads I had purchased at once. No measurements were taken. I have not had the issue repeat with brand new ammo.

It might be a factor of the VP9 barrel having tighter tolerances?

 

[VictorPapa9]

My VP9 seems to have less resistance than my CZ 75, when it comes to initially pulling the slide back. It is quite a bit easier to get that first 1/4 inch of travel from the HK. This would translate into less pressure on the slide when closing on a round. If your pistol doesn't fully close on another round, you might try pushing on the rear of the slide, noting how much pressure it takes to get it to go into battery. It seems like your issue could be, a too long cartridge (OAL), or a bulged (oversized) case, or a weakened recoil spring. Let us know what you find out next trip to the range.

BTW I have the LE version also
I like the Talon's

 

[Kodiak]

My VP9 seems to have less resistance than my CZ 75, when it comes to initially pulling the slide back. It is quite a bit easier to get that first 1/4 inch of travel from the HK. This would translate into less pressure on the slide when closing on a round. If your pistol doesn't fully close on another round, you might try pushing on the rear of the slide, noting how much pressure it takes to get it to go into battery. It seems like your issue could be, a too long cartridge (OAL), or a bulged (oversized) case, or a weakened recoil spring. Let us know what you find out next trip to the range.

BTW I have the LE version also
I like the Talon's

If it happens again, I will try pushing the slide ahead. I pulled the slide back several times on my PPQ and it seems it may be a bit stiffer in pressure. My G19 seems to be close to the VP9. Of course that's not a very scientific form of measurement. I also have a P30, but being hammer fired, not sure if the spring pressures would be the same or not.

Anyway, I'm sure it's fine and hopefully was just a fluke. Yep, I love Talons and have them on just about everything.

 

[PC7]

It is the lower power 115gr that is the culpert. As you said, it did not occur with 147gr.
It is the new recoil spring with the weaker 115gr that is likely not letting the slide go fully to the rear.
Try 150 rounds of 147gr or 124gr NATO. Also, the Speer Lawman 115gr is pretty hot.

 

[murphy12]

I took my brand-new VP9 to the range today, after a thorough clean and lube. It ran 124gr factory loads flawlessly, but balked at my 115gr reloads. As it turns out, the new guns have stronger recoil springs. Based on the failures I experienced, I surmised that the lighter load was not fully cycling the slide. My first(2-yr-old) VP9 has no problem w/ 115gr ammo. For whatever reason, H&K changed the recoil spring spec, it seems. NBD, as I've no doubt that the gun can easily handle the stronger stuff.

 

[iwasrunningbear]

I would invest in a box of really quality carry type Ammo., and see how your new to you HK VP9 works using this Ammo.

 

[WolfieRules]

None of my 4 VP9s have issues, even when new out of the box, with quality (aka New, Major OEM) 115g ammo. Maybe springs are stiffer in newer ones?

I don't shoot reloads, as can usually find new ammo for only fractionally more than reloads.

Between all my VP9s, I've had all of 5 FTRB, and that was due to few rounds on out of spec Winchester Nato Q4318.....cummulative round count 18K and rising......so 5/18K is less than 0.3 percent failure rate.

Keep using the 'good' ammo and should be fine.

 

[Josefius]

I shoot 115 grain with my VP9, haven't had this happen. I also shoot 124 grain (which I prefer). I'm picky with ammunition brands, I shoot mainly Aguilla, Federal and Winchester, and only brass. No reloads.

Sent from my Nexus 5X

 

[murphy12]

Update to my previous post:
As it turns out, the 115 reload I'd been using clocked in at nearly subsonic levels. We increased the charge by 0.3 gr, and reduced the OAL by about 40 thousandths. This load ran like a champ, and was a bit more accurate as well.
As I mentioned above, factory loads ran just fine.