HK CC9 Review

The HK CC9, let’s check it out.

 

HK, they are known for their high quality. You know, they just make really solid firearms, and really known for their extreme testing on their guns.

And whether it’s the MP5, the USP, the VP9, the P30, there’s a ton of different options. But one thing that they have lacked is offering a very concealable Micro 9 pistol. So out comes the CC9.

Now guys, I’ve been waiting for HK to produce something for a while, and actually these guns have been under testing for over seven years. Now this is HK’s first American designed, American made, and made for American shooters. And this has gone through all the NATO testing and above.

I mean, they have really put the CC9 through the ringer. Now this is not a tiny Micro 9, it’s a little bit larger. But one of the things that HK was trying to achieve is to make a gun that was very small and compact, but yet very shootable.

One of the things about having a pistol that’s too small is you lose your confidence. Having a good size pistol that you have control over can be the difference between life and death. But having a very small handgun to be able to conceal easily and live with is important as well.

So we’re going to take a look at the CC9. There are a lot of cool features about this handgun. And again, I have been waiting on this one for a long time.

And it’s great to see HK come out of the gate swinging. And I want to give HK a big thank you for sending the CC9 for this review. Guys, when it comes to concealed carry, you need to definitely have something that you can depend on.

Alright guys, the HK CC9. This is, again, HK’s offering to the concealed carry market to really address the Micro 9s. And this is their first designed, developed, and U.S. made handgun.

And it was actually designed for the U.S. market for concealed carry. Now I’ve been, again, waiting on this for a long time. I knew that HK sooner or later would introduce this gun.

I didn’t know that it would take this long. But honestly, with all the testing that’s gone through this handgun, this is going to be a very reliable and honestly battle-worthy type firearm. But in a very small package.

So first thing let’s do is drop our 10 round magazine. And we also have a 12 round magazine that comes with the gun. Just gives you a little bit of an extension.

Check the chamber and the gun’s empty. Now, one of the first things about this handgun is just the finish. It is extremely well executed.

The DLC coating is matte finish, but it’s very well done. Which you expect from HK. Forward cocking serrations, of course.

And you have your rear cocking serrations. Really easy to bring back. And of course, for press checks, really easy to do.

It is optics ready, right out of the box. This fits your Shield RMSC footprint. So you can direct mount this.

You don’t have to worry about the plates and all that. But you are limited to the most popular footprint for the Micro Red Dots. It does have an optics rail.

And that is going to be something that a lot of the little Micro 9s do not have. The polymer frame, very well executed. I mean, it’s just what I expected.

Definitely good texturing. Not super aggressive, especially on the side panels. But here on the back, has more of some kind of squiggly lines right here.

But it gives you a nice design. And you can switch this out for a larger option. Now, one of the things about this handgun, is it is made not only just as a smaller pistol for concealed carry.

But it’s made to be the right size to be shootable. And that was one of the things that was very important to the H&K philosophy while designing this handgun. Is not only is it a smaller handgun, but it shoots more like a full-size firearm.

And a lot of that has to do with length of pull. From here, the web of your hand, to your finger. And the one thing is, you want to make sure that it is in that right position.

The problem is, with a lot of Micro 9s, is that you end up putting your whole finger through here if you’re not careful. So this gives you more of a shootable handgun. But if you have larger hands, you can include the larger backstrap.

And it’ll give you a little bit more length of pull here from your finger to the web of your hand. There is some slight finger grooves. They’re very minimal.

And there is a nice undercut. Just to allow you to get your hand up fairly high for just shooting. Which helps with the recoil mitigation.

The Borax is a touch high, but similar to a lot of others. And we’re going to do some comparison. In fact, we have some different guns we’re going to compare to, to see the size.

Because this is not just your smallest little Micro 9 type pistol. And one of the things that I’ve kind of been leading myself to more is really looking for something that is very shootable in a self-defense situation. But yet is very concealable.

Ample trigger guard. It’s nice for gloved hands. And of course, we have our blade safety.

There’s striker safety. And then there are other safeties that are built into this. The testing on this, again, has been over the top.

In fact, freeze testing, sand testing, and dust, mud testing. All the same testing that goes through your standard NATO firearms. Which are for combat.

In fact, HK says this is the most tested handgun that HK has ever produced. The barrel is 3.32 inches or three and a third inches in length. It is cold hammer forged and what they call their cannon grade steel.

These barrels are made to withstand whatever. In fact, they’ve tested a lot of block board testing. Like if you have a squib, something that’s obstruction that’s in the bore.

And they shot a lot of rounds through here. This is rated for plus P for your nine millimeter as well. But the grip is just a touch longer, again, than your standard micro nines.

So it gives you a nice full grip. But with the 12 round magazine, you get a little bit of an extra lip. And it’s not really that much difference.

I mean, it definitely feels incredible in your hand. So as you’re shooting, it gives you more confidence. If you have to draw this in a self-defense situation, you’re just going to have more confidence.

Then some of the really smaller micro nine type pistols. Now we want to start out with the one that kind of started it all. And that’s the SIG P365.

Of course, 10 rounds and you get a 12 round magazine as well. And so we’re going to look at just a little bit of the comparison with size. First off, it’s honestly about a half inch difference in slide length.

Where it comes to the grip, you definitely have a little extra. So you’re getting still a little bit of a longer grip, which with the SIG and I love the SIG P365. It’s one of the most popular concealed carry options on the market.

And with this little lip, which you can get it with the flat base plate, it makes it a very small package, but it is just a touch snappy. And that little finger groove adds a lot, but it’s a very small gun. The controls are small.

It’s just a smaller handgun, big fan. But really, if I had to draw one of the other, I would want a little more of the grip. In fact, really, I have picked the P365 XL that I’ve carried quite a bit over even the P365, even though this is a very small option.

So this and the philosophy behind it is just to have a little bit of a larger handgun. And yet it’s 0.99 inches. So it’s just under one inch.

And that includes the controls. In fact, it’s from the grip. So definitely a very thin handgun.

And one of the things I have found is that thin handguns for concealed carry really are the best. If I get a thicker handgun, it’s just more difficult to conceal. That is one thing that I think HK was going for, and I think they executed it pretty well.

And so here I brought out the VP9, and this is the SK. This is their subcompact VP9 pistol, and it also carries 10 rounds. Chamber’s empty.

But you’ll notice how much thinner the CC9 is. I mean, it is considerably thinner. This is based on your full-size VP9 as far as thickness.

As far as the grip, they’re pretty much right at the same. And as far as the length, actually the VP9 SK comes out just a touch more. And the VP9 SK is actually a touch bigger than your Glock Model 26.

So this is, or has been, HK’s smallest firearm. And now we have gone considerably smaller with the new CC9. But then I want to bring out one of the most popular selling Glocks now, hands down, is the G43X.

And this is one of those that are very small. 10 round magazine with your Glock mag. You can get the Shield Arms mags for 15 rounds.

The gun’s empty. But one of the problems with Glock is that you have a polymer magazine, and then you have the steel insert. So there’s always this thickness.

It’s going to be hard to get this down to a double-stack magazine in this thin grip. But again, the Shield Arms options are pretty good. Now, the thing is, is as far as size comparison, slide very close.

The 43X does come out just a touch. But when it comes down to the bottom of the grip, you definitely have a longer grip and you have just 10 rounds. We actually have the 12 round magazine in here.

So let’s take it out and put our 10 round magazine in. And it gives us less grip. This is the hardest part to conceal, is the grip.

So I really like to have that a little bit shorter. And yet we still have a full grip on the handgun, which is going to make this, again, very shootable. The Glock 43X is definitely a very shootable handgun as well.

And I love this guy. But just to give you a comparison between the two. The one that I feel is very close in size is the FN Reflex.

Just seems like the FN Reflex is just a touch bigger than your standard P365. And when it came out, very similar, really a little bit larger maybe than the Hellcat. But these two honestly are very close in all sizes.

The one thing though about the Reflex is that it is an 11 round magazine. So you get one extra round and it does have a pretty aggressive grip. To me, the Reflex is one of those handguns that’s very underrated.

I think this is a great gun. But as far as suitability, I think with the CC9, they’re going to be kind of close. But the grip on the CC9 definitely is just a touch longer.

And really the size of the slide is about the same. And when it comes to sights, we have a black outline sight. It is serrated at the back.

And then we have a high-vis tritium sight at the front. And it does have a little bit of a green circle around it. I like these type sights.

And this has become a very popular sight option because you pick up that front sight very easily. It has dovetailed in on the front and the rear. And again, you have your cover plate for your optic.

We do have a loaded chamber indicator right here. So we’re going to slip in a dummy round. And now it kind of pokes out just a touch.

The red is even more pronounced. And you can feel this in the dark that you do have a loaded firearm, at least something in the chamber. You have ambidextrous mag release.

And we have one on the other side if you want to use that trigger finger to drop that magazine. Also, we have our slide stop here and on the other side. It is very muted.

I like that. One of the problems with especially the VP9 is that this can be inadvertently hit with the slide stop and the slide will not hold open on the last round. And so you have to be really careful when you’re firing this, especially with that two-handed high grip.

With the CC9, they have made it very minimal. And the chances of that happening are almost nil because you’re not going to be able to get a good grip on that slide stop. And then we have our takedown lever right here.

We have a memory pad here. So when I’m finished firing, I can put it on the memory pad. Or if I’m doing my high ride grip, I can just place my thumb and it gives me an index point.

So I really like that. And we have beveling here at the front of the slide that just comes down. And again, we have that 3.32 inch barrel.

Flat and it’s flush at the end of the slide. We have CC9HK stamped on the side. And then of course, CC9 on this side.

And right here, made in the USA, down in Columbus, Georgia. Now, as far as the trigger, we have a blade stripe safety right here. And you can see it does come out.

And this gives you that longer length of pull. It’s not back here. And that’s the reason why they have it faced out a little bit in the trigger guard.

But you can see how the safety works and it doesn’t rest on that ledge. It defeats that ledge. So here we have take up right to here.

And then hit a wall and a nice break. There is a little bit of creep right before we hit it, but not bad. Reset right there.

So it’s going to be out some, but it’s actually a pretty quick reset. Check the trigger pull weight with our Lyman trigger gauge from Brownells. Five pounds, 3.5 ounces.

Four pounds, 11.9 ounces. So around the five pound mark. Weight on the CC9, 20.43 ounces.

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So check out suitsgear.com. Big thanks to Fiocchi for sponsoring the ammo. All made in the USA. One of the biggest suppliers of ammunition in the country.

And also Lula Loaders. We appreciate those guys for making rain stay fast. Well guys, HKCC9.

This is really one of the guns that I’ve been in anticipation for, for a long time. Not because I knew this was coming out, but because I was hopeful that HK would introduce a Micro Nine. And they did.

The one thing about this handgun, it was designed, it was developed. It was made right here in the USA. And it’s gone through more testing than any other HK on the market, which is pretty impressive because H&K puts a lot of torture tests through these handguns.

Very thin. Not tiny. Not as small as your Sig P365.

But more shootable. And that was what HK was going for. And I really feel like they’ve done it.

I mean, super reliable. I really like that they’ve taken the slide stops, they’ve dropped them really minimal. So you’re not going to hit that like you do sometimes on the VP9s.

10 round and 12 round magazine. It gives you honestly a good full grip. Put the 12 rounder on there and you do have even a little bit more extension with the lip.

Nice slide serrations. Sights are excellent. The high vis front sight, blacked out rear.

And you know, with that thinness, it makes it even better for concealed carry. Of course, you know, all the other attributes of HK. I mean, there’s a reason why that it is kind of the Mercedes of the gun world when it comes to production guns.

But a very solid, well-tested handgun. And for the past seven years, they’ve been testing this. And they finally released it.

They wanted to get it right. And it’s proven itself. Small package, very thin, but not tiny.

So it makes it really that size that’s concealable. And yet, if you have to pull it out, you’re going to have some confidence with it. That’s a big deal.

And again, just HK reliability. All right, for disassembly, we’re going to drop our magazine. Check to make sure the gun’s unloaded.

Point it in a safe direction. Pull the trigger. Go ahead and pull back your slide into slide lock.

And then bring down your takedown lever. And it’s tight to the frame. So you got to get a little bit of a fingernail under it.

We’re going to release our slide. And it comes right off. There’s no pull of the trigger.

We have our recoil spring and guide rod. It is dual. It’s captive.

It’s all metal. Again, we have our 3.32 inch barrel. Cannon grade steel, cold hammer forged.

This is built like a cannon. Not a take. I mean, beautifully done.

And HK really does a great job at really putting their guns through a lot of testing. And then, of course, with the frame. I will say the frame has a really nice sheen to it.

Very well finished. Now, here we have our chassis. And this is definitely a big departure.

In fact, you can take and pull this out. And we can pull the chassis right out. That way we could change out grip frames.

If HK comes out with a little bit of a longer grip, you’re able to do that and still have the chassis. This is considered the gun. And this is what’s serialized.

In fact, it comes out right here at the back of the frame. Definitely one of those very modular type handguns. Even getting a slide that may be longer or possibly even shorter, which I don’t know.

But this just gives you a lot of options. And you don’t have to go and purchase another firearm and go through all that just to have a gun. And that is what a lot of different companies have been doing.

So it’s really good to see HK doing that. And guys, really, that’s all you need to do to field strip. And really, you can pull this lever out.

And then you can pull the whole chassis out. We’re not going to do that. But you can do that for maintenance, keeping your trigger clean and your fire control group.

So for reassembly, we’re going to take our slide, throw in our barrel, put in our recoil spring and guide rod. Just to press it onto that ledge. Put the slide over the frame, bring it back into slide lock.

Drop your lever or up, bring it in the up position. Test for function. And we’re back in business.

And keeping your firearms maintained and cleaned is vital. Otis makes some of the best cleaning equipment out there. They make a number of different kits that are dedicated for different rifles, pistols.

They also have Shooter’s Choice, which makes excellent CLP and bore solvent and different cleaning materials. The Ripcord is one of their signatures and there’s a whole system based around it. They are suppliers to the US military.

So check out Otis Technologies, highly recommended. And we want to thank Otis for being a sponsor of the channel. Guys, you get your HK outer box.

Inside, you have a nice pistol case. We have zippered pulls and they have red tags on them. I like that.

And it matches with the red on the HK. We bring it open and here’s our pistol. And we have it locked into Velcro straps.

This is actually, it fits onto the Picatinny rail. And they’ve been adding that. They added that to the new VP9 series.

Of course, you have a place for your magazine as well. Then we have a padded divider. And at the top, we have a little mesh.

We have our back strap. We have our lock, federally mandated. And we have the owner’s manual.

And then here at the back, we have three places for extra magazines. All right, guys, price. MSRP is $699.

That’s about the same as your SIG P365. And then you have upgraded models from that. So we’re finding it in the right ballpark for some of your more premium handguns.

Yes, there are lesser expensive options out on the market. But HK definitely stands a little bit above the rest. And one of the big things and one of the big pros for this handgun is the testing and development stages that went with this gun.

Tested completely to NATO standards, just like you would with a combat firearm. So this has had, again, 750,000 rounds through the CC9s during their development stages, which speaks a lot. Sand test, mud test, freezing test, drop test, and blocked bore test.

There’s just been so much done to this handgun. So it’s going to give you a lot of confidence. Another thing, and a first for HK, is this is actually made in the US.

Designed, developed, and made and marketed toward US shooters or concealed carry holders. It’s optics ready, right out of the box. RMSC footprint, so you don’t have the adapter plates and all the things to be concerned about.

You do get a 12 and a 10 round magazine. Finish, beautiful. I mean, the one thing about HK is they do an excellent job in finishing their firearms.

Very ergonomic grip. It’s a little longer. Could be a con for some, because they want something really small.

But as far as shootability, I think HK really came through to make this a concealed carry option that’s an inch in thickness or less, and yet you have a full size grip. So that’s a plus, and it could be a con for some. The Colt Hammerforged barrel.

Cannon grade steel. Barrel system. The chassis is rated for plus P ammunition.

Obviously, the barrel and slide can handle it. You have a modular grip. You have a pick rail, and we have the chassis system, which is definitely a big plus for whatever gun, and that way it makes it very modular.

And the ambi controls. But really, the big story here is the testing, but then the shootability. This is a very shootable handgun at the range, which makes this actually a better concealed carry option.

If you get something really small, you may be a little unconfident. You may get the wrong grip. Small controls.

This is very acceptable in the range, but yet a touch larger just to make it, again, more shootable. And guys, if you ever need it, you’re going to want something that is very shootable. So overall, I was very excited about this CC9, and now after all the review and comparing it, I definitely am just as excited.

It honestly met or exceeded my expectations. Again, it’s just great to see HK bringing out their offering of a very concealable Micro 9 pistol. They’re known for their quality.

They’re known for their testing, and the CC9 has gone through so much. Again, made right here in the USA for American shooters, because guys, we’re the ones that are concealed carrying and have the right for self-defense, and you need to have something very capable that you carry on an everyday basis. And again, a huge thank you to HK for sending the CC9 for this review.

Be strong. Be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don