Nation of origin: Federal Republic of Germany
Ammunition: 9 x 19 mm
Operation: roller-delayed blowback
Weight: empty, 0.88 kg
Length: 192 mm
Length of barrel: 102 mm
Magazine capacity: 9 rounds
Muzzle velocity: approx 350 m/s
The Heckler & Koch P9S pistol - cornpare with the near identical
P9.
Ever since the l when West German armaments manufacturers were permitted to produce weapons again, the firm of Heckler &. Koch has been one of the most successful and innovative of all German manufacturers. Working from the old Mauser factory at Obendorf-Neckar, Heckler & Koch made their name with the G3 series of assault rifles that utilize a novel roller locking system developed during the latter years of the Second World War. The roller locking system has the advantage of being simple, easy to manufacture and very reliable, so reliable that when Heckler & Koch decided to enter the military pistol market it was not long before the roller system was carried over into an automatic pistol known as the P9.
The Heckler &. Koch P9 pistol was developed into the P9S, which was intended from the outset to be a military pistol. As with so many other military pistols, it was designed to use the 9 x 19 mm Parabellum cartridge, but some were modified to fire the 7.65 x 21 mm Parabellum round, and for the American market a special version to fire the 0.45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) has been produced.
The Heckler & Koch P9 pistol, the first
of the Heckler & Koch pistols Co use the roller locking system (Heckler & Koch).
The roller locking system makes use of a two-part breech block. One part is a bolt head which carries two rollers. The second part is a heavier bolt body which, when held forward under return spring pressure, forces the rollers on the bolt head Out wards, to latch into recesses in a barrel extension. As the pistol is fired, the resultant recoil forces attempt to move the bolt head and body to the rear but the rollers, being located in the barrel extension recesses, will not move until the forces on the bolt head have overcome the inertia of the bolt body and the forces of the return spring which tend to keep the bolt assembly for ward. The end result is that the bolt assembly will not move, and remains locked in place until the rollers have been forced in wards against all the resisting forces. The residual pressure in the chamber will then drive the bolt assembly to the rear to carry out the relocking and reloading procedures. At the end of its rear ward travel, motion of the bolt assembly is arrested by a plastic buffer.
This may sound rather complicated, but the roller locking system is basically a simple mechanism that is very positive and safe. It has been used without problems on tens of thousands of G rifles and similar weapons, and it works very well on the P9S.
The locking system apart, the P9S has some other unusual features. One must be the form of the rifling used, which does not assume the usual groove and lands pattern, but instead employs a polygonal cross section. This is not unique to the P9S, for polygonal rifling has been used on some other pistols (such as the Austrian Steyr GB, flow out of production) and was pioneered on the early Whitworth field artillery pieces of the 1860s. The advantages of the polygonal system are claimed to be that the polygonal outline offers less resistance to a projectile passing through it, and the bullet is subjected to less deformation in the process. Experts argue long into the night upon such topics, but for the ordinary user the main advantage is that it is far easier to clean than the more conventional rifling grooves, and resists fouling much more readily.
Cross-section of the Heckler & Koch
P9S
Unlike the pistols mentioned in this book so far, the P9S does not have an external hammer. This is claimed to be an extra safety point, for although most military users like to be able to tell the state of a pistol at a glance (such as an obviously cocked hammer), the hammer is usually prone to knocks and unwanted changes of state in tight situations. On the P9S, the hammer is internal and entirely concealed, but the state of the pistol can be readily checked by the provision of a pin which protrudes from the rear of the slide. This can be checked at a glance, or by touch in the dark. The presence of a round in the chamber is denoted by the spent cartridge extractor, which stands proud in the ejector slot when a round is chambered. In this way the inherent safety of an internal hammer can be provided, without losing the visual and tactile indications of the pistol’s loaded or unloaded condition.
If the hammer is cocked and no firing is required, the hammer can be lowered safely using an external cocking lever. The safety must be engaged before this is carried out, and once the cocking lever has been actuated, the mechanism is cleared by pulling the trigger to release the hammer safely. The cocking lever is then allowed to rise to its normal position, and the trigger is released.
The P9S is primarily a military pistol, but it has proved to be an excellent target-shooting weapon. For competitive target shooting, the P9S can be fitted with a barrel 140 mm long, in place of the usual component which is 102 mm long. The longer barrel can be fitted with a muzzle attachment which adds weight, to make the pistol better balanced for accurate shooting. To make the P9S even more of a competition shooting weapon it is possible to fit an adjustable trigger stop device that can be used to vary the trigger pressure to suit individual users more closely. The rear sights are also adjustable, and for the really keen pistol shot, anatomically-molded butt grips can be fitted.
One feature that will appeal to many military users is that the P9S lacks the usual blued finish so often applied to pistols, and is instead covered with a thin coating of a hard-wearing plastic film. This adds to the pistol’s smooth outline, but is not so smooth that it will slip from fingers when wet, and is a definite factor in keeping corrosion and wear at bay. The normal firing grip is very positive and secure, and two-handed grip firers are provided for by the now widely-used reverse curve at the front of the trigger guard.
The P9S has been a definite success in sales terms, ever since it first appeared in 1975. Many have been sold to police and security forces all around the world, and it is still in production for the many pistol enthusiasts who like to own and fire superb examples of the pistol designer’s art. One military user is the US Navy where SEAL ( Sea Air Land) teams have obtained numbers the P9S to conduct their special missions. By virtue of the special-forces use of the P9S with the SEAL teams, some have been fitted with silencers. Another military user is Greece.
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