One thing stands out for me from the 2017 SHOT Show in Las Vegas: the introduction of the Hudson Arms H9 handgun. The crowds surrounding the company’s stall at the range and then at the Hudson booth at the expo were almost impenetrable. Everyone was clamoring to see it, handle it, and shoot it. It was all the hotness that year for gun fans. Little did everyone know that such an innovative design would cause Hudson Arms to implode inside of two years with Daniel Defense stepping in to take the reins of the innovative H9 pistol, which you can now own as the Daniel Defense H9 pistol. But it's not just a rebranded version of the Hudson; it's a whole new gun.
Daniel Defense H9 FAQs
- The Design: The Daniel Defense H9 is a hybrid design blending the aesthetics and overall shape of a 1911 pistol with the operational characteristics of a striker-fired handgun. The idea is to offer the ergonomics and shooting experience of a 1911 in a 9mm striker gun.
- Don't Call It a Rebrand: The H9 made by Daniel Defense is not simply a rebrand of the old Hudson H9. DD has made so many changes and improvements over the past few years that it's hardly the same handgun.
- Customer Feedback: Daniel Defense incorporated what its customers had to say about the new H9, and continued to make improvements from there, creating a re-engineered pistol.
Just a Bit of H9 History
Without going too deep into the weeds, we need to talk a little about the original H9 just to put everything into context. The Hudson Arms H9 was a striker-fired pistol with a steel frame that mimicked the profile and feel of a 1911.
It also married the straight-pull trigger of a 1911 with the striker-fired trigger group for a different feel from most other striker-fired pistols. Rather than pivot from one single point, the trigger itself came straight back, but with a trigger safety that pivots from the bottom.
Aside from this design departure, the H9 was also set up to have a low bore axis for better recoil control and faster sight alignment (much like the Laugo Alien pistol design). This was accomplished by repositioning barrel cams and the recoil spring assembly to just forward of the trigger guard, a spot most people know as the dust cover, or where the accessory rail on a handgun would normall be.
The original H9 also included a trigger group insert that could be nested within the steel frame, meaning that it could potentially be swapped out and used in another frame, kind of like the SIG SAUER P320's Fire Control Unit.
Near the end of its run, Hudson Arms announced a new aluminum frame that would be available. That announcement actually slowed down the sales of existing steel-frame models, which reduced cash flow for Hudson. On top of that, there were a lot of returns from existing customers who experienced failure of key components, like the H9's extractor.
These factors created a whirlpool of financial ruin that Hudson Arms just couldn’t escape. The company filed for bankruptcy in early 2019. That’s when Daniel Defense stepped in and bought all the patents and rights to the H9 and made a go of it with its own group of gunsmiths and engineers.
The Daniel H9: A Clean Slate and Many Changes
I don’t know for sure, but I think the folks at Daniel Defense didn’t realize how much work would be required to get the H9 up to snuff, and up to DD standards. After bringing the H9 in house, it took almost four years for the company to finally have its own version of the pistol ready for release to the consumer market as the Daniel H9.
I can’t go into every single change that was made, but there were many. In fact, there's only one part left in the Daniel H9 that is compatible with the original Hudson H9. Some of the changes included repositioning the recoil spring assembly and reducing the size of the “dust cover” so that it was easier to mount and use a weapon light — the original H9 had a rail that would position accessories too low, making them difficult for the user to activate.
The frame was shortened for a more compact profile, and that required a redesign of the pistol's 15-round magazine. Another welcome change is Daniel Defense’s inclusion of an optics-plate system on the slide to mount a red dot.
On top of that, DD went straight to an aluminum frame instead of steel to reduce the overall weight for easier concealed carry. Further work was done to significantly improve the pistol’s drop safety, and the frame was reshaped to include protective rails around the slide stop. Tolerances were modified for the fire control group, and elements like the locking cams were repositioned.
Further Updates Still
Since Daniel Defense released its version of the H9 in 2022, there have already been some tweaks to the design, almost enough to dub the latest version of the H9 a "Gen 2." Those tweaks include changes to the beavertail to cut down on user hand fatigue during sustained fire.
DD also improved the trigger with better coatings and adjusting tolerances for an even cleaner pull and a slightly shorter reset after each shot. Other updates include a change in the barrel’s rifling from polygonal to standing rifling to eliminate keyholing with some ammo, and there’s a new captive, dual-spring recoil system to improve overall durability.
Daniel Defense H9: Range Assessment
To be honest, I wasn’t as enamored with the original Hudson H9 as a lot of other people were, and I can’t really tell you why. I guess I don’t like being a beta tester with my own money. It seems, though, my intuition may have paid off and saved me in the long run.
But when Daniel Defense took it over, my curiosity was piqued because of the company’s reputation for quality. I have to say right out of the gate that I was really surprised by how much I liked the new and improved H9 after I got it out to the range for a few sessions.
During the first session, I took a shooting buddy with me to gauge his reaction. We shot a variety of ammunition, everything from FMJs to TMJs to hollowpoints to the radical copper-solid bullets. Unfortunately, Daniel Defense didn’t send out an optic plate that I could use for a red dot, and because of short time to deadline, I couldn’t wait around for one. So, we shot the new H9 au naturel with irons and had a blast doing it.
I noticed immediately how quickly I could acquire a sight picture. The combination of the fiber-optic front sight with the low bore axis made sight acquisition almost instantaneous. Additionally, as we were shooting at multiple plates in different positions and different distances, I found that the H9 was very quick and easy to shoot accurately. It just seemed to be on point all the time whether we were shooting at 7 yards or 25 yards.
The trigger helped with that accurate shooting, to a degree. There was a tiny bit of grit or crunch in the take-up of the trigger safety, but once we hit the wall, it was a smooth and relatively crisp break. The trigger on my sample pistol averaged 4.62 pounds for the break according to my Wheeling Engineering digital trigger gauge. I’ll point out that, after a few hundred rounds, the grittiness in the take-up did seem to clean up a good bit for a much smoother pull.
Testing the H9’s accuracy from the bench at 15 yards proved fruitful. All four loads I tested printed groups that averaged under 1.5 inches, with a single best group of 0.81 inches. That group was shot with Hornady’s 115-grain Critical Defense load which averaged 1.07 inches for three groups.
I thought the H9’s consistent accuracy across different ammo weights and types was excellent, especially considering that I wasn’t even using a dot and it’s always harder to align iron sight. Plus, I don’t see as well as I used to. All of this tells me that the H9 is probably capable of better results with an optic and in the right hands.
Reliability wasn’t perfect, but it was close. With around 650 rounds I encountered two issues: a failure to feed, and the pistol failed to go into battery once, which only required a light tap on the slide to get the pistol back in action.
It’ll take additional time shooting the H9 and a couple of cleaning cycles to see if the causes can be pinpointed, whether the pistol needs to be maintained or often or just needed a little break-in period.
Final Thoughts
The Daniel Defense H9 ships with three magazines for a total MSRP of $1,299. Granted, that’s not the lowest price you can find for a striker-fired pistol these days, but the H9 is a bit of a rare breed.
In addition to the aluminum frame, it has the feel, grip angle and appearance of an 1911-style pistol, and it features a straight-pull trigger. It also has every feature a shooter could want in a modern fighting pistol, from a Pic rail to an optics cut, thanks to the complete overhaul the company did on the H9 platform.
The H9 is very comfortable in the hand, offers a fast sight picture thanks to the low bore axis, and it has a very pleasant recoil impulse. It’s a pistol that’s fun to shoot and it’s incredibly easy to shoot well.
If you’re looking for something a little outside of the box, especially if you’re a 1911 fan, with the capacity of a 9mm, I’d suggest you give the H9 due consideration. I think you’ll be very pleased with what Daniel Defense was able to achieve with this innovative design.
Specifications: Daniel Defense H9
Action: Semi-Automatic
Barrel: 4.19 inches
Overall Length: 7.69 inches
Width: 1 inch
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 15+1
Finish: DLC/Anodized
Weight: 29.6 ounces
Sights: Fiber-Optic Front/Serrated Rear tritium inserts
Optic Ready: Yes
Grips: G-10
MSRP: $1,299
Performance of Daniel Defense H9
| Ammo | Avg. Group (in.) | Best Group (in.) | Velocity (fps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hornady 115gr. Critical Defense | 1.07 | 0.81 | 1134 |
| Lehigh Defense 90gr. XD | 1.29 | 1.10 | 1308 |
| Sig Sauer 147gr. Elite V-Crown | 1.14 | 0.96 | 905 |
| Federal 124gr. HST | 1.35 | 1.26 | 1169 |
Bullet weight measured in grains and accuracy in inches for three, five-shot groups at 15 yards.
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