Ever since it was released, the VP9 has been all the rage in bringing many new fans to the HK family, but there is one subtle and understated pistol that seems to be the black sheep of the new VP series, and I wanted to give her some attention. Meet the VP40. This pistol is essentially identical in every way to the VP9, except it is designed and built from the ground up to accommodate the .40 S&W cartridge. Back in the ’90s HK was among the first two manufactures to design a pistol around the (then) new caliber, while others just reconfigured their 9mm models to accommodate. This is where the tried and true USP line originally came from.

So what’s the difference?

Pistol models designed for 9mm loads then adapted hastily to meet market demand for the .40 S&W cartridge have proven to not hold up as well as their 9mm cousins. Not so with the USP, and the same is to be expected of the VP40.

After getting a number of inquiries of how well the VP40 handles felt recoil, I decided to give it a try. Here is what I found.

_https://youtu.be/PecG_biPMh4_