Derya DY9 Guide & Comparison

Graham Baates
10 minutes ago
5 min read

The Derya DY9 sereis of pistols has brought to market what many are looking for: something affordable, of good quality, and based on a time-proven design and common magazines without being stuck in the 1990s like the original. The market was already full of Glock-based guns, but few offer the needed reinventions that Derya offers, especially at such a low price. As of the time this article was written the Derya DY9 lineup includes:

The original DY9: A direct upgrade from the basic Glock design with enhanced ergonomics that provide practical quality of life improvements. My review was of an initial release model, but newer models are optics ready and use Glock-pattern sights. MSRP: $399 This is the basic model for those wanting to save money and have a good general purpose pistol. Check original article link to find current DY9 pricing and availability.

DY9 Gold: Visually distinct PVD-coated barrel and a lightened slide. Not too long ago such features would cost more to do to a used gun than the DY9 Gold costs as a complete gun. MSRP: $449 The DY9 Gold gives us a fancier option with a mild performance advantage. Check original article link to find current DY9 Gold pricing and availability.

DY9 Comp: Slide weight reduction cuts distinctly different than those of the DY9 Gold, and a longer, threaded barrel with lightweight compensator threaded and clamped on. Again this is a setup that used to add great cost to an existing gun. MSRP: $449 Higher muzzle velocity and a recoil-taming compensator for more range performance. Check original article link to find current DY9 Comp pricing and availability.

DY9 Island: An exciting addition by offering something previously only available through custom shops and at high prices: an island barrel. The island barrel increases barrel mass, adds ports, and also reduces slide mass. The next-closest option for an existing Glock pistol sells for $1,000 for the slide and barrel alone. MSRP: $599 Bold styling and the unique firing experience of a ported island barrel. Check original article link to find current DY9 Island pricing and availability.

With the MSRP between the four models only ranging $200 from least to most-expensive you may be wondering which one is right for you or how different they really are. You may also simply decide to collect them all and that's ok too, but in this article we'll explore the similarities and differences.

What's Similar:

Same frames. Note that frames are now made in the US on many models. See my visit to the Derya Arms US factory here.
Same triggers and lower parts aside from the DY9 Gold having a gold-colored trigger safety.
Same removable integrated magazine well. Backstraps for running without the magazine well can be found here for $19.99 and allow use of most common G19 magazines.
Same lifetime warranty.

Derya DY9, DY9 Island, DY9 Comp, and DY9 Gold

What's different is what I wanted to see. Not just visually, but by the numbers and on the range. It's been my experience that slide mass is the greatest contributer to felt recoil. Looking at the four slides one would expect there to be a difference in slide mass, though the recoil assemblies are the same.

When modifying Glock slides first became a trend it wasn't unheard of that after spending hundreds of dollars on stylized cuts a shooter might find their pistol suddenly less reliable or more ammunition sensitive while running the stock recoil assembly. The problem is that while a lighter slide results in less recoil, it also lacks the kinetic energy needed to strip a round from the magazine and push it into the chamber. This extra engineering step and the extra machine time needed to cut the slides are some of the reasons we see few factory options with such dramatic cuts. The machine time being why quite often such slides cost more to consumers; they cost more to make.

Weighing the slides gave me surprising results. The DY9 Gold and DY9 Comp's slides weight exactly the same. The original DY9 was an ounce heavier, and DY9 Comp an ounce lighter after we subtract an ounce for the Gideo Rock I had mounted on it.

Curious about the weight of the optic cover plate I weighted it separately and was surprised to find it weighs more than many optics. This clever engineering trick should help mean that a DY9 with or without an optic behaves about the same.

The slide weight similarity not only compliments the engineering at Derya, but also means that on the range the DY9 Comp and DY9 Island should show the biggest difference in performance. Both the ports on the Island and comp on the Comp are meant to counter muzzle rise; to keep the pistol flatter for easier follow-up shots with less vertical dispersion.

How much of a difference will depend on a number of variables including shooter skill, shot speed, and the ammunition used, making it difficult to have an absolute answer, but to get an idea of it I hit the range for a quick comparison. Rumble Link

The idea of the test was to run two Bill Drills back to back with each firearm as a test of how well I could control them. A shot timer was used to judge total time and split times to make sure I wasn't excessively faster or slower with one gun over another (to make the results more fair). The target featured 1" squares permitting us to look at the total vertical spread of the 12 shots. There are a lot of human variables in a test like this, so the results should be taken into consideration, but not as an absolute rule.

Pistol (in order as shot)	Drill Times	Final Split Time	Approximate Impact Dimensions
DY9	2.53s, 2.32s	0.19s, 0.20s	3.5"h x 1.9"w
DY9 Gold	2.29s, 2.38s	0.20s, 0.20s	6"h x 3"w
DY9 Island	2.46s, 2.52s	0.20s, .21s	6"h x 3.9"w
DY9 Comp	2.22s, 2.22s	0.18s, .20s	4.5"h x 6"w * Notably two separate aiming spots.

While I did a reasonable job shooting all eight runs at similar speeds, the impacts on paper aren't what I was expecting. The guns did feel different in hand, but I think the impacts on paper are more a result of personal performance/errors than the guns themselves. If we were to assume that I was able to perform the same all eight runs then, either my skills are such that the differences in pistols don't effect me, or as such that my skills can't take advantage of the differences.

I had hoped for more definitive results, but ran out of time on the range. Had I been a little slower with the DY9 Comp and able to secure the same aiming point I think we would have seen it as the winner. I suspect I might have had a similar error with the DY9 Island due in part to the thick reticle of the Gideon rock optic which is great for quick and defensive-style shooting, but course for my taste as a target reticle.

On the other hand, if you're not sure which one to go with, I suggest following my simple descriptions ealier in this article. Another way of looking at these results is that you can't go wrong with e Derya DY9.

What are your thoughts on what you've just seen?