Patron Optional: HK USA CC9 Review
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In over ten years' experience as an unpaid, protocol-based reviewer without accepting money from manufacturers or even interrupting a review with a paid placement I've found there are generally two reasons a company won't send a gun for a no-cost review. 1. They don't respect or value you, the GBGuns audience or 2. They have something they don't want discovered and documented in an impartial review and that's why they send to influencers, but not journalists. Do either of those apply to the HK USA CC9? We'll see if we can find out.
The HK USA CC9 was relatively late to the "micro compact" craze, released after many existing gun owners had already tried a micro compact and decided if they wanted to transition to one or stick with their previous carry. While the HK name is highly respected among many gun owners, there's a significant fight to get one to replace something they already have, especially with an MSRP well above most other options.
One thing being late to the game afforded HK USA was the ability to learn from consumer reactions to earlier models. A few features of note that I think set the CC9 apart are:
Slightly-longer 3.32" barrel
12-round magazine size for a better grip length
Ambidextrous slide and magazine releases
2-slot MIL STD 1913 Picatinny rail space
The HK USA CC9 uses a chassis system which opens up great potentiall for aftermarket of manufacturer option grips of different shapes and sizes to be swapped at home like we enjoy with the Sig P365. Unfortunately, two years after initial release the only options I could find in a quick search were factory grips of the same size in different colors. It took Springfield a couple of years to do anything with the Echelon, but that's more understandable because Springfield Armory is only the importer of the Echelon and dependent on HS Produkt to give them options. I don't know why HK hasn't either produced some different magazines and grips or enabled third parties to do so.
Take a look at the HK USA CC9 and what all comes in the box for the price in the tabletop video below. Rumble Link
Specifications:
Caliber: 9mm x 19
Overall length: 6.03 in.
Overall height: 4.60 in.(10rd)/4.92 in. (12rd)
Overall width w/lever: 0.99 in.
Barrel length: 3.32 in.
Sight radius: 5.12 in.
Weight Without magazine: 18.4 oz With Magazine: 20.7 oz
Magazine capacity: 12 / 10
Sights/Optics Ready: All OR models ship with a tritium front sight with a blacked out serrated rear. OE models ship with blacked out front and rear serrated sights.
MSRP: $749
Prices around the web as of 27OCT26
Check links for current pricing and availability
The famous 2007 meme "You suck and we hate you" HK attitude has always applied regarding HK's attitude toward you, the GBGuns audience and so there has only once in over 500 handguns been another HK reviewed by GBGuns. That was a long time ago and so I wasn't sure what to expect on the range with the CC9 other than faith that a company like HK waited to release the CC9 until they knew they had it right.
On a rainy and windy fall afternoon we hit the range to experience the HK USA CC9 in the GBGuns Range Protocol including:
Cold Shots: Truly our first shots through the gun.
Full Magazine +1: Suprisingly some modern guns still struggle with this. It's a test of how much play is in the magazine as well as how the slide cycles with pressure. This is also when I do my best to learn the trigger.
What's For Dinner™: A test to see what ammunition the gun will eat. Does the gun feed the round from slide lock, will it cycle and feed another round of the same type, does the slide lock to the rear on empty, and is there any notable point of impact change with different loads.
For this gun the following ammunition was used:
Priced and linked where found at the time this article was written
124gr HotBrass $25 / 50 direct from HotBrass Full Review HERE
115gr EcoBullet $19.99 / 50 direct from EcoBullet Full review HERE
147gr Federal Premium LE HST $27.59 / 50 at Target Sports USA
115gr Nickel-plated Magtech Steel Case $10.57 / 50 at Target Sports USA
165gr Scorpion FMJ $18.39 / 50 at Target Sports USA
100gr Hornady Critical Defense Lite $23.46 / 25 at Target Sports USA
100gr S&B XRG SCHP $11.73 /25 at Target Sports USA Full Review HERE
115gr Wolf Steel Case $10.99 / 50 at Target Sports USA
124gr Wolf Brass-plated Steel Case $11.27 / 50 at Target Sports USA
124gr Federal Syntech $16/55 / 50 at Target Sports USA
Range Ammunition was Fiocchi 115gr $282.99 / 1000 at Firearms Depot
Sights & Trigger Control: on a 6" spinner target at a distance of 12-ish yards. We got this from Titan Great Outdoors and use it to gauge how learnable the trigger is and usable the sights are for forced, timed, precise shots.
Practical Accuracy: Five shots from a distance of seven yards at a one inch target. This isn't so much about printing a tight group as it is a culmination of the shooting experience and time for to collect thoughts prior to making a conclusion.
After Shots: Final impressions and reflections from the range session.
You can watch the entire process for the HK USA CC9 in the Shooting Impressions video below. Rumble Link
On the range I as reminded of what it's like to shoot without a full grip as my XXL-glove hands only get about 2.5 fingers on the grip with the 12-round magazine and newer shooter Anna got the opportunity to learn how a push/pull grip can compensate for the flippy nature of short-barreled guns.
We were in far from ideal range conditions, but still enjoyed the gun and experienced no mechanical issues. For my eyes, in that lighting the XS front sight which appears to be an attempted clone of a Night Fision sight was simply the wrong thickness and color combination and made it difficult to get a clean alignment for precision shooting. That of course doesn't really matter on a defensive pistol like this which is not intended for trying to print tight groups, but I feel the mechanical accuracy of the gun could have been better demonstrated with a different sighting system.
While I won't quite place the HK USA CC9 as my favorite of the guns in this size class, it certainly ranks high among Micro Compacts and with the new lower pricing makes for a good option.
I love my CC9 but I hate that the slide release is so obviously designed upside down. It forms a very sharp shelf which is painful to drop the slide with, despite being designed to do such. The only aftermarket option I'd truly like to see for it is a slide release where the surfaces are flipped from the factory one.