The H&K VP40 Pistol: Over 9.5 Years of Flawless Function

I acquired a Heckler & Koch VP40 shortly after it was released in mid-2015 and now, approximately 9.5 years later, I can honestly say the pistol has functioned flawlessly.

The VP40 is a striker fired pistol with a picatinny rail for lights/accessories, and it ships with one 10-round magazine and one 13 -round magazine.

The pistol is just over three ounces heavier than its wildly popular cousin, the VP9, but the extra weight carries the benefit of helping reduce the snap of the .40 S&W round. In turn, the reduced snap makes second and third shot acquisition much easier.

The bottom line: The extra three ounces, coupled with the precise fit a shooter gets via H&K’s grip configuration options, equate to all-around greater control at the range.

People who purchase H&K pistols do so, in part, because of the reputation of a smooth, reliable function round after round, year after year, in various conditions, including the worst weather. Through the years, I punished this VP40 with ammunition I kept in a can for the sole purpose of trying to make a pistol hiccup. Some of rounds were dirty (dried mud), some were gritty (wet sand), and some extremely sticky to the touch (dried Mountain Dew which I poured over the ammo while it lay in a tray). No matter what I tried, the VP40 smirked and spit lead downrange.

I have cleaned the VP40 regularly at times, but for a three-year interval, I shot it again and again without so much as wiping the slide clean. Again, the VP40 smirked and kept running.

I had high expectations for the VP40 when I acquired it. Those expectations were partly the result of H&K’s reputation (mentioned above) and partly due to the fact that I already had an H&K USP Compact I acquired in the 1990s. I have watched that USP Compact chew up the worst of ammo and spit it out, and it functions as well now as it did on the day I bought it. The VP40 has been a chip off the old block, so to speak, demonstrating that the H&K quality that drew people to the USP Compact in the 1990s continues to be front and center in the VP40 in 2025.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com