page_title: Heckler & Koch P9
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Heckler & Koch P9 / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: HK P9S in 9 mm Parabellum. The P9S was adopted by the US Navy, German police and other military and law enforcement. The gun also comes in .45 ACP and 7.65x22mm Parabellum.
context_page_description: The HK P9 is a semi-automatic pistol from Heckler & Koch in 9×19mm Parabellum and the first to use a variation of H&K's roller delayed blowback system in a pistol format and polygonal rifling now common in H&K designs. Design began around 1965 and production ran between 1969 and 1978. Only 485 single-action P9's were produced and were discontinued in 1970. A traditional double action version, the P9S was manufactured in greater numbers.
context_section_description: The P9S trigger operates as a traditional double action.  There is a lever on the left side of the pistol grip to both decock a cocked hammer or to manually re-cock it for a single action first shot, a feature first observed on the Sauer 38H.  A further function of the decocking lever is to release the slide stop. The hammer is concealed within the slide (also similar to the Sauer) with a protruding pin at the rear of the slide as a cocking indicator.  The operating spring surrounds the barrel, allowing for a lower bore axis than pistols such as John Browning's M1911 that have the operating spring below the barrel. A manual firing-pin safety is located at the left rear of the slide; putting it in the down position locks the firing pin and flipping it up to level position unlocks it.
  Typical to European pistols, the magazine release is heel-mounted. The magazine is single column.
caption: A P9S with the slide locked back.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX L16", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "COOLPIX L16 V1.1", "Image DateTime": "2010:01:26 01:39:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "230", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "33660", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5351", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/91", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:01:26 01:39:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:01:26 01:39:09", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "57/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3072", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2304", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "33536", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}