Tag Archives: Hudson H9

A Tale Told in 8 SHOT Shows

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For the record, this was not a factory option from Hudson (Photos: Chris Eger)

I was on the scene when the H9 had its first debut back at SHOT ’17 as well for the introduction of the updated H9A the following year. Sadly, I also covered the pistol’s demise along with its parent company in early 2019 – a short but spectacular run. This downfall came immediately after Hudson failed to appear at SHOT that year.
 
Shortly after came a federal bankruptcy sale, with several Billie Hudson’s patents acquired by Daniel Defense, followed by market research pointing at the Georgia-based black rifle maker seriously looking to reboot the pistol.

Fast-forward to SHOT ’24, and the new Daniel Defense H9 has made its return to the market.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Farewell, Ideal Conceal

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Ideal Conceal hit the scenes early in 2016 with its two-round capacity .380 pistol that folded up to look like a smartphone and a tagline that read, “From soccer moms to professionals of every type, this gun allows you the option of not being a victim.”

Drawing flak from anti-gun types including Chuck Schumer in record time – even before the guns were shipping– Ideal Conceal’s founder, Kirk Kjellberg, kept plugging away and by 2018 the little gun was in low-rate production.

I caught up with the Ideal Conceal crew at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas – their first time exhibiting at the industry trade show – where they had some mock-ups on hand to give a feel for the gun, then with an MSRP of $500.

Since then, the guns have increasingly filtered out to the market.

However, in recent days, all the items on the company’s site have been listed as “out of stock” and Kjellberg confirmed to me that a mix of component issues and cash flow problems has spelled the end of the road for the company, leading him to refund orders and close shop.

Always sad when an innovative product in the industry runs out of gas.

See: The Hudson Firearms Company’s H9.

For the record, this was not a factory option from Hudson (Photos: Chris Eger)

Hanging out at SHOT Show

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Whelp, back from the annual gathering of the gun tribes in Las Vegas. Saw some interesting things. Did some interesting things. I think the biggest stories, besides the new SIG M17, is was the Hudson H9 and the SilencerCo Maxim 9.

Prefaced by a quiet build up over the past few weeks via social media, the H9 melds a full-sized 9mm semi-auto to a striker-fired pistol with a crisp 1911 trigger that has a .115-inch travel. But the innovative handgun with its cyberpunk panache didn’t just hatch fully formed from an egg last month.

More here.

Then there is the Maxim. The pistol, a 9mm that accepts double-stack Glock 17 magazines, can be arranged in either a short or a long configuration– both of which are suppressed. The difference in length between the two options is about an inch, with the full-size configuration measuring 10.75-inches overall and the abbreviated one taping out at 9.54-inches, which is about an inch longer than a standard 1911. Weight varies between 37-39 ounces.

More in the video below and in this piece in my column over at Guns.com.