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You’ve probably heard of Daniel Defense. They make everything AR-15 related from parts to complete firearms, and they do it so well that they earn contracts from law enforcement agencies and the US Military alike. They make high quality firearms for the civilian market too – this author’s feral hog slaying weapon of choice is a Daniel Defense .308 AR-10.

However, they aren’t known for handguns. In fact, they have never manufactured or sold handguns until they bought the patent for the Hudson H9. The concept behind the H9 to make a striker-fired version of the ubiquitous M1911 handgun. Unfortunately for Hudson, their small operation could not withstand the poor sales numbers and mixed performance of the H9, and they went bankrupt two years after the initial release.

Daniel Defense’s release of the updated H9 was rocky, too. They admitted to a quality control issue that led to many customers receiving H9’s with insufficient chamber polishing, which caused malfunctions related to the ejection of a spent casing. Many customers were frustrated that their $1300 pistol malfunctioned so frequently, and word of the issue spread quickly. For a second time, the H9’s future was threatened.

Unlike the original manufacturers, Daniel Defense has the money and resources to withstand a rocky release. They fixed the chamber polish issues for the customers who experienced them, dropped the MSRP to $999, and seemingly fixed the quality control issues responsible for the bad batch of guns, which brings us to now.

The gun performs beautifully. I can confidently say that it is the nicest striker-fired handgun I’ve ever shot. Stock, from the factory, the trigger is crisp. The pull is fairly light and the reset is short. There is ample space on the front end of the frame for thumb placement. The fiber optic front sight makes for easier acquisition during the day and especially in low-light situations. The gun’s low bore axis (how low the barrel sits in the gun) and full metal construction easily tame the meager recoil of the 9mm round it fires.

All of this translates to a gun that makes it easy to practice handgun fundamentals. This gun is a standout in my collection right now and is one of my favorites to shoot. I’m usually partial to hammer fired guns – CZ-75B, Beretta 92X – but the H9 stands among them as their peer.

Daniel Defense added a few notable features to their iteration of the H9, notably a section of picatinny rail on the front-bottom of the frame and an optic mount on the slide. I could see people running this as a competition gun once the holster market catches up and gives H9 users some quality options. That, and extended capacity magazines.

Speaking of magazines, the gun comes with three. This is fairly generous for a firearms manufacturer nowadays, where you’re lucky if your new gun comes with 2.

There are a few cons, but to my mind they’re fairly insignificant. The magazine capacity is 15, which is adequate for target shooting and self defense, but a bit limiting if you want to use the gun in competition shooting. As of now, there are no options for higher capacity magazines. The other issue I have is that the trigger reset is very hard to feel – the click of the mechanism reset is very slight and easy to miss. With that said, I have only failed to let the trigger fully reset once.

My final complaint is that there aren’t many holster options, though that’s not really a fault with the gun. Daniel Defense makes two, but the H9 is notably absent from holster industry titans Alien Gear and Safariland.

For $1000, I would still be interested in buying this gun with the gift of hindsight. I was able to get it on sale for $700, which feels like a steal for what I’ve gotten. Glocks are almost that expensive and not nearly that nice. If you get the chance to get one on sale, definitely pull the trigger, but if you’re willing to part with $1,000, I reckon you’ll be satisfied.