The Hudson H9 is just another all steel striker fired 1911. Wait, what?

Arnzen Arms Team Shooter, Michael Dahl, had the opportunity to handle the Hudson H9 at Shot Show, and here are his impressions:

I got the sweet opportunity to handle the Hudson H9 at the shot show thanks to Arnzen Arms. I have always thought that an all steel striker fire gun with CZ ergonomics would be a huge hit in the competition and discerning shooter market. When I heard about the H9 I immediately hoped they didn't screw it up.

The booth was crowded but I did get to talk to the Hudson gunsmith, who shoots competition with a CZ SP-01, so we got to rap a little gamer to gamer, Gunsmith to dremel ninja.

Master gripping the gun feels like a cross between a 9mm 1911 and a CZ. It doesn't have the curves of a CZ, but it is nice and thin, like you put thin grips on. The grip angle feels close to a 1911. Guess what? It's a double stack. 15+1 but feels like single, and I have carney hands.

Weight feels amazing. It’s the steel gun balance I love, with plenty of mass up front, but center of mass still feels like it is in the hand area instead of being front tippy (I'm looking at you Tangfo). It feels SOLID due to this, and this characteristic produced a visceral smile in everyone who was fingering a demo.

Trigger confused me initially because it has this big wedge that acts like a glock safety, except that the whole finger pad area is the safety wedge. After you suck that up, there is a short, 2-3 mm pretravel ramp to a stack which breaks clean (as clean as a striker fire can). Then the same distance back for reset. The travel was a little squeaky and the weight was probably in the 5lb +- 0.5 lb range. It was a straight travel 1911 style, so that was interesting as well.

Of course I said right away that this trigger has potential and can be better, so I asked the gun smith how I would go about ripping the whole thing apart and slicking it up. He showed me the beautifully designed ramped firing pin block, which is just asking to be mirrored with ease. Additionally, he explained that the gun uses a 1911 style sear spring, and that they were talking about having lighter ones available. Finally, although there were some nitride coated internal parts, he said there were plenty of surfaces that when polished, would glass up the slightly squeaky pull to a level comp shooters would be happy with.

Finally, I was able to touch the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation right there at the booth. Hudson is still dialing in the design, so this already high potential boundary breaking gun is worth checking out when it launches.