Daniel Defense is proud to announce the launch of the DANIEL H9.
With the thinnest profile and lowest bore axis in its class, the DANIEL H9 is designed and engineered to give shooters more control for faster, flatter shooting.
After years of research, detailed design work, and testing, we couldn’t be more excited to launch the DANIEL H9.
Marty Daniel, Founder of Daniel Defense
While sharing the ergonomics, pointability, and straight-pull trigger with the classic 1911, the DANIEL H9 has everything demanded of a modern, striker-fired handgun, like ambidextrous controls, an accessory rail, optics compatibility, and more. The aircraft-grade aluminum grip keeps the DANIEL H9 exceptionally durable and surprisingly lightweight. And, as with every Daniel, it’s all built around a cold hammer forged barrel for unparalleled precision.
It’s a revolutionary design, but a revolutionary design alone isn’t enough. The Daniel Defense handgun boasts the same legendary quality as our rifles. After over a million rounds fired in testing, the team at Daniel Defense is confident that the DANIEL H9 will carry on their reputation for building the most trusted firearms in the world.
It wasn’t enough to just be another handgun in an already crowded market. It had to be better than anything out there. It had to redefine how people thought about handguns.
Rod Reasen, the CEO of Daniel Defense
H9 ERGONOMICS
LIGHTWEIGHT AND RUGGED: Weighing in at just over 29 ounces, the aluminum and steel H9 is highly maneuverable and lightweight enough for concealed carry. Its aircraft-grade aluminum frame helps keep weight down while also helping to make this handgun rugged and durable enough for just about any use in even extreme conditions.
THIN PROFILE: The first thing you’ll notice when you hold a Daniel H9 is its thin profile. It’s not thick and unwieldy like some other striker-fired handguns, and the H9’s overall aesthetic is pleasing to the eye. It’s not brick-like or blocky in any way. In fact, its styling is modern and even a bit futuristic. How your handgun looks may not be at the top of your priority list, but the H9 will definitely turn some heads when you take it out of its case at the range. So be ready for questions about the unique-looking pistol you’re shooting.
Contributing to the handgun’s slimness is a 15-round double-stack magazine, which is among the thinnest in the industry and is coated with a low-friction finish for easy insertion and removal.
NATURAL OVERALL FEEL: Aside from being thin and sitting low in your hand, the H9 provides a natural feel and “pointability.” The gun has been described as a striker-fired pistol meets a 1911, and it points and feels precisely like that. If you’re used to shooting 1911s but have been interested in crossing over to a striker-fired handgun, this is the handgun for you. If striker-fired handguns are what you’re comfortable with but you’ve been looking to expand into a 1911-style pistol, the H9 provides the best of both worlds.
LOW BORE AXIS: The H9 has a low bore axis, which means it sits low in your hand and there’s less gun protruding up above your hand than handguns with a higher bore axis. With less gun sitting above your hand, more of the gun’s recoil drives straight back into the meaty part of your hand, which helps reduce muzzle flip. Handguns with a higher bore axis tend to have more muzzle flip because, when recoil drives the gun back into your hand, your hand serves as a fulcrum and the muzzle flips up.
It may be basic physics, but it definitely makes a difference. More muzzle flip means your sights jump farther off target, which means it takes more time to reacquire your sight picture, resulting in slower follow-up shots. The Daniel H9 was designed to minimize muzzle flip, allowing you to reacquire your target faster and make accurate follow-up shots quicker.
AMBIDEXTROUS OPERATION: The H9’s slide-stop latch is ambidextrous, and its magazine-release button is reversible to accommodate both right- and left-handed shooters. This may not mean much to you if you’re a right-hander but, lefties, rest assured that the H9 has been designed with your needs in mind as well.
H9 CONSTRUCTION
COLD HAMMER FORGED BARREL: Like all Daniel Defense firearms, the H9’s barrel is cold hammer forged. Cold hammer forging is a method of barrel production that’s more time-consuming and expensive than traditional barrel-manufacturing techniques. It requires specialized machines that forge a barrel through intense hydraulic pressure applied at opposing angles by mechanized steel hammers. The result is a barrel that’s incredibly accurate and equally as durable.
AIRCRAFT-GRADE ALUMINUM FRAME: The aluminum frame of the H9 is built to last without weighing the gun down. It’s tough but much lighter in weight than a steel-framed handgun, making it a great choice for concealed carry.
ONE-PIECE MACHINED SLIDE STOP: The slide stop is one of the most common components to fail in a semiautomatic handgun. But Daniel Defense concentrated on perfecting this important part and developed a durable slide stop that’s CNC-machined from one piece and designed to withstand rigorous handgun use. While most slide stops are designed to endure around 5,000 rounds, the robust slide stop on the H9 can handle up to three times that amount.
STAINLESS STEEL DOVETAIL SIGHTS: The standard sights on the H9 are dovetail cut and made out of durable stainless steel. The dovetail cut shape matches Sig’s P-Series, so the H9 is compatible with a plethora of aftermarket open sights straight from the factory. Of course, the H9 is designed to accommodate many popular red-dot optics as well, but the sights it comes with will do the job putting shots on target and can stand up to most any paces you put the H9 through.
LEGENDARY DANIEL DEFENSE QUALITY: The H9 is stamped with the Daniel Defense name, which means, like everything Daniel produces, it’s backed by the company’s 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. It’s manufactured and assembled in the U.S.A. by Daniel’s expert American workforce, which means Daniel Defense stands behind it. Period.
DANIEL H9 SPECIFICATIONS
- Pistol Caliber: 9 MM
- Magazine Capacity: 15
- Sights: Fiber Optic Front Sight
- Overall Length: 7.69″
- Overall Width: 1″ at slide
- Height: 5.12″
- Barrel Length: 4.28″
- Weight: 29.6oz w/empty mag
- Accessory Rail: STANAG 4694
- Action: Striker Fired
- Trigger Type: BH-SP (Bottom Hinge – Straight Pull)
- Grip Panel: G-10
- Grip Material: Aluminum
- Grip Finish: Anodized
- Slide Finish: DLC Coating
- Slide Material: 4340 Stainless Steel
- Optic Ready: Yes
Souce: Daniel Defense news release