It’s not often that you see products in the gun industry that make you take a second look. Or at least, not often that you take the second look for a good reason. The Vuurwapen HMC9 is one of those products. Vuurwapen is a new company in the gun world, having only entered the scene in 2020. Their HMC9 caught my eye, first for its kinda goofy look, and then because it’s actually pretty cool. While the HMC9 has not hit the market just yet, it is a really interesting product, and I’m eager to see how well it performs. So without further ado, let me introduce you to the Vuurwapen HMC9.

Subcompact Pistols @ TFB:

• Introducing the Glock 48X: Glock 19 Performance from a Subcompact Frame?
• Which Subcompact Glock is the Best? Glock 43, 43X, or 48?
• SIG’s P365 Family History and Current Variants
• SIG Sauer Introduce P365X ROMEOZERO

Vuurwapen HMC9 with a Glock 43 slide.

What is an HMC9 and why does it exist?

The Glock 43 is a time-honored concealed carry firearm. While it has been overshadowed by recent Glock offerings like the 43X and 48, the 43 remains a very popular concealed carry firearm. The major downside? Capacity. The Glock 43 only holds 6+1 rounds of 9×19. By comparison, the SIG P365 is only a hair taller, and slightly wider, and holds 10+1.

Enter the Vuurwapen Hybrid Micro Compact 9, or HMC9. The HMC9 takes existing Glock 43, 43X, or 48 slides, and makes them work with SIG P365 magazines.

The role of the HMC9 is mostly to provide an upgrade for existing Glock 43s. Retailing at $270, that’s a much more wallet-friendly price tag than a new Glock 43X or SIG P365. Just as importantly, it opens up the Glock aftermarket for your P365 magazines. The HMC9 accepts G43 slides of course, but also G43 triggers and trigger bars. It even adds a Picatinny rail, something the Glock 43 is conspicuously lacking.

Vuurwapen HMC9 frame.

Why should people be interested?

There are a ton of Glock 43s out there. A lot of people conceal their G43 daily, and this represents a meaningful upgrade to the gun. The HMC9 nearly doubles the capacity of a Glock 43 and adds a Picatinny rail to support a wider variety of attachments. These are real, material improvements to the stock Glock 43.

Or, say, a Glock 43X.

Vuurwapen HMC9 with a Glock 43X slide.

Or the Glock 48.

Vuurwapen HMC9 with a Glock 48 MOS slide.

What else is Vuurwapen doing?

Vuurwapen has announced a flush-fit P365 compatible 11-round magazine, and several different additional products are in the works right now. Vuurwapen informed me they are planning on making the HMC9 XT. This will be a Glock 43/SIG P365XL compatible frame, increasing your pistol’s capacity even further.

Vuurwapen is also working on the Gen X, a Glock 19/23 compatible frame, that comes in Gen 3, 4, or 5 compatible models. The draw of the Gen X is a redesign of the grip angle to be closer to that of a 1911, as well as Glock Gen 5 parts compatibility.

I’m really interested to see where Vuurwapen goes from here, and if their products perform as advertised, they offer an innovative step that I hope will spur more companies to develop new interesting products.

All photos in this article are courtesy of Vuurwapen.