What’s Old Is New Again: The B&T VP9

In a delightful nod to the obscure British Welrod pistol, B&T is releasing to the public a highly unique pistol they’re tentatively calling the VP9. (No, it’s not the same as HK’s striker pistol of the same name. In order to prevent confusion, B&T may release their product under a different moniker. Time will tell.)

The B&T VP9 has an intriguing backstory. An unspecified government agency in Europe approached B&T with some very specific requirements for a very specific mission set. After producing a small number of the pistols for this particular customer, B&T re-purposed the design and sold limited numbers to veterinarians for humanely dispatching wounded or suffering animals. The nomenclature VP9 actually stands for Veterinarian Pistol, 9mm.

So what is it exactly that B&T produced? A 5-shot, bolt action, 9mm pistol. Yes, bolt action. The breech must be unlocked and then manually cycled after each shot. While this may sound outdated or inefficient, the locked breach and lack of reciprocating slide keep this gun spooky quiet.

Additionally, the magazine is contained in the pistol grip, meaning that you must detach the entire pistol grip to reload. Again, it may seem inefficient when thinking in USPSA terms. But it offers the distinct advantage of the VP9 being able to be broken down into three primary components that can fit into a cargo pocket or shaving kit.

The barrel itself is only 1.5 inches long. The rest of the gun is all suppressor, itself a unique design of aluminum spacers and wipes that does not actually feature any traditional baffles. Wipes, while consumable, are incredibly quiet and easy to swap out and dispose of. When you factor in all these seemingly odd design features, the intended end user of this pistol begins to take shape. B&T tells us they are actually producing a small batch of these pistol in their US factory, as a cost-benefit analysis against the unfathomable hassle of tackling both State Department and BATF import vetting procedures. The roll marks on the final production guns is still up for discussion, depending on how these two parallel strategies pan out.

No price point has been decided but for the collector of pew pew oddities, the B&T VP9 is certainly an admirable addition to any collection.