In A Nutshell

Kurz Und Gut

In the last issue we presented the American Just Right Carbines JRC9 pistol carbine and now we can introduce a German competitor, the HERA Arms “The 9er Sport C”, which attracted a lot of interest at IWA 2018.

At first glance, the sleek HERA Arms “The 9er Sport C” pistol combine is distinguished from other weapons of its kind by its common design. The new rifle has compact dimensions, which you can see by the barrel length of only 10″/254 mm. This model, which is equipped for a cartridge with a case length of less than 40 mm, is approved for sport shooting, as a corresponding BKA approval notice has already been issued.

“The 9er Sport C” in detail

The grip (HCL 9mm Lower) and system housing (HUS/HCU Upper) of the latest generation are manufactured on state-of-the-art CNC machines from 7075 T6 aluminum and then hard coat anodized. The lower is provided with markings that allow the installation of MIL-SPEC fire selector levers or the in-house MPSS control element. The upper is equipped with the typical dust cover. The first step was to check the play of these main components. Overall, we found tolerances between the housing parts of a maximum of 0.06 mm, which speaks for precision and quality in series production. The sleek, striking design was paired with a high degree of practicality. For example, the solid case deflector on the system case, which has been adapted to the case ejection of the 9 mm Luger, is striking. The ejector on this system is located directly above the magazine in the rear, left area. The result is that the case is ejected very early. 

There are slopes on the magazine well of the grip in order to be able to insert the shortened magazine more quickly in dynamic disciplines. The short magazine made of sheet steel with a capacity for 10 cartridges protrudes only slightly from the magazine well, making it easy to insert the cartridges.

 In addition, it is noticeable that the distance between the markings for the two locking lever positions 

“secured” and “unsecured” is significantly greater than in the normal case. This is due to the fact that HERA Arms also offers fuses with the MPSS models that engage at 45 degrees instead of 90 degrees. A feature that we find very practical.

In my opinion, Aa 45-degree safety is much easier to use. Especially in the stop, a short movement of the thumb is much easier to implement than the usual 90-degree movement of the switch. The resourceful German manufacturer makes this function possible by providing the shaft with corresponding recesses on both sides. If you want to activate the 45-degree function, you only have to flip  the shaft to the other side. In our test weapon, however, this safety shaft was not used, here a standard AR-15 safety was used. However, nothing stands in the way of retrofitting. The trigger group is also convincing. Although it is designed as a conventional direct trigger, it was triggered by the in-house tuning spring set with an astonishingly low trigger weight of 2 grams and repeatable characteristics. This standard trigger is suitable for static and dynamic shooting disciplines.

Pleasant hand protection

The short 10″/254 mm match barrel with 1-10″ twist and 5/8″x24 UNEF muzzle thread is encased in a free-swinging, beautifully shaped light metal hand guard that is largely closed in compliance with the law. In terms of stability HERA Arms played it safe. The handguard is not only fixed to the barrel nut by means of a clamp connection, but two stud bolts are also used on both sides to prevent any slippage. 

Fortunately, the years are over in which a sport shooter was only allowed to use a round tube handguard on which accessories could only be mounted with increased effort or not at all. If one had modified such a handguard on one’s own, then it could happen that shooters were forbidden to start by the range supervisor, because the appearance of the handguard no longer corresponded to the determination notice of the BKA. The HERA Arms handguard has sockets  for quick-change sling swivels on the side surfaces, so that a sling can be easily attached. On the underside of the handguard are two more KeyMod keyholes for attaching additional equipment.

On the Shooting Range

The compact HERA Arms “The 9er C” pistol carbine in 9×19 was equipped with a Konus Pro scope 6-24×52 and UTG bipod to be checked for accuracy at 50 meters. We used the identical ammunition types that we had already used for the Just Right Carbines JRC9 Gen3 Sporter Plus 17″ pistol carbine of American origin (see last issue 6/2018). This allows for comparability, although one should take into account the barrel length differences of 17″ of the US carbine versus 10″ of the German carbine. The loss of velocity in this case was between 15 and 20 m/s. Nevertheless, the shooting performance achieved in the test was quite respectable. With the GECO 124 Grains Hexagon factory cartridge we achieved a circle of 20 mm. Only two millimeters larger was the shot group achieved with the Sellier & Bellot 115 Grains JHP cartridge (22 mm). Finally, the third best precision result, produced with the Hornady 115 Grains XTP American Gunner, measured 25 mm. As always, all other results can be found in the ballistics table. No malfunction occurred during the entire test. 

Caliber Conclusion

The HERA Arms pistol carbine “The 9er Sport C”, which is approved for shooting sports, occupies a special position in this market segment due to its compact design with a 10″ barrel. High level of workmanship and impeccable function. and shooting performance.