Hudson made a bit of a splash with it's H9 pistol. But it looks like they company is now circling the drain (and close to going down it.)

Anyone here buy one of their guns?

https://www.thefirearmblog.com...turing-shot-no-show/


[SHOT 2019] Hudson Manufacturing SHOT No-Show and Lawsuit

CUSTOMER SERVICE WOES
Hudson has apparently been experiencing lengthy delays in their customer service department, with many users on their Facebook page commenting that they have been experiencing malfunctions and breakages, to no response. Commenters have reported waiting several weeks for a response. In some cases, they are reporting no contact from customer service in months.

Other users have sent their H9s in for service from Hudson’s warranty department, and are also unable to contact from the company. At least two users state on Facebook that their last contact with customer service was in November. Their H9’s are still in Hudson’s possession.

CAMBRIDGE VALLEY MACHINING LAWSUIT
More worryingly, Hudson is apparently the defendant in a lawsuit from Cambridge Valley Machining Inc. (CVMI). That complaint can be found here. In the complaint, CVMI states that Hudson contracted them to machine the parts for their handguns, and placed an order totaling $1,687,500. These parts included 10,000 each of grips, barrels, and strikers.

Hudson received these parts but apparently failed to make payment on an outstanding balance of $384,730.99. In addition, CVMI apparently had machined an additional $184,070 worth of parts that they have withheld for failure to make payment. This means Hudson currently owes CVMI $568,800.99. Further, CVMI’s contract stipulates interest on unpaid balances at a rate of 1.5% per month. CVMI is also pursuing late fees, collection costs, and attorney’s fees. All told, Hudson’s balance due to CVMI could reach $750,000 or more.

In a later court filing, dated December 17th of last year, Hudson responded to CVMI’s allegations with their own. In the filing, they claim that CVMI failed to provide adequately machined parts. Specifically, they claim that CVMI had “continued quality and production issues”, that resulted in Hudson having “cash flow issues, inhibiting [their] ability to produce the H9”. The filing alleges that between 2017 and 2018 they returned shipments of barrels and grips due to “massive failures in quality production”. It was these quality failures that Hudson says constituted a breach of contract, and for which they refused to pay.

H9OWNERS.COM
As a response to Hudson’s lack of contact with customers, an aggrieved H9 owner by the name of Josh Supnick has created H9owners.com. In a Facebook post, he announced that any owners in need of repairs on their H9 should access this website. The headline of the website reads

This site is dedicated to gathering information regarding outstanding warranty claims for Hudson H9 owners. Whether your firearm is in need of repair, or already in the process of it, we’d like to hear from you so that we can try to help you recover your property and also provide updates and news on the ongoing situation.

He also mentioned that he is working on obtaining legal counsel to “provide reprieve for affected consumers”.

In an interview with the author, Josh expanded on these comments. The owner of a broken H9, he has received no contact in over a month. He intends on forming a class action and says that

Ideally I’d like to see the customers that supported Hudson, Mfg. with their wallets not be abandoned. We all believed in the dream we were sold. If that’s no longer possible then I would hope to at least be able to return everyone’s property to them, hopefully in operable condition.

I started a lengthy thread on the H9 when it was first announced and watched bemused as the pistol was hyped in gun rags, on YT and various online forums. There were many signs this company was going to have problems, step one being the pistol was a solution in search of a problem. Buyer beware.

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Originally posted by Dakor:
I started a lengthy thread on the H9 when it was first announced and watched bemused as the pistol was hyped in gun rags, on YT and various online forums. There were many signs this company was going to have problems, step one being the pistol was a solution in search of a problem. Buyer beware.

They might have to pulled it off if the gun wasn’t so pricey.

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Originally posted by mrvmax:

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Originally posted by Dakor:
I started a lengthy thread on the H9 when it was first announced and watched bemused as the pistol was hyped in gun rags, on YT and various online forums. There were many signs this company was going to have problems, step one being the pistol was a solution in search of a problem. Buyer beware.

They might have to pulled it off if the gun wasn’t so pricey.

I’m sure they had a set margin and dropping the price wasn’t going to help per se with their quality issues. Increasing sales would have only stressed their operation further. As a new venture, you ideally want to target the higher margin (& lower unit volume) segment first and build a great reputation for the brand but that didn’t happen.

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The owner of a broken H9, he has received no contact in over a month. He intends on forming a class action

Did he miss the part where they are bankrupt and he's behind what I'm sure is a long line of secured creditors?

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a solution in search of a problem

That's what they said about the first guy to tie a rock to the end of a stick.

I never really understood the gun. Looks like I wasn't alone.

Well, I wish they had of made it. Maybe the company can still rise from the ashes.

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Originally posted by cas:

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a solution in search of a problem

That's what they said about the first guy to tie a rock to the end of a stick.

Yep right after he met up with someone that owned a bronze sword, which had already been around for a century.

I put 500 rounds through one in an afternoon. I was trying to replicate a trigger pinch issue that the owner was having. I only was able to produce the issue twice. It fed every type of 9mm i put through it. Like most striker fired guns though it was 8-9 inches low. I was hoping the grip angle was going to alieviate some of that, but it didnt. The 1k price tag was not a huge hurdle, the biggest telling thing is green top would put the used ones on sale for 800 ish.

It was a very tight gun, it does not surprise me that issues cropped up in the parts. For that kind of quality, one has to almost keep all that in house.

I still like the gun, the looks, the idea. I am glad i did not buy one.

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Originally posted by cas:

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a solution in search of a problem

That's what they said about the first guy to tie a rock to the end of a stick.

Yeah, but this is completely different. Trying to reinvent the wheel, and made it expensive, is not going to make you the Jeff Bezos of the firearm world.

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Originally posted by cas:

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a solution in search of a problem

That's what they said about the first guy to tie a rock to the end of a stick.

Expensive, heavy, 9MM, from a company with no firearms experience.

They were rolling long odds from the beginning.

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TFB.com: BREAKING NEWS: Hudson Manufacturing Files For Bankruptcy

Hudson Manufacturing, makers of the much-vaunted Hudson H9, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on March 14th. This is, presumably, in direct response to their previously cataloged troubles. Cambridge Valley Machining has sued Hudson over unpaid debts after being contracted to machine parts for them.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

There are several different types, or chapters, of bankruptcies that individuals and companies can file for. Hudson has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, meaning that they have chosen to liquidate all their assets to absolve their debts.

There are some interesting titbits in Hudson’s filing. First, their estimated assets are less than $50,000 USD. However, their liabilities are somewhere between $10 million and $50 million dollars. In fact, according to the filings, Cambridge Valley Machining might not even be their largest creditor. While estimates of how much Hudson owes Cambridge Valley vary, the value is certainly more than $500,000, and probably under $1 million. That leaves at least $9 million in debt unaccounted for, and possibly as much as $49 million. Their list of creditors spans 18 pages.

What Comes Next

Hudson Manufacturing will go through the bankruptcy process. Excluding any assets that Hudson petitions to be labelled as exempt, everything will be sold off. For those customers who’s guns are currently in Hudson’s possession for warranty service or what-have-you, I don’t know what will happen. Technically they are not Hudson’s property and should be exempt from the sell-off. However, due to Hudson’s financial woes, it is unlikely they have the money to pay to ship them back to their owners.

As I mentioned in my previous post, there is currently an ongoing effort to create a class-action lawsuit against Hudson. It is catalogued at H9owners.com. At the time of publishing Josh Supnick, the creator and initiator of the lawsuit has not yet replied to a request for comment. Hudson Manufacturing’s website is still active, but their email addresses return an undeliverable error, and could not be reached for comment. The article will update as more information becomes available.

The bankruptcy filing is: Texas Western Bankruptcy Court Case 6:19-bk-60161 - Hudson Mfg. LLC.

It was an innovative design. Maybe it was a "solution looking for a problem" as many have claimed but maybe it was just a bit too ahead of it's time. Especially as we continue to refine both the human element of weapon manipulation/control and push the development envelope in ammunition (both existing and new designed calibers) performance.

Imagine a 10mm (or a new caliber type) with the hitting power of a hot .44mag but with the recoil management and controllability of maybe a soft 9mm because of the very low bore axis/captured frame recoil system. Fast, accurate follow up shots of a soft 9mm. Plus 15 or so rounds in the gun. Plus the ease of reload (under stress) of a semi-auto (and another 15 rounds in the gun). Plus the ability to stick a high lumen WML on the gun cause it gets dark in them thar' woods.

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Expensive, heavy, 9MM, from a company with no firearms experience.

They were rolling long odds from the beginning.

No doubt...But I remember old school cops who thought that Fantastic Plastic guns were "solutions in search of problems" and "get it done in six" mentalities as well. And I don't remember Glock having much in the way of firearms experience either.

I would not be surprised at all to see very similar H9 type designs from established gun makers in the future.