I have been wanting to buy an H&K for the last 15 years. And although I could afford it they seemed to be a bit too expensive compared to other brands.
Recently I had the opportunity to shoot a usp .45. My impression and experience with it was stellar. I have never shot a handgun so accurately the very first time I used it. So I think it is time.
I would really like to stick with .45. what is everyone's experience and opinions.
Thank you.
Scott
If you really like it, and it works for you, buy it. They are built like brick outhouses. If you pick up a USP .45 get yourself a spare sear spring (looks like a snakes tongue), trigger bar, and firing pin, and just stash them away somewhere. If you shoot the gun enough eventually one of those things WILL
break- and murphys law says that when it does break, you won't be able to find those parts anywhere.
I had a half dozen HKs and now I have zero.... I miss them from time to time, but not that much. Some Observations:
-The newer HKs- like the P2000, P30, HK45, etc.... I have horrible NPOA problems with them- I point the things at the ground by default, I actually have to roll my hands backwards slightly to align the sights. Your mileage may vary- Bring a USP to the range, close your eyes, pick the gun up and point it where you think it's supposed to be at about eye level- open your eyes and see where the sights are. Whenever I do this the front sight is just about pointing at the ground, its the polar opposite of the problem a lot of people have with Glocks.
-The DA triggers on many of their guns are pretty terrible but with a 12 lb wolff spring and some GENTLE polishing of friction surfaces (use high grit sandpaper, by hand) can be improved dramatically.
-Bore axis on everything HK makes, except for the P7 (which they don't make anymore) is stupidly high. If you have oven mitts for hands you probably won't notice this much, if you have smaller hands you will find a lot of their guns to be muzzle flippy, particularly in .40 and .45 ACP. This of course doesn't become apparent until you put in a lot of time on guns that have a low bore axis.
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
-The slide and barrel finishes are probably the best in the industry. I've never seen a corroded HK slide or barrel. Even people with weird skin issues can't get those guns to corrode. IMHO they are also the most accurate plastic framed handgun you can buy, from a mechanical accuracy standpoint... but most people aren't shooting bullseye matches with these things, though. (If I shoot my G21SF and an HK USP at 25 yards off a rest, with decent ammo, I bet the HK will make a smaller group.... but it's the old "how much do you care about an inch or less difference at 25 yards" type of thing. )
-The Magazines are REALLY
****ING EXPENSIVE. (Always $40+) There is NO WAY (or very rarely a way, it happened from like 2004 to 2006 CDNN and Cals had some for cheap, but not anymore) around this- all the aftermarket mags are garbage, there is no good but cheap alternative like mecgar, etc.
-The slides on the full size USPs are really easy to operate. Something like a USP 9 makes a great training gun for this reason- because of the way the spring works, it starts out very light at the first 80% of its travel and then there is a heavy duty buffer spring at the end that takes the real abuse.
-The USP slide stop is gigantic. Makes it really easy to reload quickly.
I owned a USP .45 std, USP .45 Elite, USP .45 Compact.... and a Mark 23. All were nice guns, but the Glock 21SF I have now works way better for me. It doesn't flip as much.
The Mark23 was truly something special. That's about the only one I really miss from the lot of .45s. I have no idea what they do to the barrels on those things, but they were stupidly easy to keep clean. A little solvent, a quick pass or two with a brush, and all the crud just comes right out on the patch.
-Mike
