HK USP 45

Fanucman said:
I have a USP45 full size. It is an excellent piece of engineering. I have put all kinds of ammo through it and do not recall it ever jamming. It cleans pretty easily and barely shows any wear despite having a few thousand rounds through it. 12rd mags for it are pricey though.

On the negative side, the grip is on the large side and my fingers are on the short side, so it gets difficult to control when my hands are tired (after shooting a while). I wish I had the time to work on my grip so I could control it better. I find other pistols more pleasant to shoot, but I cannot bring myself to get rid of it.

Some pistols are made for target shooting, some are made for hunting, some are made for concealed carry, some are made to be low cost, some are just made to look pretty. A USP ain't pretty, compact, or cheap. It is supremely reliable, reasonably accurate and extremely durable. Maybe it is just me, but I think when you hold a USP, you get the feeling that it was made for one purpose: to give you absolute confidence that it will blow a .45 hole in whatever (or whomever) you decide needs a new hole.
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To add to this, it seems to be the kind of gun that's going to still be around and kicking generations from now, with relatively little to no care or service needed. You can buy one, a few mags and maybe a couple of long shot spare parts (springs and such) and know that as long as you have ammo to feed it you'll have a perfectly functional .45 there when you need it.
 
Fanucman said:
Some pistols are made for target shooting, some are made for hunting, some are made for concealed carry, some are made to be low cost, some are just made to look pretty. A USP ain't pretty, compact, or cheap. It is supremely reliable, extremely accurate and extremely durable. Maybe it is just me, but I think when you hold a USP, you get the feeling that it was made for one purpose: to give you absolute confidence that it will blow a .45 hole in whatever (or whomever) you decide needs a new hole.
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Just about spot on...... although I did have to fix one thing for ya. [wink] [smile]

I've owned a USPC in 9, 40 and 45, all have worked flawless with factory & reloaded ammo.

FWIW just my $.02
 
It sounds like this pistol is worth it, but I won't know until I shoot one. Hopefully soon. I understand the hk45 is more user friendly, better ergonomics, and a little more stylish, but I like the traditional Usp look
 
Fastcivic1 said:
Am guessing you had a bad experice with HK, please....explain.
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HK's shitty factory support is the stuff of legends. Most of the time it's not as bad as people make it out to be, but if you ever have to send it out to the factory, don't expect getting it back anytime soon. Thankfully I've never had to do this. Unless you blow up the gun most of the stuff that goes wrong with it can be dealt with by anyone remotely mechanically inclined.

-Mike
 
Bought my USP40 about 4 years ago and paid the crazy stupid price. Now that they are MA compliant the price is reduced and can be found around $750. It was a variant 3 (with decocker only) that I switched to variant 1 so I could carry condition 1. The USP is designed as a tank. However, I am 6'1" with ape sized hands so ergonomics are not an issue. I like the dual recoil spring setup. It definitely helps with a hot .40. If the 45 ever becomes MA comp. then I'll definitely scoff one up.

-Drew
 
drgrant said:
HK's shitty factory support is the stuff of legends. Most of the time it's not as bad as people make it out to be, but if you ever have to send it out to the factory, don't expect getting it back anytime soon. Thankfully I've never had to do this. Unless you blow up the gun most of the stuff that goes wrong with it can be dealt with by anyone remotely mechanically inclined.

-Mike
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Wow, that's something I didnt know. I have personally dealt with sig, I also consider them in the high end of the gun spectrum, and they were pretty good to deal with
 
I actually like my HK USP 45. Then again, I do have bigger hands so it fits me well. I agree that this isn't something you're going to carry, but for range use or home defense I think it's a fine choice. I mounted a TLR-1 light on it and it's my goto home defense gun that's readily available while we are in bed. All things break sooner or later, but so far it's been reliable for me.
 
I have a shoulder rig for my USP that conceals under a hoodie adequately. I semi-routinely wear it. It prints a little, but not enough for the casual observer to notice.
 
For me, the Usp would be too big to conceal, range/ home defense would be adequate. And like you said before, you can shoot tons of ammo, and overpowered ammo, and it'll take it like a champ.
 
I have two HKs, an HK45 and a P2000sk, and I've shot a USP .45 full size. If you can find an HK45, get that over the USP though the USP is good if it fits you.

As for HK support, I've only called them once and my call was routed to someone who was knowledgable and helpful. I'd say that your chances of actually needing active support out of HK is pretty low, so I wouldn't weigh that heavily.
 
I've still got an HK USPc .45. I sold my HK USPc .40. The coolness factor wears off. It sits in my safe, seldom used.
 
Fastcivic1 said:
How the 45c compared to the full size?
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The USPc .45 has a horrendous level of muzzle flip and recoil, IMO, despite it's relatively large size. I shot fairly well with mine, though. Not a gun I could sit at the range pouring ammo through, though. Mags are stupidly expensive (Usually $40+, although I sold a few used ones for $35) and there is no way to get cheap ones.

If you tried a Glock 30 SF and a USPc .45 side by side, I would be very surprised if you didn't think the Glock was better. (That's basically what I replaced all my compact .45s with).

-Mike
 
Your information in this post hast proved very helpful to me. Sort of rethinking some purchases now. I've wanted an H7K Full size and Compact for a while now... hmmmm

drgrant said:
The USPc .45 has a horrendous level of muzzle flip and recoil, IMO, despite it's relatively large size. I shot fairly well with mine, though. Not a gun I could sit at the range pouring ammo through, though. Mags are stupidly expensive (Usually $40+, although I sold a few used ones for $35) and there is no way to get cheap ones.

If you tried a Glock 30 SF and a USPc .45 side by side, I would be very surprised if you didn't think the Glock was better. (That's basically what I replaced all my compact .45s with).

-Mike
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jmh992003 said:
Your information in this post hast proved very helpful to me. Sort of rethinking some purchases now. I've wanted an H7K Full size and Compact for a while now... hmmmm
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Try one before you buy. There's a number of folks here on NES who have them and might be willing to meet you at a range and let you try them.
 
Yeah, don't go on my opinion alone. You might decide they work fine for you. Or you might decide "Wow that guy just saved me $700-900!". IMO Compact .45s in general are pretty crappy field of guns to begin with, and over the years the G30/30SF has been the only one that didn't annoy me in some way or another. Most compact .45s seem a lot cooler than they actually are.

-Mike
 
Good advice, I'm def. going to try before I buy, I'm lazy and forget what you said before, did you own .40 cal ups too?


drgrant said:
Yeah, don't go on my opinion alone. You might decide they work fine for you. Or you might decide "Wow that guy just saved me $700-900!". IMO Compact .45s in general are pretty crappy field of guns to begin with, and over the years the G30/30SF has been the only one that didn't annoy me in some way or another. Most compact .45s seem a lot cooler than they actually are.

-Mike
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jmh992003 said:
What did you think of those compared to the .45? IM actually more interested in .40 than the 45. especially for a compact.
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The .40 full has somewhat less felt recoil than the .45 full does. The compacts were both equally annoying to shoot, with a slight edge towards the .40c. At least with the .40c you get 10 round mags, though, and the 10 round cripplemags aren't nearly as expensive when you can find them. This also applies to its full size brother.

Potentially worthless information- When the USP series was introduced, it was more or less designed around the .40 S+W, and the .40 full came out first before the others. (but not for long).

More potentially worthless information- You cannot convert a USP .40 full to .357 sig... it just doesn't work. (Jarvis used to make a barrel for it, but they stopped doing it because customers reported it just didn't work right. ) Oddly enough the compacts can be converted to fire .357 Sig just fine. I think it has something to do with the recoil spring system.

-Mike
 
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Ive just got to get my hands on them. I don't like the sub compacts like the Glock 27, but I do like the block 23, I just happen to appreciate the DA/SA Trigger, made shooting my p99C a treat.
 
jmh992003 said:
What did you think of those compared to the .45? IM actually more interested in .40 than the 45. especially for a compact.
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I sold my USP .40c. It has the same issues as the .45c.

I prefer the Glock 23. The 23 is significantly thinner and easier to conceal. The 23 has less muzzle flip. The 23 has the mag release in the correct place. You can get pre-ban mags for the 23.

The USP .40c is reliable and it comes with decent sights -- the factory standard Glock sights just suck, although they are easily replaced.

If you go to an IDPA match, you'll see a ton of Glocks and quite a few S&W M&Ps. But in the past year I haven't seen a single HK.
 

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