For the 1st time ever, I think one of my HKs just broke

O

ok3wire

New member
Along with a healthy variety of other firearm makes and models, my collection of HKs was started almost 30 years ago and has only grown since. And in all that time, I can honestly say I haven't had a single significant mechanical reliability issue with any of their weapons. From striker fired pistols to hammer fired pistols to long guns, they've all performed without fail. But I went to the safe last night, reached for my USP 40, checked clear and then had one of those surreal moments where your brain is unexpectedly forced to try to comprehend why something which has consistently happened for nearly 20 years, suddenly isn't happening at all. It's somewhat akin to what you have to deal with when your wife decides after a couple decades to change the kitchen drawer where the utensils have always lived. Being creatures of habit such as we are, there's that split second of confusion that you get to repeatedly experience for a period of time while your brain struggles to explain why you're holding a cheese grater or phone book in your hand instead of the fork that's always been there. :D

In this particular instance, that feeling was met when I racked the slide on my mid 90's vintage USP and the hammer failed to stay back. "Wait, something's weird, what just happened?" Rack the slide again, same thing - hammer goes forward with the slide. "What the hell?" At this point your brain starts trying to figure out what obvious thing it is that you're doing wrong. "Whatever, it's late." So I put in an empty mag and rack the slide again. Of course, the slide stays back this time. Duh. :D Hit the slide release lever, ride the slide forward and, sure enough, the hammer goes with it. Now I'm really starting to think that I'm losing my mind. So I try to cock the hammer manually. It won't stay back. "Is the safety stuck in some weird position?" No, that seems to operating normally. Completely befuddled, I picked up the P99 instead and resolved to try again in the morning.

Well, the morning is here and sadly nothing appears to have changed. The hammer simply will not stay back whether I manipulate the slide or try to cock it manually. Everything else appears to be functioning normally. The pistol seems to work normally in double action mode. The safety disables double action firing as per normal. I've done a quick field strip and no parts came falling out. Interestingly, when the slide assembly is removed, I can get the hammer to stay back in maybe one out of twenty tries if I ride my thumb on the hammer while completing a double action pull and then immediately manually cocking the hammer back again. It would therefor seem that some sear engagement remains possible. Nevertheless, I sit here forced to contemplate the increasingly inescapable conclusion that my pistol is really and truly broken. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. :) And yet even at that, I still almost halfway expect that the first reply to this post will begin with, "Hey dum dum, your gun isn't broken, you just forgot to ..." :D

It worked flawlessly when it last saw some range time several months ago, and has only sat in the safe since. I will say though, on the off chance it is busted, there's a part of me that's very relieved that this failure manifested itself in the safe rather than at the range. I can only imagine that getting a live magazine anywhere near this weapon in its present condition would be a very bad thing. ;)

Any thoughts and/or recommendations for a good HK armorer in the South L.A. County area?
 
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I am not familiar with your gun. I had a similar situation with a lever action rifle. I cleaned and lubed prior to what I thought was going to be a trip to a gunsmith ((uuuugggghhh)). It worked fine after cleaning. The rifle had not been shot since it's last cleaning.
 
I doubt the gun is seriously "broke". At worst the sear or sear spring broke, but that would be an easy fix that any competent gunsmith should be able to handle, event though that is a pretty complex pistol.

Before going into panic mode, though, have you tried hosing the works down with Gun Scrubber or something like that. (A sonic tank would be best, but not always available.) One problem that crops up all the time with guns that have been set aside for a while, is that grease or oil hardens and gums things up. So first use the scrubber to get out all the old crud, then lube with fresh light gun oil and see what happens.

Jim
 
Thanks for the tips, guys. I shot some cleaner/degreaser into the hammer assembly and then worked in a bit of CLP on top of it. Doing so did seem to help a little bit. For a short period immediately after this cleaning, the hammer was staying back maybe 50% of the time. But it now seems to have reverted back to failure mode. It was streaky during the brief time it was working better, as in the hammer would cock properly maybe ten times in a row, and then it wouldn't ten times in a row. And when it was field stripped, it sometimes made a difference if you applied lateral pressure to the hammer as you were drawing it back.

I did notice, however, that on the occasions when it did cock, the trigger release felt perfectly normal when dry firing. Strange. :confused:
 
These have two-piece sears, and they could be stuck due to dirt, etc. However, one could also be broken, so it would be best to let a Gunsmith look at it. When replacing sears or hammers, a smith will be able to determine if the gun will have a positive (safe) sear engagement after the repair.
 
On a handgun of this type, I'd be in there looking to find if it's broken or simply a sticky part as mentioned above. It does sound very much like it could be either and the owner's cleaning habits and regimen have a lot to do with it. Depending on the different oils and solvents used in the past, some of that crap REALLY sets up badly. A modern pistol like an HK should be set up where those parts are relatively easy to get to and see, so that's what I would do.

In a similar way but a TOTALLY different platform, I found that an early 90s Colt revolver had something going wrong inside of it -- if the gun would sit for a day or more, there was a part that was obviously reluctant to move inside. A few cycles of the hammer and trigger would "free" the part and the gun would function fine until the following day (or more) when you'd pick it up and the problem would occur once again.

Pickle I was in was that a Colt revolver takes extreme care and skill in removing the sideplate and that was NOT an option I was going to choose. It would be shipped back to Colt before I did that, so I was staring down an expensive bill AND being without the revolver for weeks at least.

I took a can of non-chlorinated brake cleaner and, at the shooting range outdoors, I sprayed it so liberally inside this revolver and worked the hammer and trigger many, many times, carefully. I then took a synthetic lubricant and got some in there as best I could.

That was a year ago and while I know precisely what to do to make that original problem appear, I have not once successfully replicated the problem. At this point, I can only consider the problem resolved. Simply had to be some congealed goo.
 
(A sonic tank would be best, but not always available.)
Click to expand...

Something that can work almost as well is a container of solvent large enough to submerge the parts, and an aquarium pump or a compressor.

The bubbles keep the solvent moving enough to break loose the "crud"

Kerosene does a decent job and isn't as flammable as many other solvents
 
Mineral spirits or Stoddards solvent is better. Relatively low flash point but good cleaning potential.. Kerosene still retains some of it's waxes.
 
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