HK USP & .45 Super

J

Josh D

New member
Is it true that the USP .45 will eat .45 Super ammo with no harm done to the gun? I have heard it will, but never gotten a definate answer. When I get this pistol, I don't plan on feeding it a diet of Super, but I might pick up 2 boxes or so that way I can fire some rounds of it through the gun and have some for any "special occasion" that may arrive. Just exactly what will the Super do that the ACP won't? I remember seeing an article in Guns and Ammo once about it, now I gotta go find that dang mag.

Thanks for your help guys.

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Don't turn around, uh oh oh, der kommisar is in town, uh oh oh!
 
I don't think so.
I shoot +P in mine and that seems more than
adequate for whatever I shoot at.
I am not up to date on the 45 super, so I might be wrong.
What might be interesting is the .400Corbon
switch.
But again, your normal 45acp is more than enough.
Oh, and you will really like it when you get it.
 
Yes, it is. Check out Triton Cartridges website for their recommendations, but they say it will fire the .45 Super without problems except for recoil spring changes every 5000 (?) rounds.

IME, I received a box from Triton of the 185gr, 1350fps Navy SEAL trident-market .45 Super and the stuff is hot! It throws the brass into the next state and the recoil forces are *very* different compared to standard or even +P .45 ACP.

Give it a try, if you like it, but I won't be putting a lot of this ammo through my USP45 Fullsize (definitely NOT recommended for any less gun or lighter slide firearms).

YMMV,
 
The owner's manual says that you can shoot .45 Super, so I plan on trying some out in my Tactical. Have not had any luck finding the cartridges yet. Most of the stores I go into say ".45 Super... what's that?"
I guess I'll have to mail-order some.
 
Josh,

Unless something has RECENTLY changed at HK, they DO NOT recommend the use of the .45 Super round in their .45 ACP pistols.

I have seen and know that they approve +P and +P+ ammo in their weapons but have never seen anything in a manual that states .45 Super is OK. However, it could have changed.

I recommend you give them a call at (703)450-1900 and get the correct info directly from them.

In fact, they have had several USP's returned with frame damage due to the firing of .45 Super ammo and they did not warranty the frames on these pistols.

It could be quite costly replacing your frame as an out of pocket expense.

Ben Bennington, who was the Commercial Sales Director, told me personally back in October, that the pistols and boxes are marked .45 ACP and that is the correct ammunition, not .45 Super. "WE know this is going on and we do not recommend it" was the statement as I recall.

John Zamrok, a personal friend, who just left HK employ after 5 years as an Instructor/Armorer, also posted this over on the HK-Forum.com a short time back. His comments to me were more to the tune of, "some guy writes it in a magazine that it's so and they all (USP owners)think it's OK".

However, it's your pistol and it's up to you. Personally I don't see that much of an advantage using the .45 Super round over a good .45 ACP +P round.

Hope this helps you decide...

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Jim - NRA Life Member

www.geocities.com/jimc_07874/home.html

[This message has been edited by JMC (edited April 01, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by JMC (edited April 01, 2000).]
 
Chipperman,

You might want to check your manual again or let me know what page your looking at that states that the use of 45 Super is ok. I don't see any reference to it in the manual at all. However I did note that you said you have a Tactical and not a standard USP. The following is from page 21 of the USP9/40/45 manual:

Note: In compliance with NIJ Standard - 0112.00, currently there are no known ammunition types that meet the general guidelines set forth in this section that are not compatible with the USP 9mm, USP .40, or USP .45 pistols. All USP pistols are approved for use with +P and +P+ ammunition. The use of the +P and +P+ ammunition does accelerate wear and reduce the service life on the component parts of any pistol, including the HK USP.

Hmm...after just typing in the above, I am wondering if I am ignorant and if +P+ is also refered to as 45 Super? Anybody know the answer to this?

Hope that didn't make things murky ;)
Evan
 
I was unable to post this a a reply last night so I made a new thread which everyone rightfully ignored.... :P

************

Longduck: Exactly how is it different? How is it to shoot? Any further inpressions?

Chipperman: I have looked through my manual (USP45f) and I do not see anything about 45super in the ammunition section although it does say on page 21:

"All USP pistols are approved for use with +P and +P+ ammunition."

Is that what 45super is? "+P+" ?

How does 45 super differ from 45acp? Is the brass different? Will 45acp reloading dies work for it? Any balistic info about it?

Thanks you all!

J.T.
 
+p+ ammo is police issue only,and 45 super brass is different from regular 45 acp and it loads to a higher cup than the 45acp ,that is why the .45 acp gun cannot handle the same pressure as a 45 super!
 
Sorry, my bad.
I thought it was in there. I looked and mine says the same thing as you are seeing. Someone showed me "something in print" that stated it was ok to use .45 Super in the USP. I thought it was the manual, but I was obviously wrong. I'll look around and see if I can find it again. I will post it if I do.

I should have double-checked the manual before posting that. Sorry again.
 
My SIG Sauer P220 manual states that "occasional" use of .45 Super is permitted. I guess those USP's aren't as tough as it's claimed.;) :D
 
In a recent magazine article (I forget which one but when I get home I'll check it) there was a lengthy article on the HK USP. In the article they said that there are unmodified samples of the USP that have shot over 6,000 rounds of .45 super with no problems.
Recommended? Maybe not, but the gun can probably take it. I would personally change to a heavier recoil spring.
 
harrydog,

I recall reading the same thing in a magazine maybe a month or so ago. Don't remember which one though.

Shake
 
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