Last week I bought a CCFA "tactical" barrel and a Vortex accurizer / flash suppressor (www.ccfa.com) for my HK USP 45 from Krept here on TFL. He is moving to the People's Republic of Kalifornia (PRK) where such things as pistol barrels which have threads on the end are banned as "assault
weapons". Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to buy and I'd thought I'd share my impressions of the set up after a trip to the range.
The CCFA Tactical barrel is about an inch longer than the stock barrel and has an O ring located near the end for a tight lock up with the slide when the pistol is in battery. The barrel has standard lands and grooves rifling as opposed to the polygonal rifling of the standard HK barrel. The Vortex accurizer / flash suppressor is also supposed to aid in accuracy by directing propellant gasses in a certain way.
The swap with the stock barrel was very straight forward with no fitting required of any kind. The CCFA barrel has the same nice tight fit in the slide as the stock unit.
I started out shooting at 25 feet with the stock barrel and after 30 rounds I switched to the CCFA barrel and Vortex assembly. At this point all I really noticed was a slight weight increase, a bit less felt recoil and a bit less muzzle flip. After another 30 rounds I found that accuracy was right about what I was getting with the stock barrel. Mind you, I've never been disappointed with the USP in it's stock form in the accuracy department. I was, however, starting to think I had spent my money on a neat looking but otherwise only slightly useful set up.
All that changed when I did the same test at 25 yards. As before I started with the stock barrel and after 30 rounds I switched to the CCFA set up. What a difference! Group size reduced measurably. FYI, I was doing all my shooting off hand but I usually do better that way than using a rest. With the stock barrel I was putting 13 rounds into the 5½" center part of a standard 25 yard pistol target. With the CCFA set up I put 18 rounds in the same 5½" section and the rest didn't miss by much. I was impressed with the improvement.
Only problem experienced was the Vortex flash suppressor kept wanting to come loose. I didn't want to over tighten it so I was being careful how much torque I was applying to it. I guess that problem can be fixed by just tightening it up a bit better next time.
Next time I'll try to use some good S&B ammo instead of the Lawman I was using for this test. I usually have better luck with S&B.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience with you in case anyone is thinking about a Tactical barrel for their USP. Not only does the CCFA set up look really neat but it's more than slightly functional as well. I'm glad I decided to get it.
Thanks Krept!
Joe
weapons". Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to buy and I'd thought I'd share my impressions of the set up after a trip to the range.
The CCFA Tactical barrel is about an inch longer than the stock barrel and has an O ring located near the end for a tight lock up with the slide when the pistol is in battery. The barrel has standard lands and grooves rifling as opposed to the polygonal rifling of the standard HK barrel. The Vortex accurizer / flash suppressor is also supposed to aid in accuracy by directing propellant gasses in a certain way.
The swap with the stock barrel was very straight forward with no fitting required of any kind. The CCFA barrel has the same nice tight fit in the slide as the stock unit.
I started out shooting at 25 feet with the stock barrel and after 30 rounds I switched to the CCFA barrel and Vortex assembly. At this point all I really noticed was a slight weight increase, a bit less felt recoil and a bit less muzzle flip. After another 30 rounds I found that accuracy was right about what I was getting with the stock barrel. Mind you, I've never been disappointed with the USP in it's stock form in the accuracy department. I was, however, starting to think I had spent my money on a neat looking but otherwise only slightly useful set up.
All that changed when I did the same test at 25 yards. As before I started with the stock barrel and after 30 rounds I switched to the CCFA set up. What a difference! Group size reduced measurably. FYI, I was doing all my shooting off hand but I usually do better that way than using a rest. With the stock barrel I was putting 13 rounds into the 5½" center part of a standard 25 yard pistol target. With the CCFA set up I put 18 rounds in the same 5½" section and the rest didn't miss by much. I was impressed with the improvement.
Only problem experienced was the Vortex flash suppressor kept wanting to come loose. I didn't want to over tighten it so I was being careful how much torque I was applying to it. I guess that problem can be fixed by just tightening it up a bit better next time.
Next time I'll try to use some good S&B ammo instead of the Lawman I was using for this test. I usually have better luck with S&B.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience with you in case anyone is thinking about a Tactical barrel for their USP. Not only does the CCFA set up look really neat but it's more than slightly functional as well. I'm glad I decided to get it.
Thanks Krept!
Joe