HK USP Tactical .45

V

viper

New member
I'm interested in this gun. However, I've heard some disturbing things about many, many USP's with broken firing pins caused by dry firing. How prevalent is this, and has HK done anything to rectify the problem?

I'm a Glock owner and used to dry firing my 19 with impunity as part of my practice routine. The broken firing pin bit really bothers me. Personally, I think a modern hi-tech gun should be designed so as to be able to stand dry firing without using a snap-cap. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Also, the USP Tactical sits pretty high over the hand. Does this make it difficult or awkward to instinctively point the gun and shoot at a target using fast point shooting techniques? The gun just looks so damn neat, but if it won't hold up....

------------------
Let's just hope we don't get Gore'd in November.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'd much
rather get some Bush.
 
Hi Viper,

I can tell you from experience that the HK USP lines of pistols are magnificent. I personally own a USP 9mm and (2) .40 Compacts, one with stainless slide and one blued.
My agency issues us a choice of weapons one of which is a USP compact in .357SIG, it has the Bar-sto barrel not the factory barrel. I work in an office with 56 Deputy Marshals and most of us carry the USP in either .40 or .357SIG.

Between us and the DEA we have a lot of USP’s running around out there and earnestly, the only place I have heard of failures of this gun have been here and at HKPRO. I have a couple thousand rounds through all my USP’s and not one hiatus.

I bet my life on it, everyday.


Fish
 
I'm sure you've seen my post - mine was a USPc .45, not a tactical. I'm still deciding whether to carry it when it returns from servicing.
 
Viper,

I own both a USP45 full size and the MK23. I also just purchased my first Glock, a G35. I think that the number one thing that you will need to get used to between your Glock and the Tactical is the grip angle and how the pistol points. When I first shot the Glock all of my shots were high by a couple of inches at 15 - 20 feet. It is easy to overcome this with a little range time, but don't be surprised if you shoot the Tactical a little low to start with.

As far as the firing pin goes, I broke one in my USP45 during very intensive dry fire practice without a snap cap. Since then, I have dry fired the pistol literally thousands of times with a snap cap and have had no problems whatsoever! I have no problem relying on the firearm to go bang when I need it to. As to 'many, many USP's having had that happen, I would bet that the numbers are pretty small in reality. The net has made the world a smaller place and everyone posts what they hear on multiple boards. I would compare the Glock KB to the USP firing pin issue in that many more people have "heard" of it happening than have actually had it happen to them or even someone they personally know.


ymmv,
Evan
 
I have dry-fired my Tactical without any problems. Yes, there have been some people with broken pins. The statement that "many, many" have broken I think is inflated. Just like the Glock KB's, everyone knows about them, but few have seen it. AFAIK, HK has neither aknowledged nor rectified anything.

I trust my life to my Tactical. I would suggest that using a good snap-cap when dry-firing would be a smart idea. Nothing to lose by playing it safe... With that said, I sometimes use a snap-cap and sometimes do not. <<My own personal theory about this, is that there may have been a bad batch of firing pins out there. Most of the reports I have heard directly from the owners have been guns at least a year old. I have not heard about any from this year. This is just my musing, and is not based on any hard evidence.>>

As far as the gun being awkward, that is obviously personal taste. I bought the Tactical because I handled every gun I could get my mitts on. It was the most comfortable for me. That may not be the case for you. You said you are a Glock man, so I would think that it would feel similar. The USP's and Glocks feel better in my hand than any others. From the way you made the statement, it sounds like you haven't actually held one yet. Is this true?
 
Another question regarding the HK USP Tactical and Mark23 is something I heard on a HK board. They are saying that all of the USP Tactical and Mark 23 will be illegal in 2001 because they have threaded barrels.
Any truth to this?
 
Actually, I just handled a USP Tactical at a gun show in Ft. Lauderdale(War Memorial). I found the grip much more comfortable/smoother than the early USP's. It's just the height of the bore axis over my hand compared to the Glock that I found a little disconcerting. I just wonder how that will affect it's instinctive shooting qualities if I have to go for fast shots off the draw or multiple shots at a moving target. I'm curious as to how it handles compared to a Glock 21.

------------------
Let's just hope we don't get Gore'd in November.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'd much
rather get some Bush.
 
Lightsped:

I don't know about other states, but in Kalifornia, both the Tactical and SOCOM were banned this year.
 
I had a full sized HK USP .45. I put somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 rounds through it without a hitch - though the magazines (10 rounds) didn't like the tenth round at first. (A mag problem that went away.) I dry fired the pistol thousands of times, probably, without any firing pin failure.

I only got rid of it because I decided it was too bulky for my tastes. A close friend of mine owns it now, and hasn't had any problems either.
 
Viper,

The recoil buffer does work. The mass and extra length of the barrel help as well. If you REALLY want to get double-taps off at top speed, screw on a Flash Suppressor from CCFA. I never take it off of mine (except to clean). In my hands the gun points very well.

When I bought mine, the G21 was the only other contender. Recoil on the Tac is smoother. The DA trigger is not as nice as the Glock's trigger, but the SA is better than a Glock. Plus you can carry cocked and locked. The result is that I never shoot mine from DA. The system that they have worked out is ingenious. You have many Variants from which to choose (especially for Southpaws like me :) ) Mine is Variant 2, for Lefty's with safety and decocker. You can take away the safety and/or decocker, have it DAO, etc.

I do not like the new finger grooves on the Glock. Some people have complained about the checkering of the USP grip as being uncomfortable after a long shooting session. I do not have that problem.

The Tac does cost quite a bit more, but you get the threaded barrel for toys, 2 mags, cleaning kit, nice soft zipper case, extra o-rings, and IMHO a better gun.

They may very well be illegal in the not-to-distant future. All the more reason to get one now.
 
Well, After only 200rnds and about 300 dry firers my USP45 full-size firing pin broke rihght at the notch where the firing pin lockout goes into the firing pin.

Needless to say I was pretty ticked after having just spent $800 on this gun after having the match trigger installed. The whole reason I bought it was to have an EXTREMELY reliable gun. Oh well...

Just goes to show that even the highest rated mechanical devices are NEVER fool proof and can ALWAYS have problems. And I dont want to hear about Glocks as I have had two buddies that had either feed problems or broken parts in their Glocks over the years as well.

I suspect that HK has a manufacturing issue with their firing pins and that you either have a flawed one or not. I still dry fire the hell out of my HK. I would rather that it failed while dry firing than while shooting to save my life. Given that my first pin failed inside 500 hammer strikes, and my new one has lasted for over 3000 hammer strikes, I suspect that the first one was flawed from the factory.

My advice is to dry-fire and real fire the crap out of it until you are certain that there is nothing wrong with the pin. But thats just my layman's opinion.

Oh, I was using a snap-cap when the pin broke.

J.T.

as usual, FWIW, YMMV, IMHO and all that...
 
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