May have bought an H&K lemon?

L

lonewolf1981

New member
So I need advice on what to do about this potential lemon. I bought a USP 45 off of buds a few months back. The first time I took it to the range I only put 100 rounds through it and had 3 failures. The first occurred during the second mag when the trigger failed to reset. The other two happened throughout the next 80 or so rounds when the slide didn't go into battery completely. I've let it sit until yesterday when I went to the range again and had another FTB, but only once during another 100 round session. It's really annoying me that this is happening with a new gun, and even more so with an H&K. Should I hold out and see what happens in the next few hundred rounds or get on the phone with buds or H&K?
 
Call HK customer service. Unless you were shooting Hornady, it shouldn't be doing that.

I would probably give it a proper clean and lube, then take it back with a different kind of ammo just to try... If you have trouble again, definitely give them a call. They'll get you fixed up and their turnaround time is amazing.
 
Did you field strip the new HK USP and clean and lube before going to the range and lube where was shown in the manual? Slide rails need to be cleaned before lubing to remove any possible preservation grease.

What ammo did you use??
 
I was using 230 gr. Winchester FMJ. And I didn't clean it, I only oiled it a bit before shooting it. It's what I've done with my two other USP, no issues with those.
 
Well if you call HK they are going to ask you if you cleaned and lubed it. While often a new pistol will work fine out of the box, sometimes it won't especially if it has been sitting around for a few years or more before being sold.

Winchester White Box is one of the more problematic ammo brands there is. Most have no issue but enough do to make it suspect. I would suggest trying some other quality brass cased American manufactured ammo like Federal American Eagle, Speer Lawman, or CCI Brass Blazer.

if you still have a problem call HK.
 
sigarms228 said:
Winchester White Box is one of the more problematic ammo brands there is. Most have no issue but enough do to make it suspect. I would suggest trying some other quality brass cased American manufactured ammo like Federal American Eagle, Speer Lawman, or CCI Brass Blazer.
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of guns that are picky about certain types of ammo. WWB is standard range ammo and you should expect that your USP will cycle it reliably. If I owned your gun, I'd find a good local gunsmith who will inspect it for the usual supects for these types of problems, then test fire it with that WWB ammo. If the problem persists, a good 'smith should work with you until the problem is resolved. HK makes good quality, reliable and accurate firearms, but occasionally a bad apple will get out, and these can be fixed.
 
HK USPs are notoriously strong springed, and WWB is notoriously under-powered. It is not unheard of to have a long break-in with non-NATO spec ammo.

A bit of searching on other sites will yield these conclusions. If they persist in the presence of higher pressure ammo, or over a longer course of fire, contact HK.
 
I have had so many issues with WWB ammo and my seminauto pistols I refuse to buy it anymore. I dont own any HK pistols.
All I can add otherwise is its usually best to strip and clean before first outing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I went through a long period with various 1911's, a Balester Molina, and a Glock 30...none had an issue with WWB, or any other low end 45acp ammo.
Your HK would be fixed or gone, if I owned it.
 
Fixed or Gone are my only two options. It's was never meant to be a carry gun (and now will never be) and I hate the idea of having a gun in my collection with a 2% failure rate. I'll run another 200 rounds on Saturday and see how it does, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
The trigger reset is weird.

With HKs in general I have found they need a couple hundred or so rounds of heavier or +P/hotter ammo for them to loosen up enough to run powder puff stuff.
 
It's all weird stuff for any new gun. Although I bought the pistol because I missed my previous USP .45 that ran 100% for over 2000 rounds. If it doesn't improve I might just install a match trigger and use it as a .45 super fun gun. Lemons to lemonade. :D
 
I'm not a big fan of guns that are picky about certain types of ammo. WWB is standard range ammo and you should expect that your USP will cycle it reliably. If I owned your gun, I'd find a good local gunsmith who will inspect it for the usual supects for these types of problems, then test fire it with that WWB ammo. If the problem persists, a good 'smith should work with you until the problem is resolved. HK makes good quality, reliable and accurate firearms, but occasionally a bad apple will get out, and these can be fixed.
Click to expand...

WWB used to be my go to ammo 6 or more years ago but IMO something has changed it is not near as good as it used to be and I won't buy it anymore and seems to have problems with consistency of manufacture. In particular many problems with extraction reported due to out of spec brass being used and not very consistent velocity from round to round.

Bruce Gray of Grayguns has stated that he will not warranty use of WWB in pistols he has done gun smithing on.

I still have pre 2009 old stock WWB that works fine for me and is among the most accurate brass cased range ammo.
 
Last edited:
If it doesn't improve I might just install a match trigger and use it as a .45 super fun gun.
Click to expand...

To me that's a waste. I've owned a dozen + HKs and honestly the only ammo related issue I ever saw was the OAL of Hornady and steel case ammo not expanding fully and allowing gasses into the firing pin channel. Eventually the firing pin seized. But my HK45c has hundreds of rounds of WWB through it.

I'd try some other ammo just to rule that out, but if it still has issues send it to HK. An unreliable pistol is a very expensive paperweight, especially in the case of HKs.
 
I find WWB to be very anemic ammo -- hence it may cause issues esp. in brand new guns with stiff springs or guns that run heavy springs.

Try another brand, or try duty ammo and see what it does after a clean and lube.

I disagree somewhat with the precept that any gun should be able to run any ammo --- There is a fair bit of variation with some practice ammo vs. duty ammo and we are asking too much of any mechanical system to take that much into account.

Put another way I would rather a gun not run anemic practice ammo but not beat it's self apart and be reliable with duty ammo than vice versa. In an ideal world duty ammo and practice ammo energy would match closely and be cheap too. We know that does not happen so we make do --- many 45's run WWB ok after a while, but out the gate I am not shocked if one bites it.
 
Not fully cycling the slide to go into battery may be because the particular run of ammo is too long to fully seat in the chamber. I've had Mag-Tech ammo do this with .45s and among them a USP. Being just a little bit out of battery prevents firing... a great safety feature in the USP. Remove the barrel and try dropping some of the ammo you're using into the chamber to see if it fully seats, or if some stick out a bit.

The USP is a great gun, don't give up on it.
 
Last edited:
I don't own an HK pistol. I would agree with the sentiment that a gun that is very particular about ammo is unwelcome in my modest collection. Knowing up-front that a couple of hundred rounds of hotter ammo was needed to loosen things up might be ok with me though.

WWB is my go-to practice round. I have very few issues with it. It is not as consistent as it could be, but it is fine for the money and its purpose in my experience.
 
I certainly wouldn't bother calling before you shot some different ammo through it. I agree with the others that there is a good possibility that's a combination of weaker ammo and newer springs. The problem just might go away with the WWB after shooting a couple hundred rounds of something a little hotter.
 
I believe this process will turn the corner for you:

Leave the slide locked back overnight. Next day:

Clean the gun very thoroughly and remove all preservative or greasy residue from the slide rails.

Lube the gun with good quality gun oil, including the slide rails.

Buy a couple of boxes of American Eagle FMJ and get back to the range.

You shouldn't have any problems with this range trip. But if you do, call HK.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top