Newbie to HK ??????

N

nascarnhlnra

New member
Trying to learn a little about HK pistols. I keep seeing some advertised just HK and some advertised HK U.S.P what is the difference between these ? Is the HK made in Germany and the HK U.S.P. made in the U.S.A. or has the company been sold similar to the Winchester....Winchester/U.S.R.A.C deal ? Sorry if it's a dumb question but want to know the difference and if one is better than the other and why ? Thanks . Dave
 
HK is the company - Heckler and Koch HK USP is one of their pistol lines Universal Self-loading Pistol. if you go to www.hkpro.com there is TONS of info on the company and all of their products, and everyone is very helpful on the boards over there as well.
 
Like Strapped said. HK is the company, USP is the model. HK also makes the P7 and some other guns. Just like Chevrolet is the company, Corvette is the car. Chevrolet also makes the Camaro and some other cars.
 
Is one better? It's what you like. I never thought I'd own a "plastic" gun. But I do now. My HK USP 9mm has a poly frame and I love it. That comes from a died in the wool 1911 owner...nothing but blued steel for me. Anyway, the USP is a great gun. Mine is a '95 that has the traditional barrel as opposed to a polygonal bbl. That's ok with me 'cause I can still shoot lead bullets. Hmmm. I wonder what HK would charge for a poly bbl. so I could have both. Probably as much as a new gun. Oh well, try all kinds and BUY all kinds.
 
They are two totally different animals. One really can't be "better" than the other (how is an orange better than an apple or vice versa?).

They both have one thing going for them though. . .both made by H&K. . .

:D

Shake
 
IMHO, one line isn't better than the other, just different. One (the P7) is a steel frame & slide and is best known as being a squeeze cocker. The USP line is polymer framed steel slide with traditional controls. USP's are also available in 45 acp, 40 S&W, 9mm and 357sig (in the compact USPs :) ).
If you can, shoot a sample of each and buy the one that works best for you. Have fun on your quest.
 
I have a couple USPs. I have never fired a P series - but I'd sure like to.

Downside to the USPs - trigger - it will never be what a 1911 trigger is.

Upside - they eat anything, and they just keep chugging along. Dirty, dry, crappy ammo - doesn't matter.

A .45C is basically the size of a commander.

A .45F is .... well it is big. Big enough that you really ought to shoot it some to see if your hand is big enough to deal with it.

It is a fail safe gun IMHO. My .45 F has about 13k rounds through it with no failures of any kind and no parts replaced. It is not un common for me to fire up to 500 rounds without cleaning it.


ps HKpro is a really good site for HK info. However, it is run by a guy that I have less than positive things to say about. Make your own choice.
 
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ps HKpro is a really good site for HK info. However, it is run by a guy that I have less than positive things to say about. Make your own choice.
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????

Shake
Click to expand...

This is probably a reference to the owner/administrator of HKPro stating in a thread a while back, that he would actively assist the ATF etc. in the prosecution of anyone selling full capacity magazines for H&K pistols that are post ban. Specifically the SOCOM magazines.
Note that he was going to go above and beyond what would be required of him. IMHO in an effort to "suck up" to H&K.
And according to the ATF themself, an unmarked magazine is considered legal. There is also the exploitation of a ATF loophole, that could have allowed these magazines to exist as well.
It came across in the thread, as if he would "sell out" a fellow gun enthusiast, in order to keep his "golden child" status with H&K. There were many people who boycotted HKPro over this issue, myself included.
Now you know......the rest of the story.
 
My personal beef was more specific - Tom (administrator) indicated that the police had discretion in the matter.


I called him on it and asked him to explain himself. He is a LEO, he know damm well about the separation of powers.

He choose not to respond and nixed the two threads. I bailed. Not in to the Gestaupo.
 
To stick with my car analoy, the USP series is like a Chevy Suburban, while the P7 is more like a Chevy Corvette. They're just two different animals.

The USP series are double stack hi-cap guns with polymer frames and switch actuated safeties. The P7 series are generally single stacks (though the P7M13 and P7M10 are double stacks) with metal frames and grip actuated safeties.

The USP's are workhorses. They're solid and will feed most ammo. They're also fairly accurate.

The P7's are more particular about what they eat (won't eat lead bullets because of gas system), but are supposed to be more accurate because of the fixed barrel setup. The P7's are also much heavier.

Which is better? Beats me. I own a USPc and a P7M13!
 
P7

:D
Any firearms enthusiast should shoot a P7 at least once. This firearm is far superior to the USP in shootability - and the USP is an elite weapon.

The USP is what I consider to be the ultimate combat sidearm. It WILL fire under almost any conditions - unlike most pistols. It is designed to endure ungodly stress, and operate using any ammunition. And that it does, all while being very accurate.

The P7, on the other hand, is the ultimate carry weapon. While it does fire almost any ammo (I've never had any failures - even with lead ammo), supposedly the dirtier ammo requires more cleaning. But the manual of arms is unbeatable and this gun fires faster than anything I'm aware of in the semi-auto category. Accuracy is astonishing for such a short-barreled gun. This gun makes idiots look like marksmen.

You really need both examples of this fine firearm manufacturer. I might suggest a classic USP .40 full-size and a P7M13 for starters.

But really, ANY USP or P7 would certainly satisfy even the most picky gun aficianado.
 
Has anyone ever have a USP jam on them?

I kept reading about how great the USP series is. So when I went to an indoors range that had pistols for rental, I rented a USP to give it a shot. The thing jammed after less than 15 rounds. I only put 20 rounds through it, and my hands were sore and chafed from the checkering on the grip. I think it was fairly accurate (I could shoot more accurately with it at 20 yards than the Beretta M92 I was using, but I shot the M92 more accurately at 7 yards).

Really, I wasn't impressed.
 
I've got two USP's and neither one has EVER jammed. Of course all guns can jam, but the USP series is one of the least likely to do so.
 
Foxy,

Never judge a pistol by a range gun.

I've shot quite a few USPs and haven't seen jamming problems in any of them.

The checkering seems to bother some and not others. I shoot my USPs as much as my other handguns and the only times I have even thought twice about the checkering is when someone brings it up on this board. For me it's a non-issue.

Shake
 
I've owned a USP for a while now and have widely proclaimed it's jam-free nature... until three weeks ago. Since then, it has been jamming every 50 rounds. The problem is a failure to eject. The extractor doesn't seem to be holding onto the brass on the cases that get stuck.

I changed ammo, but it still jammed. I called H&K about the rounded bottom of the extractor and it's supposed to be that way (guess I never noticed).

Then I thought about all the gunk that I clean from the outside of the ejection port and how some of that probably edged its way into the extractor. I took the extractor out and found at least 1/32" of powder residue compressed between the extractor and the frame. I cleaned it up and reinstalled it.

As of last night, 300 rounds and no FTEs. That doesn't prove anything yet, but 300 rounds of mixed ammo is an excellent sign.

So, my recommendation to USP owners is to clean your extractor out before the gun hits 25,000 rounds. You might want to check the firing pin too, but that's another story.
 
nark, those photos are password protected.

Foxy, I haven't had my USP .45 jam in over 1k rounds, but certainly any handgun can choke as you are aware. A new one can fail, a neglected one can fail, etc.

A big gripe I have with the USP series is that they use roll pins as opposed to solid pins to hold it together.
 
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