[Black Majik]

Hey guys,

I was looking at a USP 9 fullsize today, and noticed the plastic (err polymer) magazine that comes with the gun. My question is, how durable are those magazines? They're very light but pretty flimsy and cheap feeling.

Anyone run into problems of the mags cracking? Also, how're we suppose to clean the magazine, take off the baseplate of the magazine and clean? The baseplate tabs that attach onto the magazine body feel really flimsy, so I wonder if constant cleaning will eventually break off the tabs of the baseplate.

Oh, feel free to comment anything USP related or post pictures. That's welcome too :D

Thanks for reading.

[10-Ring]

No worries! I have a USP 9 too and as long as you use your mags as intended, they'll serve you well.

[daysleeprx]

I once bought a USP from a LEO. When I asked him why he was selling it, he said, "I was doing a mag change in the middle of a course and one dropped on the ground and the base plate shattered. I didn't want to keep a gun that costs me 40-50 dollars to replace a magazine, so I'm going back to Glocks."

That being said, I've owned USPs in various flavors, but never had any magazine problems.

[gudel]

I have nothing to add, everyone knows, it's HK. People who know quality and can afford, they buy it. Others, bitch how expensive it is. :rolleyes:

The local sheriffs use HK USP 40.

Do I have pictures. :D

If there are mags problem, I would know, because I have a bunch ;)
http://photos-746.ak.facebook.com/ip002/v55/28/38/508741741/n508741741_7746_6788.jpg

Wouldn't you like to have your hands full. USP9 left, USP45 right.
http://photos-215.ak.facebook.com/ip002/v47/28/38/508741741/n508741741_3215_1081.jpg

[Black Majik]

daysleeprx,

You bring up my next issue. I understand that baseplates crack if the magazines are dropped on the ground with rounds in the mag. Since I was considering using a USP9 in competition, I'll be dropping partially loaded mags regularly.

Is this something else I should be concerned about?


Thanks for the replies guys...

[10-Ring]

I have not had any issues w/ my baseplates from dropping mags. One thing tho, I've noticed a bit of a price reduction so even if you have mags to replace, it's not as bad as it was...

[Old Dog]

If you are one of the rare folks for whom the USP's ergonomics actually work, go for it ... My employer forces me to use the USP-9, and I have no issues whatsoever with this pistol's reliability. The accuracy is adequate, better than most common service pistols (Glocks), maybe not as good as some (SIG).

We shoot a lot come qual time, often in wet, dirty and muddy conditions, and most of the pistols are not what I'd call well-maintained and certainly not many are cleaned anywhere near up to my standards. Still, I've never, ever seen significant malfunctions and can't recall the last time I saw a USP jam on the range.

I've never seen a mag base crack after being dropped on the ground during speed reloads or any other drills.

My personal view of this pistol is that this is a fat gun, the grip stinks and the coarse frontstrap feels like a cheese-grater. I don't like the mag release (much prefer the usual "button" style) nor the longish "control lever" (as HK calls it) and the funky safety. The sights, however, are not bad.

Others, bitch how expensive it is.Saw a new USP-9 at the local shop the other day, think it was going for about $765. That's not what I'd consider expensive for a handgun, but some may ...

[Warren]

I shot a USP in 9 the other day. Great gun. I did not find the grip to be fat at all.

I'd be willing to spend the money.

[tomkatz]

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/3875/img55574yx.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/tomkatzid/toms%20stuff/40swmedium.jpg?t=1168633744

[DogBonz]

Sorry, I can't hepl you with that. All of the mags that I have for my USP45 are metal. The plastic floor plates are quite tough. I still use the mags that came with mine and the gun has about 9000 rounds through it. Just to be sure, you ARE pushing the little dot thingie on the bottom of the mag in before pushing the tabs in, right?

[mattjmcd]

Hey Dude!

I sold my USP9 to fund my P7. Still, I shot the snot out of that sucker ( and my USP45, but as noted, that gun has metal mags) and had no issues with the mags. I did a fair bit of dropping the mags too. They never cracked.

I'm sure it's possible if you drop them a lot, but probably no more so than with any other type of magazine.

Get one. They are hell-for-stout guns.

[JLStorm]

All of my HK mags are metal with a platic pase plate. Here is the deal...like others said its HK! A company does not get the loyalty and the reputation like HK has without being quality. Honestly, its like asking if a ferrari can handle well on corners...of course it can...its a ferrari!

Buy the HK, be happy and never look back!

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q275/jlstorm/HK_USP_TLR2.jpg

[BlkHawk73]

I've had one particular USP for quite a few years now and have dropped mags, loaded and otherwise, and have never had any issues with them breaking/cracking.
Only the 10 round ones have the "tabs". The hi-caps have a different takedown. I've gone a looong time without cleaning mags and never had any issues with reliability either.
They're HK's so you're buying quality - period. Those not liking them may not like the prcie, the feel, fit...whatever. If it fits YOu and YOU lke it...enough reason to buy it.

[Nightcrawler]

I'd never really considered a USP. I handled one in the shop today and liked it. Trigger wasn't great, especially for an eight hundred dollar gun, but it was servicable. I could reach the controls easily and it's lefty-convertible.

I'm glad to hear the mags hold up. At fifty bucks a pop, they'd damned well better.

Anyone try the Pro-Mag ones? Good, bad, range mags only?

Any trouble with the high bore axis? I've heard some complain about this, but since I shoot revolvers more than anything else I don't think it'll bother me too much.

EDIT: And if you use an adapter to mount a picatinny-standard light, will it still fit in a holster designed for the USP45 with a light?

[Bentonville]

http://www.cdnninvestments.com/hk2.html
Check out these prices. I've owned many flavors of HK and never, ever have had any problem with mags. or reliablity of pistols whatsover.

[Nightcrawler]

Since the ban died, the 10 round mags have fallen through the floor in price. $19.99 vs. $49.99.

[BlkHawk73]

Anyone try the Pro-Mag ones? Good, bad, range mags only?


Buy a $700+ handgun and you wanna cheap out on mags? Would you run your ferrari on low grade gasoline too? Seriously, I've NEVER heard anything good regarding the Pro-Mag fodder. They're cheap for a reason - you get what you pay for. Besdies there's hordes of 10 round mags for USPs everyplace for $10 now.

[Nightcrawler]

No. If I had a Ferrari I'd sell it becuase I could use that money for ammo, and a Ferrari wouldn't get me to work any better than my Mercury (which runs fine on cheap gas).

Geez. All I did was ask if they work. It's like when you ask about 1911 mags; people say you NEED TO BUY WILSON mags, when I've never had one problem with $20.00 Chip McCormicks.

Wouldn't bring it up, except that fifty dollars for a pistol magazine is outrageous, no matter how German it is. The used one I looked at comes with a few extras, I think, but they're all neutered.

EDIT: Not that it bothers me too much. My normal carry guns hold five, six, or seven/eight plus one, so it's not like I feel undergunned with ten. It's just...if the thing can hold twelve rounds, it should.

On the other hand, dividing up boxes of ammo is easier with ten round mags. :D

[BrennanKG]

I never had a single failure with my USP9fs, mag related or otherwise. Those mags, in my experience, are quite durable. My biggest complaints were really the trigger and the blocky grip. I'm hoping an HK45 will be a better fit for me (USPc profile grip and ambi slide release, plus of course it's a 45).



B.

[Monkeybear]

......base plate shattered. I didn't want to keep a gun that costs me 40-50 dollars to replace a magazine


Umm HK base plates cost like $7....:rolleyes:


Wouldn't bring it up, except that fifty dollars for a pistol magazine is outrageous, no matter how German it is

Go to the Sig, Beretta, CZ, S&W, and yes the HK website and see how much they list Mags for. Every one of them list them inbetween 40 and 50 dollars. Thats just what first party magazines cost.

[Nightcrawler]

Thats just what first party magazines cost

No, that's what they're charging you. That's especially funny from CZ, considering Mec-Gar makes all their magazines for them. When I had my CZ-97, CZUSA wanted almost forty dollars for a Mec-Gar 10-rd mag, when the asking price for a Mec-Gar Witness .45 magazine (the same mag) was less than twenty dollars.

At any rate the average price is between thirty and forty dollars. HK USP 45 mags are between fifty and sixty*. Glock mags are usually less than thirty.

NOW, if the magazines hold up to use and abuse, it's not such a problem. Six mags will get you through most anything. But I, too, had heard these stories of magazines falling apart when dropped

*Oddly enough, this seems only true of the USP .45. The 9mm and .40 guns' mags are the same price as everyone else's. That's strange.

[JLStorm]

I have never used pro mags, but I read a quote once which said "friends dont let friends use pro-mag." The usp mags work for me and arent THAT much more than the pro mags... like another poster said..no sense in gettin an 800.00 gun and using cheap mags...

I dont know if this will help, but I got an LE model USP, not the LEM trigger, but a case marked as LE on the HK sticker. Iit was a variant 2 (Im a lefty) with factory night sights and 3 hicap HK 45 mags (12 rounds each). They were LE marked which may or may not bother you. All said and done it was only about $40.00 extra for the LE "package" from my dealer's distributor so it helps pay for an extra mag you get and those night sights, which seemed like a goode deal to me ($789.00 vs $739.00)

[Nightcrawler]

The one I was looking at is used. HKs are built like tanks, so a used one shouldn't be anything close to worn out.

[hnk45acp]

My pads have held up fine thru 20,000 rounds or so.

If you are worried about the plastic mags the HK USP fullsize 45s including expert, elites and tacticals use the same METAL mags as does the USP compact 9mm/40sw. Not sure why those 2 and not the fullsize 9/40 or compact 45

[History Prof]

I have a couple of pro-mags for my USP45. I don't like the base plate on them, but they do fit and function.

QUESTION DELETED to avoid trumping this thread, and reposted as new thread.

[BlkHawk73]

Be glad they're only $50. Mags for other guns start at that amount and go up from there.

[cedjunior]

If you're going to by full capacity HK USP, buy them from CDNN. For every full capacity mag you buy, they throw in a 10rd magazine for free.(USP mags only)

[Nightcrawler]

Be glad they're only $50. Mags for other guns start at that amount and go up from there.

Um...like what? Unless the gun is exceedingly rare or the magazines hard to find, the market wouldn't bear prices that high.

If you're going to by full capacity HK USP, buy them from CDNN. For every full capacity mag you buy, they throw in a 10rd magazine for free.(USP mags only)

COOL! Thanks for the heads up! FYI, CDNN has USP compact mags (10 rounders, .40/.357) for ten bucks a pop right now. Hard to beat that! (Buddy of mine has a USP compact .357 and bought six of them.)

Look, I'm not trying to be argumentive. I'm confident the HK is a fine gun, which is why I'm asking about it. It even fits my hand, which is something a lot of folks can't say. But when you buy HK, you're paying a lot for name (Kind of like Colt, or Harley Davidson). Might be worth it, might be not, depends on your perspective.

With most makers, if your order the mgas through them directly, you're going to pay full MSRP for the mag. If you shop around, though, you can find them for less. This doesn't seem to be the case with USP 45 mags; they seem to be almost universally at $50, sometimes more than that, when even USP mags in other calibers are ten dollars less.

Fortunately, now you can get the less desirable 10-rounders for a steal online. :cool:

[choochboost]

I actually like my polymer USP 9mm mags better than my P2000 .40 mags. Another thing to consider is you live in California and you can often get 9mm 10-rounders for under $10, so buy as many as you want.

[Skunkabilly]

Had a P7M8, USP45C, USP40 and a P2000. Never had such a problem.

[GunnySkox]

USP9 left, USP45 right.

Dude, you were listening to that song all wrong, it goes
"Nine in my right, fo'ty five in my other hand"

:D

~GnSx
(*cough* T.I. - Rubberband Man *cough*)

[default]

Interesting topic. USP9 magazines look and feel kind of rinky-dink, compared to GLOCK or SIG magazines. They seem to work fine, although I've never dropped a loaded one.

Pros: Can be disassembled with only the slide stop lever of the pistol as a tool (unlike GLOCK). Also, finger-friendly lips for those of us who haven't bothered to buy a mag loader.

Cons: Unimpressive appearance and feel. Also, they can be loaded incorrectly - if you're not careful, you can "skip a space" leaving the mag with only 14 loaded. A weird low-level nuisance issue that I've never encountered with any other gun. Doesn't seem to affect function, just capacity. Has anyone else encountered this?

[Autolycus]

HKs are very reliable guns. You wont have any problems with HKs.

[Black Majik]

Wow, thanks guys. This turned into quite an informative thread. Just to update, I ended up ordering a USPf 9 from sporting arms so it should arrive within a few days.

Got plenty of magazines from CDNN at $10 a piece and some Comp-Tac gear. I'm planning to use it for production in USPSA, that's why I was curious how well the polymer mags held up to dropping with rounds in em'. But magazines at ten dollars a piece, I can't really complain.

I've been pleasantly happy with my HKs. I'm sure this one won't let me down either.

Thanks again!

[GARY1911A1]

I have a HK SD 9MM I'm thinking of shooting in Production too. I do hope the magazines hold up. The first one that shatters will be the last time I shoot Production with it.

[pablo45]

Yeah, i felt skeptical at first but i have not had a problem with mine so far. I do like my compact's mag's better.

[emilsal]

:banghead:

Quote:
I'm planning to use it for production in USPSA, that's why I was curious how well the polymer mags held up to dropping with rounds in em'. But magazines at ten dollars a piece, I can't really complain.

You already have the "hotness" in your stable. Stick with W German P226 and give in to the urge. You know you want to be "down" like us.


Just joshing you know. Im really excited about your USP9f. Also, I heard that our favorite gunsmith/instructor does magical work with USPs.

[Black Majik]

Quote:
I'm planning to use it for production in USPSA, that's why I was curious how well the polymer mags held up to dropping with rounds in em'. But magazines at ten dollars a piece, I can't really complain.

You already have the "hotness" in your stable. Stick with W German P226 and give in to the urge. You know you want to be "down" like us.


Just joshing you know. Im really excited about your USP9f. Also, I heard that our favorite gunsmith/instructor does magical work with USPs.



Emil, Busted you caught me. How else am I suppose to get advice secretively ;)

As much as I enjoy the SIG platform, I really, really prefer the option of SAO. But... no surprise there. I'm going to try it out, having different reloading points from everyone else sucks, and my times show it because of the extra reloads. Some stages just aren't single stack friendly. BTW, Welcome to THR! Ya found where I hang out now... :evil:

See ya tomorrow.

[treelogger]

A. For USP information, the best place are the forums at www.hkpro.com.

B. The 10-round magazines have a known problem with base plates cracking. The problem is actually the wing on the baseplate (the baseplate has two tall wings, which prevent the following from coming down too far, thereby making sure the capacity is only 10 rounds). The problem is even worse for the magazines with extended baseplates (little finger grip), as are shipped with the USP Expert and Elite, because the longer baseplate has even more lever arm to shear off the wings when it hits the floor. The problem occurs most often when dropping loaded mags (heavy, in particular in .45ACP) on a hard floor. Like the concrete floor of the range where you are taking a tactical shooting class and practicing tactical reloads with full mags. I started the class with 8 or 9 magazines, and lost maybe half the baseplates during the class.

C. Reports of base plates breaking on full-capacity magazines (12-rounders for the .45ACP folk) are either nonexisting or very rare. The problem is common for 10-rounders. Which is little consolation for people like me in California, stuck with 10-rounders. On the other hand, I got a lot of 10-rounders for cheap after the federal AWB expired, and people in other states were upgrading like mad, and dumping their 10-rounders used on the market.

D. Replacement baseplates are easily available, for about $6 a piece, for example from OPS2 a.k.a. www.hkpartsonline.com. As the gun and the mags have a lifetime warranty to the original owner, H&K will also replace the baseplates for free if they break, and you didn't buy the magazines used.

E. The .45ACP magazines have another problem: the mag bodies are bent out of a piece of sheetmetal, and welded in the back, along a cut line that holds the two pieces together like a zipper. The welds along the zipper can crack if a loaded magazine is dropped on a hard floor; then the magazine will open up like a squished banana, the feed lips spread, and it doesn't retain rounds any more. Unfortunately, replacement mag bodies are effectively not available as a spare part (the spare part costs more than a whole magazine). Again, for the original purchaser, H&K will replace the mag bodies for free. This does not apply to the new 9mm magazines (which have plastic bodies), don't know about .40S&W.

F. Let's get back to the Ferrari analogy. You just bought a Ferrari. Are you going to gripe about the fact that wear and tear repairs are a little expensive? Our neighbor supposedly paid $14K for the new clutch for his Ferrari. If you wanted a car that was cheap to maintain, you should have bought a Honda Civic.

The way I look at it is this: I'm shooting a gun that is very accurate, totally reliable, and has a good trigger (I have the match trigger in my USP). The gun itself was expensive (over $1K once everything is said and done). I'm taking a $400 tactical shooting class, and will go through about $150 worth of ammo during the class, not to mention having to practice before the class, and having to buy lunch. Now going and griping about having to spend another $30 on replacement base plates, and/or spending an hour packing up a few busted magazines for free repair at H&K is silly. And I can't see how someone's survival could depend on base plates breaking during training.

This having been said: for a gun that is as well-engineered as the USP, they could have done the 10-round baseplates better.

[Autolycus]

Basically Treelogger summed it up pretty well.

[Todesengel]

Go for it and be happy!