I Think I Want An HK45C

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Basically, exactly as the title says. I've wanted some flavor of H&K pistol for quite a while, but always stepped back before taking the plunge. After some rather unpleasant recent life upheaval, I'm back at the edge wanting to jump into the world of HK.

I'm already prepared for the expensive magazines made from proprietary grade unobtainium. I know I won't be able to pick a holster off the shelf in the exact shade of battle grey I desire. There aren't an overwhelming number of night sights or accessories available. And the trigger won't wow anybody over in DA or SA.

But, I want one and now is as good a time as any. I'd like to hear from HK45C owners, present and past, on their thoughts on the pistols. Good, bad or indifferent, please share.

(For the record, I have a Walther PPQ in 9mm, a Colt Competition Model in .45 ACP and do currently reload .45.)
 
Search online for holsters.
I like the LEM trigger best on HK hammer guns.
Check HKparts.net for night sights. The ones on my HK P30SK and VP9 are very decent.
 
And the trigger won't wow anybody over in DA or SA.
. I actually prefer a DA/SA hammer fired pistol, especially for concealed carry. But then I can walk and chew gum at the same time too. The 45C's I have handled have seemed a bit blocky but they also feel very solid. Follow your gut, if you want one buy one.
 
I loved the HK45C. I went with the HK over the Glock 30 because I like the manual safety and HK's feed SWC's, the G-30 doesn't.
I shot some very respectable groups with the 45C before arthritis forced me out of the 45 game.
I like the Heinie night sights.
You won't be disappointed with the HK45C.
 
You might check around. HK is having serious financial difficulties and they are facing bankruptcy.

I've seen this reported on a couple forums. Might not be the best choice for support or factory repair.

Dave
 
I hope they've improved them a lot from the older HKUSP45C. I've got one that I carried for less than 6 months, before replacing it with a Kimber UCDP. When I got the HK, it was touted by many to be the penultimate carry piece. Indeed, it pointed naturally for me, and seemed a better choice than the SIG P220C that was vying for my attentions at the time. Sold. Boringly reliable with every defensive load I tried in it, I settled on HydraShok. It just never wowed me, while the gun that replaced it did, in every way, and with the same load. A $759 safe queen, now.

Hopefully, the new guns have proven themselves far better.
 
I hope they've improved them a lot from the older HKUSP45C. ... When I got the HK, ... it pointed naturally for me, ... Boringly reliable with every defensive load I tried in it,

Hopefully, the new guns have proven themselves far better.
While I'm a 1911 guy and I've never owned an HK of any type, I didn't see anything in your post indicating what was wrong with it other than...

It just never wowed me...
 
The HK45C is a bit of a mixed bag. I very much like mine as I love the P2000 and see the 45C as sort of a .45 caliber P2000.

PROS
-Very intrinsically accurate. The machining, the barrel, the barrel lockup etc. are all first rate. The limiting factor to accuracy is the trigger and ammo choice
-Dead nuts reliable. Run a box or three of hotter or heavier stuff to loosen it up. I suggest this with all HK's. After this, which is usually not necessary at all, most HKs are dead nuts reliable and the HK45/45C are VERY reliable platforms
-Fantastic machining/finishing both metal and polymer
-Very good stock sights. The stock night sights (LE model) are excellent as long as you are ok with 3 dots. The regular sights are very good as well.
-Very versatile. The 45C can go from a slim carry gun to a 10 shot suppressor ready I wanttobesolidsnakedammit gun very easily and excels at either.
-Good suppressor host with threaded barrel
-Elephant foot mags look goofy but feel good in my hand
-Fantastic exterior finish (Hostile Environment) VERY TOUGH finish. Like Glock tough back when Glock had tough finishes (GEN3 and before) maybe tougher in my experience.
-Very modular. There are approximately 4,697 different trigger and safety variations. Ok that's a bit facetious but you can set the gun up in one of many variants to suit your tastes.
-Excellent magazine quality
-HK snobbery forged right into the slide added chemically to the polymer mix. :D
-HK customer service. Yes I KNOW THE MEME's and YES there was a time HK sucked and they hated you. Today there customer support in my experience is TOP NOTCH.

YMMV STUFF
-I like the grip very much. I like the stippling front and back and smooth sides for easier carry. I also like that it is more P2000 then P30 like the full size 45, but as I said I view it as sort of a .45 caliber P2000.
-Capacity of only 8-10 rounds. Its a .45 so caliber plays a part here but one would think 12 rounds would be doable in the extended/full size/elephant foot mags. Is that a deal breaker? Not for me personally but YMMV.
-Controls. HK's have large controls designed for gloved hands. I like having fairly decent sized slide lock/release levers etc. DA/SA guns decocker/safety position and lever may put some off. The paddle magazine release is a love it or hate it affair. I LOVE it. Hint use your trigger or middle finger not your thumb. That said I can see why folks would not like it.
-Recoil. I only put this here because so many tout the recoil mitigation characteristics of the 45 HKs. Frankly out of the box they are no better or worse then any of the competition IMO. As they break in they do seem to be a bit more recoil friendly then others of the same size/class but don't go into them thinking based on all the hype this thing will shoot like a .22 magnum.

CONS
-Cost and availability of parts and accessories
-A picatinny rail that holds about 3 accessories on the market. Again I am being a little facetious but the rail is pretty useless stock for stock for the great majority of lights. I have a Crimson Trace CMR-208 on mine and I do generally love the light so there are options but they are few and far between.
-HK snobbery forged right into the slide added chemically to the polymer mix. Double edged sword. You now get to be lumped in with all the HK delta bravo's and getting an answer about any issues can be hard to come by as many HK pureists / fanboys get their knickers in a twist at the mere mention of an HK having an issue. In all honest if you have an issue with one it was probably one of the few that missed getting blessed on the backs of naked virgins by Tibetan monks but if you send it back they will get that worked out. :D
-She's a big girl. At the end of the day she's a fightin' pistol not an svelte little piece of jewelry, but alas think 50s pinup model not 2000's heroin sheik
-Ohhh that trigger. Sigh. My gun is a DA/SA V1. Now I am not a trigger snob, but wow that double action trigger is........well lets just say its a helluva safety feature. :D The DA on my HK45C is probably the worst of all the HK's I have shot barring the VP70 (which has a trigger weight measured in days not pounds, but I digress). That being said the SA is pretty darn good. Decent reset, decent break. Cocked and locked, if that is your thing as it is not mine, would be pretty damn good in this gun. Just be aware if you are not getting a LEM variant the DA pull is stout, creepy and all around crappy. As for LEM I have never liked LEM. It has a weird feeling reset to me and the way the hammer moves is kinda strange to me. By far the DA trigger is this gun's Achilles heel and again I am NOT a trigger snob.

Honestly I love my HK45C. Its not a primary go to gun for me but I trust it implicitly, its dead nuts reliable, shoots to point of aim and is cool as hell. I would have no issues if you told me I had to take it into harms way nor would I have any issues if you told me I had to take it to the range or use it as my bedside pistol etc. Its a great gun. Its a versatile gun.

I don’t have any range target pics available to me at the moment but Here is mine with the a fore mentioned CMR-208
HK_CT208_20181228_zpspw18urtf.jpg
.
 
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While I'm a 1911 guy and I've never owned an HK of any type, I didn't see anything in your post indicating what was wrong with it other than...
God, how many times have I posted this? The Kimber Ultra CDP blew it away in every conceivable way. FAR more accurate, with the same load, better sights, less recoil, (surprisingly) smaller, lighter, prettier, (of course) and a by God 1911, if you discount the strange safety. It should have been the gun I started with, but for reasons unknown, even to me, I convinced myself I needed a double-action. Only thing I changed on the Kimber was the grips, as I don't like checkering, but DO like an AMH. Hand-filling wrap-around smooth wood filled the bill perfectly. I've carried it now for 17 years.
 
There was one at my lgs last week. That curved trigger chewed on me. DA pull....yeah, handle one before you buy.

Its a brick. I like some bricks. Not that one though.
 
My HK itch will be scratched w a VP9 full size. Comp w reflex. Range toy.

I have a Commander 1911 so dont need a second 45 acp brick LOL
 
But, I want one and now is as good a time as any. I'd like to hear from HK45C owners, present and past, on their thoughts on the pistols. Good, bad or indifferent, please share.

Buy it and make up your own mind? After all what is some strangers opinion on the ol' interwebs going to tell you?
 
What's the point of joining the forum then?

I thought it was to complain about things. :neener:

The OP is not asking about some obscure unknown manufacture gun. He is asking about a pistol from one of the top manufactures in the business. There is a high probability that the OP wouldn't get a bad pistol. However, It will ultimately be his/her opinion of the gun that matters most.

If I proclaim it to be the best thing since sliced cheese will that really sway the OP? What if I say 99.9% of HK's are crap because of their triggers? would that have an impact? Probably, not on either point.

@cslinger posted a pretty good write up of it. Yet, my opinion might be the polar opposite. Thats really what I am getting at.
Every single day there are guns praised that you probably say "What The Heck?".o_O Whereas, there are probably some guns you like that others would have a negative opinion of.

The OP likes it and wants it. Buy the darn thing and try it out.
 
You might check around. HK is having serious financial difficulties and they are facing bankruptcy.

I've seen this reported on a couple forums. Might not be the best choice for support or factory repair.

Dave

Forums are always a great place for financial stability of a manufacturer.:eek:

That was info that was spreading back in 2013; however, they got a big line of credit in 2015 for 30 million Euro up to 2017
https://www.heckler-koch.com/en/pre...heckler-koch-hk-on-financial-performance.html

and from their financial statement for 2018; it appears BK is not a problem. But as with ANY manufacturer, including gun manufacturers, any turn of the tide by governments for military purchases or internal gun control, BK can come quick.

I purchased another H&K a few months ago, but I will only purchase three different manufactured guns; Beretta, H&K and SIG, DA/SA only.
 
That was info that was spreading back in 2013; however, they got a big line of credit in 2015 for 30 million Euro up to 2017

There are reports from this current month and even week about their debt. Apparently they have fulfilled many of their large contracts and still owe more than they even have inventory or projected sales. One report I read said they were hoping for a German contract to replace the HK rifles they are currently using, but the debt and financial stability was weighing on their decision. Not Forum reports but actual German news reports. Google hekler and koch bankruptcy in the past month. Getting a deeper line of credit doesnt really solve the problems they have. One report said they were 380 million euro in the red. I have no inside info. But I've read enough articles to suspect trouble. Then the judgement against them for supplying cartels on top doesn't help. JMHO

For militaries and contracts this should matter. For the OP buying one handgun it probably shouldn't. People pay asinine prices for p210/p7/pythons/parker bros/fox/dornaus and Dixon/ etc and there arent much factory support left for those either. Lol. Buy a few of the expendable parts and have fun. I have no worries buying another HK. I like my HK guns but I think they are highly over rated. They are great guns though. People who hate HK tend to hate the company and attitude (and there is argument for that) . Not so much the actual guns.
 
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Buy it and make up your own mind? After all what is some strangers opinion on the ol' interwebs going to tell you?

At the risk of sounding like a texting teenager, I definitely LOL-ed at that. :D

I asked because I know sometimes there's a consensus opinion on things that lurks just under the surface. HK pistols aren't particularly common around here, I'm assuming primarily based on price point, with a dash of the old "You suck and we hate you" thrown in with some buyers/shooters. For reference I've fired two USPs, a full-size USP 9mm and a Compact in .40, and to be 100% honest they were some of the rare pistols where I couldn't figure out at least somewhat how they wanted to be handled in one magazine. At least one reference I've found suggests part of this is due to the recoil spring/buffer assembly and is unique to the USP series. (Naturally I don't remember where it was and I couldn't find it on a dare now.) I've also read where it could be because I'm not a Teutonic manly-man. :rofl:

As for the specifics of the HK45C, in handling them empty I'm amazed at how NOT brick like they are compared to the USP series. They almost feel like they're sized for actual human hands. And I like the paddle magazine release; my Walther PPQ is an M1 and I bought it specifically for the paddle magazine release. The fantastic trigger was a secondary motivating factor. Honestly, the 45C doesn't strike me as being any worse in size and form factor than my PPQ. Which does make me a bit concerned about the possible recoil impulse of full-power .45 ACP ammo. Though I am heartened to see the HKs should feed SWC loads, as I know that can be an issue with non-1911 .45 ACP pistol.

Anyway, I'll probably get the HK45C once I've moved on some of my accumulation.

Now for random strangers' opinions on the Internet, I think the Colt Python (and Snake Guns in general) is even more grossly over-rated than anything HK has ever produced! And yes, I HAVE fired a Python and handled more than I can count. :oops:
 
I'm assuming primarily based on price point, with a dash of the old "You suck and we hate you" thrown in with some buyers/shooters.
To the first point, HKs have come down in price.

To the second point, while that may have been their attitude in the past, it doesn’t match my experience. The one issue I had with one of my three HKs was taken care of in under a week. They literally replied to my email in under a minute and had a replacement part in the mail that day.

That’s a sample of one, but thought I’d share. I’m sure others have had different experiences.
 
Beretta, H&K and SIG, DA/SA only.

I do have other brands but those are likely my 3 favorites to collect and range use. Also in Da/Sa.

For reference I've fired two USPs, a full-size USP 9mm and a Compact in .40,

The USP is easily one of the most over rated guns of all time. (The python has to be close too). Neither are bad but have their flaws. The very people who bash Glock for 2x4 ergonomics brag about the USP. They bashed the p series ruger for being blocky and "tanklike" but call the USP "over built" lol more than one usp fan has admitted to me that they never even seen one in real life. I honestly believe that if not for the 90s- 00s call of duty/ rainbow six/ battlefield gamers that the USP wouldn't be a blip on anyone's radar.
All three of mine have ran great btw.

As far as "you suck and we hate you", I don't know anyone who has had a bad CS experience with HK. I have seen parts unavailable from the factory, even normal wear parts like springs. But I think the "you suck" came more from the snobbery of owners and hesitance (for whatever reason. Maybe a good one like pressure from their government, export laws, idk) from HK to sell or try to sell to our civilian market, when Glock/ beretta/ Sig etc actually tried, and with smaller margins.
 
I've got an H&K USP9c and an HK45c. Love them both, they have been my primary carries for some time now and I've never had any kind of problem with either.
They do share duty with a couple of 1911's, I can't seem to get away from them.
 
Buy with confidence, mine is extremely accurate, more so than some of my 1911s, it must be the O ring on the barrel.
 
I have handle all HK pistols (USP model) and seems to me and hand to big. On the other hand, VP9 is a perfect balance shoot very well and fit like a glove.
If they come up with the VP in 45 I might bite the call, since my only one is a 1911.
 
Every time I get to thinking I want a HK (non VP9) I go to the range and handle one and remember how much I hate almost all of their triggers. The light LEM is the only one I find... OK.

I do really like the VP9 though
 
Every time I get to thinking I want a HK (non VP9) I go to the range and handle one and remember how much I hate almost all of their triggers. The light LEM is the only one I find... OK.

I do really like the VP9 though
The VP9 is a great shooter.
 
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