H&K USP Compact 9mm Catastrophic Failure

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plouffedaddy

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H&K USP Compact 9mm Catastrophic Failure (perhaps not catastrophic?)

IMG_0869.gif

First off––-this is a used gun. Upon receiving it, I inspected it followed by a proper cleaning and lubrication.

I was out at the range and put about 5 magazines through the gun when the firing pin broke. Yup, broke––-in half.

I didn't realize it at first and thought I had somehow hit the slide lock since I knew there were still rounds in the magazine and the slide had 'locked' to the rear. Only it hadn't locked. I could still pull it to the rear slightly. Upon further inspection I saw the firing pin block sticking out of the slide and it appeared the firing pin was missing (it was actually broken as mentioned earlier).

Here's a photo of the firing pin:
IMAG1418.gif

Here's the video of it happening and a close up of all the internals of the slide (including the firing pin):

HK Compact Failure Video Link
 
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Stuff breaks, replace the broken part and keep shooting!

If you've never broken a gun, you just ain't been shooting enough!

That is why there are the old sayings "if you'll need a gun carry two, if you don't carry a .25ACP" and "two is one, one is none".
 
First, I don't consider that catastrophic, but that's just me.

Second, that's not surprising considering how old it is and the fact that HK addressed this issue with a new firing pin assembly. Actually, I'm not 100% sure that they updated the firing pin for this reason alone, but I do know that most of the reports of USP firing pins breaking were with older guns like this one.

I wonder if it was broken already and the previous owner or a gunsmith tried to hide it with a temporary fix. 5 magazines just seems too soon.
 
Have to agree with the others. Replace the firing pin and go shoot the heck out of the gun. At least now you know the springs are still good and strong
 
I thought this was going to be a KB thread. :neener:

It is certainly a disabling breakage, rendering the gun inoperable, but is a simple part replacement, not one requiring a whole new gun. And it is a fact of life that any complex machine requires all of its parts functioning to operate. If, for example, your car's fuel pump goes out and the car rolls to a stop, you replace the fuel pump, not the whole car.
 
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I get the points that a broken part isn't 'catastrophic' but in my opinion a failure that requires a punch, hammer, and new part to fix a malfunction is catastrophic. It's not like it was a double feed.

Again, I get the counter argument but that's just how I view it. :uhoh:
 
After you get the firing pin replaced you're going to love that gun. The USP is probably the finest pistol I've ever fired, and I've fired them a lot, mostly in .40 S&W.

For a better trigger and no safety, consider the Law Enforcement Mod (LEM). It features a two-stage trigger, with stage one being a long, light takeup, followed by a distinct second stage that's still lighter than the traditional DA/SA pull. The beauty of it is the short reset. After firing a shot, the trigger resets with a very slight forward movement, and you're ready to go again.

If John Browning had lived longer, I believe he would have eventually come up with something very similar to the USP.
 
As I said on Glocktalk... Not THAT uncommon for USPs. HK redesigned the USP firing pins a few years ago. I forget the exact year - can't remember if it was 03,05 or 07 that they did so. But, apparently they used to be more prone from breaking by dry firing.

I used to have a several HKs (including USPs and USPcs), and remember reading this
 
plouffedaddy said:
I get the points that a broken part isn't 'catastrophic' but in my opinion a failure that requires a punch, hammer, and new part to fix a malfunction is catastrophic. It's not like it was a double feed.

Again, I get the counter argument but that's just how I view it. :uhoh:
Click to expand...
I agree
 
Anything you can fix yourself isn't catastrophic. And a hammer, punch and new pin (in a used gun) is hardly taxing even for amateurs like me. And yes, I've done it.
 
Anything you can fix yourself isn't catastrophic
Click to expand...

In a self-defense situation this would indeed be a "catastrophic" failure. OTOH, at the range its just a minor inconvenience.
 
That sucks OP. I would be pretty pissed if I dropped the money on an HK and that happened. My friends $300 Sigma has been relatively flawless ... It's not a kaboom but probably enough for me to sell it and get something else, because if one part broke maybe it was abused and who knows how many more will. Good luck.
 
When i saw this thread i thought the failure was so bad that it below someones hand off or was at time if returning fire in gun fight.

Dude fix the fire pin and dont buy used guns for sd. This is not a problem if some part breaks on the range. Things are meant to be broken after use. There isnt any company in the world that does not have spare parts just for the said reason.
 
I don't recall the exact model or years but I seem to recall a USP firing pin issue a while back. Perhaps since you bought yours used this one fell into that batch?

Certainly not catastrophic, but frustrating. I'll check over on HKPro to see if I can find the firing pin failure information.

Found it....HK redesigned the Firing Pin and FP block ~2002/3. The newer parts are re-designed for heavier duty use and seem not to be a problem. Search HKPRO for Firing Pin and you'll find a wealth of information. Your KG (1996) likely just needs the newer parts that a call to HK will resolve in a matter of minutes at no cost.

Read Me
 
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If you actually shoot the gun, occassionally you will break small parts. Most people don't actually shoot the gun, so be proud of it when you break something.

Replace it and move on. If you are breaking the same part every couple thousand rounds, then it is a problem.
 
Unless you had to change your name to "Lefty" as a result, that wasn't a catastrophic anything.

Things break, you replace them. Part of maintenance and service.
 
I would say that it was technically and practically a catastrophic failure.

The pin should have "worn out" rather than fractured as it did. Anytime a vital part fractures like that it is technically the catastrophic failure of a single part. H&K has addressed the issue so we can speculate they did their homework this time around.

In the practical sense was also a catastrophic failure in that it rendered the pistol inoperable. At the range an inconvenience that can be remedied by a replacement part if available. In a fight potentially deadly. As others have pointed out, a New York reload is the practical answer to that.

A related question to H&K owners; do other H&K service pistols currently on the market have the relatively short trigger reset?
 
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