.40 S&W and the HK USP.

[Tag]

What's the connection here?

I hear the USP was made for the .40 S&W but I haven't been able to find any other info.

Why did HK design the USP around the .40?

thanks

 

[mete]

Since the 40 requires a stronger gun than the 9mm it's smarter to start out with a gun that will take the 40. Companies that started out with a 9mm and converted it to 40 always had problems.

 

[PO2Hammer]

http://www.streetpro.com/usp/torture.html
Browse this sight a little. Also:
http://www.hkpro.com/

 

[extremefishin00]

It might just be me, but polymer or not, it doesn't seem like a good idea to hold a pistol that is frozen at -44 F.

Chris

 

[George Hill]

No, but it proves the point that the gun is strong. I used to have a USP .40 full sized, and it was a tank. Very strong pistol. Super tough, accurate, and very reliable... Until one of the mag spings started getting weak, but that was just one mag.
The only thing that was ever a problem was that I could not keep an insert in that front sight. 2 tritiums, then 2 plastics... after that I just started using crayola wax to fill it. That was the only problem I ever had with that gun and that gun fired about a dozen cases of hot loads through it. I have never fired one handgun as much as fired that USP. It was my companion through the worst parts of night in the worst areas of Richmond, Virginia. I ran mostly Cor-Bon's hot 135 grain loads through it.
Yes, it was designed for the .40S&W round, then they made a verison for 9MM and that is a pussycat to shoot.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Yeah, the full size USP in 9mm is about as soft as recoil gets in a pistol.

 

[extremefishin00]

Oh, I have no doubt that the USP is a tough gun. I was just thinking I'd want a glove to keep my hand from becoming part of the pistol till it thawed out. I guess that might not be a problem with polymer frames though.

George, were you an officer in the Richmond area, or just one its residents? I think I've been lost in a couple of those areas at the worst times, unfortunately I didn't have anything to keep me company

Chris

 

[Mikul]

The USP fullsize is great. The compact is a good gun too, but I've seen lots of premature wear on the USP compact. The compact Glocks in .40 seem to have exactly the same problem.

 

[c-bag]

Mikul:

maybe the difference is that the full size guns are too big for carry and sit as house/shop/target guns 90% of the time while the compacts ride in leather all day?

 

[Tag]

lots of premature wear on the USP compact

what charecterizes this wear? How is it 'premature'?

I'm going to be picking up my .40 USP compact any day now

 

[4thHorseman]

PO2 Hammer thanks for the sites.
Great info.

 

[Mikul]

When I mean wear, I don't mean exterior holster wear: the guns break and malfunction. I've seen broken extractors, a broken firing pin, and a broken slide stop. All of these happened within the first 10K rounds and a couple of them within the first thousand. This wouldn't be too bad, but I don't see .40 caliber H&K's too often. The compact Glocks seem to have similar and worse reports. I don't know how widespread this problem is because H&Ks are superb firearms, but there's definitely something screwey with the compacts, because the full-size pistols don't seem to be having this problem.

There's only one manufacturer of .40's that I've seen enough of and have heard no accounts of damage: Sig Sauer.

It pains me a little to say this because I'm a big H&K fan, and generally dislike Sigs (they're good guns, I just hate DA/SA triggers).

 

[Bobarino]

the only thing that broke on my USP Compact .40 was the firing pin and that was my fault. i didn't use snap caps and dry fired the heck out of it, and HK has since made changes to the metal of new firing pins to be more durable. i have about 8k rounds through mine and you would never know it. i think the recoil spring will need to be replaced at about 10k rounds, but other than that, its been a rock. i managed to break off the c-clip that holds the captive recoils spring on, again, my fault. HK sent me a pack of 5 for free. the range i frequent has a .40 compact that has over 15k rounds through it and has never had anything replaced on it. they only clean it every 5k rounds or so. the rep that gave them the gun for a rental asked them not to clean it and see what happens. so far so good. i still feel i picked the best carry piece available. but thats just me.

Bobby