Daniel L
Member
Ready for a little bit of storytelling? Skip the following paragraph if you want to get to the meat.
I flew to California to visit family, and I brought my USP-C aboard Delta so I could go shooting with some buddies while I was in Los Angeles. On the day of my return to North Carolina, I arrived at Los Angeles International Airport 2 hours in advance. The baggage check in line moved about 1 person every 5 minutes and there were people lining up outside to the sidewalk. I attribute it the the idiot that was supposed to rush the late people to the front of the line not doing her job. As soon I as I got to the front, I was told that I would be unable to check my bags because of Delta's policy to not check bags 30 minutes prior to departure. So I proceed to spend 25 minutes at the counter while the Delta representative took her sweet time rebooking my flight. I'm Many people around me were going through this as well because the line didn't move at all. Can you see the domino effect?
I go over to baggage security to have my baggage X-rayed, because of the presence of my firearm. I wait for about half an hour while my bag waited for other bags to get scanned. I had a few rounds of loose ammunition inside a case with about 3 boxes of ammunition. The TSA guys tell me I can't any loose ammunition. By then my ride from the airport had arrived and was waiting. I tell them to let me remove the ammo to give to my ride as I would be returning to fly in about 4 hours. They tell me that they're not allowed to remove it(?!!!! But they're allowed to search through my stuff?) and that I would have to wait for a Delta representative to remove it for me. Here's the best part: That same idiot that didn't bring me to front early to check my stuff in comes after I wait another 30 minutes. She proceeds to accuse me of giving her attitude when I was being my nicest considering what I've already gone through. She just returns my suitcase and tells me to take the ammo out and recheck the baggage. She basically tells me to go through all this bull???? again.
When I returned after lunch and entered the security gate I was stopped where the metal detectors were. They opened my notebook computer and wiped it down and found traces of explosive!!! They ran it through security again and found nothing and finally let me go. I was so happy to arrive home after the entire ordeal.
Time spent in Greensboro Airport before entering plane: ~30 min
Time spent in Los Angeles Airport before entering plane: ~4 hours (not counting the missed flight)
Oh.. how does this relate to these two guns? Because I was late for my rebooked flight, I decided to not recheck my suitcase with the gun, leaving my firearm with some family. It makes everything much quicker. Returning to NC with no CCW, I wanted a Glock to see what I was missing. I bought a Glock 23 as my first Glock to try out the next day. It's a December 04 manufacture so it's brand spanking new.
These two guns seem to be the perfect competitors for each other:
Glock 23
Length 6.85 inches
Height 5
Width 1.18
Weight 1.32 pounds
Capacity 13+1
Barrel Length 4.02
Heckler Koch USP Compact .40
Length 6.81 inches
Height 5
Width 1.14
Weight 1.47 pounds
Capacity 12+1
Barrel Length 3.58
They're almost identical in size. Glock somehow manages an additional half inch in the barrel size.
At home:
Field Stripping
Taking apart the Glock was a breeze. Although I could take apart the USP with my eyes closed, overall I think the Glock is still easier to field strip because there is no need to remove the slide stop. Glock +1
Fit and Feel
The HK feels as if it were constructed better, perhaps because it is slightly heavier although I did really appreciate the Glock's Tennifer finish. The HK's HE (Hostile Environment) finish isn't noticeable while the Glock just felt tough. However, pulling the slide back made a horrible noise with the Glock which I attribute to the plastic recoil spring guide rod. It sounded as if it were a cheap orange plastic dart gun. HK +1
Off to the range we go:
Accuracy
Both guns can outshoot me so I dare not go into this subject.
Functioning
Both guns have been 100%. I did have a failure to feed problem with the USP but it was because of some sticky ammo which would've failed to feed in any gun, so I'm still listing it as 100%.
Bring out the targets
This is what matters most, the overall shooting experience. The Glock really really disappointed me here. I had very high expectations for it, reading about low bore axis, enhanced pointing, and all that good stuff. For some reason, the Glock just didn't feel good. It pointed strange, and it beat up my hands. They were extremely sore after putting around 300 rounds through. It also felt like it recoiled harsher than the USP. That's the best way I can describe it. The USP's recoil felt softer. The Glock's trigger took some getting use to but I still have a preference for the USP's single action trigger.
Conclusion
I can't wait to get my USP back. This Glock is going to be a gift to a Glock lover in my family soon. Any questions? Let me know.
In Glock's defense, I shot a 26 that day and it felt so much better. I don't know if it's the special recoil spring they put in it, or the 9mm cartridge but I shot really well with it. I was able to perform double taps much faster because sight acquisition was easier and quicker to obtain. Now I'm considering a 26. I'm wanting to love them....
I flew to California to visit family, and I brought my USP-C aboard Delta so I could go shooting with some buddies while I was in Los Angeles. On the day of my return to North Carolina, I arrived at Los Angeles International Airport 2 hours in advance. The baggage check in line moved about 1 person every 5 minutes and there were people lining up outside to the sidewalk. I attribute it the the idiot that was supposed to rush the late people to the front of the line not doing her job. As soon I as I got to the front, I was told that I would be unable to check my bags because of Delta's policy to not check bags 30 minutes prior to departure. So I proceed to spend 25 minutes at the counter while the Delta representative took her sweet time rebooking my flight. I'm Many people around me were going through this as well because the line didn't move at all. Can you see the domino effect?
I go over to baggage security to have my baggage X-rayed, because of the presence of my firearm. I wait for about half an hour while my bag waited for other bags to get scanned. I had a few rounds of loose ammunition inside a case with about 3 boxes of ammunition. The TSA guys tell me I can't any loose ammunition. By then my ride from the airport had arrived and was waiting. I tell them to let me remove the ammo to give to my ride as I would be returning to fly in about 4 hours. They tell me that they're not allowed to remove it(?!!!! But they're allowed to search through my stuff?) and that I would have to wait for a Delta representative to remove it for me. Here's the best part: That same idiot that didn't bring me to front early to check my stuff in comes after I wait another 30 minutes. She proceeds to accuse me of giving her attitude when I was being my nicest considering what I've already gone through. She just returns my suitcase and tells me to take the ammo out and recheck the baggage. She basically tells me to go through all this bull???? again.
When I returned after lunch and entered the security gate I was stopped where the metal detectors were. They opened my notebook computer and wiped it down and found traces of explosive!!! They ran it through security again and found nothing and finally let me go. I was so happy to arrive home after the entire ordeal.
Time spent in Greensboro Airport before entering plane: ~30 min
Time spent in Los Angeles Airport before entering plane: ~4 hours (not counting the missed flight)
Oh.. how does this relate to these two guns? Because I was late for my rebooked flight, I decided to not recheck my suitcase with the gun, leaving my firearm with some family. It makes everything much quicker. Returning to NC with no CCW, I wanted a Glock to see what I was missing. I bought a Glock 23 as my first Glock to try out the next day. It's a December 04 manufacture so it's brand spanking new.
These two guns seem to be the perfect competitors for each other:
Glock 23
Length 6.85 inches
Height 5
Width 1.18
Weight 1.32 pounds
Capacity 13+1
Barrel Length 4.02
Heckler Koch USP Compact .40
Length 6.81 inches
Height 5
Width 1.14
Weight 1.47 pounds
Capacity 12+1
Barrel Length 3.58
They're almost identical in size. Glock somehow manages an additional half inch in the barrel size.
At home:
Field Stripping
Taking apart the Glock was a breeze. Although I could take apart the USP with my eyes closed, overall I think the Glock is still easier to field strip because there is no need to remove the slide stop. Glock +1
Fit and Feel
The HK feels as if it were constructed better, perhaps because it is slightly heavier although I did really appreciate the Glock's Tennifer finish. The HK's HE (Hostile Environment) finish isn't noticeable while the Glock just felt tough. However, pulling the slide back made a horrible noise with the Glock which I attribute to the plastic recoil spring guide rod. It sounded as if it were a cheap orange plastic dart gun. HK +1
Off to the range we go:
Accuracy
Both guns can outshoot me so I dare not go into this subject.
Functioning
Both guns have been 100%. I did have a failure to feed problem with the USP but it was because of some sticky ammo which would've failed to feed in any gun, so I'm still listing it as 100%.
Bring out the targets
This is what matters most, the overall shooting experience. The Glock really really disappointed me here. I had very high expectations for it, reading about low bore axis, enhanced pointing, and all that good stuff. For some reason, the Glock just didn't feel good. It pointed strange, and it beat up my hands. They were extremely sore after putting around 300 rounds through. It also felt like it recoiled harsher than the USP. That's the best way I can describe it. The USP's recoil felt softer. The Glock's trigger took some getting use to but I still have a preference for the USP's single action trigger.
Conclusion
I can't wait to get my USP back. This Glock is going to be a gift to a Glock lover in my family soon. Any questions? Let me know.
In Glock's defense, I shot a 26 that day and it felt so much better. I don't know if it's the special recoil spring they put in it, or the 9mm cartridge but I shot really well with it. I was able to perform double taps much faster because sight acquisition was easier and quicker to obtain. Now I'm considering a 26. I'm wanting to love them....
