H&K USP 40 compact jamming on first range trip

[Narwhal]

Hi,

I recently purchased a USP 40 compact. The first thing I did was clean the pistol thoroughly. Then I lubricated it with CLP as instructed by the owner's manual.

So I took it to the range and had problems almost right away. I fired 120 rounds but had 6 "jams". I was loading the pistol up to it's maximum capacity of 12+1 every time, and the jams always occurred during the feeding of the 12th or 13th round (last round in the mag). Sometimes it would look like a double feed with the 12th round being unfired but wedged between the chamber and bolt face. A few other times it was a more traditional stove pipe with the fired 12th round case just jamming up the slide. Sometimes the 13th round would stovepipe, preventing the slide from locking all the way back after the gun had fired all rounds.

I used 3 different H&K magazines, all brand new and purchased from H&K with the pistol. All 3 magazines exhibited the problem. I used two difference kinds of ammo, Monarch 180 gr FMJ and Blazer 180gr FMJ. It did it with both types of ammo.

I also noticed A BUNCH of shaved brass all over the magazines when I ejected them. In addition there was sometimes shaved brass in the chamber/barrel after a malfunction, which i would blow out. Also the brass on the malfunctioning rounds sometimes had a round dent in the side of the case, like it had been impacted by some kind of rod.

I found this all very odd....I have shot a different USP 40c for over 1000 rounds and had no problems at all.

I have done a search for this problem and it seems like other people encounter it but have not heard a good solution. Any help is appreciated.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Your symptoms suggest an extractor problem. When you clean the gun the next time, pay particular attention to debris getting between the hook and the breech face, as well as in the slide channel. Also ...

I used two difference kinds of ammo, Monarch 180 gr FMJ and Blazer 180gr FMJ. It did it with both types of ammo.

One is steel cased, the other aluminum, correct? (Blazer also comes in brass, but it is clearly marked "Blazer Brass.") You might try some brass cased ammo and see if things improve.

 

[NOLAEMT]

I would call HK. I have an USP compact that has been 100 percent reliable with any kind of factory ammo. If it wont run anything that you can find to feed it, its not what you paid for and they should make it right.

It sounds like something is out of spec, whether it is the extractor, the magazines, ejector, etc. I don't really know as I've never had to trouble shoot mine, I just put in ammo and it makes holes in the target and loud noises.

Despite HK's reputation for horrible customer service, I have had very good experiences with them, and so have may people I have spoken to.

HECKLER & KOCH
5675 Transport Boulevard
Columbus, Georgia 31907 USA
Tel: (706) 568-1906
Fax: (706) 568-9151
E-mail: [email protected]

 

[valorius]

I would see if it does it again on the next trip to the range. Many pistols commonly require 100-150rds to break in and work properly.

 

[Narwhal]

Thanks for the replies.

The Monarch Ammo is brass cased, from what I understand it's made by privi. The blazer is aluminum cased. I fired 70 rounds of monarch and 50 rounds of blazer.

I think I'll give it one more trip to the range, maybe trying some nickel plated federal ammo. If it keeps doing it, it'll go back to H&K.

One other thing I was noticing were some sparks coming from the gun when I fired it. It wasn't the typical muzzle flash, but it looked like the sparks you'd see when someone was trying to start a fire with flint. It was very odd.

The brass shavings were pretty disconcerting, especially since they were ending up in the chamber. My other USP certainly never did that, granted I've shot it with nickel plated brass.

Here are some pictures off another forum which looks pretty close to what my jams were like too:

 

[CPshooter]

I would see if it does it again on the next trip to the range. Many pistols commonly require 100-150rds to break in and work properly.

If this were a Kahr or a 1911 I would say that's good advice. However, H&K is known for making one of, if not THE most reliable autoloader on the planet straight out of the box. Mine have all been 100% reliable since round one and are still that way after thousands of rounds.

Aluminum and steel ammo are a no no in my book. I've run into reliability issues with several different guns when using aluminum or steel cased ammo. I don't feel like looking, but I'm almost certain the H&K manual even states to use brass cased ammo only.

If the problem persists with brass cased ammo, there's something very wrong with it and it should probably go back to H&K for a check-up. Again, H&Ks are reliable combat pistols right out of the box. There's no such thing as a "break in" for these guns.

 

[Narwhal]

Yeah, most of the problems were with the brass cased monarch. I only switched to the blazer to see what would happen and it did the same thing, although it actually made it through a copule of mags without jamming on with the aluminum cased blazer.

 

[yesis'loaded]

H&K USP Compact .40 never jams

I just picked up one at a show last week and went to the range. I put 150 rounds of Remington ball thru it without a hitch. Flawless, every last shot. The "MOST ACCURATE HANDGUN I EVER OWNED"!!!!

 

[badbadtz560]

ya.. i'd get it checked out immediately. there's no such thing as break in for HKs... atleast from my experience... from the pic, your extractor leads me to thnk that you bought it used? I'd look in to the typical USP replacement schedule and see what parts need to be swapped... like extractor, recoil spring, etc.

I know it's an HK, but that doesn't mean it doesn't require some typical maintenance schedules

if by new - u meant that the magazines as well as the usp are new.. I'd explain it to HK - I heard their cust service is better nowadays. they may ask you to send the entire firearm in though...

 

[GLOOB]

My guess is a tight extractor. The top of the rim catches under the extractor, rather than sliding on up. The last round in the mag oftentimes has the least amount of upward pressure to help it slide under the extractor. Any rate, the pictures you posted are typical of a tight extractor type of FTF. A tight extractor can also be associated with shaved brass. The shavings come from the top of the rim scraping across the firing pin hole.

But the sparks???

 

[BlayGlock]

No way dude. Everyone knows that H&K never jams, and if you think that they do it is because you are not an operator. (Joking)

Ive had problems with monarch myself.

 

[wanderinwalker]

OP, have you gotten the issue resolved since August?

My first thought is new pistol and mags may not like to be loaded 12+1. I know it's an H&K (whatever ), but new springs in new mags don't always work well at first in my experience. My Glock 26 wouldn't feed 100% when topped-off for the first magazines I put through it. Downloading until things had been cycled a few hundred times solved the issue.

But thinking about how it's doing it on the last rounds out of the magazine, it could be a follower or magazine spring problem. It also could be underpowered ammo not forcing the slide back far enough, of course I can't see why this would be problematic only near the end of the magazine. If it was an extractor issue, I don't see why it would only occur on the last rounds, unless it was induced by the different spring tension pushing the rounds up.