Happy 30th Birthday to the H&K USP!

I've only had my USP about 7 or 8 years but it's been a wonderful gun and one of my favorites. It's also one of the guns my wife shoots best, so I decided to turn it into a proper nightstand gun with a Jarvis threaded barrel, a light, ambi safety (for me) and Dawson Precision custom fiber-optic suppressor-height sights. Oh and the Canine K-can made by our very own MachIVShooter. Of course once it was all done my wife tells me I've ruined the pistol! Oh well...

Here is my/our USP giving off its best Tomb Raider vibe - or maybe Call of Duty.
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I've only had my USP about 7 or 8 years but it's been a wonderful gun and one of my favorites. It's also one of the guns my wife shoots best, so I decided to turn it into a proper nightstand gun with a Jarvis threaded barrel, a light, ambi safety (for me) and Dawson Precision custom fiber-optic suppressor-height sights. Oh and the Canine K-can made by our very own MachIVShooter. Of course once it was all done my wife tells me I've ruined the pistol! Oh well...

Here is my/our USP giving off its best Tomb Raider vibe - or maybe Call of Duty.
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that thing looks like a DA’s dream come true! lol.. just kidding!
 
I've only had my USP about 7 or 8 years but it's been a wonderful gun and one of my favorites. It's also one of the guns my wife shoots best, so I decided to turn it into a proper nightstand gun with a Jarvis threaded barrel, a light, ambi safety (for me) and Dawson Precision custom fiber-optic suppressor-height sights. Oh and the Canine K-can made by our very own MachIVShooter. Of course once it was all done my wife tells me I've ruined the pistol! Oh well...

Here is my/our USP giving off its best Tomb Raider vibe - or maybe Call of Duty.
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Very nice! Which light and rail adapter are you using?
 
Very nice! Which light and rail adapter are you using?
The light is an Olight Valkyrie PL-Mini. The rail is whatever I could find that worked. Something off hkparts.net I'm sure but I dont typically keep track of exactly what accessories I buy.
 
30 years ago the USP was unveiled at SHOT...hard to believe it's that old already, but I think most will agree it is one of the best pistols ever made.. Though I sure wish they update it a bit..

Any other lovers of the USP here?
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They certainly had a rocky start. I was working at Jensen's Indoor Range when the USP first came out, Tucson Police Department switched to this new gun, and we bought 6 rentals to go on our rental range. One year later, we had one left, with the other 5 back at the factory being repaired, TPD had switched to Glock after the uncountable failures of the sidearm, (I watched a Tucson cop come in on duty to pop a few caps - the pistol refused to fire every other round. He left white faced to go turn that gun in for a new one), as I saw the Armorer come in every week with a batch of repaired pistols to test fire. For a while, it was so bad the nickname of the pistol was the Useless Sh***y Pistol.
Before anyone goes insane that I am bashing a sacred cow, my own favorite company has had debuts like this - the original CZ P-07 DUTY had many problems, and the P-10C had some truly odd issues at opening, all long since addressed.
We won't discuss the CZ-100. Nope.
Every pistol brought to market seems to have a Beta testing phase. The USP was just...a little more intense, at least in Tucson. Since then, they have become the sidearm we expected them to be. Happy birthday, USP.
 
They certainly had a rocky start. I was working at Jensen's Indoor Range when the USP first came out, Tucson Police Department switched to this new gun, and we bought 6 rentals to go on our rental range. One year later, we had one left, with the other 5 back at the factory being repaired, TPD had switched to Glock after the uncountable failures of the sidearm, (I watched a Tucson cop come in on duty to pop a few caps - the pistol refused to fire every other round. He left white faced to go turn that gun in for a new one), as I saw the Armorer come in every week with a batch of repaired pistols to test fire. For a while, it was so bad the nickname of the pistol was the Useless Sh***y Pistol.
Before anyone goes insane that I am bashing a sacred cow, my own favorite company has had debuts like this - the original CZ P-07 DUTY had many problems, and the P-10C had some truly odd issues at opening, all long since addressed.
We won't discuss the CZ-100. Nope.
Every pistol brought to market seems to have a Beta testing phase. The USP was just...a little more intense, at least in Tucson. Since then, they have become the sidearm we expected them to be. Happy birthday, USP.
TPD should have used the Mark 23 as their duty gun! there would not be any complaints then
 
Start by checking the list at the end of the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_&_Koch_USP
Wow, great source, that Wikipedia... Seriously, that list needs some updating. But I should have clarified, agencies in this country.
For a while, it was so bad the nickname of the pistol was the Useless Sh***y Pistol.
Our experiences as well. All of the U.S. departments that I know of transitioned to new pistols between 2007 - 2010. HK quit supporting U.S. law enforcement, parts were difficult to obtain and charges/prices/fees went way up. By the time HK came around, they'd lost almost all of their market share.

Strangely, when one of the departments I worked for made a switch to a polymer-framed striker fired pistol, academy qual and inservice requal scores virtually skyrocketed. Which made it clear that for many, it was a difficult pistol to shoot well Not saying it's a bad pistol, and I know people who shoot it well (including myself). Like I said before, I bought one of our trade-ins out of sentimentality (although the dealer was re-selling them for over $700, and many of these were heavily used pistols).

I'm not a HK hater, either -- I love the HK45 (especially the compact) and the P30.
 
Wow, I didn't even realize. I was the proud owner of a 45 USP right after they were released- bought with a student voucher from attending a HK armorer course. I've moved on to striker guns since then, but IMO the USP is the best transitional DA service pistol ever made.
 
They did...with the P30 and HK45.

The P30 and HK45 were meant to replace the USP variants and address issues that buyers complained about. When they clearance priced the USP to make room for their replacements, the USP sold so well they just kept it in production as an entry level H&K

I like the P2000 the best out of the lot of them.
 
I didn't realize they were 30 years old. That means my uncle must have bought his when they first came out, as he's had his USP .40 for about that long.

It was the first autoloader I ever shot and sort of learned to shoot with. Can't say I was ever real accurate with it, it was a compact and I was 8-9 years old and it was very jumpy in my young hands but that didn't stop me from shooting all the ammo my uncle would let me. He would let me grab bricks of ammo and go out into the yard and shoot as much as I wanted. In retrospect, probably not the best gun/cartridge to learn with :D

I always loved the feel of quality and lines on the USP, it felt good in hand. Younger me thought I would have one or three of my own when I got old enough but then the Glocks happened.
 
Younger me thought I would have one or three of my own when I got old enough but then the Glocks happened

Pretty much the same for me. That and the grip just didn’t work well for younger me.

Older me likes them and has almost bought one on a couple of occasions, but I’ve got the P2000 that does all the things the USP would do (except be in .45 ACP, but I’ve got a HK45c for that).

Still probably buy a compact in 9mm if the right price popped up.
 
When they first came out I bought one of the first three USP .45’s that a pretty busy So Cal LE dealer sold to customers, and I had to wait for Tex Shoemaker to build a holster for it for duty use.

Once I got it and qualified, I wasn’t impressed.

It fit me much better than the Glock 21 did, as that gun seems to me as taking ergonomic inspiration from a 2x4, but the USP’s rather vague and mushy trigger, odd rear sight shape (to me) and funky mag release conspired to make me dislike the gun.

Within a few months I sold it to another guy there and used the $$ to help pay for a trip to Europe. I believe the gun is still being carried today by the guy I sold it to over 26 years ago, so IMHO the USP .45 was not a bad gun at all, it was just not a fit for me.

Stay safe.
 
They looked at the P2000 when looking at how to update the USP. It is most obvious when looking at the HK45 Compact


Yep, have and really like the HK45c as well.

But I will say they, especially the .45, need talon grips to handle the recoil with sweaty hands.

I guess the theory with the texture was planning on the user having gloves maybe, because it’s fairly slick.
 
I have a mk23 and several USP. I won't say I love them. IMO the most over rated and over glorified gun to make all the video games/movies. Great guns. One of the best. But no better than a ton of others. Most agencies have long since moved on.
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My last two I bought. I believe they will be valuable someday when everyone gives up on getting a squeeze cocker. (Value by association...like the police positive or anaconda quadrupling when people couldn't afford a used python anymore) Only reason I have so many.


I grew up seeing usp on my video games. It was usually the best and most powerful gun. (Except the 5.7 on some lol). So I'll never be without a USP.

Besides the proprietary rail design, what needs to be updated?

Eliminating the DA/SA/Decock/Safety would be regressive.

Changing the mag release from paddle to side button would be regressive.

Putting a bunch of extra stupid machining on the slide would be regressive.

I hate the mag release.

HK moved on from the polymer mags in their subsequent guns, even in the HK USP 45 they chose metal mags.

40-50 dollar all polymer mags to boot. Lol.


Good guns. Big. Mediocre DA trigger is my only complaint. Proprietary rail is a meh, I wouldn't use it even if it were standard.
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Mediocre is putting it nicely.

True and so many militaries & LE-agencies worldwide are still using the USP, that it will stay in production for quite a while.

Not too many. Its a short list. Most on the wiki list have a couple thousand active personel and few cary a handgun. And some like the ffpo transitioned to other guns that rhyme with lock or jig. Border patrol went from usp to p-2000 years ago. Now a gen 5 "he who shall not be named".

Don't know, but that trigger guard certainly has enough room for a gloved finger

Thats one thing I do like. I use mine with even my snowmobile gloves. No other guns I own will accept those gloves.

Wish they released a USP in 10mm!!
I've asked for that in a mk23 for years. Or at least a tactical.
 
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Well, multiple law enforcement agencies and military units in plus twenty countries is not exactly a short list and Bundeswehr alone is close to 200,000 active-duty military personnel.

They only bought 20k p8 (usp) I believe. Not everyone carries a pistol and some carry a p30. And 200k isn't huge. Nypd alone has almost 40k. We even needed 87k new armed irs agents


The list if updated would be rather short. Even if you must have an hk.... there are better choices now. The USP is great but the ergos aren't as good as their later offerings and the trigger is lacking, and it's easier to train on other guns. Especially conscripted service (like the Germans were back then) where troops have limited terms and often don't care to learn

I just hope my pile of the usp (p8 in another form) will be going up in value. Great guns though. My first exposure was "rainbow six" then our city guys issued the usp. It's long gone and just never heard anyone who missed it. But never heard of one or seen many issues
 
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IMO the most over rated and over glorified gun to make all the video games/movies. Great guns. One of the best. But no better than a ton of others. Most agencies have long since moved on.
Yeah, I was gonna say all that, but I was a'skeered of the fanbois' reaction...
Well, multiple law enforcement agencies and military units in plus twenty countries is not exactly a short list and Bundeswehr alone is close to 200,000 active-duty military personnel.
As I noted, the Wiki info hasn't been updated for a while. This pistol was exposed, and most agencies, as @crestoncowboy noted, have long since moved on. And every agency in the U.S.
As I also noted, one of my former armorers had the great quote, "The best $400 pistol currently selling for $850 in the world." But hey, I was issued this pistol, had to train with it, had to instruct officers on it, so what do I know? If I want a DA/SA pistol with a mediocre trigger and sights, I will go Beretta every time. Better ergonomics, better looks, better accuracy and hey, it's Italian.
 
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