Heckler and Koch USP9 Compact Help!

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neverjeg

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Hi,

I purchased a Heckler & Koch USP 9mm Compact Friday at a premium price. The most I've ever paid for a gun and I think I'm going to be sick.

Skipping the sad but boring details, I tried two brands of ammo- I've never used either of them before. (Had to trade some 9's in steel for brass)

Independence and Winchester Super Clean NT. The Winchester stuff was worthless in this gun. Double feed, every other shot. I didn't even try to finish the magazine. I've never seen anything this bad.

The Independence did better. But I still had about 5 stovepipes and 2 double feeds in 80 rounds.

Does anyone own one of these guns? Do I have a lemon or are they just very particular about what they eat? Yes - I cleaned it before I shot. Maybe just not good enough? Cleaned the barrel, wiped it all down, a bit of oil..

I plan to go shoot some Winchester white box Monday evening (unless the outlaws go home early Sunday) and will report back what happens.

Suggestions and recommendations very welcome from those that really know this gun. I seem to be the only one in the world who has a problem with them and I'd like to have some helpful info to test while shooting.

As always, many thanks to the guru's here.
 
That is extremely disappointing in a premium pistol. H&K's normally don't need a break-in period so the usual culprits would be a magazine problem, extractor problem or limp wristing rather than an ammo issue. First, let someone else shoot it to make sure it's not you. If it isn't then try another magazine. It that does not work then it needs to go back to the factory. Maybe the shop where you bought it will send it in for you. That being said, I have had pistols that just could not be fixed even after trips back to the factory.
 
Oh their customer service guys were all part of the SS or something.
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That's what I hear never dealt with them though as I have no use for a 900 dollar poly pistol but I think the Navy does so it must not be all that bad.
 
Nobody's gonna buy a gun that stovepipes and stuff like that. But I'll be nice and take it off your hands for $500.
 
Is the gun new or used? If it is a new gun then by all means call HK customer service. HK, has of late been very responsive to problems. Turn around times are fast.
 
Were you using more than one mag? Did the problems occur with both?

Call H&K i herad they have great customer service.
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Kidding aside, the one time I needed them was when I bought a P7M8 that was 20 years old and the extractor broke on the first range trip. Took it back to the shop where purchased, and listened as the counter guy called HK. No problems, new extractor was there a couple days later. Free. No questions asked, not the original owner, didn't send in the warranty card, don't have a special line to the president of the company. The shop wasn't charged either, and they weren't an authorized HK dealer. At the end of the phone conversation when the HK rep said the part would be inbound, the counter guy said "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." HK guy said "Yeah, we get that a lot."
 
This rate of malfunctioning would not be acceptable in a $180 Hi-Point, let alone an $800+ H&K. :rolleyes:

A double feed, wherein the cartridge fires but the case does not extract from the chamber, and the next (top) round in the magazine tries to feed and butts up against the case, is usually caused by a faulty extractor. Lock the slide back, or even take it off, and look down and see if there is even one in it.

It is maddening to pay a 50% premium (over a comparable gun) for quality and still not get it. :mad:
 
Call customer service. Although people bash it a lot the one experience I've had with H&K was very positive. Spent 5 minutes on the phone discussing the problem, I shipped them my slide and they sent it back fixed. The only thing I lost was the $4 it cost to ship it to them. I wasn't the original owner and therefore wasn't covered by the warranty. You might also want to call the person who sold the gun in the first place.
 
Yes, I bought it new and yes I was using both magazines. Problem started about the time it was warming up.

By double feed, I mean round was extracted and 2 live rounds were trying to climb in the barrel!

Stove pipe speaks for itself.
 
Time to find out how good - or bad - their customer service is.

To be fair, I could live with such a problem if it is repaired in a timely fashion and properly the first time.
 
Did get out today to shoot the white box tomorrow isn't looking too good either. I guess I call HK tomorrow and see what they have say.
 
Weird. I have a safe literally FULL of all kinds of different HKs. I've never had a problem with any of them. Nada. Perhaps you got a lemon .......
 
I've got one and put all kinds of both good and poor ammo in all sorts of conditions through it with no problems...wet, dry, clean, dirty...hasn't mattered. It's still my first choice for classes due to the lower cost of 9mm and its reliability. Sounds like it might be a lemon or bad magazines.

long shot here.

are the magazines .40 S&W ?
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I could be mis-remembering, but won't the .40 magazines actually work in the 9mm compact and were a cheaper way to get 'high-caps' during the AWB era?
 
They are 9mm magazines. I missed a key stoke in earlier post, I have not been out to shoot the whitebox yet, planned to go tonight, but life got in the way. Maybe tomorrow.

Our local range was hit by a tornado and until it is rebuilt kinda at the mercy of friends with farms.
 
there's no polymer pistol worth $1000.

one of the advantages of polymer is that it's MUCH cheaper to manufacture than metal.

hk's, although good guns, are way overpriced (especially considering everyone says their customer service stinks)
 
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Neverjeg--don't be sick! You have a good gun.

Colt had the best advice--have an experienced shooter try the gun BEFORE you send it in.

If it does it to an experienced shooter too, call Travis at HK service (706-568-1906, option 1) and tell him this is your primary carry gun. Follow directions as given.

My single experience with HK service was outstanding. I've heard the horror stories too, but I sure didn't live one. They were great.

Dan
 
HK Dan, Okay - still trying to get out and shoot again. Oh, and I'm not inexperienced. Never had a singe issue with my other autoloaders. EVER.
 
reliable

I have a USP compact 45. It has 1500+ rounds through it of all kinds of ammo and I cannot recall any FTF, FTE, or stovepipes. It goes bang.
 
I want to thank everyone for the feedback HK is now happy.

I cleaned it again (naturally after first shoot), oiled it a bit heavier, and racked the slide a couple of hundred times.

I went and shot four kinds of ammo this evening, about two hundred rounds alternating magazines without a single issue. I certainly want a bit more success before confidence is strong, but huge progress in that direction today.

Many thanks again.
 
OUTSTANDING!!! Man, that's good to hear, NJ. With the USPs, when the slide goes from deep black to grey, it's time to oil 'em. Kinda like a mood ring.

I run mine with a light coat of oil on the barrel and inner slide, a drop in the frame rails, and a drop on each of the slide rails. That's it!

Good luck!!
Dan
 
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