My HK rant.

[Spreadfire Arms]

USPs are mostly plastic, right? No surprise they're falling apart. This is why I got rid of my Glock over a decade ago.....

while plastic may not be as durable as steel, or even aluminum, i disagree that Glocks are "falling apart."

when i was at Blackwater for training, every instructor i had carried a Glock and said that their company's stance was that they were really the most durable pistols for the money.

they shoot over 1 million rounds on their 35 ranges per year. i'd say they have a pretty good grasp of what breaks and what doesn't.

that doesn't even count the Glocks they are carrying overseas as security contractors.

 

[LiquidTension]

A buddy of mine had a USP .40 that was having problems. Since he didn't work on guns much, he asked if I could look at it. I determined what the problem was and contacted HK. They sent me a replacement part, free of charge, that arrived in a few days. This was several years ago, apparently they've slipped a bit.

My USPf9 is everything I hoped it would be, and it was cheaper than my Kimber, same price as my Springfield. It has never had a jam of any sort, even with my handloads - more than I can say about any of my other guns except the 226 I sold.

I completely agree that their attitude towards civilian longarms is poor. I wonder if it's a liability issue, or some political concern? Maybe they don't want their guns added to the list of guns the antis are constantly spewing about (AK, Uzi, etc). Whatever the reason, it's poor policy on their part. I suppose they're making enough money from military and police contracts that they don't really care about the civilian market. This is also reflected by the lack of new products being introduced, not just the lack of supplying older models.

I'd still like to have a P7M8 some day.

 

[Onmilo]

I'd like to weigh in on this discussion.
Personally I have always felt the Heckler and Koch is far more interested in large government contracts than trying to supply every whim the civilian market demands.
They are well aware of where the real money is in the marketplace and tend to coddle up to that market.

As for the Police armorer waiting for a year to get parts, he isn't doing something right or his own bureaucrats are holding up the submission.
I know for a fact that parts orders on a submitted on a Police letterhead and paid up front will receive priority shipment.

 

[Correia]

Mordechai, I agree. I'm just pointing out that El Tejon is blaming this on the ATF, when it is HKs stupidity.

I believe in mythical creatures, like bears, El T believes that the ATF gives a damn if we have access to one more European rifle. (all meant in fun El T)

 

[El Tejon]

*ahem* Now, Cor, be fair!

No, El Tejon is not blaming this on ATFE agents (especially those agents dealing with our good friends who are SOTs and those agents may give a dead cat about "one more Euro rifle") as a controlling factor. ATFE's opposition to large manufacturing of "assault weapons" (not the bontiques like Vector) comes from several layers above those "one more Europeans rifle" agents. ATFE's administrative position represents a chilling effect on gun manufacture but its impact on large outfits like HK is merely one factor of several.

Governmental ties and precatory ties constitute a much greater motive for HK to screen off the civilian sector, as other companies have done, e.g. Ruger. However, my limited experience with types that run HK, they do get their jollies in telling you people "NO!" so don't discount that factor either.

I used to believe in mythical creatures like bears, pumas, unicorns and domestic made HKs but then I graduated undergrad and stopped drinking.