[weavo]

Hey guys,

I am in the market for a handgun and am leaning toward the HK USP fullsize .45 ACP model. Does anyone here have any experience or constructive criticism on this particular handgun?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The best price that I have found for this particular handgun is 689.00.

Thanks in advance!!

Other makes that I was considering was the Sig P220. Any advice on these?

Weavo

edit==> I meant to say Sig P220 not P226...

 

[Chuck S]

The SIG P226 is 9mm...

The HK USP is a nice but overly busy pistol. It can be carried cocked and locked, just like the M1911 but if you drop the safety too far you can uncock the pistol requiring a very long trigger pull to fire the first round.

The SIG System literally demands a throw-away first shot with the long, hard double action pull -- but at least there's not a 3 position lever on the pistol.

My tastes run to Glocks and M1911s. Same trigger every shot. I prefer the M1911 and find it points more naturally than the Glocks, but no denying the Glock shoots well. Major problem is the massive size of the .45ACP grip and the by-the-box price for .45GAP ammo.

I sold my HK and my SIG.

-- Chuck

 

[C.R.]

Of those two choices I would get the 220. The HK is a big pistol. The Sig could be carried comfortably, and in my opinion shoots better. I carry a 220 at work, and while I would prefer to carry a 1911 style pistol the Sig is my first choice in DA.

 

[Griff]

Hi Weavo,

I see you're making the rounds. I replied to your post on the other board, so I won't duplicate.

Both are great choices, as are what Chuch mentioned. I love 1911s, don't care for Glocks - but I will not ever say they don't shoot well.

Any chance you can try them both out? Which feels better in your hand? Do you need an external safety? How are you going to carry it (cocked and locked, hammer down, etc)? All things you should consider, eliminate anything that doesn't meet your requirements, then maybe it's time to go with your instinct. If there was a pistol that met everyones requirement, then there would only be one pistol made.

Let us know what you decide.


Griff

 

[weavo]

Guys,

Thanks for all the comments. I am going to hit the range next Tuesday and try out both. I will let you all know what I decide. From what I gather I really can't go wrong with either. They are both solid hand guns.

Weavo

Griff,

Yup buddy I am making the rounds. Got to take advantage of all this knowledge!! :mrgreen:

Thanks for your comments as well. I found another good price on the HK for 650.00. Anyone else know a better price or a place to look?

 

[Griff]

$650 for a NIB USP sounds like a very fair price.

Again, check it over. Make sure it doesn't have too mush display counter rash. That, by itself, is OK, but that also means it may have been dry fired thousands of times. Look at the date code: AA, AB, AC, AD, AE. That tells you what year it was manufactured.

If you go with the Sig, PM me with your address and I will send you my Hogue grip from when I had my P220. I liked the P220 much better after I installed the grip. They are inexpensive, and for me, made it a better feeling firearm.

Let us know what you decide.

Everyone have a great weekend and for those of us in the SE, stay safe and dry!

 

[M1A4me]

I'd save a bit more and invest on a good 1911 like a Kimber.

Although, I had the same decision when shopping for a 45ACP a long while ago and ended up w/ the Hk USP Compact since it felt better in my hand and for one reason or another I shot better vs. the Sig and the Glock. I own a Sig, 2 Glocks, a SA 1911 and a Kimber Pro Tac II. All are great pistols & I would not give them up for anything. You're in the right track...

 

[Ne-waza]

Personally, I like 1911s and Glocks. But I have a Sig P220 that I had the factory do an action job on, and the double action trigger pull is FANTASTIC. It is extremely smooth and light. The single action pull is now a hair trigger. As far as DA/SA autos go, this is the best I've ever handled. My friend has an H&K USP .45, and dropped in the competition trigger offered by H&K to lighten the DA pull, but it is nowhere near as nice as my Sig.

Something to look for in the Sig: mine was made in 1986 and, as such, is the old West German model. It has a half notch on the hammer, and when you drop the hammer down, it automatlically goes to the half . I have handled the newer Sigs, and they no longer have this half notch. To make a long story short, the DA pull on my gun is significantly shorter than the newer breed of Sigs. A friend of mine has a new Sig P220 and he and I have shot our Sigs side by side and compared them. There is a big difference in the length of pull. Gun store clerks will tell you there is no difference, but they are wrong. I even called Sig once to ask them about it and the guy I talked to didn't even know what I was talking about.

If you are looking for a good DA/SA .45, get a W. German Sig P220 and send it back to the factory for a trigger job. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Ne-waza]

I forgot to mention that my buddy with the H&K has had a hard time getting used to the sight picture, because the bore sits so high. The 1911, the Sig, and especially the Glocks, will give you a much lower sight plane (I think they call this axis of bore, or something along those lines) than the H&K. This is one of the reasons why I like the Glocks so much. The bore sits so low to your hand and the sight picture is very simple. The Glocks give me a much better sight picture than anything else. It's sort of like sighting down a side by side rifle; this type of sight picture makes it very easy to get a super fast target acquisition on dangerous game (elephants, lions, humans, etc. :wink: ). Glocks are fantastic guns.

 

[Spudley112]

I guess I am the exception here. I owned a HK USP and thought it was the best 45 pistol I have ever owned. Like a fool I ended up trading it..and have regretted it since. Different people like different things. Try them out and go with the one you shoot better, that feels better and that carries best for you.

 

[CRASH -CAF-]

The H&K is certainly a large pistol. That's just a fact of life when you can fit 12 rounds of .45 ACP into a single magazine. So that's something each person needs to make a subjective decision about - whether or not it "fits" them well. As for me, I'm pretty average sized - 5'10" and 160 lbs. I have a full size and I love it so much I bought a Compact model to go with it.

Both models shoot very well for me, are going to hit what I aim at, have not malfunctioned through about 1000 rounds combined, and have an excellent reputation for reliability. They also come in .40S&W and 9mm so that might be a better "fit."