You don’t have to be a Navy SEAL to know that the H&K MK23 is one bad ass pistol. But it helps. It also helps when it comes to owning one. Navy SEALs pay for theirs in blood, sweat and tears. Uncle Sam gets a deal. Civilians need to shell-out some $2,300 or thereabouts for the privilege. Truth be told, I’m no more likely to buy a H&K MK23 than Kerry McGregor is to go swimming in an old gunny sack. So, the H&K USP Tactical then, a more affordable offshoot of the MK23 development program . . .
The USP (Universal Self-Loading Pistol) line grew out of H&K’s 1991 entry into the Special Operations Offensive Handgun Weapons System (OHWS) tender. The process delivered unto the Special Operations command the DA/SA MK23, a gun engineered well beyond the standards of contemporaneous duty guns. Two years later, in 1993, Heckler & Koch began production on the USP line.
All major metal components on the USP are corrosion-resistant. Outside metal surfaces are protected by H&K’s proprietary “hostile environment” nitride finish. Internal metal parts are coated with a Dow Corning anti-corrosion chemical to reduce friction and wear.
The gunmaker tested the MK23’s recoil system with over 30k rounds of +P ammunition followed by 6k high pressure proof rounds. After disassembling the gun the Germans found no damage or excessive wear to any of the components.
And then they did some more tests . . .
The ballistic boffins froze the USP to −42 °C (−43.5 °F), fired it and then frozen it again. They heated it to 67 °C (152.6 °F) and fired it. They cycled between these extremes several times. They subjected USP to standard NATO mud and rain abuse. They immersed it in water and sprayed it with sea water. They dropped it from six feet, hammer first, onto a steel-backed concrete slab.
H&K employees deliberately lodged a bullet in the barrel and then sent another one down the pipe. The second bullet cleared the obstruction producing only a minor bulge in the barrel. They loaded a full magazine and then fired the gun again with the bulging barrel. The resulting group measured less than 4 inches of deviation at 25 meters – a standard that some new guns would be lucky to hold.
In short, Heckler & Koch testers made damn sure the only way this baby was going to go off was with your finger on the trigger and the gun fully in battery. And that it would work matter what.
The USP comes in a variety of sizes and calibers, with 9mm, .40 and .45 all represented. The USP Tactical version features a threaded barrel and a very high front sight so it can be used with a suppressor.
Takedown of the USP Tactical is slightly more complicated than your standard Glock/XDM/M&P gun, but easier than a 1911. You pull the slide back a bit and then pop out the slide catch lever. You also need to remove the barrel thread protector to remove the barrel from the slide for cleaning.
Ergonomics
The USP Tactical is not a gun for small-handed owners. While the USP Tactical is a slimmed down version of the MK23, it still requires a medium to large paw to wield effectively. [ED: In Germany, interchangeable backstraps change you.] Thankfully, the USP’s grips are surprisingly well designed, offering plenty of palm purchase and ergonomic comfort. The photo below shows a comparison between the double-stack USP (left) and my SIG P220 single stack.
Typical of German target sights, the USP Tactical’s are a blade and slot design. The sights themselves are all black — no contrast dots, no tritium, no nothing. The rear sight is adjustable for both windage and elevation. The front sight is particularly tall, protruding eight mm from the top of the slide (a typical front sight is generally in the 3.5-4 mm range).
It’s a suppressor friendly set-up. The USP’s high front sight compensates for the extra 8.75” of barrel length for a can (say, something along the lines of an AAC Ti-Rant suppressor). You can successfully engage close-in targets without the suppressor blocking your sight picture.
Trigger pull on the USP Tactical is 11.5 lbs. in double-action (DA) and 4.5 lbs. in single-action (SA) mode. It’s the same pull as the MK23 in DA, a tad lighter is SA. In single action mode, there’s a bit of take up—maybe a ¼ of an inch or so—before the hammer releases. As you’d expect from a match grade trigger the action feels as smooth as a Porsche Turbo’s steering wheel—and just as controllable.
Reset in Single Action mode is very similar to SIG’s Short Reset Trigger. The USP Tactical’s adjustable trigger allows you to set the over-travel to your liking. That sounds a bit more sophisticated than it is; the adjustment simply extends a little knob from the back of the trigger shoe to control how far the go pedal travels before hitting the back of the trigger guard.
Accuracy
Not much to say here that the target below can’t say for me. That’s a ten round grouping at 20 feet.
The USP boasts a mechanical recoil reduction system incorporated into the recoil spring assembly. It’s designed to reduce wear and tear on the gun and . . . reduce recoil. By a claimed 30 percent.
For real world comparison purposes, I broke out my P220 Super Match, a phenomenally accurate gun that costs about the same as the USP Tactical. As you can see from the P220 target below, the USP blew the Super Match away (at least in my hands)
Reliability
I have owned the HK USP Tactical for over a year. I’ve fired about a thousand rounds of various types of ammo without any problems. During the test firing, The USP tore through a full mag of my regular range ammo without issues. And then I shot Hornady .45 Auto +P 230 grain XTP.
On the second trigger pull, nothing happened. The slide hadn’t gone completely into battery, hanging back about ¼ of an inch or so. Tap, rack, bang. The spent brass ejected, but again, nothing on the next trigger pull. I whacked the back of the gun and the slide slid back into battery. Wash, rinse, repeat.
The USP had no difficulty cycling the regular Hornady hollow point ammo. Since the problem only seems to be with +P ammo–which puts a lot more force on the recoil spring—I’m thinking my problem may be a recoil spring that’s on its way out.
UPDATE 9/27/2012
I spoke with H&K Tech support, and guess what – there is a known incompatibility that H&Ks have with some of Hornady’s ammo. Hornady has admitted that some of their cases are over sized and this has been causing problems. The problem was supposedly resolved in June 2012, but my ammo pre-dates that month which is why I have the problem. I will try some more Hornady in the future, but if this problem was only corrected in June of this year, I am going to wait a bit longer to make sure the new stuff is in the pipeline.
Being the distrustful sort of person that I am, I managed to procure a couple of alternative ammo options. In my bag was Remington’s Golden Saber 185 grain +P and Federal’s Tactical HST 230 grain +P ammo. The USP performed flawlessly with both types of ammo. With this in mind, I’m inclined to take H&K’s word that the problem was Hornady’s not the USP.
Aftermarket Options
The German USP Tactical uses a 12-round double stack magazine. Since it’s an H&K, you’ll pay nasally for extra mags; about $50 a pop. Ten-round mags are also available for those unfortunate enough to live in (or travel to) restricted capacity states.
Unfortunately, H&K fits the USP with a proprietary rail designed to fit H&K accessories and H&K accessories only. There are several reasonably priced conversion rails that clip onto the H&K rail. You can then mount standard Picatinny accessories onto the USP Tactical. The work-around adds weight.
Holsters are another problem. Very few manufacturers make anything that can accommodate that high front sight blade on the USP Tactical. You can replace the handgun’s front sight with a shorter blade, but that compromises the sight’s performance when using a suppressor.
Comp-Tac sells a holster that accommodates the USP Tactical’s sight—which won’t fit the gun if you mount an aftermarket rail adapter. But if you add an adapter to mount some sort of light or laser aiming device you’re looking at a custom holster anyway.
Speaking of suppressors, H&K went with a left hand thread on the barrel. Most standard suppressor don’t fit (including those made for the MK23 which features the more standard right hand thread pattern). A number of suppressor manufacturers offer suppressors that fit the H&K, including the well-regarded AAC Ti-Rant.
Summary
At north of a grand, the USP Tactical is hardly a bargain pistol. Nor is it a handmade gem. It is, however, an ultra-rugged gun with more than merely adequate accuracy designed for the rigorous demands of the American special operations community. God knows why you’d need that much durability in a handgun. There are less expensive guns that are just as reliable (cough Glock cough). But if I had to choose one gun for a serious SHTF scenario, this is the gun I want by my side. If only for inspiration.
Specifications:
Length 8.64 in
Height 5.9 in
Width 1.26 in
Weight w/mag 2.05 lbs.
Capacity 10 or 12
Trigger DA/SA
MSRP $1,301 (street price about $1,100)
Ratings (out of five stars)
Overall rating is not a sum of the individual ratings
Style * * * *
This gun has style in spades. Sure, it’s plain black on black and the sights are boring (aside from the adjustable rear sight feature), but just knowing this gun’s heritage and who its older brother is makes it a real conversation piece.
Ergonomics * * * *
For such a large gun, it’s feels fairly compact. The 1.26” width is only .16” wider than my compact SIG P938 pistol and the USP fires big boy .45 bullets. It’s a heavy gun, but then again, if you are planning to send +P rounds downrange, you are going to appreciate all of that weight. That weight also helps to maintain the gun’s overall balance if you choose to add a suppressor.
Reliability * * * * *
Aside from the previously described Hornady ammo problem, the USP ate everything that I threw at it and came back for more. Assuming that Hornady fixes their ammo issues, this gun should be able to handle whatever round you want to send down the pipe.
Customize This * *
Holsters are tough to find. You have to purchase an aftermarket adapter to mount Picatinny accessories.
OVERALL RATING * * * *
I go through guns the way Imelda Marcos went through shoes. But the only way you’re getting this gun away from me is to pry it from my cold dead hands. And if you choose to try, with this thing by my side, chances are those cold dead hands will be yours.
The mark 23 was built to be an offensive pistol. They have since been shelved and the h&k 45c tactical has replaced it. The over all length of the mark 23 with a surpressor is similar in length to the mp 7 and the older mp5. The thought was that if you have a sub gun with higher capacity and isn’t much longer than the mark 23, The mp 5 with integrated surpressor I mean; then why use a pistol. By most people’s standard the mark 23 is a big pistol add a surpressor and its a huge weapon. With all that said, I’d still love to own one. As for the sig guys out there, they are great guns. The 226 was almost the standard side arm of the us military but beretta beat sig out by less than eight dollars per gun. The usp is a direct descendent of the mark 23 pistol with the recoil buffer system. I have been a 1911 guy all of my life, with a smith revolver hear and there, the h&k usp, 45’s, and mark 23’s are the finest combat pistol ever devised. They are rugged, accurate, well thought out with the help of a lot of (I hate to use this term) tier one guys and they generally are the end users of them. The regular naval special warfare guys still get 226’s, the special forces and the rangers still get beretta 92’s; those are great guns.
What happens when the O-ring wears out? Or does it? I remember when those first came out thinking that was a bad idea but time would tell…
You just put a new on. $4
From their website: “The Mako Group is a Registered Contractor to the US Department of Defense based in Farmingdale, NY.”
Buy American. And what’s the deal with the tritium sights? Aren’t we getting enough from Fukushima?
Totally deserved. Congratulations!
Congrats, fellas.
I have both the Glock 21 and the HK45 USP. I love the look and feel of my HK45, but the Glock is more accurate and easier to breakdown. If the world went to hell in a hand basket and I could only take one pistol. it’ my Glock 21. I know, I know, that HK45 is a sweet baby.
I own a HK.45, I love it. I sail around the world and this is my go to weapon. I have half packed rounds to accommodate my Gemtech silencer but never needed them. I leave it loaded on board with a suppressor to speed up the .45 rounds
Fully loaded magazine after magazine .45s didn’t break the sound barrier, remained accurate and never inside outed the can. I have held off AKs with this gem. I have an AK on board with tracer rounds but never needed it because the TAC .45 is so both accurate and smooth.
I own a Beretta Special Duty 45 and a USP 45 and of the 2 I prefer the build quality and craftsmanship of the HK, I also can control the HK better in rapid fire target drills, but maybe thats due to its LEM trigger . There is also that Mystique of HK being used by the special forces community and I also like that they are made in Germany with strict quality control, Overall the USP 45 with the LEM trigger is my favorite 45 caliber handgun in the world !!!
Gotta love the nordic car analogies.
An M5 beemer is hard to beat, for the 1st 60k miles.
An SMG can stack up, but is heavier and clumsier. Who cares.
Bottom line_____
Buy a USP and have on of the most durable, accurate, reliable pistols made.
My 45 tactical is ungodly accurate as stated above. A big favorite with everyone when my friends and I go to the range.Never a FTF. Worth every dime of the 800 I paid-used as new with the cool soft case- CCDN has extra mags pretty much all the time. Now for the Mk 23 when the old lady aint looking
Not sure if anyone commented on this, but here it goes. In regards to the left handed threads, they’re actually not doing it to be dicks. As your bullet leaves the barrel, it is rotating clockwise ( right hand spin). This force is exerted on anything past the muzzle. Threading the barrel the opposite way insures that the suppressor does not turn loose. It will, in effect, keep it on tight. It’s not uncommon. As a machinist, I work with a lot of tools that have reverse threading. The proprietary rail though, that’s them being dicks!
Read all the comments on the USP but nothing about the ammo. Question: Can “lead”
projectiles (bullets) be shot thru the USP? They are not recommended to be used with the
Glocks!
FYI, all 3 of my USP 45 Tactical mags hold 13 rds instead of 12.
I have a USP 9 with an oversized mag release (very easy to install). I love it except for the proprietary rail and the flexible trigger (planning to upgrade to a match one see if that cures it). I made the mistake of trying to feed it the steel-cased TulAmmo my neighbor brought over. I got a FTE after shooting just 3 rounds and it took a lot of force to clear the jam. The case was stuck in the chamber. I wound up pushing the rear sight against a metal chair to move the slide back. The gun ran fine afterward. Never had a problem with other ammo.
In answer to Bill Gass’s question, I have shot SWC lead reloads without a jam in my USP .45 when every other one would fail to fully feed into my GLOCK 30. The USP .45 has eaten everything I tried through it.
Ex US Navy…I shoot Bullseye pistol comp regularly, which is done @ 25 and 50 yds. One handed, the real way to shoot a pistol. I picked up a USP Tactical earlier this year and it shoots as good as my race guns at these distances and eats reloads and factory ammo, no problem. I like this gun and like another poster said…keeping my eyes open for Mk23 when the better half isn’t looking.
The point about the distances…if you and the gun can hold 2″ or less at 25 yds and you get in situation where you are closer and operating…well, most likely you will just end up with one big hole downrange after squeezing off five…so this gun is a winner in my book.
I have carried a Kimber Super Carry Pro for almost four years. I bought it at a gun show NIB, and started the break-in process within a week. I fired over 750 rounds before cleaning it, as the manual indicated 500 factory rounds before cleaning, to allow the “slurry” to work itself into the pistols internals. I had one failure to go into battery between round 525-535, but other than that, the pistol has performed flawlessly. My break in rounds consisted mostly of my LRN reloads (I can’t remember the specific load), with a couple hundred rounds of factory 230gr hardball, and about 80 rounds of Winchester T-Series 230gr JHP. The accuracy has been nothing short of amazing, and I find the recoil quite manageable. Yes, it had a hefty $1300 price tag, but I found that it has been well worth it. I carry this pistol for around 12 hours a day, every day, and it has never been a burden to carry. If you can find one (and you have the scratch), I highly recommend it.
Great review, by the way!
Having never owned an HK USP, but relying on your article… For roughly the same price, I certainly would choose an FNX (same caliber). Yes, the grip is larger, but it too offers multiple back straps. Add to that, 15 round magazines, dead ass reliability, bullet-proof finish, DA/SA with an exposed hammer, AND no proprietary BS regarding barrel thread, rail, etc.The choice is really quite simple.
That was my choice. FNX-45 T with Ti-Rant and Trijicon RMR. Holy Cow.
Any USP 45 is awesome. Best 45 you can own
HK Beats Crappy FNX Anytime !!! The Quality Just Isnt the Same !!!
FNX-45 Tac is rugged, supremely reliable (no FTF/FTE with ANYTHING after I learned to hold on tight), pleasant to shoot, handles well even if you don’t have big hands, non-proprietary threading and rail, milled for RMR (awesome sight once dialed in). Field-strips in a flash, cleaning is a dream. Has the “quality” exactly where it’s needed in a military sidearm. Hardly crappy…
H&K are nice weapons. I’ve handled them all but am beyond happy with the FN FNX-45 T. To each his own…no need to disparage one or the other of two fine weapons from two great manufacturers.
Recently bought a Tactical HK .45 Variant 1 Compact w/ 3dot nightsight trudot , black slide w/ a TAN bottom’ hahaha! “Rare made pistol HK doesn’t make em like that no more”, The Hecklor Koch Assistant pointed out ‘don’t get rid of it.. Bought it From a gun-collector for a grand!!!! WISH I CAN POST A PICTURE!
Smooth and Accurate hit center targets at 20yrd. Everything on point no issues what so ever! Hey GO BIGG OR DON’T COME AT ALL Right! By reading the early comments Thanks for the tip about Hornady ammunition don’t want this machine misuse in anyway or form.
*Reliable Pistol – (( HK .45Tac )) checked off my list.
Next A
*Reliable Rifle – (( MK47 Mutant 7.62 )) 2015 BestRifles
Hk made the cutt for a military side arm. America waved the hk because it was too expensive to replace the standard military side arms with HK’S.. America rather lose their soldiers defending it than to spend it where it’s needed #BETTERPISTOLS.. but can spend 1.2 billion in tomahawks to destroy country sites for switching their currency of money.. #SadAmerica What do you really know? Bring me truth.
“Ron Grobman Splits My Old Business Card with a Wilson Combat Modified GLOCK 19”
What?
RF wasn’t holding the card when Ron split it?
Pftttpt.
(I know what you mean, APM. Mid-70s F here today. Brrrrrrr…)
Don’t forget that B of A is the bank that started offering no ID required bank account several years back for crimaliens
Still trying to buy one of these. “Gonna’ make a 45 Super fo’ my own”. Cannot think of a better platform to start with. 6,000 PROOF!!! LOADS??? Bullet lodged in the barrel, cleared by another round being fired behind the obstruction – continued to operate normally?? NOOOOOOOOOOO outfit makes a 45 EVEN CLOSE!!! All this said by a class A#1 S&W/Springfield fan.
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