I'm an HK fan & have read the recent article on the new HK 45 in a handgun mag. The article stated that the HK 45 has been patterned after the 1911. If so, why buy the copy & not the real thing? Has HK perfected the 1911 with the HK 45?
The article stated that the HK 45 has been patterned after the 1911. If so, why buy the copy & not the real thing? Has HK perfected the 1911 with the HK 45?
If you are talking about the same article I am thinking about, then the comment was more metaphorical than literal. They meant it as being the potential "new 1911" as in the niche it was intended to fill as the new .45 ACP sidearm.I'm an HK fan & have read the recent article on the new HK 45 in a handgun mag. The article stated that the HK 45 has been patterned after the 1911. If so, why buy the copy & not the real thing? Has HK perfected the 1911 with the HK 45?
I've got a USP45 in variant 1 (DA/SA with decock and safety). I haven't had the first problem with it. I can operate it fine. Just because you don't like it doesn't warrant an across the board "thumbs down". They may not be for you, but it doesn't make it a bad firearm. I wouldn't trade mine. I have heard many others who say the same.H&K USP pistols that are not Variant 7 DAO LEMS or Variants 9 or 10 C&Ls without decock are some of the most overrated pieces on the market.
The trigger on my .45USPc Variant 2 was absurdly bad, (spongy with an overlong travel and creep), even in SA, for what I paid for the pistol. It is amusing how many apologists there are that say "But the LEM is sweet." LEMs are DAO.
Additionally, as an avid 1911 shooter, thumb mashing that variant 2 safety downward from C&L, especially in stressfire drills, sometimes resulted in my decocking the damn thing, which brought me full stop into the crap 12 lb DA pull and usually a first round flyer.
I batted around selling it off, or sending it in for conversion to a more sensible variant and the cost of the magazines clinched it that I am a former H&K owner.
I caution anyone against buying any H&K pistol that goes from C&L to a possible decock. It's the worst of all possible worlds as far as controls go.
CZ does it right and makes you manually decock a DA/SA with C&L capability or makes you bite the bullet and get a decocking only model.
The 1911 is an awesome gun. Now think light weight, more reliable, larger capacity, and similar accuracy. This is what I see in the HK45. It will definitively be on my list of pistols to buy!
For people like you that have trouble with the control lever. I don't have any trouble with it. It takes a pretty intentional movement to push it all the way down to decock, and only a slight push to get it from "S" to "F", with a click in between that can be both heard and felt. Don't think so much about "thumb strength" as much as knowing when to stop pushing.Let's put it this way--if there wasn't even a glimmer of a problem there, maybe for shooters with stronger thumbs than you perhaps, why do Variants 9 and 10 even exist?
For the same reason Sig has the DAK. FWIW, I can shoot my first round, DA, just as accurately as the subsequent SA shots. I admit the trigger on the USP's are different, but they are consistent, and can be mastered in one range session if you have the willingness to do it.If the typical H&K USP DA trigger were not so legendarily bad, why invent the LEM as a workaround?
1911. Why mess with success?
1000s$$$ in aftermarket upgrades (aka Wilson Combat)... HK is right out of the box. Add a laser tac light if you wish and your still under the base cost of a nice bare bones 1911.
For people like you that have trouble with the control lever. I don't have any trouble with it. It takes a pretty intentional movement to push it all the way down to decock, and only a slight push to get it from "S" to "F", with a click in between that can be both heard and felt. Don't think so much about "thumb strength" as much as knowing when to stop pushing.
They aren't on all of them, but they can be had that way, and come that way on the Expert that pbonebright mentioned.The USP lever, when I owned one, and last I checked, is not on both sides of the pistol.
I'm not talking about calmly shooting paper at the local range, I'm talking about realistic training and drills, POST courses, etc. I've never accidentally decocked the thing. Like I said though, they have DAO and SAO versions for folks that have trouble with it.That system is great, for a range queen. I had no problem with the Variant 2 control lever about 98% of the time, but when there was no time for knowing and adrenaline kicked in making an intentionally slight movement rather impractical, that S-F-D triangulation was a deal breaker. Going from "Safe" to "Fire" at a static 10 meter target with the piece beginning from the bench is one thing. Going from "Safe" to "Decock," on a rapid draw and double tap, even if it happened only a few times under simulated stress, was a few too many times for me.