Marko Kloos
Moderator Emeritus
I made my bi-weekly Friday trip to the cop shop on the other side of town a few days ago. Whilst browing through the assortment of new Glocks and HKs, confiscated police trades, and used LEO turn-ins, I saw a USP Compact in 9mm on the shelf for $500.
Now, this is Knoxville, and this town just doesn't have any USPs in any kind of shape for less than $600. I asked to see the gun, and it appeared unfired. Apparently, it had been owned by a little old lady who only carried it to church on Sundays. (In actuality, it seems like somebody bought it for his wife, and she didn't like the feel of it, so they traded it on a Glock.)
$500 seemed reasonable for a used-but-unfired USP Compact, in the box, with papers and *three* magazines. We sealed the deal, and ten minutes later I was in possession of my first "tactical poser" pistol. Having never owned a USP, but always having thought of them as overpriced Glocks, I was curious if it would perform according to its price tag. (In this town, a new USPc costs well north of $600.)
Initial impressions (read: playing with it all weekend) were very favorable. Fit and finish are excellent, especially for a polymer pistol. The grip is reasonably thin, yet offers a full hold unlike many other compacts. Then again, this pistol is "Compact" only by virtue of being smaller than the full-sized USP, which is a horse pistol. Dimensionally, the USPc is a dead ringer to the CZ-75 PCR and the SIG 228. All three of these pistols are within fractions of an inch in length, width, and height, and all of them hold 13 rounds of 9mm in non-neutered magazines. The USPc is a bit lighter than the PCR by virtue of its polymer frame, weighing 30.5 ounces fully loaded to the 31.5 ounces of the PCR.
The trigger and safety arrangement, traditional DA/SA with safety and decocker, offers both safe cocked-and-locked and Condition 2 carry. All of my autos except for the P32 are DA/SA guns, so the manual of arms is in line with the rest of my carry battery.
I finally had a chance to take it out and run a hundred rounds through it this morning. Ammunition used was Winchester WHite Box 115gr. "Wally World Special".
The very first round out of the new gun, fired DA, resulted in a stovepipe jam. I cleared the stovepipe, and proceeded to empty the rest of the magazine without incident. A second magazine also cycled through without stoppages. I handed the gun and a full magazine to Tamara...and her first shot from a full magazine promptly stovepiped as well. The rest of the magazine went without a stoppage.
We both suspected that we had both limpwristed the gun on the first DA shot, and I intentionally limpwristed the gun on my next magazine. It obliged by stovepiping again. For the rest of the 100-round box of ammo, I paid attention to my hold on the gun, and the rest of the ammunition was fired without a stoppage. Ejection was a bit lackluster, with many cases ejecting less than three feet from the gun, and quite a few cases coming straight back to bounce off my melon on occasion.
I brought the gun to my 'smith this afternoon to give it a once-over, and described the few issues we had. He was surprised to hear about the stovepipes, since USPs are not usually prone to limp-wristing in his experience. He checked the extractor tension, and gave the gun a clean bill of health. We concluded that it was probably a combination of limp-wristing, new springs, and/or a dry gun. Ejection with +P carry ammo should be a little more zesty, and I gave the pistol a through cleaning and lubing when I got home. I am inclined to write the three stovepipes off as limp-wristing, especially since I intentionally produced one to verify that theory. Ammo should not have been an issue...USPs have a reputation for ammo insensitivity, and a pistol with a $700+ MSRP had damn well better feed wet firecrackers.
I think I'll sacrifice a box or so of 9mm +P+ carry loads to verify the gun's reliability. If it has no further issues with my carry ammo (Federal Hi-Shok 9BPLE +P+), I'll take the USPc into my carry rotation.
Now, this is Knoxville, and this town just doesn't have any USPs in any kind of shape for less than $600. I asked to see the gun, and it appeared unfired. Apparently, it had been owned by a little old lady who only carried it to church on Sundays. (In actuality, it seems like somebody bought it for his wife, and she didn't like the feel of it, so they traded it on a Glock.)
$500 seemed reasonable for a used-but-unfired USP Compact, in the box, with papers and *three* magazines. We sealed the deal, and ten minutes later I was in possession of my first "tactical poser" pistol. Having never owned a USP, but always having thought of them as overpriced Glocks, I was curious if it would perform according to its price tag. (In this town, a new USPc costs well north of $600.)
Initial impressions (read: playing with it all weekend) were very favorable. Fit and finish are excellent, especially for a polymer pistol. The grip is reasonably thin, yet offers a full hold unlike many other compacts. Then again, this pistol is "Compact" only by virtue of being smaller than the full-sized USP, which is a horse pistol. Dimensionally, the USPc is a dead ringer to the CZ-75 PCR and the SIG 228. All three of these pistols are within fractions of an inch in length, width, and height, and all of them hold 13 rounds of 9mm in non-neutered magazines. The USPc is a bit lighter than the PCR by virtue of its polymer frame, weighing 30.5 ounces fully loaded to the 31.5 ounces of the PCR.
The trigger and safety arrangement, traditional DA/SA with safety and decocker, offers both safe cocked-and-locked and Condition 2 carry. All of my autos except for the P32 are DA/SA guns, so the manual of arms is in line with the rest of my carry battery.
I finally had a chance to take it out and run a hundred rounds through it this morning. Ammunition used was Winchester WHite Box 115gr. "Wally World Special".
The very first round out of the new gun, fired DA, resulted in a stovepipe jam. I cleared the stovepipe, and proceeded to empty the rest of the magazine without incident. A second magazine also cycled through without stoppages. I handed the gun and a full magazine to Tamara...and her first shot from a full magazine promptly stovepiped as well. The rest of the magazine went without a stoppage.
We both suspected that we had both limpwristed the gun on the first DA shot, and I intentionally limpwristed the gun on my next magazine. It obliged by stovepiping again. For the rest of the 100-round box of ammo, I paid attention to my hold on the gun, and the rest of the ammunition was fired without a stoppage. Ejection was a bit lackluster, with many cases ejecting less than three feet from the gun, and quite a few cases coming straight back to bounce off my melon on occasion.
I brought the gun to my 'smith this afternoon to give it a once-over, and described the few issues we had. He was surprised to hear about the stovepipes, since USPs are not usually prone to limp-wristing in his experience. He checked the extractor tension, and gave the gun a clean bill of health. We concluded that it was probably a combination of limp-wristing, new springs, and/or a dry gun. Ejection with +P carry ammo should be a little more zesty, and I gave the pistol a through cleaning and lubing when I got home. I am inclined to write the three stovepipes off as limp-wristing, especially since I intentionally produced one to verify that theory. Ammo should not have been an issue...USPs have a reputation for ammo insensitivity, and a pistol with a $700+ MSRP had damn well better feed wet firecrackers.
I think I'll sacrifice a box or so of 9mm +P+ carry loads to verify the gun's reliability. If it has no further issues with my carry ammo (Federal Hi-Shok 9BPLE +P+), I'll take the USPc into my carry rotation.
