I posted this somewhere else earlier today. I figured I would post it here as well.

Boredom

Since late 2018 I haven't been shooting nearly as much as I used to for a number or reasons (work assignment, two kids, bad tendonitis in my right arm, insert other lame excuse...). I seem to be lucky if I make it to the range a couple times a month just to keep my skill up and 98% of my shooting has been with a 9mm Glock or a J-frame since those are what I actually carry. Sure, I've spent a decent amount of time playing with RDO's since that's the new shiz, but even that is only fun for a bit. Shooting has become a task or work related chore. To be honest, shooting striker-fired plastic guns and even my beloved 1911 has gotten to be pretty damn boring for me.

So this morning I had time, knew the range was empty and the weather was nice, so I thought, "What the hell." I did something I haven't done for years and decided to take up a bunch of guns and just go plink around by myself. I brought a Don Williams Hi Power, a USP 45 with the Hybrid Match LEM, Grayguns P226 wearing Nills, and a bone stock USP 40 Compact I picked up in a trade with a forum member last year. They're guns that basically I never shoot anymore, or in the case of the USP-C, have only shot once.

The other aforementioned guns were fine, but nothing special. I have to say, the H&K USP Compact LEM in 40 S&W simply blew me away. I didn't want to put the stupid thing down!

Gun Background

Taking inventory of ammo last year I realized I have quite a bit of 40 S&W ammo in my personal inventory and my department still has quite a bit of it in inventory with the amount of folks carrying a 40 S&W down to the fingers on one hand and falling (we had around 130 carrying it back in 2012). I then realized that I personally own only one 40 S&W handgun which is a Glock 22 Gen3 that I keep for sentimental reasons and has basically been usurped by my wife. So I traded an extra Glock 17 I had lying around for a bone stock Variant 1 USP Compact 40 S&W wearing a set of dim Meprolight night sights that came with four mags.

I took it out to the range shortly after receiving it and found the DA/SA trigger to basically suck. I put a couple of mags through it during a break between teaching and then back it went into the safe. I thought about selling it and then decided a few months ago to buy an LEM kit for it, installed it one night, but didn't really have the chance to mess with it again until today.

A Brief Review

This is one of those guns that doesn't feel magical holding it in the hand, but is pure magic shooting it. Even with the coarse Meprolight 3-dots, I didn't have a problem hitting 3x5 cards at 10 or 15 yards. What surprised me though is without glasses I was able to hit the 3x5 card with consistency at 30 yards with Federal 180gr HST. It is an inherently accurate gun. I also find it an inherently shootable gun, much more so than many of our current striker fired options out there. I also don't find the recoil to be bad in the slightest. In fact, perceived recoil felt less than the BHP running standard Federal 124gr American Eagle.

I was concerned about LEM being too weird for me. I had played with it on P30's in the past and never cared for it. The LEM-hybrid match on the USP 45 I have I always found to be too light for any type of social use and that particular gun is another one I keep for sentimental reasons (it was a retired co-worker's duty gun). The LEM in this USP Compact has an extremely light take-up, a crisp (although fairly light) wall and an extremely short reset. Color me impressed.

Reliability was what I would expect out of a USP: 100%. I've been around enough of them over the years to know they don't break easy and I'm not particularly worried about this one.

One thing I want to try is a 5+6 Detent Plate to see what it is like with a manual safety. I don't think it's needed, but I just want to see what it is like.

Thoughts

Why was this thing so fun? No clue. Maybe it's because it's something different.

Maybe it's the fact that it's a yester-year's hotness bone stock gun with mediocre sights shooting what's become a nearly cliché obsolete cartridge that makes me look like a way better shot than it ought to.

I'm currently assigned to the admin division of my PD so my normal attire is a polo and khaki pants and I only work as a patrol supervisor only once in a blue moon to try to stay relevant.

It was only one range day, I'll need a few more (see how that works? just gave myself a reason to shoot more), but I'm actually considering qualing with this thing and carrying it for awhile in and out of uniform.

It’s a surprisingly good pistol that has done yeoman’s work for a large federal agency, never got the praise or the attention of the SIG P229 but easy to bring a novice shooter up to speed on. Glad to see it getting a little bit of love, if belatedly. Thank you for sharing!

If you like the USPc in .40 S&W, you should DEFINITELY try it in .357 SIG...

My wife's former boss invited me out to his property for some shooting years ago.
He tossed me a couple boxes of 45ACP & a few pistols.
Springfield XD 45
Sig P220ST
HK USP 45C

The Springfield I couldn't warm up to, and the Sig was a natural shooter for me.
The USP was somewhere in between, but closer to the Sig in shootability, than the XD.

Wouldn't mind trying another in 357Sig, or maybe a P2000/P2SK.

I carried a P2000 and P2000SK some years ago on duty. I liked it, but didn't love the LEM trigger. I wish I had gotten it in the TDA. Our locaL marine USBP unit had a bunch of problems with springs rusting and breaking as well... USBP uses a pretty hot round, and the P-2000 took it all.

For a .40, the HK is a great gun, and a better one than the P229 I'm playing with now.

I have that exact gun. Meh. The P2000 though is a whole different matter. At one point I meant to go all in on the P2000. Never happened but I certainly prefer it to the USPc. Same mags, same sights, probably share springs, certainly share the trigger guts (variants).

I always heard that rusting thing too. Always mentioned springs. I always chalked that up to shitty maintenance. How hard is it to drop some oil or even grease on a spring and avoid rust in bad conditions? Besides which, it doesn’t make sense that just THOSE springs rust. I bet HK gets all their springs from the same place. I call BS on that tale. (not saying it didn’t happen but that it was avoidable and any gun with springs would have rusted as well)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pedropcola,

I think most of us who have been at this for awhile and count ourselves among the enthusiast class probably have our fair share of guns rarely shot and its not uncommon to pull out the buried treasure and either realize or remember how good or fun a particular piece is. Those are some of the best shooting days IMO.

As to the USPc, although I don't care for LEM at all, the USP series, P2000 series, P30, HK45 etc. etc. are all absolutely awesome combat handguns. They are easy to pick apart on a micro level (this or that is clunky, the trigger is bad etc.) but the reality is on a macro level they are a damn good all around pistol for high stress, crappy environments with controls and triggers designed around any environment really.

As to the P2000 that is my all in defensive handgun of choice. Kind of a melted USPc if you will. I never understood the rusting spring thing either as like you said should be the same springs and PM should have addressed.

Now the parts breakages, I have shot some of the CBP 155 grain .40 that Federal was providing and that stuff was HOT!! Like as close to what I would call +P .40 as I have ever felt. Really felt a bit like 10mm to be honest. So I imagine that stuff was HARD on guns but probably hit like a freight train. I would imagine the vast amount of NORMAL .40 will be fairly benign to the average P2000.

All that said. Glad you had a good range day. That past couple years for me have also meant that going shooting is a chore kind of thing in many cases and I haven't been able to shoot NEARLY as much as I would like, at least the "real guns" so I totally get when you get to the range and it just puts that old smile on your face. Ironically enough I too just got out to the range and it was with a USP45 and a P2000 in .40 and I had a blast as well.

As always take care, shoot safe.
Chris

I have the USP Compact V1 in 9mm. While I really like it now, at first I thought I would sell it. The DA trigger pull was long , heavy, and not smooth at all. SA was better but nothing like Sig P series pistols. I bought the " match trigger " kit and installed it with some help from youtube. A world of difference . I now very much like it and plan to keep it. On a side note I just bought a P30 LEM Lite and I am impressed with the trigger on it. Very different but in a good way.

My USPc 9mm doesn’t get the range time it deserves these days due to other toys eating up all the ammo. It is still a great piece in the collection though and is one of my favorites due to the quality and craftsmanship of the USP series. I got mine back right after Jack Bauer showcased his for years and though mine has yet to take out any terrorists, it will ring steel and 10 rings in paper with ease and has never missed a beat as expected.

Wild love to try LEM sometime I’ve heard it’s a great system.

A friend of mine a long time ago acquired the USP 40 when they first came out -- 40 was the new "rage". We had been playing with IDPA. He pulls out the gun and shows it to us. Then he proceeds to shoot a perfect shot at 25 yards -- the same that I had been trying to do all day with my SIG P220. Dangit.

The USP and USPc guns are in the category of meh for me. As I look in the safe however, for a gun that I am wildly lukewarm on, I seem to have acquired multiples in all the calibers except 357 Sig. How did this happen? I don’t really like this gun right? I might have to investigate.

I bought a full sized USP .40 S&W when they first came out and most people don't know that this pistol was designed for that caliber from the ground up! 9mm, .357 Sig, and .45 ACP versions came along later, as did the Compact versions. I attempted to get our department to authorize/issue the .40 S&W shortly after these first hit the market, but it wasn't until around 1996 when the decision was made to issue the full sized .45 ACP version for patrol (with the attached tactical light). Roughly the same time, we were approved to carry full sized or Compact H&Ks which were personally owned in either 9mm, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP. As a detective, I carried a Compact .40 that was converted by our Rangemaster to LEM. It worked so well that he converted many others to that trigger system and newly issued H&Ks were all LEMs.

I haven't carried it in nearly two decades, but don't plan on selling my Compact and would probably buy a .357 Sig barrel, if I could find one of these.

I like the USP series and have a few in various sizes and calibers. I changed my Expert and Compact both in 9mm to V9 with no decocking function as I prefer to shoot these cocked and locked. I changed the main spring to a factory 10lb and the single action pull is not too bad.

I've got the same pistol and love it. I would definitely encourage you to make it your duty and edc! My first trained observer job issued a S&W model 10 and as soon as I could switch I did! Go for it.