So we are on the cusp of 2020. Flying cars are surly just around the corner and itty bitty 9mm striker fired guns are all the rage. Seems like a perfect time for me to talk about a fairly big, low capacity, anachronistic, hammer fired monstrosity from a bygone era.

So the above may have a wee bit of hyperbole but lets face it the HK45/45C is not exactly the new hotness but over the past couple years I have found mine to be be reliable, accurate and able to fill most any role needed.

The HK45C, as most of you know, is the little.....errr smaller brother to the HK45. Think the smaller yet still large version of a fairly immense gun. The F150 to the larger F250 if you will. It is most commonly a DA/SA, hammer fired pistol with a decocker that also functions as a safety if so desired. Mine is a 2015 build and can be seen below.



I am not going to go through my normal numerical ranking of various feature as I just thought I would hit on my personal pro's and con's and what I have found over the years to be a very versatile gun. To cut to the chase I have found the HK45c to make a wonderful carry gun, a wonderful house gun, a wonderful gun for travel, especially to magazine restricted locales, a wonderful gun for older shooters since it can be cocked and locked negating the heavy trigger pull and basically just a great pinch hitter for just about everything you would want in a firearm and who doesn't have fun lobbing a few rounds of 230 grain AARP....errr ACP now and then.

So on to some more specific thoughts.

The HK45C is a bit of a mixed bag. I very much like mine as I love the P2000 and see the 45C as sort of a .45 caliber P2000.

PROS
-Very intrinsically accurate. The machining, the barrel, the barrel lockup etc. are all first rate. The limiting factor to accuracy is the trigger and ammo choice

-Dead nuts reliable. Run a box or three of hotter or heavier stuff to loosen it up. I suggest this with all HK's. After this, which is usually not necessary at all, most HKs are dead nuts reliable and the HK45/45C are VERY reliable platforms

-Fantastic machining/finishing both metal and polymer

-Very good stock sights. The stock night sights (LE model) are excellent as long as you are ok with 3 dots. The regular sights are very good as well.
-Very versatile. The 45C can go from a slim carry gun to a 10 shot suppressor ready I wanttobesolidsnakedammit gun very easily and excels at either.

-Good suppressor host with threaded barrel

-Elephant foot mags look goofy but feel good in my hand

-Fantastic exterior finish (Hostile Environment) VERY TOUGH finish. Like Glock tough back when Glock had tough finishes (GEN3 and before) maybe tougher in my experience.

-Very modular. There are approximately 4,697 different trigger and safety variations. Ok that's a bit facetious but you can set the gun up in one of many variants to suit your tastes.

-Excellent magazine quality

-HK snobbery forged right into the slide added chemically to the polymer mix.

-HK customer service. Yes I KNOW THE MEME's and YES there was a time HK sucked and they hated you. Today there customer support in my experience is TOP NOTCH.

YMMV STUFF
-I like the grip very much. I like the stippling front and back and smooth sides for easier carry. I also like that it is more P2000 then P30 like the full size 45, but as I said I view it as sort of a .45 caliber P2000. It could benefit from some Talon grips though.

-Capacity of only 8-10 rounds. Its a .45 so caliber plays a part here but one would think 12 rounds would be doable in the extended/full size/elephant foot mags. Is that a deal breaker? Not for me personally but YMMV. I have found this to be a great gun for restricted locals. All that said more bangs is always better then less bangs until those bangs start to compromise the overall package.

-Controls. HK's have large controls designed for gloved hands. I like having fairly decent sized slide lock/release levers etc. DA/SA guns decocker/safety position and lever may put some off. The paddle magazine release is a love it or hate it affair. I LOVE it. Hint use your trigger or middle finger not your thumb. That said I can see why folks would not like it.

-Recoil. I only put this here because so many tout the recoil mitigation characteristics of the 45 HKs. Frankly out of the box they are no better or worse then any of the competition IMO. As they break in they do seem to be a bit more recoil friendly then others of the same size/class but don't go into them thinking based on all the hype this thing will shoot like a .22 magnum.

CONS
-Cost and availability of parts and accessories

-A picatinny rail that holds about 3 accessories on the market. Again I am being a little facetious but the rail is pretty useless stock for stock for the great majority of lights. I have a Crimson Trace CMR-208 on mine and I do generally love the light so there are options but they are few and far between.

-HK snobbery forged right into the slide added chemically to the polymer mix. Double edged sword. You now get to be lumped in with all the HK delta bravo's and getting an answer about any issues can be hard to come by as many HK pureists / fanboys get their knickers in a twist at the mere mention of an HK having an issue. In all honesty if you have an issue with one it was probably one of the few that missed getting blessed on the backs of naked virgins by Tibetan monks but if you send it back they will get that worked out.

-She's a big girl. At the end of the day she's a fightin' pistol not an svelte little piece of jewelry, but alas think 50s pinup model not 2000's heroin sheik

-Ohhh that trigger. Sigh. My gun is a DA/SA V1. Now I am not a trigger snob, but wow that double action trigger is........well lets just say its a helluva safety feature. The DA on my HK45C is probably the worst of all the HK's I have shot barring the VP70 (which has a trigger weight measured in days not pounds, but I digress). That being said the SA is pretty darn good. Decent reset, decent break. Cocked and locked, if that is your thing as it is not mine, would be pretty damn good in this gun. Just be aware if you are not getting a LEM variant the DA pull is stout, creepy and all around crappy. As for LEM I have never liked LEM. It has a weird feeling reset to me and the way the hammer moves is kinda strange to me. By far the DA trigger is this gun's Achilles heel and again I am NOT a trigger snob.

Honestly I love my HK45C. Its not a primary go to gun for me but I trust it implicitly, its dead nuts reliable, shoots to point of aim and is cool as hell. I would have no issues if you told me I had to take it into harms way nor would I have any issues if you told me I had to take it to the range or use it as my bedside pistol or take it to a restricted state or lend to a family member. Its a great, accurate, reliable, safe firearm. Its a Jack that will happily work many trades and do them all till the cows come home.

Here are a few range trips I have had with my HK45C. I am FAR FAR from what one would call a good pistol shooter. I am safe and passable nothing more nor less but I am generally happy with this pistol in my hands.

As always take care and shoot safe.
Chris





The trip below was FREEZING and I was not dressed for it. My hands were FROZEN and it was windy so I am fairly happy with what I managed to do this trip.

Great post, and shooting! I love my medium sized girl too!

While I don't carry my German HK45C Light LEM w/GGI action work, it's I pistol that I really like.

Nice write-up. I, too, am an HK45 and 45C fan. I agree with most of your points. Whoever designed that rail needs a sack of door knobs for Christmas.

Had the full size HK45 and the 45CT both of which I sold and I think on here. The full size I know I did.
Both great pistols and I scratch my head sometimes as to why I sold them.
Trigger on the full size was very good for DA/SA but it was an older pistol and had quite a few rounds through it. The 45CT was bought new and was my Winter carry for a while. DA was pretty stiff but it was extremely accurate.
Nice write up.

I love my 45C. Had Lazy Wolf improve the trigger. There is a reason the SEALs use it--very reliable and accurate. Makes a great host for a can as well. It's my bedroom gun.

It's my favorite carry piece!

Great write-up! This is #1 on my list of guns I want to buy in 2020.

It's not that big... I had one for a while. Nice shooter. Traded it for a P30

I've been looking at these for the past few weeks. How does it compare in size to a Glock 30?

Glock 30 is smaller yet feels subjectively thicker. Simply by the numbers the Glock is a far more efficient gun. I did like my G30 but have tended to move away from strikers and I like this HK45 more. Truth be told I just like HK’s and their manual of arms/paddle mag release/controls etc. more.

You will not go wrong with a Glock 30. I will say in my opinion the HK is far more intrinsically accurate. Now does that matter for a combat handgun not really and I am not saying the Glock was inaccurate just that the HK is a very mechanically accurate gun.

This and a H&K 45 are the only 45 ACP in my collection. Probably stay that way...

In my hand, the g30sf is a softer shooter. That being said, my hk45c is the more accurate pistol for me, clunky V1 trigger and all. I still carry a p2000v3 in 9mm in the rotation, so that probably has something to do with it. The p2000 and 45c have a similar grip feel and carry profile.

If you shoot 45 acp and are open to DA/SA, you can't go wrong with the 45c. Especially with how cheap they have been the past year or so for what you get. If striker fired is your jam, I have had good luck with both the 30sf and 30s.

quote:

This and a H&K 45 are the only 45 ACP in my collection. Probably stay that way...

No 1911??? I believe you are in violation of at least some ATF or at least gun owner bylaws that state in section 23 of page 187 subsection c. That all gun owners who are in good standing and who own more then 3 firearms must have in their collection a .45 caliber handgun as God and John Browning intended. Should said gun owner in good standing own more then one .45 caliber handgun then said gun owner shall own at least one 1911 variant. Blah blah blah. Penalties......Afront to God and all that is Holy etc. it goes on. Look it up.

quote:

Originally posted by Beanhead:
This and a H&K 45 are the only 45 ACP in my collection. Probably stay that way...

Same. Well, I have a S&W 1917. I could go for the Mk23, though.

Used to have a 1911, not any more.

Great review. Love your humor. And my 45C!

Very nice! I am a massive Hk fanboy with 16 Hk pistols including 2 Hk 45's, but I don't have the 45c......yet

I love my .45C
Here she is surrounded by her HK cousins

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
I love my 45C. Had Lazy Wolf improve the trigger.

Rick Holms did the work on mine while he was at Gray Guns before he left to start Lazy Wolf. I have a P2000SK with the same action work by him as well.

I have an 45c which also is very good that I carry in a T&T Gunleather on occasion. It is in rotation with other H&K's. My P365 has started to intrude on my H&K rotation as well as on very rare occasions a Dan Wesson 1911. ( I don't like safeties on an EDC. Please no comments)

The only negatives for me about the gun were that originally it was over $1000 plus I paid H&K bucks to convert to LEM. Then the cost of mags including the special $71 10 rounder. Lastly while I like the grip just like my P2000 why didn't they keep the same great grip as the HK45?