H&K USP40: My New EDC

Recently I posted on the channel Facebook page that I had acquired a Police trade-in H&K USP40. My intention, as the title states, is to make a few changes to this pistol and then make it into my dedicated carry pistol. I have been in the process of making the switch to .40 caliber for more serious self defense. My experience and knowledge have made me realize that my skill, knowledge, and needs all pointed to the .40 caliber being an obvious upgrade over the 9mm.

The H&K USP was first designed to fire the .40 caliber cartridge, and it shows it in its legendary durability and reliability. The pistol was and has been tested extensively and proven to last more than 25,000 rounds without even needing to change a spring. Good luck finding another pistol chambered in .40 S&W that can offer that type of reliability.

The other reason that I was interested in the full size USP40 was because of the recoil reduction system and how it supposedly lowers the recoil so well. To test this, I took the liberty to fire 50 rounds out of this pistol to see how the recoil on it is compared to my other pistols in .40 and it made my Beretta 92FS feel snappy. I will be doing another article about how the recoil reduction system works in the future, so stand by for that.

The pistol I received is a Variant 1 and came with three 13 round magazines, Meprolight night sights, and remnants of talon grips on the side, which I tore off promptly. The night sights are basically all but dead, and the magazines are labeled as "Law Enforcement Restricted" on all of them. I like getting these types of magazines. It is kind of a way to spit in the face of the anti-gun crowd.

As is typical with Police trade-ins, the pistol had wear on it and looked like someone had wiped it down some, but forgot to take care of a few key spots such as the area in front of and under the extractor. The wear and the build up of fouling shows evidence that this pistol may have only seen about 500 rounds of ammo. This is basically like 1 or 2 years worth of quals for many Departments.

The pistol I have was made in 2002 and there is not too much wear on the pistol. I broke the pistol down all the way and it appeared that the pistol had the action worked alot and it was decocked often, which is what you'd expect if an officer is loading and unloading daily. Also, the trigger components were kind of dirty and the trigger pull did benefit from me cleaning and lubricating the internals before reassembly.

Some of the parts on the USP are made with a different type of steel, and therefore take to the anti-corrosion finishes differently over time. The extractor and sear both have this bronze look to them now but there is no actual corrosion or rust on any part.

Since I am planning on turning this pistol into my new EDC pistol, there are a few things that I plan to do to it immediately and in the future. First thing that I am doing immediately is getting a Bladetech IWB Nano holster and a variant 3 conversion kit. Once I do this, I am going to be looking into getting replacement night sights down the line. But, this decision is up in the air at the moment. Further down the road, I am looking at getting the "tactical" recoil reduction system that is made for high pressure models like the "Tactical" lines. Theoretically, this could help extend the life of pistol even further.

To wrap it all up, I got this pistol for $450 with free shipping to Alaska. The cool thing is that this pistol is noted as being the best full size .40 caliber pistol. I have owned all the other calibers of USP pistols, but I am glad that I finally got the original USP. I look forward to writing more about this pistol and all my experiences, good and bad. If you follow my channel, I will also be doing video on this pistol, how it works, etc. So stay tuned for more on this awesome shooter.