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So I have been looking for a bit and wavering rather a lot, but after getting a nice bonus this quarter I finally succumbed to the urge and treated myself yesterday at the range shop. I get married and January so figured I would get it before my money becomes "our" money. LOL I bought an HK45 Variant 1. I wanted to stick with the 45 caliber, but was looking for something with a higher magazine capacity for home or vehicle to complement my Kimber UCII. For a polymer gun there is a lot to love and seems to fit in as nearly a next generation version of my stable of 1911s. It has a great feel to it with the "spiderman" grip as I've seen it being referred to, that is slightly wider than a 1911, but not so much that it seems large. The 10 round magazine count might prove useful for IDPA if you do that and I already ordered a holster and extra mags for it to do that. I've been traveling a lot for work and have missed doing that, but hope to be back soon.

It shoots very well and I remained as accurate with it as my 1911 once I adjusted to the difference in the trigger, not that I'm all that good though. It has been some time since I have dealt with a DA trigger and forgot how long and heavy the pull on them is. Fortunately I have the option of shooting it SA and carrying cocked and locked like my 1911. The major difference was how far forward the trigger had to travel to reset for the next shot. It seemed to me to be excessively long, but that may be based on my more familiar 1911 trigger. The one failing of this gun is the sights. I have no idea why they used cheap paint on dots and I am looking for some tritium ones to get put on it. So far I think Heinie and Trijicon make them. I'm a little confused if Meprolight has some or not. If anyone has upgraded theirs I would appreciate the information.

Tear down and cleaning was pretty easy, actually it was nearly a cross between a 1911 and the 92FS I used to own. I have not detail stripped it down to the smaller parts, so I can't describe that yet.

I will try and put pics up, but it is a stock HK45 and you can see those online in other places. I didn't intend for this to be a review, but haven't seen a lot about these on here yet so I thought I would pass on what my experience with it was.

TxDrifter wrote: I get married and January so figured I would get it before my money becomes "our" money.

Excellent insight

Well it is always good to insert humor where you can. People gave me a hard time because I bought her a gun before the ring. She will sometimes go shoot with me, but I wish she would do it more often so she is more comfortable and proficient with it. I don't want to push her on it though because they would just make her not want to. I try to instruct her as little as possible so as to avoid the tension that brings to the table. She asks when she is unsure of something and I try to keep it short and stay patient. If she starts to really get interested I will find someone that is not me to work with her more.


Anyway, back to topic. I ordered the Meprolight sights for it and will likely get those change out at my local gun shop once they come in. It seems every time you get a new firearm all the accessories follow. LOL That was why it was nice with all 1911s though as I can use the magazines in all of them. Well, except the 7rnd ones, they only work in the UCII.

Does anyone else have one of these that has had trigger work done? I'm not looking to get anything done right away, just curious and wanting to know how it changes it.

Added Pics and found out more about the paint on sights. Apparently they aren't allowed in Germany so they are not installed. I saw comments on some threads that the US made ones may start coming with Meprolights installed.

What a terrific gun! Welcome to the HK club.

I'm really very jealous! I adore my HK USP9. I believe my husband thinks I love it more than him. (I really don't, Dear. ). I started with a Taurus and family-wide, we have all sorts of different makers, but I think I'm going to stick with the HK for a while. I'd like to get another NIB full-size USP, but lately I've been drooling over the P30.

I hope you enjoy it!

T.

P. S. Can't help you with comments about the sights...mine still has the white dots. I empathize with you on that one.

Thanks. I like it a lot better than the M9/92F we used while in the service. It is too bad the services are changing over to it. I ordered the Meprolights though. I did find some from Trijicon and Heinie too.

Meprolight: http://tinyurl.com/y8asd8w They supposedly fit the HK45/c and the P30.
Trijicon: http://tinyurl.com/ye63lmy
Heinie: http://tinyurl.com/y8asd8w

Added pics comparing to 1911.

Hmm, given a choice between the two, I'd choose the Kimber

The HK would be a close second though :) Nice gun

I had an HK once...loved that thing...really kick myself for letting it go.

Hmm, given a choice between the two, I'd choose the Kimber

Funny you should mention that. I own three.



I love my Kimbers. The Eclipse Pro is my favorite currently. I traded a Kimber Ultra Crimson Carry to get the Eclipse. He needed a lighter carry gun and I li It is probably the best shooting out of all four of them. The HK was something with a bigger round count, not by much though at 10+1, but it is still two more before a reload. Considered the USP they had which held more rounds, but this one felt so much better in the hand.

@Matrix68: I bet. I am kicking myself for not purchasing the one someone was selling on here. I would have saved myself some money, but didn't know enough about them yet to jump on it. I was familiar with the name, just not that particular firearm.

TxDrifter wrote:
@Matrix68: I bet. I am kicking myself for not purchasing the one someone was selling on here. I would have saved myself some money, but didn't know enough about them yet to jump on it. I was familiar with the name, just not that particular firearm.

If you're talking about the HK UPS 9 that was selling on here around the end of August, that's the one I bought! Couldn't be happier!!!

T.

My regular carry is a Kimber (stainless UC II), and my alternate is an HK also, albeit a USP Compact in .40 cal. It took a bit of effort to get my HK the way I wanted it — ambidexrous safety because I'm left handed, 10 lb. hammer spring to make the trigger lighter, and TruGlo night sights — but it is now a very serviceable and reliable carry weapon.

@AnnoyedMan: I ordered the night sights already. I agree that the trigger needs some work. I just have to find a decent place to take it. I found some comments on the HKPro forum suggesting to send it to HK for them to do it. I would like it a bit lighter, but the distance is has to return to reset seems overly long to me. Any advice and constructive criticism is accepted. I'm only just now starting to pay attention to things like this so I am way behind. I did learn in the AF though that you can learn a lot by listening to the guys with experience. I learned more about carpentry and masonry work in my four years of service from the older civilians than I would have going through five years of union apprenticeship. Sometimes I talk too much, but somewhere I learned to opened the ears more than the mouth . Well, that is when they actually work well enough to hear.

TxDrifter wrote:

Hmm, given a choice between the two, I'd choose the Kimber

Funny you should mention that. I own three.



I love my Kimbers. The Eclipse Pro is my favorite currently. I traded a Kimber Ultra Crimson Carry to get the Eclipse. He needed a lighter carry gun and I li It is probably the best shooting out of all four of them. The HK was something with a bigger round count, not by much though at 10+1, but it is still two more before a reload. Considered the USP they had which held more rounds, but this one felt so much better in the hand.

@Matrix68: I bet. I am kicking myself for not purchasing the one someone was selling on here. I would have saved myself some money, but didn't know enough about them yet to jump on it. I was familiar with the name, just not that particular firearm.

You beat me to it. Nice H&K but those sure are nice Kimbers.

You beat me to it. Nice H&K but those sure are nice Kimbers.

Thanks. The SS UCII I bought just before I went to qualify for my permit and it is my primary carry sidearm. It was lonely for a short while and found friends rather quickly. My brother gives me a hard time about shooting .45s, much less the 1911s, but I like shooting them a lot better than a 9mm or his .40s for that matter. His issue is primarily round count. Although he fingered one he found and really liked it. I'm working on him though. I know he will hate the HK, but he doesn't have to shoot it.

TxDrifter wrote:

You beat me to it. Nice H&K but those sure are nice Kimbers.

Thanks. The SS UCII I bought just before I went to qualify for my permit and it is my primary carry sidearm. It was lonely for a short while and found friends rather quickly. My brother gives me a hard time about shooting .45s, much less the 1911s, but I like shooting them a lot better than a 9mm or his .40s for that matter. His issue is primarily round count. Although he fingered one he found and really liked it. I'm working on him though. I know he will hate the HK, but he doesn't have to shoot it.

He'll come around if you work on him. It wasn't that long ago I had a 92FS and PT145 and now I have a Para and Kimber. Once I shot my first 1911 I was converted.