HK USP 45 field pistol

[Canyonrat]

Has anyone had luck with the 255 gr FN in the usp. Last I remember seeing is issues with feeding

I have a fairly new USP, both Buffalo Bore 230 FMJ-FN and 255 Hardcast in 45 Super have had failure to go into battery, the hardcast a little worse. If I do a barrel drop-test into the chamber with the gun broken down, the 45 Super rounds do not fit the chamber properly, they sit above the barrel hood. It appears the bullet (not the casing) is too large to fit. It hits the ledge where the polygonal rifling starts.

I just received some Underwood xtreme penetrator and hardcast rounds also. I drop-tested these but have not yet fired. The hardcast seems like it just might work, nearly flush with the barrel hood. The Xtreme Penetrator sits pretty much like the B.B. rounds did. I may get to the range tomorrow to verify. In the same barrel I have tried 6 different factory .45 ACP rounds and they all fit easily and sit down in the chamber properly. I wish these guys did not oversized their rounds in .45 Super. I can’t go back to HK about chamber Size when all the .45 ACP runs fine.

Anyone want to buy a full box of 230 BB FMJ-FN let me know. Probably 30 rounds of Outdoorsman hardcast I have leftover also that just don’t work in my USP 45. FWIW I also tried drop tests of these same rounds in a couple used HK45c’s at my LGS, looked similar.

[Salamander]

I have a fairly new USP, both Buffalo Bore 230 FMJ-FN and 255 Hardcast in 45 Super have had failure to go into battery, the hardcast a little worse. If I do a barrel drop-test into the chamber with the gun broken down, the 45 Super rounds do not fit the chamber properly, they sit above the barrel hood. It appears the bullet (not the casing) is too large to fit. It hits the ledge where the polygonal rifling starts.

I just received some Underwood xtreme penetrator and hardcast rounds also. I drop-tested these but have not yet fired. The hardcast seems like it just might work, nearly flush with the barrel hood. The Xtreme Penetrator sits pretty much like the B.B. rounds did. I may get to the range tomorrow to verify. In the same barrel I have tried 6 different factory .45 ACP rounds and they all fit easily and sit down in the chamber properly. I wish these guys did not oversized their rounds in .45 Super. I can’t go back to HK about chamber Size when all the .45 ACP runs fine.

Anyone want to buy a full box of 230 BB FMJ-FN let me know. Probably 30 rounds of Outdoorsman hardcast I have leftover also that just don’t work in my USP 45. FWIW I also tried drop tests of these same rounds in a couple used HK45c’s at my LGS, looked similar.

My USP 45 and my USP compact 45 do not like anything with .452 bullets, which means most lead and plated offerings; although the ones I've tried sit flush, they just need a little tug to come back out again. Put them in and out a bunch of times and rotate them, and the wear marks are apparent on the sides of the bullet. It's a tight fit. Some of these loads run OK, others do not.

Both barrels plunk test fine with .451 jacketed bullets which drop freely. I've only tried them with 45 acp so far, 45 Super isn't readily available in these parts and I'm going to need to order some.

[Salamander]

I just measured an assortment of .45 bullets, and the results were interesting. Executive summary: The top-tier brands were generally the size they are supposed to be, and the tolerances are pretty tight. Some lesser names, not as much.

First, the Lehigh xtreme penetrator bullets in my currently almost one full box of Underwood 45 acp are pretty much dead on .451 +/- .0005. That's as good as any other load I measured today. They are also consistently to Lehigh's spec OAL of 1.230.

At the other end of the spectrum are some Berry's 230 gr plated bullets which are consistently bigger than advertised and slightly variable, .4535 to .4540. I've had stoppages with these in every pistol I've tried to run them through (two USPs and a Colt 1911) and now that's not surprising. They're also very soft alloy with very soft plating, if the case isn't belled enough the plating is deformed in front of the bullet and if that happens it's a stoppage every time.

Two others varied in size. The Fiocchi 230 gr FMJ RN that gave me four stoppages last week is, based on the 10 remaining rounds, .449-.452 which is the biggest variation of anything I just looked at, and I'm wondering if the bad ones were further out on a tail. And, WWB 230 gr FMJ RN are .446-.448 based on a bigger sample size, these vary a little but are a little undersize. They are reliable in my pistols, but slightly less accurate than some alternatives.

Speer GDHP in both 230 gr and 200 +p are a bit under at .450 and very consistent. Hornady 200 gr XTP is consistently .451. I can't get a good measurement on Hornady Critical Duty, I have only loaded rounds and it appears the bullet steps down in front of the cannelure that's barely visible, it's only .444 there and based on the excellent accuracy and reliability of this round I'm guessing it's smaller in front of the cannelure than behind.

An older box of Winchester 185 gr BEB or FMJFN is dead on at .451. Blazer 230 FMJRN is .450 and reasonably consistent.

I don't have any 45 Super to measure but it's supposed to be externally identical to 45 acp.

[JAH 3rd]

I have a new USP 45 full-size. So far I have shot Remington Golden Saber 230 jhp and PMC 230 ball. Both have functioned 100%. Don't have the ability to measure the bullets, but satisfied so far with functioning. Between the above mentioned rounds, I have approximately 850 rounds downrange so far.

[GJM]

I am running Hornady Critical Duty 220+P as my JHP load and the Underwood Lehigh xtreme Penetrator as my penetrating load — successfully vetted in a half dozen USP FS and HK45C pistols.

[Salamander]

Today's adventures with wildlife:

One of my clients is a small commercial airport. We've negotiated a small land swap with the bordering state park to allow topping some trees that extend into protected airspace. There's some federal and state paperwork hoops to jump through for that, so today I hiked both parcels to characterize them. Both are accessible only via poorly maintained trail through mixed sand dune, dense willow thicket, conifer swamp, and pond.

The Roosevelt elk were moving today, plenty of fresh tracks and a few animal observations. Not really a problem outside of rutting season. There was also a set of mountain lion tracks but they were several days old and big cats usually don't stay in one place for long. There was also some black bear scat on the trail, some older and some very fresh. As is typical here, if they were anywhere nearby they made themselves scarce before I went by.

The problem turned out to be a dog, perhaps the biggest pit bull I've ever seen. Right at the end, at the trailhead sign almost back to the parking lot. I don't know if dogs can feel humiliation but this one should be ashamed of itself for letting a human sneak up on it to within 30 feet. I came around a corner and it was right in the trail facing the other way. I literally had to cough before it knew I was there. At that point it spun around and got very aggressive.

It knows what guns are. Probably associated with extremely loud noises that hurt sensitive dog ears. I'd barely cleared the holster before it spun around again and left about as quickly as I've seen a dog move in a while.

I had 9mm +p xtreme penetrator in my P2000 LEM. Adequate for that location I think. But it turns out that with some animals, just as with some humans, sometimes just having a gun is enough.

[DpdG]

http://www.unionleader.com/public-sa...-home-20180717

Apparently one should not venture out of bed without appropriate bear defense. Anyone make wheelchair holsters?

[Canyonrat]

"They were the wrong bears". Wow. Bear profiling, DNA tests, full blown CSI, who knew...
http://www.ktva.com/story/38687134/s...n-soltis-death

[El Cid]

"They were the wrong bears". Wow. Bear profiling, DNA tests, full blown CSI, who knew...
http://www.ktva.com/story/38687134/s...n-soltis-death

I believe that’s pretty standard to do when an animal kills someone. They want to know if they removed it from circulation or if it’s still out there as a threat. They do it for gators too.

[03RN]

Today's adventures with wildlife:

One of my clients is a small commercial airport. We've negotiated a small land swap with the bordering state park to allow topping some trees that extend into protected airspace. There's some federal and state paperwork hoops to jump through for that, so today I hiked both parcels to characterize them. Both are accessible only via poorly maintained trail through mixed sand dune, dense willow thicket, conifer swamp, and pond.

The Roosevelt elk were moving today, plenty of fresh tracks and a few animal observations. Not really a problem outside of rutting season. There was also a set of mountain lion tracks but they were several days old and big cats usually don't stay in one place for long. There was also some black bear scat on the trail, some older and some very fresh. As is typical here, if they were anywhere nearby they made themselves scarce before I went by.

The problem turned out to be a dog, perhaps the biggest pit bull I've ever seen. Right at the end, at the trailhead sign almost back to the parking lot. I don't know if dogs can feel humiliation but this one should be ashamed of itself for letting a human sneak up on it to within 30 feet. I came around a corner and it was right in the trail facing the other way. I literally had to cough before it knew I was there. At that point it spun around and got very aggressive.

It knows what guns are. Probably associated with extremely loud noises that hurt sensitive dog ears. I'd barely cleared the holster before it spun around again and left about as quickly as I've seen a dog move in a while.

I had 9mm +p xtreme penetrator in my P2000 LEM. Adequate for that location I think. But it turns out that with some animals, just as with some humans, sometimes just having a gun is enough.

My old hound sure new the difference between types of guns. Shotguns and .22s came out and he knew it was time to go to work.

And before he died he would sit behind me and watch me shoot handguns and if I was moving up and down range doing drills he would stay close and come when called.

I was trying to train him to watch my back if I ever ran out of ammo and maybe bring me a spare or push the assault