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USP Barrel Weights

14K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  jeray 
#1 · (Edited)
Kind of curious as to why there's only one company that makes barrel weights for the USP's?

I know they aren't a huge and hot commodity but you would think someone in the US would be making these as well.

My best friend owns a machine shop and I have been thinking about knocking off the Merkle weights and selling them for about half what Merkle wants for them.

Would anyone be interested?
 
#2 ·
I like the idea but you may want to take a look at the last guy who tried to make weights (match weights, not the ones for elite and expert you seem to be proposing).

It is somewhere in the HK Talk section of the forum.

That aside a clone merkle weight on a USP Elite would be pretty cool.
 
#4 ·
10-4.

The only dissapointing part is that Merkle won't ship to the US.

I just got an email from Sylvia this morning and they don't do any business with US customers apparently.

I need to get my hands on a set of used weights before I can continue. I have a wanted add posted, hopefully someone will throw me an offer on their weight.


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#5 ·
Blame the import laws. A Form 6 must be done and approved for any gun PART brought into the USA where the wholesale value of the item is $100 or more.
And where are you going to find the extended barrels for guns like the Expert and Elite. The barrel needs to extend to the end of the weights or frame damage could occur with continued use. That is why the Match has a 6.02 inch barrel on a standard length slide. You do not need an extra 50 fps for bullseye match shooting and you don't get a longer sight radius. Jarvis does a maximum length of 6 inches and I don't know what EFK's max is, but you would need at least 6.8 inch barrel for an Expert and a 7.6 inch barrel for the Elite if you use a HK length weight.
 
#6 ·
Big Bore, we are not talking about recreating HK Match series weights. This would be a knock-off of the Merkle weight which does not require any modification to the slide/barrel. It simply attaches to the accessory rail and extended up underneath the slide/barrel of the Expert and Elite, adding weight to the front of the pistol.
 
#7 ·
No hits on my wanted ad.... This could prove tough to get my hands on!
 
#8 ·
My mistake.
Before you go much further it might help you to understand why you might not be getting any hits. The Match pistol with those 3/4 pound weights could not be given away here in the states and that was why they were discontinued from importation. Then six months later, TR I and then TR II came out and everyone and their grandmother had to have a Match pistol (talk about bad timing on HK's part). If people were making Match clones just to have a pistol like LC, then they would want the real deal or at least look like the real deal, not something close, so that might be hurting interest. The guy who was cloning the Match weights had a lot of interest but it seemed to have fizzled out.
The other thing is that the 3/4 pound weight hanging off the frame ruins the balance of the weapon. It makes it so muzzle heavy as to be a joke. For people who actually want to carry and use their pistol, those match weights are a short lived love affair. It took me exactly one box of ammo to take mine off and retire them to the HK memorabilia box.
Those weights on the pistol are good for one use and one use only, bullseye target shooting. If you are using your pistol for any kind of run and gun, those weights really slow down the handling of the pistol. Quick handling is not needed or wanted in Bullseye shooting, just rapid recoil recovery and for that the weights excel. But for every other use, they pretty much suck.
While the Merkle type weights get around the need for the longer barrel, they still will alter the balance of the pistol, although not as badly as the HK Match weight since they are not hanging out there in space off the end of the frame. They do not increase accuracy one iota and they slow down multiple target acquisition for the run and gun crowd. But find yourself bullseye shooters using HKs and you will sell them. They work a hundred times better than those old Quick-Comps that HK made for a while that predated the Match.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the response Big Bore. I actually use my Expert for exactly that purpose, bullseye shooting. Thus my interest in acquiring and or recreating some weights if anyone else is interested.

How does the weight attach to the rail? I have not found many detailed pictures of the Merkle weight.

Do you by chance know anyone that would have one and be willing to let go of it?

Thanks!!


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#13 ·
Thanks for the response Big Bore. I actually use my Expert for exactly that purpose, bullseye shooting. Thus my interest in acquiring and or recreating some weights if anyone else is interested.

How does the weight attach to the rail? I have not found many detailed pictures of the Merkle weight.

Do you by chance know anyone that would have one and be willing to let go of it?

Thanks!!


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Is this the one you're talking about?



What does Merkle charge for them. I found an ad from 2008 selling one for $190. They wouldn't be hard to make, but I couldn't make one for $190.
 
#10 ·
I assume it attaches like the HK weights do. They have a section of the weight that goes around the trigger guard as well as two bolts that hold the halves together, clamping them into the rail groove as well as around the trigger guard. The section around the trigger guard keeps the weights from shifting forward during recoil. The HK system is pretty rock solid so I would think Merkle would duplicate their attachment system rather than reinventing the wheel. From the Merkle weights pictures I looked at this morning I would think they attach the same way. I don't know of anyone who actually has the Merkle weight due to the import headaches of getting it here legally.
For bullseye shooting you will find the weights to be great.
 
#11 ·
Yes, Merkle attaches just as the original HK weight does. They´re actualy quite close on the outer domensions as well, making finding a holster for range use a little easier.
 
#12 ·
I just remembered that my dad is going to Germany this summer for some international shooting competition. I am going to see if he will pick up a weight from Merkle while he is there.


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#14 ·
That's the one. I already sent the guy an email about the one for $190 and he said he sold it long ago.

Merkle charges 180 euros which is probably close to $350. They are making a pretty penny on those little buggers.


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#15 ·
Well... gun prices are a little different on this side of the world and that comprises accessories, too. Remember we pay the same or higher pricetags as You do i dollars, only we have to cash them in Euros. I found 200Eur shipped an OK price when i was getting mine earlier last year.
 
#16 ·
Based on Aviator Dave’s photo I know a place that could knock these out. Below are there links. 1 & 2 shows Kolar Arms’ manufactured barrel weights that are use to fine tune the recoil and swing speed on competitive shotguns of Olympic quality. The 3rd link is the website for Kolar Arms in Wisconsin. One hour north of Chicago and 1 hour south of Milwaukee.
My boys and I have 3 of their shotguns and I am close to the ownership and President. I could show him and their engineer the picture AviatorDave supplied and one of my fullsize and compact USPs. I could also show them an HK USP factory Compensator/Weight from the 1990’s to show how they are attached. I would check their interest in a group buy and potential price to HKPro members. Quality is not an issue with their team. If someone shipped them their Merkle the engineer could write the program for their CNC machine and make short order of these. They blue and anodize in house as well as engrave what you request.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=155954071

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=155954068

http://www.kolararms.com/
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the link coto. I have sent them an email to see if they would be interested in making weights for the USP's.

Hopefully they will take it up!
 
#18 ·
Check the slide length on the Experts in 9mm/40 and .45. On the Match, there are two sizes of weights since the .45 slide is longer. If one wants the weights to go all the way to the end of the slide on both 9mm/40 and .45s, then you may have to make two different length weights. I do not think this is the case with the Expert like it is with the standard slide but you might want to check first to make sure.
 
#19 ·
Thanks for the heads up. I don't know anyone locally with an Expert .45 but I'm sure I can have someone on the forum here that's got one humor me with a tape measure. :)


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#20 ·
On my Expert .45 from the very rear-most part of the rail grooves to the absolute end of the slide, not the barrel, the slide, is 3.565 inches.
 
#21 ·
Why thank you sir, you are too kind!
 
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