[DBLAction454]

So I just purchased a secondary USP45 for range practice and fun. My first USP45 has gone 1325 rounds without failure.

Well two days ago at the range the new USP45 jammed. I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe it was the ammo or I had somehow limp-wristed it. Looking back I havent gotten much sleep in the last week and the day before I went to the range I had just started going back to the gym as school is over for summer and I actually have time now. My arms were extremely sore.

The total round count is 314 rounds with 4 jams. 2 of those jams were intentional limp wristing.

I also have been working on modifying my hold to try to gain more accuracy and I may have relaxed too much.

Anyways after the jam and I thought I might've limpwristed it... I held the gun one handed and intentionally limpwritsted it. JAM! Both jams looked identical. Nose of the cartridge against the top of the chamber just like pictures from Orfeo. But these were not occurring on the last couple rounds like his posts where there was a mishapen extractor...

The jam occured again later when I was not intentionally trying to limpwrist...

So tomorrow Im going to the range (I thoroughly cleaned the USP) with 200 rounds of ammo and I'm going to mark my magazines just incase and focus on keeping my grip tight. If it jams again its going to HK...

I have 5 magazines 3 are 1 year old and were loaded most of the year (I just ordered 3 replacement springs) and the 2 new ones that came with the new USP.

I will let all of you know the results tommorrow. I am much more rested and not incredibly sore anymore.

Until then? Thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

 

[orfeo]

Since you have two USP 45s, it is a simple matter to just swap extractors. Just takes a minute to do with no special tools or ability. See if the problem follows the extractor (it probably will). If you boil it down to the extractor, then you can mail Travis the bad one and he will send you a good one. That is ALOT cheaper than FedExing & insuring the entire gun.

 

[DBLAction454]

If I have any jams tomorrow I will give that a try Orfeo.

It happened so infrequently and i could recreate the jams identically on the first couple rounds of the mag by intentionally limp writsing

-DBLAction454

 

[navyman8903]

I would start with the mags, but the springs in HK mags are pretty tough. Even being loaded for a year.

Guns are mechanical things, so if there is something out of spec then you will run into problems. HK's are built really well, but sometimes, although very rare, you will get some out of spec parts.

Luckily for you....you have two. Let us know how it goes.

 

[DBLAction454]

***UPDATE***

Well she jammed again.

And on the 5th round of the day. Glad other people where there shooting cause I was slinging some foul language down range.

Well limpwristing is ruled out. I've been shooting for 11 years and have never limpwristed and I made damn sure my arms were locked during today's test however

...it wasn't the trick

I didnt swap extractors BUT I did number my mags! The jam was only occurring with one magazine! The other 2 mags I brought with me are brand new and even when I intentionally limpwristed with those mags the gun would not jam. But with the other mag it jammed instantly.

So as we speak the extractor and magazine are on their way to HK to see if either or both are out of spec. If it's the extractor then Orfeo is correct that mags with tighter springs fix the symptom but not the problem. If its the mag then its an easy fix.

I will know soon enough.

Ill update again after I hear from HK

Thanks Orfeo and Navyman!

-DBLAction454

 

[Cobra_Shuttle]

I was having the same problem with my USP, and it was usually the 5th round too. It wasn't the extractor or springs. I am pretty sure it was the travel stop on the match trigger too far out or the match hammer spring being out of spec.

 

[DBLAction454]

I was having the same problem with my USP, and it was usually the 5th round too. It wasn't the extractor or springs. I am pretty sure it was the travel stop on the match trigger too far out or the match hammer spring being out of spec.

Did you send the entire gun to HK? Is that what they said?

-DBLAction454

 

[Cobra_Shuttle]

No. I talked to Travis who did work on the extractor, and it jammed 5th shot when I got it back. I found another thread here where someone was having light strikes and it was because of the hammer spring, which he got a few weeks before me from the same place, HKparts. It was determined the spring that came with it was way out of speck according to Travis. Also in that thread a user said it could be the over travel screw. Something about if you have your finger on the trigger after firing it if the screw is too far back it'll cause the hammer to stick a bit causing resistance on the slide as it comes back, thus not coming back far enough to pick up the next round behind causing the jam as pictured. I figured that was it because I shortened it only 1/4 turn before it would not fire and it must have come loose because it did not jam up at all for hundreds of rounds after the match trigger was installed. After I put the original hammer spring and shortened the screw it hasn't had that jam in 200 rounds, when before it was doing it every 100-150.

 

[DBLAction454]

This whole thing is just frustrating. The gun is 900 dollars and i know sh#t happens but I wish I didn't have to deal with it.

HK's have such a stellar reputation and i love them but this is a hell of a reality check. I just really hope the new extractor rectifies everything. I haven't done a thing to the gun except clean it and fire it.

If I end up sending the whole gun back and they send it back and it continues to jam will they replace the entire firearm?

-DBLAction454

 

[Cobra_Shuttle]

Travis told me an easy way to see if it's the extractor. Replicate the jam or after it jams again push the back part of the extractor. If the round goes in then it's the extractor.

 

[DBLAction454]

Travis told me an easy way to see if it's the extractor. Replicate the jam or after it jams again push the back part of the extractor. If the round goes in then it's the extractor.

I'd love to test that but the extractor is on its way to HK at the moment.

They wanted me to send the whole gun but I didn't want to spend $75 in shipping which if the new extractor come in and the jams continue I'm going to end up doing anyway

-DBLAction454

 

[gtmtnbiker98]

This is a time that I would have simply not used the questionable magazine and commenced firing a few hundred rounds. The magazine is the first stop when it comes to troubleshooting issues. If that concerned, I would have bit the bullet and shipped the entire gun back. That way it is fixed, one way or another without question.

Chin up DBLAction, **** happens. Better to know now than find out the hard way. At least you have a second one to fall back to. That's the whole point, right? At least you are justifying the ideology. "Two is one and one is none," you still have one that is functional.

 

[DBLAction454]

This is a time that I would have simply not used the questionable magazine and commenced firing a few hundred rounds. The magazine is the first stop when it comes to troubleshooting issues. If that concerned, I would have bit the bullet and shipped the entire gun back. That way it is fixed, one way or another without question.

Chin up DBLAction, **** happens. Better to know now than find out the hard way. At least you have a second one to fall back to. That's the whole point, right? At least you are justifying the ideology. "Two is one and one is none," you still have one that is functional.

Yes I am very happy that I have my secondary that's been flawless since day one.

I already have new factory HK mags on the way and I'm going to replace the older springs just for good measure.

Thanks for the kind words. If I have to ship the whole gun then oh well, it has to be done.

This is the first time I've ever had to deal with something like this so its a little annoying. Anyways. Ill let all of you know what HK says after they look at the mag and extractor I sent them.

-DBLAction454

 

[gehidore]

I've never had a jam yet that wasn't intentionally created to see my reaction, or a bad mag, though it's nice to know the extractors can glitch out.

 

[navyman8903]

Well I hope it is an easy fix. Again. It is always good to have a back up. Which, you happen to have.

Hopefully it is just an out of spec part or spring. It is interesting to hear about the Hammer spring and 5th round thing. Lots of good info coming out of this at least. Will help with troubleshooting later if need be.

Thanks for adding the picture that helped out too. Keep us updated.


And it is kinda funny, I feel invested in this for some reason. Not my gun, but I feel like I have to watch this get fixed.

 

[DBLAction454]

And it is kinda funny, I feel invested in this for some reason. Not my gun, but I feel like I have to watch this get fixed.

Thanks bud. I feel the same way about anyone who has a USP45 or just an HK.

I won't forget to update like tons of other threads like this.

-DBLAction454

 

[Elijah]

I know the HK's are not like 1911's but that jam looks like a classic bolt over base malfunction in a 1911 and the cause is almost invariably a mag/spring problem. I've had identical jams such as that and it was the mag spring but can also be caused by the wrong style magazine such as a wadcutter mag instead of a hybrid depending on the ammo used. HK mags don't suffer the same problem as they are all the same in lip shape-no wadcutter, hybrid or GI mags, in other words.

 

[DBLAction454]

I know the HK's are not like 1911's but that jam looks like a classic bolt over base malfunction in a 1911 and the cause is almost invariably a mag/spring problem. I've had identical jams such as that and it was the mag spring but can also be caused by the wrong style magazine such as a wadcutter mag instead of a hybrid depending on the ammo used. HK mags don't suffer the same problem as they are all the same in lip shape-no wadcutter, hybrid or GI mags, in other words.

Thanks Elijah. It's nice to hear others knowledgeable opinions rather than just sitting here on my own trying to come up with theories.

-DBLAction454

 

[Elijah]

I've had rounds stand completely straight up being caught between the breech face and the barrel hood-another case of a mag spring problem coupled perhaps by a too strong recoil spring causing the slide to outrun the magazine. Again, this is in the 1911. There will be no problems with the HK recoil spring I highly doubt. Moreover, the extractor don't usually cause this sort of jam it's more magazine and or spring related, IMHO.

I've read that about 90% of feed failures can be attributed to the magazine or their springs. This seems to bear out my experiences. This may not be your problem as autos can be a finicky lot varying from brand to brand but it's a good place to start looking.

 

[nyeti]

For what its worth, I managed a full SWAT teams worth of HK USP45F's for a lot of years with high round count abused guns. I cannot emphasize to people enough:

Magazines are disposable items! Yes, I know HK mags are expensive. The key is they tend to take a lot of abuse (dropped alot), will split seams at the top, and the springs will lose some of their power over time. I replaced a ton of magazine springs over the years, and a lot of complete magazines. In all but one case I can think of, all of our USP45F problems were due to either a bad magazine (or mag spring), or a recoil spring assembly that needed replacement (usually after 20-25,000 rounds). People need to simply wrap their heads around magazine replacement and maintenance.

Hopefully, the issue with this gun is simply need of a new magazine. I would take our bad magazines, krylon the bases red and we would use them for training mags to actually both induce malfunctions and to take some of the wear off duty magazines for training so the old magazines were getting the abuse from being dropped, especially on concrete.