It's an HK I am sure it will be fine. If not you know where to find him. To be completely honest, not that it's a bad gun at all, but that would be my last choice if I was choosing only one HK. It won't matter which one you buy you will want another so you might as well buy that one to get the addiction started. It will only get better from there, IMO. The USP 9mm is a good gun, among other things, it just happens to be my least favorite HK grip for my hands. In your hands your experience may be completely different. He's your buddy, so you have got him to take you out and shoot it, right? So how did you like it?