HK USPc .45 Issue

[ScotchMan]

I'm now on my third semi-auto and my third set of issues. I swear its not me!

New to me HK USPc .45, looks to be in pretty good shape. Took it to the range, is incredibly accurate and very pleasant to shoot, somehow with less recoil than my old PX4 Storm with its rotating barrel magic.

The issue comes when I attempt to fire it double action. About 60-70% of the time it goes click, no bang. Another pull of the trigger fires the gun, and all subsequent single action shots fire. If I leave the gun cocked after chambering an initial round, it goes bang every time. It's only when I decock the gun and then fire that the gun sometimes does not fire, but always does on the second DA pull.

Initially it seems like a light strike issue. There were no hangfires and the second strike always fired. I didn't think to remove a round and see if there was a mark on the primer; I will do that tomorrow if the issue is still happening. However, I was under the impression that light strikes rarely happened with hammer-fired guns, and that it would happen in single action mode as well if it were an issue. Not to mention the legendary HK quality and reliability.

Ammo used are reloads. I know, I know, when looking at a legendarily reliable gun having issues with handloads everyone will point at the handloads. But these are the same loads, the same BATCH even, that I've been firing in my PX4 Storm without issue. I use Winchester primers because I understood them to be softer. I've never had an issue with ANY handload in ANY of my guns and I reload for all my calibers. I am certain it is not the ammunition, the odds would be astronomically small.

I gave the gun a good cleaning when I got it home and found it dirtier than I expected from looking at it in the store. Mostly in the barrel though, nothing in the action for the most part. I'll take it back tomorrow and put a few more through it.

Anyone seen anything like this before?

 

[noorked]

On the slide there should be a two letter date code; The code will let you know which year it was made. Light strikes could be be from a weakened hammer spring (wolf 10lb or just worn out) in 2001 they revised the firing pin & firing pin block. The older style firing pin could break from excessive dry fires.
with a "refreshed" uspc you shouldn't have any issues. none of my HK's have.
Hkpro.com will be your new best friend & enabler

 

[TunnelRat]

Could be a bad batch of primers. I know you used the reloads before but are these primers from the same shipment? I would try a box of factory to see if you still have issues.

Lastly, the beauty and horror of a used gun is you never really know what the previous owner did with it. Some people like to install a lighter hammer/main spring in the gun. This makes the trigger pull lighter but makes ignition less reliable with non top of the line defensive ammo which typically has very sensitive primers. This was the case with my S&W Model 19 revolver. Idk how you would go about checking this though. Depending on how much this gun had been shot the main/hammer spring could also just be worn and need replacing.

 

[ScotchMan]

The date code is KI, which I see corresponds to 98. Noorked, what do you recommend I do since this is before 2001? Was there a recall, or should I just have it replaced out of pocket?

The primers were from the same box as previously tested ones. I had a box of 100 rounds, of which I'd fired about 60, and used the other 40 tonight in the HK. Primers powder everything was identical in that box.

I will look into the mainspring. Probably by taking it back to the store. I'm fairly confident the dealer will take care of me.

 

[TunnelRat]

Yeah if they're decent people they might help you with it. My local LGS actually has a 30 day warranty on any used firearm they sell where they will fix anything that goes wrong in that timeframe. I end up using it a lot. On the brighter side I really know the store gunsmith now . He waves to me when he sees me (this stores services thousands of people a month lol).

 

[noorked]

No recall to my understanding, more of a revised/uprated version of the firing pin, firing pin block and firing pin block spring. I recently picked up a 95 date code that was a Firing range trade in, i sent it to HK to be refreshed , re-certified and a hybrid match/LEM trigger put in. Sent on a Wednesday, had back on Thursday. Dealing with HK customer service was painless & expedient. I would be more inclined to think its the mainspring(hammer) than the firing pin. Often, people use the wolf reduced power spring to drop the trigger pull, some usp take it well , others may have light strikes. I would try a different hammer spring (OEM).

 

[PSP]

It's only when I decock the gun and then fire that the gun sometimes does not fire,

* Could be a spring, but then you should get FTF at other times too.
* Is the firing pin block gunked up and not releasing after decocking and shooting DA?
* When you say it goes "click", is that, IYHO a normal hammer fall, (as normal as you can tell with a new-to-you firearm)?
* It seem a bad firing pin would manifest itself in other modes of fire as well.

I suggest a phone call to HK customer service.

 

[Adamantium]

If you don't want to go the customer service route here are some things you can do to almost assuredly solve the problem.

1. Take out both the firing pin and firing pin spring, clean both and clean the inside of the slide as well. Gun scrubber is great for this. Inspect both for damage. Take out the hammer spring as well and clean.

2. If that doesn't help order a new hammer spring, these thing can wear out, or more likely get modified to reduce the double action trigger pull. I've been into a gun or two of mine cutting off links of the hammer spring seeing how much I can reduce it before I get light strikes. I always order a back-up because these things are like $4-5 and usually when you order a Wolff recoil spring you get one anyway.

3. If that doesn't work inspect your hammer and trigger bar for damage, it could be releasing early, but I doubt it.

4. Worst case, switch to federal primers. They have the softest primer cup of the major brands. CCI and Wolf/Tula being the hardest.

Don't over think this one, the odds are great it is spring related.

 

[ScotchMan]

* Is the firing pin block gunked up and not releasing after decocking and shooting DA?
* When you say it goes "click", is that, IYHO a normal hammer fall, (as normal as you can tell with a new-to-you firearm)?
* It seem a bad firing pin would manifest itself in other modes of fire as well.

The gun was dirtier than I thought (or I would have cleaned it before going to the range), but like I said I didn't notice anything too bad outside of the barrel itself. The feed ramp was dirty and now is shiny as I've ever seen one. I did clean it well and will go back to the range in a few hours. I'll check primers after the failure too to see if there is any kind of indentation.

"Click" seems normal yes.

Noorked, when you say Wednesday to Thursday, do you mean they actually had a one day turnaround? What does something like that run you? I wouldn't mind having HK's blessing on it but I was under the impression it would take months to get back. I'll do that as a last resort if nothing else works.

Adamantium, I will certainly look into this as a next step if the range doesn't go well.

 

[noorked]

yes, One day turn-around. Since mine was not a warranty issue & previous gunsmith had damaged the slide I had to pay for some services. The HK has a lifetime warranty. Should only cost you shipping to them . HK is now located in GA. I also found their pricing to be cheaper than parts outlets sell hk parts for. Its less than $100 for the parts to upgrade the firing pin & associated parts. Would likely end up with more "new" parts on the pistol vs buying a la cart.

 

[ScotchMan]

Ok I think I'll take it back to the store as step 1, and if he isn't helpful I'll look into sending it to HK before I get in there myself. I like the idea of HK blessing it and getting it up to 2011 standards.

 

[WVsig]

Doe the HK warranty transfer from owner to owner. Many do not.

 

[ScotchMan]

It doesn't, but I interpret noorked's story to read that they may make exceptions if they are feeling generous or the phase of the moon is right.

 

[WVsig]

It doesn't, but I interpret noorked's story to read that they may make exceptions if they are feeling generous or the phase of the moon is right.

I would not mention that you bought the pistol used unless they ask. The other thing you have to remember is that a lifetime warranty will not cover springs, firing pins and wearable parts.

 

[noorked]

The website states they do not. several Other 2nd owners have been treated as original buyer pertaining to warranty service. Willing to bet they would help you out.

 

[ScotchMan]

I'm not against paying for help if its not exorbitant. Of course I won't mention it's used. Might be hard to explain why I have a 13 year old gun though. And hopefully no one else has called them before about it.

We'll see.

 

[TunnelRat]

You started shooting really young. Shouldn't have to explain anything anyway. I've been warned before about encouraging people to lie so I won't. Use your better judgment.

 

[Micahweeks]

I'm betting on the spring as well. Hammer spring, specifically. As a general rule, I change springs in all my guns every few thousand rounds. It's only a few bucks and is fairly easy if you can detail strip your gun.

 

[noorked]

hammer spring is easy on the usp series. just have to push the pin out on the bottom of the grip , takes about 30 seconds to change.

 

[ScotchMan]

Well, I went to the range and still had problems after cleaning. I took the gun to the store and the owner figured it out.

It's the reloads.

What follows is for posterity, I've read several of the recommended reloading books and of course forums and did not know this, so maybe someone will get saved this trouble in the future.

While my loads are exactly the right length, they are not seating in the barrel properly. When we set a factory load in the back of the barrel (as if the round was chambered), the back of the cartridge lies completely flush with the end of the barrel, if not a tiny bit below it.

When we set a handload in there, it was a tiny tiny bit above the end of the barrel. Like thousandths of an inch. But what happens is when the hammer strikes the primer, some portion of the hammer's energy is pushing the cartridge further into the barrel, while the balance of the energy strikes the primer. Whereas with a properly seated cartridge all of the energy would go into the primer.

So I need to either seat my bullets a tiny bit deeper or play with the crimp until they seat properly in this barrel.

A little embarrassing, but that's how you learn. I'll fix my reloads and try some factory ammunition and report back, but I'm pretty sure we've got this one wrapped up.