Just Bought a New HK45

[Zzeke]

Hello All,
I just bought a new HK45 V1 from "THE online retailer". I was shocked to see that they have come down in price from just north of $1,000 to just north of "Glock pricing", so I had to have one. I assume this price drop coincided with the start of US manufacturing of these pistols. I had a USP 45 and was very happy with it, but I have never shot an HK45. Anyone else out there have one? What are your impressions on it? What is your favorite self defense ammo for use in this gun?

 

[TunnelRat]

I have the HK45c. I like it very much. Now that you own one you’ll be making impressions of your own!

The only ammo I have heard of having issues in the HK45 was Hornady. If you check on the HKPro forums I believe the issue is the OAL of the Hornady rounds. I know Speer Gold Dots work fine, I think Federal HST would be fine as well.


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[Bentonville]

I have had an HK 45C since 2007. I had it changed to LEM. I eventually made it capable of hosting an Obsidian 45 by Rugged Suppressors . The pistol is versatile, durable, accurate , and soft-shooting to me. HK makes a great .45 in several models. I have owned or presently own the HK 45c, USPF , and USPc, and the HK USP Tactical. In my opinion , you can’t do better in a .45 than HK. Ymmv.

 

[cslinger]

A couple HK45c's here as well. Great guns. As was said the only thing negative I ever heard was with the long OAL Hornady stuff and I think that may have had an issue with the USP as well.

Be aware that when you get your HK45 you will likely have little to any markings on your slide/frame. The US made production guns ditched any kind of markings on the slide beyond HK45 and caliber about a year ago IIRC. Just keep that in mind if you cannot find a date code or proof marking etc. Its not an oversight that is just how they are shipped now.

 

[sigarms228]

I have an HK45 and love it. Just to add price drop had nothing to do with US manufacture. My HK45 was also US made at the old facility when they were priced higher for years. HK45 price drop timeline also included P30 series of pistols that are still made in Germany.

If you have not seen this it is a great 50,000 round endurance test that speaks to the remarkable quality, reliability, robustness, and performance of the HK45. Snippet is below.

http://pistol-training.com/archives/4027

50,000 rounds

1 stoppages 1 (*) malfunctions 1 parts breakages
50,000 rounds in just over eight months.

Over the course of the entire test, just one single spring broke. The gun is still perfectly reliable and suitable for daily use. Now my wrists and elbows, on the other hand…

In fact, the HK45 had fewer problems at the 50,000 round mark than either of the previous two 9mm test guns, the S&W M&P9 or HK’s own P30! The HK45 truly is bomb proof, especially when you consider that except for two spring change maintenance cycles, every single part in the gun is original. Most companies recommend changing the recoil springs on their 9mm pistols three or four times more often than Heckler & Koch recommends for the HK45.

The HK45 fired its first 31,522 rounds without a bobble of any kind, another pistol-training.com endurance test record. But the mere fact that it out-performed those other pistols tells only part of the story. I do not believe another .45 pistol could fire that many rounds, in that short a time, with that little maintenance, and survive. Anonymous internet chest-thumpers notwithstanding, fifty thousand rounds of full power 230gr ammo through a .45 pistol in eight months is staggering.

]The pistol was only cleaned seven times during the entire test, going 10,181 rounds between cleanings at one point.

 

[Bart Noir]

Today I learned something.

Didn't know H&K has a factory in USA. Where? And which models are they making?

Bart Noir

 

[cslinger]

I believe they had one in a Newington, NH but they may have moved all operations to the Georgia location.

HK45 and 45C have been made in the states from almost the beginning. I believe it had to do with the military adoption of the 45c.

I have a German made 45C as well as a New Hampshire gun. The German gun has a better trigger out of the box and slightly more aggressive (different) stippling. Other then those things and the markings I see no appreciable quality/fit and finish differences.

 

[TunnelRat]

I believe they had one in a Newington, NH but they may have moved all operations to the Georgia location.

HK45 and 45C have been made in the states from almost the beginning. I believe it had to do with the military adoption of the 45c.

I have a German made 45C as well as a New Hampshire gun. The German gun has a better trigger out of the box and slightly more aggressive (different) stippling. Other then those things and the markings I see no appreciable quality/fit and finish differences.

About the same experience. I also had two, just have the one now. For me the US made one had the better trigger, but in the end I think they smoothed out to about the same.

The US production is I think now in Columbus, GA, where they had been doing their importation for such a long time. I’m not sure if they then changed the proof mark for the US models. The ones made in NH had the capital building of NH on the slide.


https://hk-usa.com/heckler-koch-expand-columbus-georgia/


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[Desmosedici]

I have an HK 45, V1. Love it, has been a joy to shoot. Word of warning, however, the magazines are expensive, and there are knock-offs you can buy for cheap but the ones I got are not as trustworthy as the HK ones. You probably knew that already, anyway.

I bought mine brand-new three years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it ever since, reliably all day long, and very accurate with Federal. They have really come down in price! Glad you got yours, look forward to some photos, range trips, etc.

 

[Zzeke]

I'll definitely post some photos and report back with first impressions. Are the knock-off magazines marketed as HK magazines? In other words, are they counterfit magazines that the sellers are trying to pass off as genuine HK? or are they some other brand that is just trying to sell a cheaper mag to fit the HK45?

 

[cslinger]

They are just a different branding. I don't know specifically of any counterfeit HK magazines, although I am sure they exist for almost anything.

That said, mags shouldn't be that expensive. Should be around $35-$39 bucks. I mean yeah, I know there are not $15 Magpul Glock magazines but they aren't $115 P7M13 magazines either.

Once you get it and are allowed to go outside I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Take care, shoot safe,
Chris

 

[runningbear]

I bought an HK USP Comp .45 in 07 a really nice handgun with great HK quality and shoots good for me, i think prices have dropped for all .45s not just HKs because of the high Ammo. price of .45 and the great demand today for the 9mm.s with their lower Ammo. prices.

 

[Zzeke]

I'm going to my dealer in a few hours to pick it up. I can't wait to get my hands on it! I'll post some pics. I don't imagine there are too many used magazines floating around for these guns, although I have not looked yet.

 

[Zzeke]

So I picked up my new HK45 from my dealer today. I can't believe how well this guns fits my hand! Better than ANY other auto-pistol I have ever held or shot. And I have shot A LOT of handguns. I am very impressed with this gun so far. I can't wait to see how it performs at the range. It definitely is a monster. I took a photo of it with my Glock 23 for size comparison.

 

[Desmosedici]

Zzeke, remembered this thread and wanted to ask you how your HK was shooting and your experience with it.

I also wanted to take a few pics of mine and add it to this thread, which I'll do tonight.

Hope it has gone well for you!

 

[Forte S+W]

Congratulations!

It seems like a lot of folks are buying H&Ks right now, as I keep seeing folks posting about them. I just recently ordered an H&K USP45 Elite myself, which is basically the predecessor of the HK45.

 

[jr24]

Hope the HK45 is still running well for the OP.

Much like all the last year's posters, I just got an HK45c myself and am a big fan. Just replaced my Glock 19 in my carry holster this week, in fact.

 

[JDBerg]

I bought my HK45 used a few years back for $700.00, it came with 2 extra magazines, 4 total. The mags at that time were running about $70.00 ea., but these seem to have come down to around $45.00, but out of stock when I looked online.

A great shooting gun just the way it came to me out of the box!

 

[dgludwig]

I can't believe how well this guns fits my hand! Better than ANY other auto-pistol I have ever held or shot.

As much as I like HK pistols, I have to wonder if you've ever wrapped your hand around the grip of a CZ 75/85; borders on being a handshake.

 

[wild cat mccane]

I have to disagree to both. Aristotle never spoke about arming people in any of his very public writings that I read and the HK45/P30/PPQ/P99 is definitely not inferior to the blah cz grip