In a convenient turn, right after last month’s look at the HK USP .45 I had an opportunity to take a look at HK’s follow-up act known simply as the HK45. Here we’ll be able to check out the next evolution of HK’s polymer framed hammer fired handgun which has some desirable improvements but may have lost part of itself along the way.
Following in the USP’s service history, HK had some plans of its own regarding official work with the new HK45 and was designed to follow requirements which the US Military Joint Combat Pistol program had set forth. I hadn’t been aware of this before but the intention was to arm the military with a .45 caliber sidearm instead of the Beretta M9. You can probably guess what killed the program: Cost. Rather than re-arm all of our military we kept the M9 until Sig more recently got into the field, largely in being able to offer the P320 series at the lowest price point. After only a couple of months from late 2005 to early 2006 the program was no more.
One thing about Heckler & Koch, you end up paying HK prices. There are reasons why HK has their reputation. Consider one of their older sales pitches: In a world of compromise, some men don’t.
It was a different time back then.
Something else I didn’t know about the HK45, both Larry Vickers and Ken Hackathorn had a hand in its development along with lead designer Frank Henninger. The HK45 has some proper credentials then even if it didn’t make it into its intended market. A variant of the compact tactical model did make it into the Naval Special Warfare Command in 2011 as the Mk24 Mod0, however.
The HK USP had been made for the American market and around here the .45 ACP was born and continues to hang on with strong popularity. Scaling the original .40 caliber USP up to the .45 required bumping up some of the pistol’s dimensions, notably in the grip which had gotten to be quite substantial and right on par with HK’s own Mark 23. Between the size and texturing of these grips it’s a given that one of the major changes with the HK45, a gun designed to only ever be in .45 ACP, was with the grip. Even by today’s standards this updated grip fits the hand great and feels very good. These much desired ergonomic improvements came at a cost of two rounds in the magazine, bumping the HK45 down from the USP’s 12 to 10. In exchange, the subtle finger grooves and far more friendly texturing along with an overall slimmer profile of the HK45’s grip also gained the benefit of swappable backstraps.
In fact, this new grip turned out to be successful enough to have become HK’s new handgun standard. If you’ve spent any time with a P30 or VP9 then the bigger HK45 will feel right at home.
Apparently the HK45’s magazine was directly borrowed from the USP .45 Compact, only requiring a new baseplate to fit the newer HK45’s frame. It sounds like the HK45 mags will fit the USP compact without alteration if that’s how you want to roll.
As with the USP series the HK45 could be had with an ambidextrous safety, though a quick online image search makes me think the factory standard was right handed only with the ambi being a factory replacement kit. Ironically, the HK45 comes standard with an ambi slide release. I’m not sure why the ambi safety didn’t become standard as well!
Gone is the USP’s proprietary accessory rail, a then revolutionary new inclusion which existed before any sort of frame accessory rail had become standardized. The HK45 wears a Picatinny rail, and a sizable one on the full sized models to complement a fairly beefy pistol. Naturally the HK45 Compact has a more limited space dropping from four notches to three.
The slide has seen some updates as well with some extra contouring ahead of the chamber along with front slide serrations, giving it a more sleek and accessible profile. The front of the gun is no longer all right angles but has an attractive downward cut along the guide rod, giving it an almost Desert Eagle like nose. The back of the frame has been rounded off somewhat as well which may not seem like a huge deal but it does make the gun a little more comfortable in certain situations and may help with holster and concealment matters.
The magazine release is still only available as the European style ambi paddle release but it’s much improved over the USP, now having a larger footprint to make it easier to reach. I believe this new mag release style also became HK’s standard profile. Compared to the USP I quite liked this change which is now even more accessible thanks to the more svelte grip.
As with the USP series the HK45 could also be had as a Tactical variant with taller sights. I’ve seen pictures of adjustable sights but it seems like at least now the factory standard are TruGlo fixed steel night sights with the back having a healthy hooked contour for one handed manipulation. The Tactical models also come standard with a left hand threaded barrel. Unlike the USP where only the higher end versions had an O-ring on the barrel for better lock-up, this feature is now standard on all models of the HK45. As with the USP the barrels remain polygonally rifled and cold hammer forged.
The trigger is a curious situation. At first glance it looks and feels exactly like the USP .45’s trigger, though with the few rounds I was able to put through the HK45 it did feel slightly better than the bog standard USP in single action. Double action felt every bit as heavy and unpleasant as a stock USP.
Despite this, here’s where the HK45 started to fall a bit short for me.
Somewhere, somehow, likely due to these slimmer grips over the USP .45, the HK45 immediately started pinching my trigger finger after every shot. This in particular really confused me as I had spent some time on a non-tactical HK45 years ago and only remember it quite fondly. As a newer shooter with very little time on a .45 I had picked one up and did quite well with it! Not this time. For whatever reason my fond memories were quickly dashed, I could only put a few rounds through it before it became more trouble than it was worth. Compared to the gargantuan USP .45’s grip I don’t recall ever having this happen. Another tragic tale of cause and effect?
The slide release was another matter. The USP .45 must have had the “bigger is better” attitude all around. Despite only being made for a right handed shooter and despite the larger grip size I found the slide release to be quite easy to operate, even if I may have needed my left hand to trip it. The HK45 gives you that ambi option but it’s become shorter, slimmer, and not as well textured. It didn’t take long for me to miss the USP’s sasquatchian sized catch. With the HK45 Tactical in particular I found it easier to hook the rear sight to drop the slide than to use the slide release.
For disassembly (of which I had to watch a video just now,) this ambi slide catch is not the most intuitive in the world. I’m used to Walthers and Caniks where the slide catches stay put, but I’m also used to the USP where the slide catch pops fully out the side of the frame for disassembly. How then does the HK45 and its ambi catch work? Exactly like the USP, as it turns out! Now the back end of the catch is nested inside of another lever so you’ll have to tap it through the right side control, which through some manner of German magic still stays retained in the frame while the left side lever pops right on out as you would expect.
This series of events was not on my Bingo card.
Under the hood we’ll find another change. Whereas the .45 caliber version of the USP shared the Mark 23’s dual recoil spring setup, the HK45 now has a polymer buffer identical to the 9mm and .40 S&W versions of the USP. I’m not enough of an engineer to know if there’s any significant benefits to having the Mark 23 style of dual spring setup but purists (which I am now one of it would seem) are not big fans of this change. From what I recall of some prior online research you cannot swap USP .45 and HK45 recoil assemblies, either. HK45 owners seem to be stuck with this style of buffer.
Everything else in the slide is business as usual. If you’ve taken apart any handgun in the last four decades then you’ll know what to expect.
Unlike the USP series which had seen quite a number of variants, the HK45 has been trimmed down to just four. A full size, a compact, and tactical versions of both. There are no match, expert, or elite models to be found here, which I think is a shame considering how well regarded these sporter models are. There don’t appear to have been any stainless slide options made, either. Where the big beefy “all in” USP knew how to let its hair down and have a little fun, the HK45 seems like it’s strictly business all of the time.
Last month I discovered a bombshell suggesting HK was, or already had, discontinued the USP series. The HK45’s fate is not currently known, though I would suspect it will continue to live on for now as I believe this is now HK’s only .45 caliber offering and its updated features along with lower price point over the USP would make it far more attractive as an option for most customers. It’s a genuinely nice gun, too! Other than the oddball issue of a pinchy trigger this time around I’m still quite fond of the HK45, but the USP .45 still holds the edge.
Here’s the real kicker though. Having handled some of the newer full sized polymer framed .45’s, if I was in the market for such a handgun I would be looking at either of these HK models before anything else. The HK45 seems to be well situated within the Goldilocks territory of size and capacity rather than trying to maximize how many rounds fit into a mag, and it’s still an HK so you know it’s going to be solid.
