Just did my first bit of gunsmithing on my HK USP .45 Compact

[msternin]

About two weeks ago I picked my very first HK, a USP 45 C for a really great price. The gun was either purchased as a V2 or reconfigured as a V2 for a lefty.

A few bucks later I purchased a left-sided (for right handed) control lever as well as a spurred hammer (to replace to bobbed hammer). Which I realize may be sacrilege for this model, but I like it.

Before all you HK folks out there mention it, yes I know they make an ambi control lever. I didn't want it, not to mention the ambi was more than double the price of a single sided lever.

Was a little nervous at first to do this myself, but watched several great videos and gave it a go.

Had both old parts removed and new parts installed within 90 minutes. I know that might seem like a long time, but I've never worked with HK's before, since this is my first.

Anyway, feeling pretty good right now. Time to celebrate and put some rounds through it and buy more guns.

[Rusty_Shackleferd]

Looks great. You shouldn't worry about what armchair warriors think. They're your guns and your money, so if keep your modifications legal, you're good to go.

[msternin]

Looks great. You shouldn't worry about what armchair warriors think. They're your guns and your money, so if keep your modifications legal, you're good to go.

Thanks. I like the idea of being able to do more detailed work on my own stuff.

I'm not too worried about the "armchair" people (I like that one). It just seems like you have to preface things on CGN sometimes. And even that only helps a little, but without it, it's like an open invite to tell me what do with my money and guns.

[penguinofsleep]

I'm wondering if the levers themselves could be modified slightly so it's easier to flip them from safe to fire.

Compared to any other pistol I've tried with a manual safety (that I can remember), the one on my USP is definitely the hardest to set to flip to 'fire'. I end up decocking half of the times I try to flip it to fire quickly. Also throws my shot a bit sometimes b/c I have to push hard to get the safety off.

[msternin]

I'm wondering if the levers themselves could be modified slightly so it's easier to flip them from safe to fire.

Compared to any other pistol I've tried with a manual safety (that I can remember), the one on my USP is definitely the hardest to set to flip to 'fire'. I end up decocking half of the times I try to flip it to fire quickly. Also throws my shot a bit sometimes b/c I have to push hard to get the safety off.

I'm certainly no gunsmith and this was my first work on an HK, but from the look of the control level as a single component, doesn't seem like the lever itself could be modified to be easier. It may be possible to use some type of lubricant or grease on the safety and decocking mechanism or even polish them up so there's less friction. I really don't know. Mine seems to work just fine and even with manipulating the lever to get a feel for the gun, I've never once pushed too hard as to decock the gun.

Have you broken down the entire, or most of, the frame and cleaned everything? With the exception of removing the trigger, I had to remove all the components to change out the hammer and the control level so I cleaned everything. The video I watched to break it down is here and was the link from the vendor I used to get the parts.

Perhaps someone with much more HK knowledge could chime in here.