I hope someone can give me a little help or advice. I recently bought a full size USP in .45. So far I have run around 500 rounds through it. Winchester white box 230 gr mostly. The problem is this: from 10 feet to 25 yds I shoot low with this gun, around 3 or 4 inches the group is not bad but I'm sure that will tighten up with more trigger time. I have tried all sorts of different grips and nothing seems to help. My buddy can shoot it dead nuts on and I can pick up my 1911 and be right on with that but the USP is pissing me off. Any help?

Quoted: I hope someone can give me a little help or advice. I recently bought a full size USP in .45. So far I have run around 500 rounds through it. Winchester white box 230 gr mostly. The problem is this: from 10 feet to 25 yds I shoot low with this gun, around 3 or 4 inches the group is not bad but I'm sure that will tighten up with more trigger time. I have tried all sorts of different grips and nothing seems to help. My buddy can shoot it dead nuts on and I can pick up my 1911 and be right on with that but the USP is pissing me off. Any help?

Probably a matter of using different sight pictures.

Most Euro guns want you line up the front sight dot with the target (cover). Most US pistols want you to line up the top edge of the front sight with the middle of the target.

either sight pic like stated or anticipating the shot.  load a dummy round in the middle of a mag and see of your dropping the muzzle.

Thanks for the input guys, I didn't know that euro guns are set up to shoot that way but even when I cut the bull in half at 10 feet it is still low and I can jump to my S&W J frames and not flinch. Shooting the USP is a dream compared to the recoil of my 340PD, which I shoot once or twice a month. It is frustrating to shoot a 2 inch barrel snubbie better than the full size H&K. I am thinking I might have a grip problem. This is my first double stack polymer gun and I have big hands but short fingers. It seems hard to grip the gun the same way twice. The 1911 is far more natural feeling. Other than shooting low I can keep the bullets within 6 or 8 inches at 50 feet. But hopefully that will get better with some more experience.

You have to grip the gun the same way everytime to be accurate! Don't anticipate the 'bang', just let it happen. Concentrate on the front sight picture and squeez the trigger, not the gun. I tend to pull my shots down when I think about the trigger pull or recoil or sear reset instead of just letting it happen while looking at the target.

Just took a class w/ Todd Jarrett. He stated  taking 1 shot and looking at where it went is a waste of time. Shoot the whole mag in a fast cycle, about 3/4 as fast as you can. This will tell you where your round will print on paper. When shooting fast, you will not have time to think about trigger pull, recoil, jerking the gun, etc. You will most likly grip the gun tighter, have the proper squat and stance, better balance, and a better group!! If you shoot it where you aimed, then you know its you anticipating the 'bang' before.  Good luck!

Thanks for the input hellredsled, since I posted last on this problem I have put 300 or so more rounds down range and things seem to be working out. The one thing I still don't really like is covering the bull but ohh well. The grouping has tightened up considerably and shooting slow fire double action I am shooting around 3 or 4 inch groups at 50 feet. Single action is even better than that. I have been paying close attention to grip but it still does not seem natural (like a 1911 is for me) and I think when I start drawing from a holster I'll start from scratch again with accuracy. But its not on the "get the hell rid of this gun" list now. More practice thats all. Or maybe a different front sight, we'll see. Thanks for your advice.

No it's you. The sights are fine. The USP trigger is a difficult trigger to master. What you are doing is pushing the trigger with way too much force. The USP trigger travel is really long. If you shoot it like a conventional SA pull, you will end up shooting low and left. Best advice is to learn how to apply a constant and even pressure from the time your finger touches the trigger till the shot breaks. The shot should come as a complete surprise. The conventional method is to take up the slack and press the trigger when you want it to break. Most people do not have good control of their fingers to do this accurately. So you end up pushing with a lot more force than necessary and thereby pushing the gun low and left. *HK USP trigger is a difficult trigger to master. If you still don't believe me, shoot the gun off a rest or sandbags. 99.9% of the time, the problem will go away. Of all the threads in the past 5 years, I recall only one person that acutally had sights that were shifted.
It took me several rounds to get more accurate.  Hope this helps.  

Thanks alpha I appreciate the input, shot again today and things just keep on improving. Started shooting at a paper bull and switched over to an IDPA target and was pleased. Shooting at 50 feet again, Winchester white box and Fiocchi both 230 gr.

I had the same issues when I got my Tactical, I thought I'd just blown a load of cash on a gun that was dropping way low and a little left.

After alot of shooting, turns out it was me. Learning to shoot this sensitive baby has made me a better shooter overall, and tightened my groups up with any handgun.

Everyone had a great feedback.

I don't think I can't add more to it, but to summarize what everyone said.

Except the FN FiveSeveN, all my pistol is H&K.

1. Sight picture are usually lower on HK than other german/austrian firearms like Sig or Glocks

2. The trigger is really hard to master. My first HK pistol was USPc 357sig, and I was shooting bad grouping at short dist as 5yd. I realize that trigger pull is slightly harder to get use to than any other pistol. However, if you get to master it, USP lines are great pistol to have.

3. Double action trigger at NIB are not impressive, but as the time goes, it gets really softer.





I think USP/P2000 line of pistols gets much better as times goes. I would say, if I had USP tactical as my first HK USP line of pistol, it would've been far easier for me to get use to.