Posted: 2/7/2008 6:24:24 PM EDT
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I might be crazy, but I think I remember reading that there were certain years that HK's quality control was down or there was a specific issue with certain guns. (USP's in particular) So am I nuts or do I really remember this? |
Prior to a certain date code, HK did not heat treat their firing pins. If you use snap caps or live ammo when you pull the trigger, you won't have any issues. If you dry fire a bunch of times with no snap caps, you might break a firing pin. VERY early models had standard rifled barrels. The first few years did not have a half cock notch. None of the years are "bad". Some may just have certain features you'd prefer. HK has some of the best QC in the business, and I can't recall a specific date where it slipped. They have always been very concerned with QC, and the end product shows just that. The firing pin to me isn't a big deal, so if you get one from 2000+, you're most certainly in great shape, but there is nothing wrong with mid-late 90's models either. I'm sure bigbore will chime in with exact date codes for the changes, but I believe they are marked in my tacked post in the HK section if you'd like to check that out. |
sorry it's just a sweet gun
German small arms manufacturers can use a letter-code (instead of the year itself) to mark the gun with the year of test firing (with loads beyond normal specs), which is usually the year when it was manufactured. Required by the law before selling them. A = 0 B = 1 C = 2 D = 3 E = 4 F = 5 G = 6 H = 7 I/J = 8 K = 9 So 00 = 2000 |
| H&K's are not like fine wine where there are only certain years considered good. Every year is a good year. The older USPs just have a lands and groove rifling in the barrels compared to the newer polygonal barrels of today. The older ones you can shoot lead bullets through with no problems...the new ones might give you over pressure so it is not wise to do it. That is about it. Polygonal gives better bullet seal and higher velocity- in theory. |