The Gun Vault Vol. 3 | HK USP

Picture it, it’s 1999, you’ve been tasked with guiding an elite counter-terrorism unit called Rainbow. You must covertly travel the world, execute rescue missions, dismantle terrorist plots and send any threat to the afterlife to be dealt with by the Lord. What gun are you bringing?

If you recognize the scene I just described, you probably grew up in the 90s like me, and had an awesome childhood playing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. And if you’re like me, you’re choosing the HK USP as your sidearm in the aforementioned scenario.

Pop culture has a way of changing the way we think about certain guns, and essentially creating “icons” out of them. If you grew up watching John Wayne, you probably have a soft spot for the Winchester Model 1892, like the one he used in True Grit. If you grew up watching Sean Connery as James Bond, you likely have a penchant for the Walther PPK, a staple gun for Connery’s Bond. A younger generation might have a desire to own a .357 Colt Python, because they saw Rick use it to decapitate walkers in The Walking Dead.

Whatever generation you belong to, pop culture has likely played a role in your firearm tastes, perhaps even subconsciously. For me, that gun was the HK USP. I can vividly remember fighting with my brothers about whose turn it was to play Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six on PlayStation. We’d play tug-of-war with the game case, which featured an image burned into my brain of a special operator with Oakley goggles on, aiming his .40 USP at the victor.

Fast forward to 2004, I would have been a Freshman in High School at the time, and Michael Mann’s Collateral had just hit theaters. It revolved around hitman Vincent (Tom Cruise) using taxi driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to take him to each of his five hits. Immediately, it became my favorite film at the time. And what was the gun of choice for Vincent? You guessed it, the HK USP.

Through the channels of Hollywood films and childhood video games, it seems as though life has subliminally urged me to finally own this iconic gun. After a quick dig through Guns.com Certified Used section, I was able to snatch the Tactical Variant at a steal and achieve said childhood dream. But just because a gun strikes a nostalgia chord and is featured in cinema and other media doesn’t mean shit. Did the USP just look good on the big screen, or is it truly fit for a Los Angeles hitman and a special operations group?

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HK unveiled the USP at the 1993 SHOT Show. The objective was to develop a reliable and comfortable sidearm for US Special Operations Units as part of the USSOCOM Offensive Handgun Weapon System Initiative. Alongside the USP in testing was the Mk 23, perhaps one of the most popular .45s in existence, and certainly HKs most popular in that caliber. While the Mk 23 ended up winning the USSOCOM contract, as a result the USP benefited from extreme testing, and became a popular choice for law enforcement and military units worldwide.

When initially released, the USP was chambered for .40 S&W, with the USP9 9x19mm releasing shortly after. Two years later, HK released the .45 ACP variant, which gained a large following domestically and internationally.

Those who appreciate the technical details will notice that the USP operates off of a cam-locked chamber, similar to Browning's Hi-Power lineup, as well as the famous 1911. Essentially how this works is when the gun is fired, the slide travels back tilting the barrel upward and unlocking the chamber. While seemingly simple, this design has proven to be extremely reliable, which explains its high usage amongst military organizations around the globe.

Over the years, different variants of the USP have hit the market. A tactical model, such as the one I have, with a threaded barrel and suppressor sights, a stainless slide model, as well as multiple models with different trigger variations.

Praised for its utilitarian features, I feel like the USP doesn’t get enough attention for its aesthetics. While its design might not offer as much eye-candy as a 1911 or Beretta 92, I would still consider it attractive for a gun designed for field operations. The oversized safety and slide release give it a distinguished look, paired with the angled ramp on the slide and locking block area, this gun truly stands out if you know what you’re looking at. And of course, as is with any HK produced in the last five or so decades, the USP features a paddle magazine release just below the bold D-shaped trigger guard. A design that often receives much hate, is one that I appreciate, as I can quickly drop the mag without tilting my gun or overextending my finger.

The USP has proven to be reliable, accurate, comfortable and can withstand the harshest elements, so why fix what isn’t broken? As a result of a near flawless design, HK worked off of their brilliant German engineering, and developed several other models based on the USPs template. A pioneer so to speak was the USP. Without it, there would be no P2000, HK45 or even the beloved VP9. The USP started a movement, so it's easy to see why it was the chosen gun by John Clark in Rainbow Six, Vincent in Collateral, as well as countless other action movies made in the past three decades. That’s right, over 30 years since its release, the USP is still in production and admired by special forces and civilians alike. There aren’t too many firearms with a reputation like that.