First off––-this is a used gun. Upon receiving it, I inspected (all pins in the right place, ect…) it followed by a proper cleaning and lubrication.
I was out at the range and put about 5 magazines through the gun when the firing pin broke. Yup, broke––-in half.
I didn’t realize it at first and thought I had somehow hit the slide lock since I knew there were still rounds in the magazine and the slide had ‘locked’ to the rear. Only it hadn’t locked. I could still pull it to the rear slightly. Upon further inspection I saw the firing pin block sticking out of the slide and it appeared the firing pin was missing (it was actually broken as mentioned earlier).
Here’s a photo of the firing pin:
Here’s the video of it happening and a close up of all the internals of the slide (including the firing pin):
Interesting. I love Hk guns but I will not buy any due to the horrific customer service I have witness dealing with damaged guns. Private if you are LOE/Govt or in the gun business then you are usually covered otherwise private citizens having problems with a gun is usually not. They like to use the line “our guns are the best because we engneer them to be the best so if the customer had the firearm break they must have used it improperly to break it so it is not covered.” Yes I actually was told that from HK and heard it ten years ago when I went through an Armorers course back at Sterling, Va. Pitty I like thier guns. I’m sure it will be back very soon.
Back when we (then US INS) issued the USP .40 Compact LEM, we had enough broken firing pins that the agency had us replace ALL firing pins in inventory. Several thousand nation wide. They (HK) redesigned the firing pin and the firing pin safety block. Perhaps your pistol had the old style firing pin from around 2003…
I was expecting something blown up, like samuse said just a small part, replace it and move along.Is hk sending you new parts?I’m getting ready to buy an hk could you keep us posted on how CS responds?I’m glad that is wasn’t that bad of a break.
I get the points that a broken part isn’t ‘catastrophic’ but in my opinion a failure that requires a punch, hammer, and new part to fix a malfunction is catastrophic. It’s not like it was a double feed.
Again, I get the counter argument but that’s just how I view it.
Easy fix or like i saw pic.s on HKPro and most every forum out there.
Could be he buggered the FPB. It’s gone trolling on HKPro so no issue imo!! Just get the newer design part’s and move on! HK Customer service is great but rarely needed. Vastly improved i bet since they have a factory in GA now! I have had them since ~1995…never a issue…the gun is 14 yrs old and even older Glock’s need part’s swapped out. The nature in most everything that’s Dated i know of…
I agree with others, your ‘title’ is very misleading.
A broken firing pin is NOT a catastrophic failure.
Using the same rationale, would you consider a broken extractor in the same category?
My definition would be a bulged/ split barrel or cracked frame/ receiver.
SkiDevil
P.S. I own a recently manufactured HK USP 9mm compact var. 1 and it has been a very reliable pistol. Three weeks ago I fired over 400 rounds in just over 1 hour with no issues other than the pistol getting very hot.
That’s disheartening of course. Catastrophic not in the least. I can’t even remember all the broken parts I’ve replaced on my friends and mine’s Glocks, 1911’s, AR’s, etc, etc. It just happens. That’s why a lot of people maintain spare parts kits of extractors, ejectors, firing pins, springs, etc.
Several years ago, in the late 90’s. There were multiple reports of firing pins breaking in HK pistols. The ones I was aware of were .40 cal full size USP’s. I haven’t heard of this problem in the thirteen years since.
If I’m reading your date code right on the slide that’s a “KG” which means it was produced in 1996. So that could easily fit somewhere in the time frame for the guns I was aware of.
See if HK will fix it for you or get a new one from HKparts.com start running her again.
A lot changes in 10 years and I think they have done there best to get away from that reputation I dealt with HK customer support 6 months ago nothing but the best friendly helpful, gave me options on what to do and even referenced some point of contacts for more help.
As the other poster said alot changes in 10yrs… 3 yrs ago, I bought a P-2000 LEM, and it had a broken spring from the factory, Once I figured out what was wrong I called HK, I explained my problem and they told me to ship it to them,which I did, not only did they fix the orginial problem, but went so far as to take the pistol apart and look for other problems, and found a out of spec firing pin spring they replaced that, and test fired and shipped back to me. all within 2 weeks, and other than me shipping to them, no charge to me.The whole time they were friendly, helpful…I think they’re starting to get a handle on what customer service is. I would’nt let what happened 10yrs ago stand in the way of what may be some of the finest handguns available on the market today.
I consider a catastrophic failure a failure where the owner is unable to correct himself. And my statement is intentionally ambiguous – if a person has to send in their USP to get fixed, then a broken firing pin in a USP would be a catastrophic failure. However, if a person has the tool and mechanical inclination to replace the firing pin, then I wouldn’t consider it a catastrophic failure.
Of course, if the firing pin breaks during an inopportune time, then the above goes out the window and I’d certainly call it a catastrophic failure and a very bad day. I’m certainly tempted to check the firing pin on my USP 9 compact and replace if it’s the old firing pin design – it’s my CCW.
This is called cross posting to every major site on the Interwebs to gain attention to a YouTube channel. Wow. Talk about lame.
A firing pin on a 1996 HK USPc is hardly what I call catastrophic nor even worthy of a post, other than how to fix it. You do know that these firing pins were updated years ago. The vertical cut was a known issue with the firing pins during that era.
Catastrophic failure generally brings to mind all the kaboom stories where the user is injured or at least scared to death. A broken firing pin…not so much
Let me get this straight, you bought a 20 year old used pistol, it broke, it is some giant calamity and you expect the manufacturer to fix it for free?
Sorry if I am just all out of sympathy but an old gun broke, get over it and get to HKParts, buy a firing pin and get on with your life like everyone else does.
