HK USP Compact (Japan Version) - ArniesAirsoft

Author

PenGun

Registered: October 2004
Location: Dublin
Posts: 549

Review Date: 15/4/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �115.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Pretty, compact, accurate, efficient
Cons:	Relatively expensive, slide catch wear, sticky mag catch when new

I bought this little beauty from those wonderful folks at Firesupport.co.uk along with a spare mag.
Ordered it on Tuesday, confirmed the postage price on Wednesday and it was in Dublin by Friday morning!
This completes my triumvirate of HK pistols: USP45, Mk23 SOCOM and USP Compact :D
The version I went for is the so-called "Japan Version" of the 9x19mm chambered USP Compact (Variant 1), and I'll run through the differences between it and a Taiwan Version USP45 a little later on.
The Compact is about an inch shorter in length than the full-size USP and shorter in height by about 3/4 of an inch or so. The grip is also slimmed down and the trigger guard is shorter and hooked to allow the weak index finger to grip it.
The hammer is bobbed so its a bit fiddly to cock and put on single-action but the KSCs won't fire unless the slide is racked so this is a moot point really.
Interestingly the control lever is not as wide as the full-size USP to aid in concealment. Nice touch.
The usual DA/SA with manual safety/decocker allows you to carry it with the safety on, or cocked-and-locked 1911 style and you can still safely decock from single-action via the control lever. Slick, and kudos to KSC for replicating the mechanism in such detail...
Its actually quite a tiny gun, and the smaller trigger-guard gives it a miniaturised-USP look, like it had shrunk in the wash Smile

Despite the decrease in dimensions, it still retains the USPs pointability and ease of use.
The Japan Version comes with a unique serial number and there is a small (tiny, really) JASG logo just past the control-lever pin on the right hand side of the frame.
Happily, it is noticeably devoid of any of the light "pitting" my full-size USP45 displays on some external metal components. Internally it looks "cleaner", with consistent finish on all metal parts.
Externally the frame looks to have a slightly more matte finish than the Taiwan USP45.
The magazine catch is a bit tight at first (better than it being too loose or rattling about) so give the mags a little slap to seat them properly or simply insert the mags when the slide is locked open, which is much easier and less abusive to the internals!
The only negative point about the Compact so far was the nasty suprise that followed the first few rounds I fired. The slide catch seems a bit "aggressive" for the plastic used on the slide and as a result it almost instantly deformed. A little disappointing, but the slide still locks back when the magazine runs empty on BBs.
I have a Shooters Design slide etc. in the post as I write this, so maybe I'll do a little experiment and run it off Green with the plastic slide to see how durable it really is...
It definitely seems more like ABS than the tougher Heavyweight material on the Mk23 (which can take Green without much of a problem).
Apart from that minor irritation, the Compact is a great little shooter. It is as accurate as the full-size USP, oddly enough, though this may have more to do with the KSC lockup than barrel length etc.
The KSC loading nozzle can flex somewhat more than, say, a Marui or WA nozzle so there exists a chance the barrel will not align as consistently as those designs.
Still, it can put 10 rounds (two mags of 5 rounds each) into roughly an inch or less at 10ft (3m), which is pretty decent for such a small gun. Blowback is good, considerably harder than my Maruzen P99C (which is almost the same size, though much smaller in height). This is probably due to the much larger magazine capacity on the USPc.
A nice feature is the interchangeable baseplates on the magazines, allowing you to use either a "pinky-shelf" (for those of you with broader hands) or the regular flat baseplate, which aids concealment (not so important in airsoft though!).
The trigger is worthy of note, being excellent, even better than the Mk23 and USP45, if a little heavier in pull. This improvement in trigger pull might be a result of the tighter "Japan" tolerances perhaps...as trigger systems are very sensitive to tiny variations in contact surfaces, geometry etc.
It puts the mushy vague Marui triggers to shame!
Sights are the usual high-visiblity 3-dot "chunky" HK style and are very easy to pick up even in low light.
So, is the Japan Version worth the extra money???
Well if you are a collector, then yes. If you are a collector-skirmisher, yes again.
If however you are a Glock-loving hardcore-skirmisher then no.
The Taiwan or KWA metal-slide versions are much better value if the gun is going to spend more time in a ditch than on display.
I'm a quality+realsim snob so I don't mind paying the extra money. I tend to baby my GBBs rather than abuse them - having 10 pistols, theres lots of choice every skirmish Wink

though mags and holsters cost me a fortune.
If the little details matter that much and you can afford it, then go for the Japan Version, otherwise for pure skirmishing stick to the Taiwan and KWA variants.
Now, if KSC could just release a version of the new P30 or HK45...
I've just noticed the last 4 airsoft purchaves I've made are Heckler & Koch replicas...so this is obviously a very fair and impartial review Wink

Either way, the performance from such a small gun is pretty impressive and it offers a nice alternative to the ubiquitous Glock 19s and other compact guns out there.

Pics and groupings to follow later this week...

Edit: just a note that if you take the sear out of the USPc it becomes DAO (i.e. no single action trigger).

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"I am the Great Gun-Hoolio...!!!"

L4byr1nth

"... An' I'm All Outta Gum."

Registered: July 2006
Location: Brighton, UK
Posts: 6,832

Review Date: 5/1/09

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �70.00 | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Great feel, pointability, gorgeous!
Cons:	Slight cooldown when rapid firing

For some time now, I have been running a sidearm on my sniper rig in a Blackhawk CQC SERPA. For the record, it's a WA SV Infinity 6" LTD IED 1911 SCW.

Unfortunately, the repeated drawing and holstering was starting to take paint and material from the slide and frame of my precious Western Arms pistol, and so I went down to my local skirmish site to shop for an alternative 1911 replacement.

Among the boxes of WE 1911's, WE MEU's, KJW P226's, I saw the pale blue of the KSC USP Compact box. Intrigued, I lifted the lid.

Now, the word 'Compact' when after the name of a handgun has always made me envision tiny, useless last-ditch sidearms, like perhaps the Derringer, or similar.

Oh, how I was wrong...

I am used to the slim, single-stack 1911 frame, so on taking this out of the box for a quick feel, I was suprised how it filled my hand so nicely. The curved baseplate on the magazine (even though you also receive a standard one in the box as well!) helps large hands get round this gun.

The pistol itself is not small... It's 'Compact' in the sense that it's about an inch shorter than a normal USP.

Mine is the Japanese ABS version (as opposed to the Taiwanese and/or metal versions). It's nicely finished, and I would say it's now my favourite pistol I own.

The kick is immense on green gas, and pretty strong on 134a. Not as hard as my WA, but better than my TM Samurai Edge/Desert Eagle Hard Kick version.

The manual is completely in Japanese, so those of you not well versed in Hiragana/Kanji will no doubt turn to Google for advice. You also get a nice, glossy, full-colour catalogue in the box, as well as some BB's, a loading tool, a HOP-Up adjustment tool, a KeyLock function tool, and a standard baseplate for the included magazine.

The pistol has several features that have been detailed by the review above, including a working decocking feature, and the KeyLock or Lock-Out mechanism.

I didn't buy this pistol as a primary for CQB or whatever. Had that been the case, I would have been tempted to go for the full-size USP. This is a sniper backup, and when needed, I am confident this pistol can perfom.

Ben.

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icolater

Registered: February 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posts: 129

Review Date: 16/1/12

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):
Cons:

Just to let every one know for once and for all KSC Japan version is more expencive because they are shiped back to Japan after being manufactured in Tawain for further Legal testing to make sure they shoot under 1 Joule and are then marked with ASGK markings to prove this, japan models are also equiped with plastic slides which are made in japan and have differant valves designed to work with duster gas. The HK/Tawain models are shiped straight from tawain and are designed for green gas with stronger valves, metal slide, metal rocket valves and (I think) stronger hammer and trigger springs. I have two USP C System 7s one japan one tawain and the lower frames are the same. So DONT BE STUPID AND BUY THE JAPAN VERSION Get the Tawain version its Better Simple as that.