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Lefty USP 45 Safety?

drobs
I just bought a full size USP 45, I can't wait to pick it up tonight. Anyway I was reading through the advertisements on the gun that say the safety/action lever can be switched from right handed to left handed. Being a lefty this would be great! Does anyone know if I need a special safety to do this? Has anyone done this to their gun?

I'm not exactly sure which variant I have but I do know the safety works for both de-cocking, cocked and locked, & double action safety on.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • offeror
    You don't need any extra parts. Everything comes with the gun. The gun has a red dot on both sides as an indicator. The lever simply needs to be switched over. That's as much as I can tell you.
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  • William81
    The switching over is a little tricky...I did the same thing with my HK USP .40 Compact. I chicken out and sent it back to the factory and let them do it. I am really glad I did.

    Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Liberals....
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  • kalifornian
    If offeror is right, I got ripped off as I had an HK Armorer convert my 45 USP Fullsize into a Variant 2 by replacing the safter/decoking lever. Looking at the gun and talking with three gun smiths conviced me that the lever would be upside down (and probably wouldn't work) if you simply moved it from one side to the other.

    $80 at a gun show got me the new left handed lever, including installation and I still have the original right handed Variant 1 lever should I ever need to sell the gun. HK also makes a ambidextrous lever so that there is a lever on both sides of the gun. I was warned off of this by the guy who installed my Var 2 lever, because he said you have to insert a pin to hold the double lever together. If you ever have to have the gun worked on, the smith will have to drill/tap out the connecting pin to get the gun apart and then repin it when reasseblying it, leading to extra charges.

    A final note: I'm told that when switching the lever, if you don't know what you are doing and fail to apply pressure in the correct place, you will end up with a handfull of spare parts as the portions of the trigger assembly can fly apart.

    Good luck.


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  • drobs
    Thanks for you help! Another question, does this gun need to have the safety in the up/on position for carry? ie. one in the chamber hammer down. I know that guns like sig sauers & cz75's there really is no way to engage the safety.



    Edited by - drobs on 10/14/2002 15:19:40
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  • offeror
    I'd rely on kalifornian's experience. I'm sorry to hear this as I have not seen it mentioned anywhere else. I always read about an advantage of this gun being the reversible safety, but nobody ever mentioned the fact you have to spend extra money on a new part and a gunsmith to install it. I've been looking at these guns, but as a leftie I would consider myself gypped to buy one and find this out after the fact.
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  • Cawdor
    You need a different lever to convert a USP from a Variant 1 to a Variant 2. Cal's - http://www.calssportingarmory.com/USP.htm - charges $25 to do it on a new gun. I have seen it done, and it does not look very hard. You can see how to do a detail strip of a USP here - http://www.streetpro.com/usp/detail/index.html



    Edited by - cawdor on 10/14/2002 21:40:31
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  • mballai
    This sort of thing is why I like 1911s, no great magic to have an ambi installed--if the gun doesn't already have one as many do today.

    Three Precious Metals: Gold, silver and lead
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  • drobs
    I went and shot the USP last night in a combat shoot. Lets just say I need a little more practice! After reading the owners manual (very interesting & informative)I found that the gun can be carried with the safety off hammer decocked. For the meantime this will work I guesd. I did a little more research and found that it's not too hard to put on either a lefty safety or an ambi. Probably cost another $100 or so. Not too bad. Thanks for all your help!
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  • JudgeColt
    As stated, you cannot switch the lever from side to side on a USP. (They are mirror images. The pin hole will be in the wrong position, and the axle will not work from the other side.) A new lever and axle are required. I think drobs has misintrepreted the statement that a safety lever can be installed on the right of a USP as meaning that that it can just be switched. I suggest just installing an ambidextrous safety kit on any USP, so levers will be on both sides. (Why doe not H-K just sell all USP pistols with the ambi as standard?)

    Changing safety levers is something anyone can easily do. It requires no special tools, and is not difficult. If you can change your own oil, you should have the level of mechanical skill to do the switch. The idea that the owner will then face greater gunsmith charges if work is required on the pistol seems very silly to me. Just push out the pin, which does not need drilling out.

    I removed and installed my ambi kit several times when reshaping the back side of the levers so they would not drag on the frame as most USP levers do. There is almost nothing to do to a USP that one cannot do ones self. All parts are stamped or cast and require no fitting. Even if 'smith work were needed that would require removal of the ambi safety, just take off the ambi safety and put on the original Variant 1 safety before taking it to a 'smith. A 'smith who charges a lot extra for such things is gouging the customer. Foregoing the safety and convenience of an extra lever for a very unlikely nominal extra 'smith charge seems penny wise and pound foolish.

    One of the nice things about a standard USP is the choice to carry cocked and locked, hammer down with safety off or hammer down with safety on. Being a fan of active safeties, I often carry mine hammer down with the safety on.

    In regard to a M1911 ambi kit being easier to install, I disagree. Most M1911 kits require stock modifications. All require fitting of the sear block. Those kits that use the sear pin to hold on the right lever instead of stock modifications often require fitting to get them to work properly and freely. On the USP, just install the parts with no fitting. The hard thing is getting the parts because H-K will not sell parts directly. You have to buy from a vendor, and some are difficult with which to deal. I was promised my parts for almost a year, but I am told things are much better now. Go to the H-K PRO website and sources for the parts can be found there.
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  • rsnyder55
    Being a lefty myself, when I picked out a USP, I told the shop that I wanted it with a left handed safety. They shipped it to HK and HK (then) did not charge for the conversion.
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