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16,208 rounds |
0 stoppages | 0 malfunctions | 0 parts breakages |
Another week, and 15,000 is well behind us now. The pistol continues to run flawlessly despite the continued abuse of high volume shooting sessions and over 7,000 rounds since the last time it was properly cleaned.
Our “guest tester” this week was JimD of FirearmsTrainingAndTactics.com. FT&T is a great new online forum devoted to the training and technique side of shooting as opposed to the typical “Glock vs. 1911” hardware stuff. Check it out when you have a chance.
Jim was generous enough to drive three hours each way to help run the HK45 through its paces. He started by putting ten rounds into a 1″ square target at seven yards! The marketing department at HK would tell you it was the inherent accuracy of the pistol and incredibly easy to shoot LEM trigger. Jim might rightfully argue there was some skill involved, too, though.
Jim also brought some good luck to share. During our practice session, I turned in a best-yet F.A.S.T. score of 4.41 with the HK45:
- 4.41 (clean): 1.53, .39 / 1.79 / .24, .24, .22
Naturally, this was all the motivation I needed to push even harder, resulting in a total of three 3×5 misses out of my next two runs. Apparently, I used up all that luck in the first six shots.
One minor change was made to the front sight this week. Usually, I paint the front sight orange, along the same lines as the JohnO DIY High Visibility Front Sight modification. But based on some comments from Claude Werner, former head instructor at Rogers Shooting School, for the past week the HK45 has been wearing green. At first blush, I don’t find myself as visually drawn in by the green as the orange. But I’m going to run the gun this way for a while to give it a fair chance.
I’ve also received the prototype Warren Tactical rear sight for the HK45/P30, but until I get the proper height front night sight, it’s going to have to sit on my workbench.
Next Tuesday’s report should be an interesting one, because this weekend the HK45 will get put through a variety of standards and qualification drills during the Judgment Day class in Culpeper, VA. So check back next week to read all the results.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Previous HK45 Endurance Test posts at pistol-training.com:
- Week Eight
- Week Seven
- Week Six
- Week Five
- Week Four
- Week Three
- Week Two
- Week One
- Announcement
Hey Todd, it was my pleasure to come down and shoot with you. I hope we can do it again sometime! And yes, I do think the HK45 was pretty easy to shoot. 😉
Todd, what are you using to paint your front sight?
RE: Night Sights? – you are a big proponent of the Tritium front dot and all black rear….however you also have pictures and favorable comments of the new Warren small dot, vertical alignment rear sight on one of your Glocks. This is similar to the Heinie Straight 8 setup.
My 1911 has the 3 dots all same size and I am not really impressed. My subconcious kicks in and I try to aim versus point. It has been mentioned that the vertical 2 dot system aids in a quicker horizontal alignment.
My 1st generation Glock has a rear set up with white vertical lines at either side connected with a white flat horizontal bar. REALLY visible.
Question: Have you any experience with a front dot rear bar night system such as the Novak sights?
It seems that the green paint job experiment may be based on the eye being able to see green lightwaves much easier than red, like the green laser versus red laser.
Thanks for sharing the orange tape article!
For what it’s worth, I could hardly tell there was any green paint on that front sight. It could have been some soot, but I only saw the difference in color when the pistol was up being handled up close (not while I was shooting it at extension).
Again, many thanks!
Claude is the man.
Any reason for the change to Warren over Heinie?
Warrens, please!
(:-D)
Hk45 is ultra reliable and durable..awesome handgun..
Aaron — I’m painting the sight with a simple paint pen bought at the local arts & crafts store.
shoot 1911 — I am not a proponent of an all black rear for a carry/work gun. None of my pistols are set up that way. In my experience, there are too many lighting conditions which make a front-only tritium dot inadequate.
AdamG — I’ve always been a big fan of the Warren sights and have been using them since before they became commercially available. The unique sight picture provides the ideal balance of speed & accuracy. The Heinies have worked fine (excepting some quality control issues) and if the Warrens didn’t exist, they’d be my choice.
Thank you for correcting my mistaken perception of your preference in night sights. I hope that Warren begins to produce a Tritium 2 dot rear sight to fit a Novak dovetail 1911 slide. I want to move away from the 3 dot setup.
I have heard it said the most wear on a pistol comes from cleaning it, not shooting it.
Do you think this accounts for at least part of the reason for the longevity of the pistols you have tortured so far (M&P9, P30, HK45)?
Thoughts, opinions?
Not really. If anything, I believe both the M&P9 and the P30 would have gone farther before breaking if they’d been cleaned after every use and, more importantly, kept lubed more aggressively.
You can clean a pistol wrong, but I don’t really think you can clean it excessively.
The reason the M&P9, P30, and now HK45 run so well is because they’re high quality pistols. They are tested, well-developed designs that were built to high standards.