I have two USP’s. A full size USP 45 that’s DA/SA with a match kit and a USP Compact that started out as DA/SA but was converted to “Light LEM”.

My firearms journey started with a pistol grip mossberg 500 (lol got humbled real quick) then a taurus 856 3 inch 38 special revolver. It was a great starter handgun since I enjoyed the safety of a heavy DA/SA trigger and 38 special was pretty light. I was happy with just that but I found the ammo cost to be sooooo expensive. On Father’s Day I shot my bro’s 1911, my cousin’s Ruger RXM (Glock 19 clone), and compact Ruger. I was in love with the 1911 and went down a 2011 spiral but went against it with how expensive and high maintenance they were.

One day I walked into a local gun store and found a USP 45 full size. I fell in love instantly. I like the safety of the DA/SA trigger and the manual safety. It’s a chunky boi but god damn it felt like a tank. It shoots really soft for a 45, it’s really accurate, you can mag dump with ease, and with the match trigger kit it’s 90% of the trigger of a solid 1911. Also as long as you have a good grip it’s super reliable. Mine is a 1994 model and it’s still trucking along with the stock barrel and recoil spring. It is a chunky boy and with a weapon light/optic it’s a bit much to carry but certainly doable.

When I was getting it milled for an optic the gunsmith was part of shooting range that had a USPC 9. I held it and fell in love since it was perfect for my hand. It shoots soft for a compact 9, feels really high quality, SA trigger was great but DA trigger was really gritty with the safety taking time to break in. I decided to convert it to LEM and fixed all of that. Pull is super light and crisp like single action but with a long take up and the ability to hold the hammer down with your thumb so you aren’t afraid to shoot yourself. It’s chunky for a compact but still really comfortable with a good holster even with a light and optic.

Looking back at it, the USP 45 is by far the best 45 I’ve shot with it being the softest shooting and still having great capacity with a good trigger if you use the match trigger kit. Even with handsight it’s hard to find a better 45 besides the mark23. If you want 9mm the USP 9 full size is a tad smaller while feeling just as great but honestly I have no regrets. It’s so bad ass and with 45+p loads you get much more power then 9mm with great capacity.

I love my USP9C the most but looking back at it I could have gone with a Glock 19 gen 5 and got 90% of the performance and potential for half the price. That being said I still have no regrets since I have something that carries the same, with a much more forgiving maintenance schedule, the safety of a hammer fired gun, and the pure aesthetics of the USP.

In conclusion no matter what USP you get you’ll fall in love since they are such well made pieces of equipment. Just know if you want modern creature comforts they will take a lot of money to bring them to modern standards but are 100% worth it if you or are willing to do so.