SOCOM eventually purchased 7,500 Heckler and Koch guns under the name Mark 23, with deliveries taking place between 19. (The USP’s safety also doubles as a decocking lever.) The USP features Novak-style sights, as well as a rail under the barrel for attaching lights and laser aiming devices. Both pistols have large slide stops, a similar grip geometry, and a frame-mounted safety located underneath the rear sights. Interestingly, the USP shares some features with an American classic, the 1911A1. The company later released 9 millimeter and.

40 Smith & Wesson round, so the USP was initially chambered in the new midrange round. Police and sheriff departments across the U.S. The USP was initially aimed at the law enforcement and commercial markets. So prevalent was the wave that even the U.S. The USP was developed in the late 1980s as a response to the wave of European “Wonder Nine” high capacity pistols flooding the American firearms market. Heckler and Koch’s submission for the OHWS was based on the company’s new Universal Service Pistol. military was engaged in a post-Cold War drawdown.

The contract was for up to 8,000 pistols, plus accessories, a relative rarity at a time the rest of the U.S. The Offensive Handgun Weapon System (OHWS) was also to be capable of firing high-pressure +P rounds that dramatically increased muzzle velocity and energy. SOCOM wanted a hard-hitting pistol that combined a high ammunition capacity, a variety of aiming devices, luminous sights and ambidextrous manual safety.

SOCOM-the parent command for several Army, Navy, and Air Force special operations units-issued a requirement for a new handgun.

Heckler koch usp serial numbers