It’s 2025 and it seems like the most popular handgun designs are the striker fired variety.  It’s been that way for years now, but is the tide turning back to the DA/SA designs popular in the late 20th century?  

Likely, the striker fired handgun is going nowhere– that is to say, due to the affordable nature of the design and the refinements that have been made over the years, striker fired pistols will remain popular with most shooters. But what about a real top-tier DA/SA (double action/single action) that has more than stood the test of time? This would be referring to HKs USP.  

Hydrate, train, and maintain!  Whether you just love BB guns or suppliment your firearm training with air, the HK USP is the hot ticket for top shelf shooting.

It was the 90’s. You Wouldn’t Understand.

The HK USP was released in the mid-1990s.  To some people this is forever ago, but to some of us, we remember those years like it was yesterday. Pick-up trucks were made of steel, soft drinks were still commonly available in glass bottles, and cellphones were usually permanently mounted in your automobile. The 1990s had a lot going for it, even if some of the fashions of the day were obnoxious.  

The author showing the slide in the take-down position. 

The German Armed Forces were the first adopter of the USP, referred to by them as the P8, in 1994.  For the civilian market, the USP cost US consumers around $685.  Compared to popular striker fired handguns, HKs USP was considerably more expensive, by nearly $100. Then as now, price means a lot to consumers.  Thankfully, between the agencies who adopted this sidearm, and those who appreciate the finer things, the HK USP was and remains a “you can’t go wrong” sort of consumer decision. Good things are worth paying a little more to get.

Hollywood Blockbusters and Reasons. All the Reasons.

The USP has also been a definitive piece of popular culture since this time, appearing in blockbuster movies like Clear and Present Danger (1994), Terminal Velocity (1994), Virtuosity (1995), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Blood Diamond (2006), and The Expendables (2010).  These are just some of the bigger named films where the USP played a starring role and all between 1994 and 1010– a span of just 16 years. 

Yes, the HK USP .177 field strips just like the real steel version.

So what does all of this have to do with air pistols?  Umarex has had a blowback .177 BB version of this famed firearm in its catalog for about 7 years now. It just so happens that the HK USP blowback is one of my personal favorites.

One of the nice things about replica BB guns, is that if you are on the fence about purchasing the real steel, a replica like the HK USP can fast forward your familiarity and interface with it. This is especially true if you’ve never used the HK style triggerguard magazine release.  Not only that, but you get a working slide stop, last round hold-open, and, in the case of the HK USP .177 blowback, a working de-cocker.

The HK USP .177 will fit in most holsters designed for the firearm. 

And, since the BB version of this fine firearm only costs a small fraction of the real steel, it’s really a no-brainer decision. Plus, if you do go ahead and buy the real steel, you’ll have something to practice with on the cheap. And if you are just into BB guns and the awesomeness they bring to the table, you are a winner.  Either way you are a winner.

Mark Davis, avid outdoorsman, family man, and outdoors writer is the eCommerce Marketing Manager for Umarex USA.