You really need to know what you are talking about .The fire control positions are up to Fire move down 1 position to safe all the way down to decock the lever returns to safe .Yes the pistol can be carried locked and cocked
O.k., fair enough. Thanks for pointing that out. I don't have a P8. I've shot a few of them over the years, and I used to have a USP in 9mm, but I didn't really like it. The only similar gun from that family I still have is the P2000. The P2000 and the P30 have no manual safety - so the "cocked and locked" idea has been dropped for this newer generation of pistols (but not for HK45 and HK 45C... which, like the USP were designed for the American market. The P2000 and P30 were designed for European police).
I thought I could remember that moving the lever down (to safety) on the P8 would bring the hammer down - but you have corrected me on that, so thank you. That is the way my girlfriend's Beretta is - and I find it bloody annoying - so I have developed this dislike of pistols that de-#### to the safety (granted they are not all the same
).
From what you are saying then, the P8 can be either cocked or de-cocked with the lever in this downward safety position. This is showing it de-cocked with the safety on:
This is what the USP looks like on safety (also de-cocked, obviously):
When I had a USP... I wasn't a big fan of the whole safety/de-cocking lever. I like the newer guns that have dropped it alltogether and moved the de-cocker to the back of the pistol. I didn't feel that there was enough room for me to get my thumb under it with the grip I wanted (high on the pistol) ... so I "rode" the de-cocker with my thumb, as in this video (of myself from a few years back)... and that wasn't ideal either, as it seemed to decrease the controllability of the gun for me (and with the big blocky grip I thought that controlability of the gun was not the strong point of that gun for me):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADdeVoJ5RiM
Similar video. I actually move my thumb on top of the de-cocker before firing in this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0LYkPJA8gc
When I look at these videos now... I think my grip and everything looks terrible. It is not surprising to me that this gun never became a favorite of mine. I am basically a SIG guy, and the USP didn't really jive with me.
By contrast, I have liked the P2000 a lot better, I can shoot a lot better with it, and in particular a lot more accurately in rapid fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_nfKbnz8FE
Anyway... on the original question of this thread.... I myself wouldn't go out of my way to get a P8 or a USP, and lead bullets shouldn't be a deciding factor in my view. If you really think that you love the USP... see if you can try one out at a range first... and see if you can try the P2000 and/or P30L before buying. Anybody in Vancouver who wants to try the P2000 (or P7, SIG P229, P239, NP-34, or Beretta 90-two) send me a PM. My girlfriend and I are going to the public range (7) at PoCo most of the time now... now that the rainy season is in full force and the unsupervised (and uncovered) ranges are pretty wet up there - so shoule be easy to find on a Saturday afternoon... and I should have most of these guns with me... plus the new AR-15 in 9mm!
