My friend and I were interested in buying 2 HK USP's from Elwood Epps. They were dicks in the email response they sent to me so I emailed the owners let them know about the email and I was going else where. Not much you can do other than that.
Truly? Strange, I answer about 90% of the customer inquiry E-mails here at Ellwood Epps and I do not recall any conversation with any customer in the recent past concerning the purchase of two HK USP pistols. Would you care to elaborate on that incident?
To the OP: The biggest issue in the firearms industry, as seen from the sales side of the counter, is individual preference outweighing acceptance that not all people are going to like the same thing. I have personally owned more than 20 Glock pistols over the past 25 years, predominantly G.17 models, with a few G.19s salted into the mix. That does not mean, however, that the Glock line of pistols is by any means the best selection for every individual shooter. Fit to each individual hand, comfort with that firearm, and repeatability in sighting that pistol have to play equally important parts to name selection.
There are simple drills that can be done right at the sales counter to determine if any particular model fits an individual shooter. Any of our staff would be happy to assist you in making the right choice for your own personal needs at any time.
Regarding the 9mm vs .40 S&W vs .45 ACP debate, I have found that the 9mm Luger round is an excellent choice for any level of shooter, regardless of their experience. For new or first-time shooters it is a light-recoiling round with excellent accuracy and enough "knock down" power to ring steel targets out to 25 yards or more.
The .40 S&W round is equally popular to the 9mm (or perhaps more so, depending upon whom you speak with), however it is my experience that first-time shooters find the .40 S&W cartridge to be somewhat more difficult to control in rapid fire with polymer-framed guns to the increased muzzle blast and rise, and the lack of product weight to bring the pistol barrel back down and the sights back into alignment between shots. Experienced shooters normally find this issue easy enough to overcome, but for beginners, or those new to pistols such as the Glock line, the S&W M&P guns, or even the heavier HK USPs and other polymer models, it can be somewhat tiresome to shoot the .40 right out of the gates.
The .45 ACP cartridge is extremely popular due to its impressive size and "knock down" power. The issue with the .45 ACP is not its shootability or recoil control, but rather its wear on the pocketbook. With most 9mm Luger rounds priced in the range of $15.00 -- $17.00 per box of 50 rounds, while .40 S&W ranges from $18.00 -- $23.00 per box of 50, the .45 ACP is predominantly sold at the $30.00 mark for 50 rounds of ammunition, with a few cheaper exceptions that are not always available.
Also, the grip diameter on a polymer-framed pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge is noticeably larger than those on the 9mm and .40 S&W models, meaning shooters with smaller hands (like myself) often encounter problems with the fit and comfort of a bigger gun when testing the fit at the sales counter, or shooting at the range. The G.21 SF variants from Glock did address this issue, and managed to reduce the grip diameter to a more manageable size, but it is still a handful for those with smaller hands. The H&K UPS and even the HK.45s still exhibit large grip diameters for small hands, while the S&W M&P in .45 ACP is a large-framed grip even with the smallest backstrap options installed. But when you compare the overall size of the 9mm Luger cartridge with the .45 ACP, there is an obvious difference in diameter, resulting in an equally obvious difference in grip dimensions to hold the magazine containing those rounds.
I might suggest IMHO that the majority of first-time shooters and beginning competitors find the 9mm Luger to be a much more user-friendly round out of most guns, including Glocks, SIG Sauers, Berettas, CZs, etc, than the .40 S&W or the .45 ACP, both in fit and controlabilty. Once the experience level progresses, so too can the familiarity and comfort level with the bigger bores.
As has been stated here, a good number of shooters learn to handle handguns from the .22 LR calibre, then progress upward as their comfort and proficiency levels increase. Never let a salesman talk you into buying something you are neither comfortable with, nor familiar with. And I say this from a sales point of view. We are not here to
serve you, contrary to popular belief, we are here to
service your needs. That means we are here to
help you make an educated and well-informed decision based upon our own knowledge, our own experiences, and the experiences that have been reported back to us by other shooters and gun enthusiasts.
Give us a call, or drop me an E-mail at Epps if you have any further questions. I'll be happy to help as I am able.
