Good advice...

[Chuck Biscuits]

Who's the tard that thread locked (permanent!) the barrel thread protector and sanded the grips on the USP Tactical .40 at Central Florida Gun exchange in Port Orange? Unfortunately I was the tard that didn't notice it until I got it home and tried to remove the slide. Lesson learned. Good advice for future used gun owners: inspect/dissassemble gun thoroughly before purchase.

[AWD]

I am assuming this was a trade-in?

I have purchased two new Hk's at that shop, nothing but professionalism on their part. Perhaps they did not catch it when they bought/traded the gun in? It sucks you had to deal with that crap. Have you gone back to see what they say?

Hope whoever did that to that Tactical suffers bad karma... who would trade in a Tactical anyway?

AWD

[Mark71]

Wow that sucks! I am interested to hear what the shop says. Hopefully they will give you a refund.

[seven.sixtwo]

I'll bet you can get the thread protector off without damaging the bbl or gun, and even if you wreck the protector they are cheap.
Soak the front end in PB Blast or similar, put the slide in a vise with some rubber protection and crank the protector with a pair of channel locks. That's good German steel, it should be way easier to remove than stuck bolts on an American Jeep that disintegrate when trying to remove them.

This is all, of course, if you can't take it back. A gun you can't disassemble to clean is hardly a gun at all!!

[Sobriquet]

$20 says that gun originated in California. Threaded barrels are a big no-no out here (they're classified as assault weapons), so you have to permanently attach something to cover the threads.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope the dealer makes it right.

[Big Bore]

First of all make sure you are not trying to take off the TP the wrong way! This is VERY common with those new to Tacticals. It is LEFTY TIGHTY, RIGHTY LOOSEY on the left handed threads the Tactical uses.

If you have been trying to take off the TP the wrong way, now it is freezer time. Put the whole thing in the freezer over night. In the morning throw some heat on the TP only and it should come right off with pliers but you may ruin the TP and you will need a new one. And next time, make sure you are turning it the correct way when taking it off because if not, all you do is jam it on there so tightly it is almost impossible to remove without some damage to the TP. And if you did jam it on there trying to take if off the wrong way, consider it a lesson learned if you ruin the TP because the shop is not responsible for that.

If it really is thread-locked on, throw some heat on it from a propane torch. About 400 degrees will break all Lock-Tite bonds but you may need a new o-ring afterwards. Temps needed to break Lock-Tite bonds will not hurt your barrel in the least.

As to the sanded grips, yuck. I'd never have bought that in the first place.

Sorry to disagree with the others but I see no responsibility due the shop. When buying a used gun if the buyer does not disassemble and inspect then woe unto the buyer. It is not the shop's fault if the buyer gets excited and does not do a thorough job of inspecting. If the shop would not let you take it apart nor would they take it apart themselves for you to inspect, then that is another story.

[Chuck Biscuits]

I did manage to get the TP off. I wish I would of known about heating it up first but I wasn't sure what exactly was used to bond it. I wrapped the TP in cardboard and then put it in a vice and turned the whole weapon to unscrew it. I did look the gun over and cycle the action when I was at the store but somehow the sanded grips got by me. It was very clean and no scratches/dents on the slide and it looks like it hasn't been shot very much. I asked about the background of the gun and the salesman told me the previous owner upgraded to a .45. I haven't called the store yet to tell them about it but I'm sure I'll mention it the next time i'm over. I got it for a song so i can't complain too much. I take responsibility for not looking it over but the store should have also inspected the weapon as well and at least told me the TP was lock tited on the barrel. I'm chalking this up to experience and will be much more diligent on used weapon purchases in the future.

[H&K 4 LIFE]

...If it really is thread-locked on, throw some heat on it from a propane torch. About 400 degrees will break all Lock-Tite bonds but you may need a new o-ring afterwards. Temps needed to break Lock-Tite bonds will not hurt your barrel in the least...


I deal with Loc-tite all the time and this is what I do to break it's hold. You can usually break blue and red by hand, but if they used too much red or worse yet green then get out the torch. :)

[Perseus]

How bad were the grips sanded down? I'm surprised you couldn't tell looking at it. Bummer

[One Round Down]

How bad were the grips sanded down? I'm surprised you couldn't tell looking at it. Bummer

+1

I can understand the thread protector to a certain extent, but how is it that you bought a pistol that had the grip surface sanded down without knowing it? Sight and touch...two vastly different sense...let you down on this one, bro. I am damn sorry to hear about this. Hopefully you got it for a steal and the grip hasn't been completely F'ed up by some tard who should have to wipe his butt with coarse sandpaper for the rest of his natural life for committing such an atrocity!!

[Alan_13]

well if you got it for a good deal and you got the TP off then I guess a Hogue handall will solve your grip issue to an extent

[ARKAY.357]

There are smiths/gun customizers who are adept at changing or adding stippling. I don't have a reference, but I'm sure a search would be productive.

HTH,

ARKAY

[NonConformist]

I can see the thread cap, but how can you not notice sanded grips!

[sjopling]

Throw a Hogue grip on it and youll be good.

If you got a great price on it I dont think the sanding would bother me too much, as long as its not ridiculous.

Why would anyone sand the grips anyway? Makes no sense

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Why would anyone sand the grips anyway? Makes no sense

So it doesn't chafe their soft girly skin when they carry it. :p

[Big Bore]

Over the years there have been many people on here who have complained about the grips on USPs being too sharp and have broken out the sandpaper to tone them down a bit. Personally, since I "work" for a living, I have never found the grips to be so sharp that they have gotten a second thought but for someone who sets behind a desk all day or does nothing during or after work to toughen up their hands a bit, MAYBE I can see their point. It's their hands so they should know I guess but it seems to me if one found the grips too hard that it would be a better choice to toughen up one's hands than to sand down the grips. But that's just me.

[sjopling]

Over the years there have been many people on here who have complained about the grips on USPs being too sharp and have broken out the sandpaper to tone them down a bit. Personally, since I "work" for a living, I have never found the grips to be so sharp that they have gotten a second thought but for someone who sets behind a desk all day or does nothing during or after work to toughen up their hands a bit, MAYBE I can see their point. It's their hands so they should know I guess but it seems to me if one found the grips too hard that it would be a better choice to toughen up one's hands than to sand down the grips. But that's just me.

Or get a hogue grip or something. It doesnt make any sense to me to do something to the gun that isnt repairable.

[BodyArmorGuy]

I did look the gun over and cycle the action when I was at the store but somehow the sanded grips got by me. It was very clean and no scratches/dents on the slide and it looks like it hasn't been shot very much. I asked about the background of the gun and the salesman told me the previous owner upgraded to a .45. I haven't called the store yet to tell them about it but I'm sure I'll mention it the next time i'm over. I got it for a song so i can't complain too much. I take responsibility for not looking it over but the store should have also inspected the weapon as well and at least told me the TP was lock tited on the barrel. I'm chalking this up to experience and will be much more diligent on used weapon purchases in the future.

I would have to say that this is an aberation, the crew at Florida Gun Exchange are real straight shooters (no pun intended). The tend to deal in a lot of higher end guns and prices are reasonable. I purchased a Wilson CQB and a Wilson UT-15 from them and was very please with the staff.