The DA/SA trigger leaves a lot to be desired, but the LEM variants are pretty nice. I run mine as SAOs so the DA trigger doesn't bother me.
As for the cost, yeah but HK has to pay for the engineering somehow.
I've never heard of HK having to recall a firearm.
I've never head of HK having to send out a
ton or replacement parts to fix breakages, the only part that seems prone to failure is the trigger return springs, usually on higher round count guns, and that's depends on what spring you've got. I don't think I've heard of a 8.5lbs spring breaking yet.
I've never heard of HK having to revamp and send out replacement recoil springs.
I've never heard of HKs having rust problems
I've never heard an obscene amount of guns having to go back to the factory.
I've never heard of HKs having extractor issues.
I've never heard of them having any "quality" issues.
All in all they're pretty well built guns and they have much less issues than almost every other manufacturer I can think of.
The only real drawbacks are:
DA/SA trigger and if you shoot the gun enough, you'll learn how to shoot it well. If you MUST have a DA/SA trigger though, I would probably opt for something else. But if you're open to double action only, the LEM trigger is pretty nice.
Parts availability is extremely lacking. However I've ordered some stuff direct from HK with no problems so far. But aftermarket support is very lacking.
Magazines are expensive, however an HK mag is expected to last the average life span of the gun - 20K.
If you want a glimpse of what to expect from HK, read the last two entries of the P30 and Hk45 tests done by Todd Green of Pistol-Training.com
pistol-training.com » Blog Archive » P30 Thursday: Week Forty-Two
91,322 rounds
13 stoppages, 0 malfunctions, 5 parts breakages
test ended at: 91,622 rounds
From 1-May-09 to 19-Mar-10 — 322 days — the pistol fired 91,322 rounds.
Of those 322, it spent 130 days at the range, averaging over 700 rounds per trip.
It spent 512 hours at the range, averaging almost 180 rounds per hour. By the way, 512 hours is more than three weeks at twenty four hours per day, seven days a week.
That rnd/hr number is a bit skewed, though, because it includes many hours on the range teaching. When you look at just my personal practice routines, the gun was regularly firing 350-550 rounds per hour.
During the entire test, the pistol experienced a total of thirteen stoppages. Those who have followed the test from the beginning will remember that the first seven were the result of an out-of-spec mainspring that was replaced before the 10,000 round mark. The last three, as reported above, were in quick succession due to the gun reaching the end of its service life. Between the time when the mainspring was replaced and the gun’s final death throes, there were only three stoppages… that’s less than one stoppage per 27,000 rounds fired.
pistol-training.com » Blog Archive » HK45 Endurance Test: Week Thirty Seven
50,000 rounds
1 stoppages 1 (*) malfunctions 1 parts breakages
50,000 rounds in just over eight months.
52 total days of testing
96 trips to the range
average 520.8 rounds per trip
392 hours of range time
average 127.5 rounds per hour
The HK45 was fired in nine States… and one foreign country, eh?
Twelve different types of ammunition from nine different manufacturers were used:
CCI Blazer 230gr FMJ: 26,185
Federal American Eagle 230gr FMJ: 21,354
Remington UMC 230gr MC: 850
Winchester 230gr Ranger SXT: 542
PMC 230gr FMJ: 600
ASYM 230gr FMJ Match: 124
ASYM 185gr National Match Target: 120
Black Hills 230gr FMJ: 50
Mag Tech 230gr MC: 50
Pro Load 230gr Match FMJ: 50
Winchester (white box) 230gr FMJ: 50
Remington 230gr Golden Saber BJHP: 25
The pistol was only cleaned seven times during the entire test, going 10,181 rounds between cleanings at one point.