Now, back then I was all about GLOCK and Beretta (and I still am). But I do happen to own some of the goods that both SIG and HK have released and I find the USP Compact and SP2022 to be excellent competitors.
I find the USP to be an excellent pistol and while it has been updated with the P2000 line, the USP Compact is still just as capable today as it was then. Yeah, the accessory rail might be a tad outdated. But other than that, there isn't a single thing wrong with this gun as a modern and capable DA/SA hammer fired polymer framed pistol. Especially with it being chambered in .40 S&W since it was designed from the ground up for it.
The SP2022 is in my opinion, SIG Sauer's final original product. It is the ultimate iteration of the P22x line. It took everything that was successful with the P220, P226, and P229 and adapted it to a polymer frame and from there it was further refined in the Sig Pro line until we got to the SP2022. Again, being chambered from the ground up .40 S&W, this gun has no issues with the cartridge. It is SIG's best DA/SA gun out there.
While both are different designs, they're both made with superb ergonomic and mechanical layouts. The control levers on the USP Compact and the SP2022 are easily useable for most shooters. Both share the same capacity of 12rds when chambered in .40 S&W and both can shoot .357 Sig with nothing more than a barrel swap.
Their mags are well made and since both are marketed as "compact" guns. The frames while slightly shorter are still comfortable since both magazines have a small finger rest on their magazines.
They both shoot well, have little to no recoil, are easy and light to carry, are simple to take apart and work on, and are both in my opinion excellent guns of their era. Prior to the insanity of the 2020 panic, you can get a SP2022 for under $400 new and a USP Compact for around $450 used. That is the only major difference between the two. It was the ungodly price for a new USP Compact, which I would never pay out of pocket for. The massive amounts of police trade in guns chambered in .40 S&W meant that there were great deals out there for a USP Compact. But alas... those deals have since dried up.
Both HK and SIG have dipped their toes into the striker fired market and neither of them are going to abandon said market. The P320 is making huge inroads and the VP9 is also doing well. While HK's legacy guns like the USP Compact are selling well, I eventually see them canceling their production soon enough. SIG has already started to slowly close shop on their DA/SA guns and the SP2022 is being treated like the redheaded stepchild and soon enough, I see them shuttering that line too. Eventually, both will go all in with their striker fired guns and stop producing DA/SA guns.
I'm simply grateful that I was able to snag both of these guns for a great price before the insanity happened.
