Perhaps the most common host firearms for .460 Rowland cartridge conversions are the 1911s and Glocks. However, 460 Rowland LLC constantly expands their line of conversions, introducing the .460 Rowland cartridge to more weapon systems originally chambered in .45 ACP.

In this article, we’ll take a brief look at the latest offering of this company – the .460 Rowland conversion options for the Heckler & Koch USP Tactical pistol.

If you are not aware of the .460 Rowland cartridge, let me briefly describe it. The .460 Rowland is a .452 caliber cartridge that has the same overall length as the .45 ACP (making it possible to fit into standard magazines and grips) however, it operates at much higher pressures (40K psi, about twice as than the .45 ACP) making it a much more powerful cartridge. In fact, the company advertises it to provide .44 Magnum power in a semi-auto pistol package. This cartridge is capable of throwing the 185-grain pills at a muzzle velocity of 1,600 fps or accelerating the 230-grain projectiles to about 1,300 fps. In order to prevent the possibility of accidental chambering the .460 Rowland into a .45 ACP chamber, the Rowland case is designed to be 1/16 longer than the .45 ACP case.

Comparison of the .460 Rowland and .45ACP cartridges and cases

The 460 Rowland LLC offers both the completely converted H&K USP Tactical handguns and a conversion service for the USP Tactical barrels. You can find below the company’s description of the converted handgun.

The world renowned H&K USP Tactical .45 is built on the more compact USP 45 frame but includes all the features of the mighty HK Mark 23. When converted to .460 Rowland® this extraordinary firearm delivers three to four times the power and twice the effective range of it’s bigger six-inch brother. 

For the first time ever .460 Rowland® has combined the power and range of The Mighty .460 Rowland® Conversion with the H&K’s legendary match grade accuracy, user-friendly ergonomics and combat-proven toughness. It is a rugged and robust weapon that meets or exceeds the performance and durability of most fine, custom-made handguns costing thousands of dollars more!

.460 Rowland® has redefined this exceptional State of the Art weapon by giving it…

• TWICE the Range and Velocity…
• Over THREE TIMES the Muzzle Energy…
• Almost TWICE the Power at 150 YARDS as it originally had at the MUZZLE!!  

True .44 Magnum Horsepower in this rugged, reliable and battle-tested .45 caliber semi-automatic hand gun clearly makes it one of the very Best of the Best

If you browse the company’s website, you’ll see that all of the .460 Rowland converted handguns either have ported barrels or compensators. The H&K USP Tactical conversion is no exception. The muzzle brake is a must for such a powerful cartridge. The converted USP Tactical pistol comes with a match grade stainless steel barrel with the new caliber engraved on it. The barrel has a metric M16x1 muzzle thread pitch and comes with the company’s Multi-Port compensator installed. The converted handgun also comes with a new recoil spring tuned to work with the increased speed and power of reciprocating parts and designed to mitigate the recoil, too.

The MSRP of the .460 Rowland converted H&K USP Tactical handgun is $1,557. You can also send your USP Tactical barrel and for $236 they will rechamber it for the new caliber and also send you a muzzle brake with your barrel.

Images from www.460rowland.com