I have a USP Elite 45 somewhere in the safe. No need to post pictures here, as they can be found on the web everywhere, usually held by good-looking people from movies.
USPs have a certain "brutalist" beauty to them. They are all about right angles, hard edges, and big bulky things. At least on the Elite, the slide is tapered a little bit. But that giant grip always looks (and to many people feels) like it was made out of a brick, by applying a little bit of black paint to it. I know that for shooters with anything but giant hands, the USP grip is unergonomic and painful (I have two of those in the family). By the way, 2011s share the same aesthetic.
Yet, their look for a long time defined what semi-auto pistols were supposed to be like. Just like the big S&W pistols (of "do you feel lucky punk" fame) defined what revolvers were supposed to be like.
They are also somewhat strange to shoot. I don't know what it is, whether it's the relatively high bore axis, or the weird 2-part recoil (due to the step in the recoil spring), or the weight distribution. Getting accurate with them is just harder and requires more practicing. To me, a Beretta 92 or Sig 210 or 226 or Browning HP just seems to point and aim naturally, and the USP seems to be fighting me to get on the 10 ring. All very strange; a large fraction of that might be just psychology.
