HK P30L who has one

[gfry12]

Who has one, I bought one last night I have been looking at getting a new 9mm for some time and these caught my eye. What are you likes and dislikes. And yes I bought one without shooting one first, really like how the gun fit in my hands.

 

[ZbornacSVT]

Likes:
Everything!

Dislikes:
No readily available extended/threaded barrels...

You will enjoy it! Good buy!

 

[skeetman28]

picked up p30 40 s&w monday....haven't shot it yet ,but sure feels good in the hand...will get back to you whennI can put some down the pipe...

 

[indymike]

Who has one, I bought one last night I have been looking at getting a new 9mm for some time and these caught my eye. What are you likes and dislikes. And yes I bought one without shooting one first, really like how the gun fit in my hands.

Before I list my gripes with the P30 design, keep in mind this is from the perspective of a private, concealed carry owner, not a police/military etc owner that would carry this OWB in a duty holster with the seasonal use of gloves and possible night shooting encounters. For that purpose, the P30 and P30L would be an outstanding choice. That being said....

I had a P30LS for about two weeks. Long anticipated the LS version and was ecstatic to finally get one. Sold it two weeks later after one shooting session.

I found the trigger to be very sloppy/unpredictable and I couldn't really tell you how long the reset was as it too was unpredictable and slushy. I know this is somewhat hyperbolic but the whole trigger system on it reminded me of wagon wheels trying to make their way through mud. I was told by many in the HK forums that this simply does not improve with time or some type of "break-in" period. I couldn't get over this surprise as I figured a nearly $900 gun would have the most fine tuned, crisp, predictable and amazing trigger. The guys over at HKPro mentioned there is a really good smith that can clean this up but that would be another $150 or so with shipping and labor. I just couldn't justify spending another $150 after shelling out $880 for an LS NIB.

I also couldn't get used to the huge dots they have for sights. I understand this is for police/combat situations and the large dots aid in quick sighting but makes for a frustrating range session. Again, couldn't justify swinging another $150 in parts, labor and shipping to get new sights put in.

Another gripe I had was the grip texture with regards to concealed carry. I was wanting to occasionally CC this or the P30S but it would require a holster with a barrier or an undershirt. Try CC'ing this without an undershirt for half a day and watch what the grip texture does to your skin, I think if they put sandpaper on the grips this would be an improvement. Again, this is by design and for a solid grip with gloves and/or wet conditions and would be fantastic in that environment.

On the bright side, I loved the incredible light weight, I could not get over how light it was with 16 rounds in it and carried IWB. That really amazed me. The grip fit was as advertised and rumored to be, that is, "felt like it was designed for my hand"...it did indeed feel like that but I was disappointed to find out that it did not result in increased accuracy or trigger control. It would probably be great in weapon retention if someone tried to disarm you in a struggle and in that respect, it is very well done. Another few pluses are I love hammer fired guns for second strike capability, love the ability to carry cocked and locked (With the S versions), the mag release is excellent and I just think it is a really good looking pistol.

In sum, this is an outstanding pistol for the demographic for which it was designed...I just happen to not be in that demographic. I have done so much trial and error with HKs, I've owned 3, and I could never get past the width of the slide, even the P30 and P30L which have the slimmed down, more contoured slide. I was just spoiled by S&W 3rd gen .91 inch slides I guess and anything else is just too thick IWB.

If I had unlimited funds, I would have taken the P30LS and got a trigger job done on it, put some decent sights on it and found a way to smooth out the texture on the left side of the grip and would have had an amazing firearm.

YMMV