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View Full Version : New P30 and have some questions



win_nut
04-01-2011, 09:35 PM
I bought a NIB P30 V2, converted it to V1 and cleaned and lubed my new prize. The pistol came with Meprolights installed. I went to the range and after about 150 rounds it started drifting to the left. I checked out the gun and found the rear sight had drifted. So I packed up and went home to inspect the sight issue. Another issue that I had was the slide not locking back on the last shot. So I get home and I was able to pull the sight out by hand. I inspected the bottom of the sight and found a single peen mark (from a center punch). I could see that that was the only bearing surface keeping the sight in place.
So I took my pneumatic center punch and added 5 more spots to the bottom of the sight and installed it. The sight seems to be holding fine, I put another 250 rounds through it with no issues with the sight. I am used to shooting my USP with factory sights, POI behind the dot.

Question 1: Is the POI of the Meprolight sights different than the factory sights? I am shooting high, about 2" @ 7yds.

I was shooting Winchester 124 gr Ranger and Win 124 gr NATO, when I had the issues with the slide not locking back. I did have better luck with Hornady 147gr TAP, slide locked about 1/2 the time. I tried all 5 magazines I have, no difference.

Question 2: Should I Just keep shooting the pistol and hope that it "breaks in" or send it back to HK to check out. The round count is 425.

Note: I shot the gun strong hand only to make sure I was not riding the slide lock, it did not make any difference. The gun was generously lubed with break-free CLP.

JV_
04-01-2011, 09:37 PM
You you 100% certain you weren't riding the slide release? It's a very common issue on the P30 because of its size.

win_nut
04-01-2011, 09:53 PM
Yeah, I ran several 3 round magazines through strong hand only to see if that may be the case. It did not seem to make any difference.
Thanks for the reply!

joshs
04-01-2011, 10:11 PM
Did you disassemble the magazines? It is possible the put the spring back in backwards, which results in no lock back. When you rack the slide with an empty mag in the gun, does it lock back? If not, then either the springs are in backwards or the springs and/or followers need to be replaced.

win_nut
04-01-2011, 10:29 PM
All 5 of my mags lock back. I will disassemble my mags tomorrow and see if the springs are in backwards. I have heard of the P30's having some weak mag springs, is this true? They are stronger than my USP 40, and I don't have any problems with it.

SecondsCount
04-01-2011, 10:39 PM
I have the slide lock issue with mine but it is definitely me, not the gun.

See if there is someone else you know that is a good shooter that could run the P30 and see if the issue still crops up.

ToddG
04-01-2011, 10:56 PM
The Meprolight sights suck puss. But to the best of my knowledge, there is no POI shift between them and factory sights.

I'm willing to bet $5 you're riding the slide release, even when shooting SHO. Try doing the same experiment but (a) shoot WHO and (b) very consciously curl your thumb down (try to make a first) rather than flagging it up or forward.

joshs
04-01-2011, 11:02 PM
If they lock back, then the springs are probably in correctly. When you shot SHO could your thumb have been resting on the slide release? If so, try shooting SHO again and purposely place your thumb below the slid release.

F-Trooper05
04-01-2011, 11:22 PM
I'm willing to bet $5 you're riding the slide release, even when shooting SHO.

+1. It doesn't take much pressure at all to prevent slide lock. I put in a P2K lever on mine and it makes a huge difference.

YVK
04-02-2011, 12:41 AM
I'm willing to bet $5 you're riding the slide release, even when shooting SHO. Try doing the same experiment but (a) shoot WHO and (b) very consciously curl your thumb down (try to make a first) rather than flagging it up or forward.

I had to use option b and also use a very weird low grip to diagnose this. Even WHO can give same issue because "the other side" lever is big too.

JodyH
04-02-2011, 07:52 AM
My fix.
Since this picture I've shortened the lever again. Now it's almost half the size it is in this pic.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/JodyHuggins/p30slidestop.jpg

SLG
04-02-2011, 11:00 AM
I HATE ambi slide releases!

JodyH
04-02-2011, 03:44 PM
final solution

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/JodyHuggins/p30sr.jpg

JDM
04-02-2011, 04:15 PM
final solution

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/JodyHuggins/p30sr.jpg

That looks real good.

KentF
04-02-2011, 04:51 PM
final solution

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/JodyHuggins/p30sr.jpg

Did you do the same to the right side or leave it as is?

JodyH
04-02-2011, 06:13 PM
Did you do the same to the right side or leave it as is?
I left the right side as is.
When I shoot weak hand I lock my thumb down instead of flagging it forward, so it's not an issue.

John Ralston
04-02-2011, 07:30 PM
+1. It doesn't take much pressure at all to prevent slide lock. I put in a P2K lever on mine and it makes a huge difference.

How difficult is it to swap the Lever - i.e. do you need to be an armorer?

JV_
04-02-2011, 07:32 PM
How difficult is it to swap the Lever - i.e. do you need to be an armorer?

It's very easy, it's retained by the trigger spring arm.

JodyH
04-02-2011, 07:52 PM
How difficult is it to swap the Lever - i.e. do you need to be an armorer?
takes about 30 seconds

GJM
04-02-2011, 08:34 PM
I had my slide stop levers trimmed to P30/S size, and then cerakoted. Between that, a medium back, small right and large left panel, and my dominant thumb over my support thumb's highest knuckle, the problem went away. The HK 45/45C's dimensions are different enough that I haven't had the problem with them.

I also had a problem with a Mep rear sight flopping around in the dovetail.

win_nut
04-02-2011, 09:02 PM
I will try curling my thumb down to see if that helps out. If that's it I'll try out the slide lock from a P2000, does HKparts.net have them? I won't be able to get to the range until Monday. I'll give an update then, and thanks for all of the help. I haven't had any formal pistol training (on the bucket list) so I have been trying to troubleshoot everything myself. I really never had an issue like this pop up before, been shooting pistols since 1987.

JohnN
04-03-2011, 11:58 AM
Finally got my P30 and ran around 200 rounds of assorted hardball and JHP's. It ran fine when I didn't inadvertently short stroke the trigger (coming from a M&P). Once I got used to the reset however it works fine.

Big time problem of not locking the slide back on an empty magazine. I'm fine on the first round when concentrating on hand placement but on the reload my hand is too high. Currently running all large inserts thinking it would keep my hand away from the controls but apparently not. Would shortening the slide releases help to make the gun less susceptible to a high support hand?

JodyH
04-03-2011, 01:10 PM
Would shortening the slide releases help to make the gun less susceptible to a high support hand?
From page 2 of this thread.

the fix

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/JodyHuggins/p30sr.jpg

JohnN
04-03-2011, 01:43 PM
Thanks Jody, saw the picture, just wanted to make sure that the mod was going to solve the issue.

GJM
04-03-2011, 03:52 PM
Big time problem of not locking the slide back on an empty magazine. I'm fine on the first round when concentrating on hand placement but on the reload my hand is too high. Currently running all large inserts thinking it would keep my hand away from the controls but apparently not. Would shortening the slide releases help to make the gun less susceptible to a high support hand?

Isn't the problem your dominant thumb, not the support thumb?

JV_
04-03-2011, 03:55 PM
Isn't the problem your dominant thumb, not the support thumb?

Sometimes the problem is because your support hand is too high, and the meat of your hand is pushing inward on the slide release - preventing it from moving up.

John Ralston
04-03-2011, 07:47 PM
It's very easy, it's retained by the trigger spring arm.

Any need to remove the trigger spring or just tap it out with a punch and then put the new one in?

I will be ordering a P2K Version, so that I can put it back to original if I ever decide to.

JV_
04-03-2011, 07:49 PM
Any need to remove the trigger spring or just tap it out with a punch and then put the new one in

No, you can pull the spring leg forward just a tad, while it's installed, then the release will come out.

John Ralston
04-03-2011, 07:52 PM
Thanks!

JohnN
04-04-2011, 12:53 AM
Isn't the problem your dominant thumb, not the support thumb?

Anything is possible but I was pretty careful to keep my dominant thumb on top of my support hand away from the release. I am trying to work through it.

LOKNLOD
04-04-2011, 05:19 PM
Anything is possible but I was pretty careful to keep my dominant thumb on top of my support hand away from the release. I am trying to work through it.

Before I purchased my P30, I shot a friend's gun a bit and really struggled with the no-lock-back issue. Almost to the point I was ready to strike the P30 off the possibility list.

What I found was that it was both thumbs that caused the problem for me - the obvious trouble was with the dominant (right) thumb bumping the slide stop down. The more subtle one was my support (left) thumb applying very light pressure to the slide stop at the axle/pivot point. Using my "Glock Grip" that thumb naturally rested against the frame in that area and was enough to retard the motion enough to cause it to miss the lockback.

For whatever it's worth (maybe nothing since everyone's hands are different), with no mods to the slide lock lever and just a slight tweak to my grip (dominant thumb over support knuckle, and lowering my support thumb a bit) I've not had any further issues with failure to lock back and it's not even a conscious effort any more.

win_nut
04-05-2011, 01:21 PM
I got to the range today and discovered the my strong hand thumb was slipping off my support hand and hitting the slide stop during recoil. I was able to recreate the fail and corrected my grip by putting my thumb on the far side of the weak hand thumb knuckle. I was putting my thumb on top of the knuckle. While shooting SHO, I was riding the slide stop, so I also adjusted my grip when shooting SHO. It will take some practice, so I will be leaving my USP at home. Thanks for all of the help!

SteveK
05-16-2011, 05:31 PM
Finally got out to the range with my new P30. I truly do love the way it shoots, but it is definitely a high thumbs grip pistol.

TCinVA
05-17-2011, 06:35 AM
Finally got out to the range with my new P30. I truly do love the way it shoots, but it is definitely a high thumbs grip pistol.

Instead, try curling your support hand thumb down to touch the rail on the pistol or even the side of the trigger guard. It really helps to keep the slide release from being neutered by your grip.

SteveK
05-17-2011, 07:21 AM
Initially I thought that was the problem since I take a really high grip with my thumb along the forward frame. I'm a southpaw and discovered that it's actually my strong hand thumb wrapped around the frame that is resting on the starboard release. My support hand thumb is actually forward of the release. I'm either gonna have to really work to recondition myself to a high thumb grip or shorten the release. On the upside, the thing shoots like a dream and the reset hasn't been an issue.