Recently, Mr_White mentioned that he got to shoot a student's light LEM P30SK, in a class, and was favorably impressed. Being an HK fan boy, I saw one on Gunbroker with light LEM, three mags and factory night sights for a good price, and grabbed it. This afternoon, I got to shoot it for the first time. If you don't care to read the details, I really liked it.
Taking it out of the box, I noticed the rear sight was set just a smidgen right, almost as if HK had regulated it for my eyes. First task was shooting it at 25 yards to check zero and get a feel for accuracy. Here was five rounds of Gold Dot 124+P:
Then I shot HST 147, and while not as tight a group, it was still darn good, and about three inches. Based on this and the rest of my shooting, it is clear the SK is accurate. A nice surprise was the OEM Metro sights seem close to tip of the front sight on the P30 series, as opposed to drive the dot I often experience with the USP and USP Compact pistols. Comparing sight radius between the P30sk and my USP Compact, radius is basically identical. While the SK has a shorter barrel, the rear sight protrudes rear of the dovetail, making up the difference. I find the OEM rear sight to be nicely dehorned, and for my use I plan to leave the Metro sights.
I did all my shooting with the SK magazine and found it to give me a full firing grip. I noticed that I had to work fairly hard to not break my grip with strings of 124+P, where the 147 recoiled less. I have since added some grip tape to the upper part of the left side of the grip. Subsequent to the accuracy testing, I shot another 150 rounds of mixed ammo, with no stoppages. Brass ejected nicely, as you expect with an HK. I then shot some Garcia dots, and found the pistol to cycle well.
When I shoot a P200SK, I always feel that I am selecting the pistol for its hammer more than for pure shooting. At least today, I thought the P30SK was actually a darn good shooter. For someone looking for a pistol that reliably works right out of the box without modification, is accurate, reasonably easy to shoot, and safe, I would definitely consider recommending the P30SK as checking those boxes, and at a reasonable price. The P30SK joins the Glock 26 as my two favorite shooting smaller pistols. Tony has a George in process for me and the SK along with a 15 round P30 magazine where allowed, and a ten rounder or two in regressive states would seem to be a good combo.
Can't wait to receive Ernest's PX4 Compact, and see how that compares!
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Thanks GJM, good info.
By chance did you shoot the P30SK with the USPc magazine? I've gotten one USPc 13 round mag with an X Grip, it is my most comfortable mag between regular 10 round, 10 round with +0 pinky, 13 USPc+X, and 15 round VP9 with X.
Rich, a few thoughts. First, I forgot to mention in my previous post, that the combination of the P30SK mag well shape and the design of the finger ledge magazine, is such, that I am not pinching my hand with aggressive reloads. For me, that is a major benefit.
To answer your question, I find X Grip type things to contribute to some of the worst pinches ever, when reloading quickly. Dry fire, I tried the USP C/P2000 and P30 mags, and neither jumped out as feeling better. Since this is not a game gun, I would prioritize capacity over comfort, and take the 15 round P30 magazine. Since I have USP C, P30 and the P30SK pistols, I will certainly run my spare P30 mag bare without any type of adapter.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
GJM,
Are the P30sk's shipping with the pinky extension, or is this just another item that requires a trip to the Hkparts website? Thanks!
George,
Thanks for the info! A P2000 or P30sk will be arriving once I decide what I want for a late Christmas gift.
given P30SK's seem to run about 10% cheaper than P2000SK's do, and they're more flexible in their grip panel choices, I'd lean towards the P30SK. This from a person who likes his pair of P2000SK's.