Decades ago Colt came out with it's 1911 Officers Model. It was a cute little thing and I put some rounds through it before sending it down the road. But now my interest is moving back towards small, large bore pistols for concealed carry.
What should I know about the G-30, including the S and SF models?
Thanks in advance,
Duces
Last edited by Duces Tecum; 01-14-2024 at 01:34 PM.
A peaceful man is capable of great violence, but he keeps it under control. If a man is not capable of violence, he is not peaceful. He is just harmless. (Jordan Peterson)
I am anxiously awaiting the release of the G30 Gen 5, and will definitely be getting one despite my general rule of waiting at least a year before buying a new model or new generation of gun. The G21 Gen 5 is shaping up to be the best of the G21s I’ve shot, and I look forward to running the G30 Gen 5. It’s been many years since I’ve shot a G30 but I remember being impressed by my accuracy with it and the relatively soft shooting aspects of it for being a compact .45. We will see how it stacks up against an HK45C LEM. I tend to shoot better with striker fired or longer trigger pull pistols than single action.
Corrections made.Originally Posted by SwampDweller
Thank you.
Duces
A peaceful man is capable of great violence, but he keeps it under control. If a man is not capable of violence, he is not peaceful. He is just harmless. (Jordan Peterson)
The G30 is historically a very soft-shooting and accurate .45ACP. It’s very similar to a G19 in terms of height and length, but is noticeably thicker. Reliability is generally similar to the G19. I suspect that the reason why it’s not more popular is related to mag capacity in a .45ACP vs. 9mm.
I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.
A Glock 30 was one of my first pistols, that I owned between the time I was 18 and 19. It was my first Glock. I really liked it, it's very soft shooting. It's chunky compared to a 9mm Glock, but it feels small for a 10 round 45.
If it had a full 3 finger grip and a flush 10 round mag instead of the 2 finger grip and pinky extension, I'd like it even more. Only really matters for reloads which may or may not matter to you.
A Gen 4 will give you the option of different backstraps, a Gen 3 SF is stuck as an SF and a normal Gen 3 is stuck with the larger size. Considering all of them are kind of hard to find, I'd wait for a gen 5, or pick up a used Gen 4 or Gen 3 SF.
Aim Surplus has had LEO trade ins off and on.
I'd skip the G30S, if it's even still available. The thinner slide will recoil a lot more, while the frame is just as thick.
The G30 is ridiculously easy to shoot well.
Over a decade ago I ran a little experiment to compare G19 vs. G23 vs. G30, all with department duty loads (Gold Dot 124+P, 180, 230). Pretty much a Bill drill.. I did multiple 6-shot runs at 7 yards, as quickly as I could keep them all in an 8" circle. The results: I averaged .01 faster on splits with the 19 than the 23 (the interwebs had not yet informed me of the latter's allegedly vicious recoil), and .01 faster with the 30 than the 19. My fastest split time with the 30 was .02 better than my fastest with the 19.
One downside to the G30 that I discovered through owning one for a while: it's easier to induce a malfunction through shoddy technique with that fat, slow-moving slide. If my left thumb inadvertently rode the slide, or if I was in a funky position, such as around a barricade with flashlight in the support hand, I'd get the rare bobble. It didn't happen often, but maybe 3 times over the two years I owned it (and trained with it a lot).
I ran a similar test circa 2014, using a G19, G23 and G30S. I was fastest with the G19 by a measurable amount, don't recall the specific times, but it was note-worthy. I was second fastest with the G30S, with the "tightest" groups on every run. I was slowest and least accurate with the G23. Of note, I used our "duty" ammo for all of these tests - 147gr JHP for the 9mm, VERY hot 155gr JHP in .40, and 230gr JHP in .45.
Carry a Glock 30sf when I'm not carrying a Colt Combat Commander....30sf has very tame recoil for a short framed .45acp. more of a push, not that barrel whip...10 round mags.....runs like a typewriter.
Yep, I think the 180 gr .40 loads are significantly milder to shoot than the hotter 155-165 loads. 180 Gold Dot also worked immensely well for us.
... and just to round out the topic, one would elect the 30.5 and not the 29.5 because...?
(or to put it another way, does the 29 share the same good rep as the 30?)
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