First time with a P30

[North Ga Hillbilly]

I went by a LGS today and got my hands on a P30 for the first time today. After everyone on here talking about them so highly I thought I owed it to myself to see what all the hype was about. I was really impressed with the build quality, without a doubt a well built piece of equipment. I like the magazine release location and style, seems VERY unlikely for any holster to be able to loose a mag accidentally. One thing I did notice was that while holding it with my standard grip, glock 19, I was afraid that my thumb could engage the slide stop when shooting. Has this been an issue to anyone?

All in all I was very impressed, I plan to shoot one at some point in the near future. I dont plan on giving up my 19 as an EDC any time soon, but I would like to explore the idea of a P30.

Greg

[ToddG]

One thing I did notice was that while holding it with my standard grip, glock 19, I was afraid that my thumb could engage the slide stop when shooting. Has this been an issue to anyone?

Yes. And by "yes" I mean "almost universally." It's easily dealt with through technique change, modification of the slide stop lever, replacement of the lever with a lower profile version, or a combination thereof.

[Rich]

I went by a LGS today and got my hands on a P30 for the first time today. After everyone on here talking about them so highly I thought I owed it to myself to see what all the hype was about. I was really impressed with the build quality, without a doubt a well built piece of equipment. I like the magazine release location and style, seems VERY unlikely for any holster to be able to loose a mag accidentally. One thing I did notice was that while holding it with my standard grip, glock 19, I was afraid that my thumb could engage the slide stop when shooting. Has this been an issue to anyone?

All in all I was very impressed, I plan to shoot one at some point in the near future. I dont plan on giving up my 19 as an EDC any time soon, but I would like to explore the idea of a P30.

Greg

Bought mine a few days ago, still haven't shot it. waiting for holster and more ammo.

It fits my right hand perfect. But Im having a time finding a sweet spot for my support hand left thumb.

The tip of my left thumb sit just past the end of slide stop and almost to the rail . ( I need to put grip tape in that spot)

And the middle knuckle hits part of the slide stop. So there some pressure pushing in the SS . But no pressure pushing down.


IF I was rich I would pay Todd to give me some private lessons

[ToddG]

IF I was rich

I expressed mirth audibly.

[GardoneVT]

I went by a LGS today and got my hands on a P30 for the first time today. After everyone on here talking about them so highly I thought I owed it to myself to see what all the hype was about. I was really impressed with the build quality, without a doubt a well built piece of equipment. I like the magazine release location and style, seems VERY unlikely for any holster to be able to loose a mag accidentally. One thing I did notice was that while holding it with my standard grip, glock 19, I was afraid that my thumb could engage the slide stop when shooting. Has this been an issue to anyone?

All in all I was very impressed, I plan to shoot one at some point in the near future. I dont plan on giving up my 19 as an EDC any time soon, but I would like to explore the idea of a P30.

Greg

Disclaimer-all my experience with the P30 is from the .40 S&W LEM model.

I never encountered a problem with the slide closing on an empty mag, despite the long length of the slide lock lever. Wish I could say the same about Sigs. Here's the drawbacks I did note however. One, there's not much in the way of accessories. Aftermarket sights, parts, and components are few and expensive.
Two, the trigger in live fire is neutral. Its not bad, but -and this is subjective-its not especially good either. It is just "there", a switch to fire the gun. Another con are the factory sights-while they're nice and easy to acquire for close range hits , the big dots are a pain when you're shooting for groups at the static line. The last drawback which prompted the P30s departure from my safe was its flippy recoil w/the .40 S&W round. Follow up shots were difficult for me to accurately pull off, and after a 200 round session my hands felt like vibrating tuning forks.

Benefits-the ergos. Nothing further need be said on this point.
The gun is probably the toughest polymer frame handgun money can buy.
It looks cool, and is sunrise reliable.

IMO, while the P30 is one of the best constructed pistols money can buy , I'm not sure if its benefits translate to practical use for the typical shooter. It is probably the perfect gun for a police or military agency to issue, but if I went back in time i'd buy an SR9 or G17 and spend the $500 on ammo. That's just my impressions after owning one.

[1slow]

I have proven reliable GL17s, GL19s, GL21s, GL30s. This comes from having carried/shot Glocks since 1990.

If I have to buy a new Pistol and be fairly sure it will run: HK45, HKP30 9mm are what I would bet on. Doc GKR and others say the gen 4 GL21 is OK so that is another option.
I have HK45 LEMs and HK P30 LEMs and may be changing over from Glocks. Still evaluating this. I shoot the HKs measurably better at 25 yard 6"x6" head plates. I am not quite as consistently fast at 7 yd head shots with the HKs as with the Glocks. My best times are slightly better than the Glocks but I am not as consistent. I am about 2000+ rounds into learning the LEM.

On avoiding unintentional slide stop activation, put strong side thumb on back of weak side thumb, I have to do this with Glocks as well.

[Rich]

On avoiding unintentional slide stop activation, put strong side thumb on back of weak side thumb, I have to do this with Glocks as well.

+1
I've played with that position as well.

My left support hand thumb pad sits on top of right hand thumb nail.

After a few cases I'm sure I find what works for me.

[Rich]

Disclaimer-all my experience with the P30 is from the .40 S&W LEM model.

I never encountered a problem with the slide closing on an empty mag, despite the long length of the slide lock lever. Wish I could say the same about Sigs. Here's the drawbacks I did note however. One, there's not much in the way of accessories. Aftermarket sights, parts, and components are few and expensive.
Two, the trigger in live fire is neutral. Its not bad, but -and this is subjective-its not especially good either. It is just "there", a switch to fire the gun. Another con are the factory sights-while they're nice and easy to acquire for close range hits , the big dots are a pain when you're shooting for groups at the static line. The last drawback which prompted the P30s departure from my safe was its flippy recoil w/the .40 S&W round. Follow up shots were difficult for me to accurately pull off, and after a 200 round session my hands felt like vibrating tuning forks.

Benefits-the ergos. Nothing further need be said on this point.
The gun is probably the toughest polymer frame handgun money can buy.
It looks cool, and is sunrise reliable.

IMO, while the P30 is one of the best constructed pistols money can buy , I'm not sure if its benefits translate to practical use for the typical shooter. It is probably the perfect gun for a police or military agency to issue, but if I went back in time i'd buy an SR9 or G17 and spend the $500 on ammo. That's just my impressions after owning one.

That's good to hear. ( Slide Lock)

To bad about the Sig`s. I've been lucky with the P229 40cal.so far.

I agree when looking at factory rear sight I knew I wouldn't be able to shoot tight groups like with my P229.
I hope I can find NS with the same notch distance as my P229 or close.

I hope the P30 9mm recoil is less than my P229 40cal

Main thing about accessories for me? Its got to have lots of options for holsters !

I know the HK parts store seems to have parts and mags for the P30 along with sights and blade tech holsters.
The HK P30 barrels seem priced high compared to Sig.

And I do wish I had 500 bucks to spend on 9 ammo.
Seems all the 9mm ammo I want is out of stock.

[backtrail540]

Like many others, I had issues with the slide stop. My first instinct was to fight the need to change my grip and modify the slide lever. I first modified the stock lever by cutting it to about half of its length as far as the pad that your thumb contacts goes. When I still had the issue I filed a it nearly flush with the slide This seemed to work fine for awhile but I started having problems getting enough leverage to drop the slide on a full mag. The whole time I was running the grip panels that felt right (medium all the way around). I decided to give the large panels a try to see how they worked. Of course they didn't necessarily feel right but did notice that I felt like I had much better control of the gun as there is more contact area and it fills my hand better. Consequently this brought my thumb back, and altered my grip just enough that the lever was no longer an issue and I got reliable lock back. I then ordered a factory short lever off of a safety model which is great which gives me a great purchase, and for me at least, I find that changing the grip panels made the biggest difference. Apparently during the whole process I modified my grip as well, which may or may not be due to a sum of parts changes or me simply making a conscious effort to take the "me" element out of the equation so many times while working through the issue.

[BoppaBear]

I hope the P30 9mm recoil is less than my P229 40cal

The P30 9mm is one of the softest shooting pistols out there.