I purchased a P30 V1 from a forum member several months ago. The pistol was already worked on by Mark Housel of L&M Precision to accept RMR footprint optics. Mark and I exchanged a few emails about the pistol. He has since retired, but even dealing with that and fulfilling last orders he was gracious with his time and patient with questions.
When I purchase a used hammer-fired HK, I like to replace most or all of the springs. Because of the slide modifications on this one, access to the firing pin, safety, and extractor assemblies are only possible when the optic is removed.
Most of the parts I replaced were standard, but I did use the light firing pin safety spring that I install on all of my P30s, following the great TLG’s setup. It’s handy to have these as a reference.
Firing pin spring (part # 215822)
Light compression spring for drop safety catch (part # 209296)
Extractor spring with extractor bolt (part #s 218315 + 209294)
Depending on the shooting volume, it seems like good practice to replace these springs yearly and clean everything again when the RMR is removed for a battery change. I’ve broken a firing pin spring in the past, but didn’t notice until I stripped the slide.
I re-installed everything using the same roll pins that Mark installed. They are shorter than the factory pins (the originals are part # 988891) due to the optic plate. I don’t have extras on hand yet but I expect they will be easy enough to find.
The optic plate that Mark fabricated is steel and held in place with four screws. Two of these screws go fully into the side of the slide, and two of the screws extend through the slide into an aluminum plate fitted underneath in the recessed area (top of picture shows optic plate screws and extractor roll pin near the center of the plate).
My impression of the plate is very “HK-like” in that it’s durable, nicely overbuilt, and professionally finished. I am not an expert in this area, but it’s clear Mark is a craftsman who does great work.
The rear sight is a glock dovetail, and a typical Ameriglo or other rear sight will fit. I installed short slide release levers on both sides.
The front sight is a P30 sight from Dawson Precision. It’s a tall one to match the tall rear Glock sight. Both are taller than I prefer, but they work well.
I detail stripped the frame, cleaned it, and replaced most of the springs. Even after several years I need to have detailed instructions for this (HKPRO TooSixy’s reference is incredible) and ideally another P30 to look at if I get confused about how it all goes back together.
Heavy trigger return spring (part # 234405)
Elbow spring for LEM (part # 209275)
Trigger bar detent spring (part # 209270)
Hammer spring for V3 (part # 214300)
I left the flat sear spring, form spring for slide release, and the magazine catch compression springs alone. The flat sear spring is particularly tricky to replace.
The only non-factory parts I installed were the Gray Guns short reset system, which includes a new control latch, extended sear roll pin and firing pin block spring. I already installed the light firing pin block spring, but fitted the others with no issue. I don’t really notice a difference between this setup and regular LEM when shooting, but the parts seem well made and I’m happy they are available.
I used an aftermarket Trijicon sealing plate under the RMR since the optic would be in contact with the roll pins. It may not make a difference, but it doesn’t hurt anything. The screws for the plate were sealed with paint marker and witness marks.
I installed the RMR using screws that were included from Mark (6-40 x 1/2 flat head socket screws). I used a generous amount of blue loctite and a 10 inch lb fixit stick.
Final step to paint seal the screws with black sharpie with witness marks.
It would be pretty cool if HK released an optics ready slide for the P30/L/SK, but that seems unlikely. I understand that Wright Armory is doing this work along with a few other places. If anyone has experience with those, please add on to the thread!