I know I may get my pee-pee slapped for starting yet another VP9 thread, but I figure this one will differentiate itself from the rest.
I own both the HK P30 V1 (Light LEM) and the HK VP9. These are comparable in aesthetics and some function, but the maid difference is in the operating system; VP9 is striker fired and P30 V1 is a light DAO hammer-fired. The VP9 is slightly longer than the P30, however, the P30’s slide is taller than the VP9’s.
VP9 slide in front
The P30 has two glaring issues in my opinion: the slide release levers are placed where thumbs normally sit, causing the slide to fail in locking back, and the awful trigger. HK has addressed the slide release issue by making it short, slightly recessed into the slide, and away from where the thumbs would rest.
(VP9 on left)
The VP9 has a Cocker Indicator, versus the hammer of the P30 at the rear. This indicator will display a small red plunger when the pistol is cocked.
The VP9 has a slightly less aggressive but more comfortable grip texture than the P30. The grip panel customization remains the same throughout both pistols, however they are not interchangeable.
(VP9 on top)
The VP9 has beefier slide rails on the frame, as well as a large locking block. The VP9, as you can see, utilizes a takedown lever, versus the more complicated take down of the P30 that requires you to push the left slide-release lever to the right after lining up a notch in the slide.
(VP9 on top)
(VP9 on top)
The light rail on the VP9 is longer than the P30’s, and also protrudes much further than the P30 version.
The Surefire X300 extends quite a ways on the P30 light rail, versus fitting flush with the VP9.
Overall, the VP9 is such an improvement over the P30 that firing the two side-by-side makes the P30 feel foreign and silly. I am impatiently waiting on Safariland to release basket weave ALS duty holsters for the VP9 so that I can start carrying it on duty. The trigger of the VP9 is amazing, and coupled with the HK accuracy makes for one sweet shooter. The VP9 does have a more noticeable recoil impulse than the P30, but not in a way that hinders shooting. I am an awful shot with a pistol, as you are about to see, but I wanted to show my experiences with the pistol in unsupported shooting at the range. Each circle, from top left down to bottom right (5-25yds) is with the VP9 shooting crap 115grn target ammo (btw 360 rds of this through the VP9 today with no hiccups).
This is by far my most favorite pistol, and one that actually makes me a better shooter. The P30 is now obsolete.
Oh, and for those new to P30/VP9 mags, expect to cut the shit out of your thumbs with this corner of the mag:
And a crappy video I made comparing the trigger of the VP9, P30, G19, and SW Shield:
Thanks for the video. Very good comparison of trigger resets for each of the pistols. Just picked up my VP9, and cannot wait to shoot it. This could possibly be the pistol I have always wanted. Hope HK makes a VP45.
Excellent post and great pictures. Thanks again LSHD. I agree with your assessment of the P30 vs the VP9. I have owned two P30s and dumped both of them because they never quite grew on me. This was strange because I loved the the P2000 series, which I think is the best all around CCW weapon H&K makes (and in my opinion is out ahead of the G19 which is sort of the standard). I find the control revisions to be much improved, and the trigger is so obviously better than the LEM (in terms of shooting, not safety) that any discussion of it is purely academic. Up until I picked up my VP9 my M&Ps were my only “wonder nine” guns but I put them up for sale after I got some time in with my VP9. The differences between these guns are hard to quantify by just reading about them or even picking one up in the gunshot and comparing them. You need to take them out and run them a few times each, and then put a timer on them. Too often people who are used to one platform or another go out to the range and shoot 16 rounds through a gun and declare their old gun “better.” They aren’t lying either, you tend to prefer what you are used to. The VP9 is fortunate because, for the first time in a while for an HK, the gun has good “gun shop qualities.” By that I mean the things that you can enjoy in a gunshot like a smooth trigger and a clicky reset. A lot of times those things don’t translate into a panacea (like the P99, which I spent a lot of time with about 10 years ago and could never run decently at speed). The VP9 seems to have a lot of good thought and engineering put into it. It looks like actual shooters, not just engineers, had input into the final design.
There are several arguments made in favor of VP9 that don’t hold water. P30 disassembly is not more complicated than that of a myriad of pistols that require slide stop to be pushed out. VP9’s rail is a step down comparing to P30’s. OP states that VP9 has “more noticeable recoil” but that’s no problem, right? And a conclusion that P30 is obsolete because of the above?
BTW, an impartial obsever would notice that p30 slide release levers allow for more options.
I agree that the VP9s simplified takedown is a nice thing, but not a reason to choose it over the P30. On the other hand, it is better than the P30’s arrangement–just not a big deal.
Why do you think the Vp9’s rail is a step down?
Individual perception of recoil is a tricky thing. I feel that the VP9 recoil on par with my M&P and my buddies’ G17. I always felt my M&P had less recoil than my P30.
No offense, but your remarks strike me as simply sour grapes from a P30 user o owner who just didn’t like somebody dissing the P30 a bit, but … to each his own.
I for one very much appreciate the much easier take down process on the VP9, and the OP did not mention what, in my opinion, is the BEST feature, a better handgun overall, better trigger system, at less cost than the P30, Bud’s discount price on the P30 is still $850! You can get a VP9 for around $600.
Muzzle end of rail doesn’t do anything. On P30 they have removed unneeded material, reducing a bulk and slimming down that muzzle end on a slant for ease of holstering. It is a more desirable profile that is standard on some guns or is custom modded on others. On VP9 it is gone in favor of a streamlined vertical cut, probably another area where they reduced their costs.
Obviously, this is a very minor point and it wouldn’t have been mentioned if not for OP’s nod to VP9 on rail’s account.
I doubt it saves any money to mold the rail one way or another (although I have to admit, I have no expertise in plastic molding). I figure H&K got burned so bad on the HK45c’s short rail they decided to err on the side of caution. I agree, we are getting into some pretty esoteric stuff now!
I think the VP9 is just a different pistol–more in line with modern American tastes. The P30, especially in the std LEM and DA/SA is more oriented towards traditional European concerns about negligent discharges and administrative handling. Glock, as far as I can tell, originally intended his pistol to be carried empty (in the normal European military fashion) so he realized that the safety was redundant. Then people start carrying Glocks cocked and unlocked and everybody sort of got used to safteyless pistols. H&K, who primarily focused on police and military contracts ignored this trend up until they engineered the LEM system (always an afterthought add-on to the old DA/SA system). With this gun they seem like they are interested in giving the “Volks” what they want whether it is a good idea or not.
If you are going to compare a P30 against a VP9 for accuracy, you should be comparing the P30S or the P30LS–handguns that allow cocked and locked carry for a cocked and locked first shot.
It is not accurate to compare a light DAO trigger against the striker fired VP9, which has one of the best striker fired trigger pulls out there.
The only thing I can think of is because the Surefire series of lights use a ‘pressure system’ to fit (ie they push against the trigger guard and the face of the rail), and the rail is under a constant load, the extra material is there for support.
But, I don’t know of anyone who had an issue with this on the P30 guns so not sure if it was really warranted.
Are we talking mechanical accuracy or inherent accuracy with each platform? If we’re talking mechanical I’m willing to bet that they are both extremely similar in this regard, IE very accurate. If we are talking about inherent accuracy with each platform, then the VP9 will give the illusion of being “more accurate” to the shooter because the trigger is easier to manipulate. So in fact it is not “more accurate,” it’s just easier to shoot accurately than the P30 LEM due to being striker fired vs. DAO.
I assume that a person and not a robotic trigger pulling machine with a ransom rest shot the comparison groups between the P30 and the VP9 in this thread.
In other words, in the comparison in this case, don’t complain that a trigger that is heavier and harder to pull yields larger groups.
