I finally picked up a P30, and I am now a better person for it. It has made me more popular with the ladies, my car gets better gas mileage, and I got a raise at work. Aside from that, though, I have a couple of issues…
The sights are poop (for me). I use the Hackathorn setup on the M&P, and I’d like to find something similar for the P30. Anybody have some info on who’s making that these days? The previous threads I found were from a couple of years ago.
Also, I ride the crap out of the slide release. I do it to some degree on any semi-auto, but the giant one on the P30 is particularly an issue. Basically, I have no hope whatsoever of getting the slide to lock back on an empty mag. Grip suggestions are appreciated. I doubt I’m the only one with this issue.
So far, I love the crap out of this thing. With some more trigger time, I’ll probably replace the M&P as my carry gun. As has been said numerous times before, the LEM trigger is the bomb-diggity. Until now, I didn’t much care for any of the HK triggers.
Try the light lem:D As far as the slide release, I’m still playing with different grips. I believe you can also swap out the slide release with a different hk model.
Before you start swapping parts try experimenting with your grip.
I use a thumb forward grip and just had to make a very slight adjustment. I place my thumb a little further down on the rail. I also place my strong hand thumb over on top of my weak hand. I have no issues at all with the slide not locking back.
NICE! Good luck with it. I really wanted a P30L LEM but HK won’t get off their ass and bring them into the US. I got sick of waiting and bought a Glock instead. They’re (P30L LEM) available in Canada but not in the US… that’s horseshit.
For sights I’d recommended Henie Straight 8’s. Trijicon and Mepro also make a three dot night sight for the P30/HK45/C. (They’re all the same sights.)
I tried a few different grips, but to no avail. It either wasn’t a good grip, or it rides the slide release. I’ll spend some quality time with your method and see what happens.
What’s the word on threaded barrels? I saw some factory barrels threaded by a third party, and a factory Canadian-market threaded barrel, but no love here in the US.
If you keep experimenting with your grip and it just does not work out for you then you can always go the slim slide stop levers and at least you tried.
Check Hkparts.net on some threaded barrels or call HK. HK parts.net is sometimes a little high on their prices.
Have you played with the different combinations of side and back panels to optimize your grip? The best feeling may not be the best shooting combination for you.
+1 on swapping the slide release levers with a set from the P30S model… If you do not care about the lever being captive to the frame, you can also use levers from the P2000 series or the HK45 series.
Heinie straight eights are the best sights going for this gun, don’t forget to paint your front sight orange…
Pic of your grip? That slide release does seem a lot longer than the one on my HK45C. My support hand thumb points forward and up so it contacts the slide lightly.
Hard frame contact with the thumb doesn’t seem to be important. I’m looking at this combat grip article and Brian Enos doesn’t seem to press heavily with his thumbs at all. Sevigny does though…
From Duane Thomas’ The Combat Grip:
Brian Enos believes one of the keys to a successful grip is having no contact by the thumbs along the side of the gun. The grip should happen strictly in the palms and fingers. snip Dave Sevigny does touch the side of the gun with his thumbs and also considers that an important part of his technique.
That’s not really the issue.
Thumb pressure or lack thereof on the front of the gun is essentially irrelevant, and completely irrelevant when it comes to activation of the slide release.
The firing hand thumb needs to wrap around/away from the frame on the base of the thumb of the support hand, which keeps the slide release free from thumb pressure.
Sights:
The Heinie Straight 8s are decent, but they seem to print a little high for most shooters.
Trijicon has some night sights, but they are not Hack’s, that’s for sure. It’s too bad that they haven’t made any HK sights for their HD™ Night Sights line. I’d try those in a heartbeat.
I have to admit i’ve never wanted Heinie’s on my P30, but i DREAM of the day that Ameriglo makes P30 sights. Send them an email ask for some (you’ll probably get the ‘no plans at this time’ reply)… but help be another voice crying in the darkness for P30 Ameriglo’s!
Grip: P30 slide release can be activated with both support hand thumb and strong hand thumb, depending on hand size, grip etc. For me, cut down of slide levers and use of large side panels alleviated the problem nearly 100%.
Night sights: Tru-Dot Mepros are 0.150 wide front post and 0.150 wide rear notch, +/- few thou. Make for a crappy speed and surprisingy OK accuracy. Opening rear sight notch to 0.180 nearly mimicks Hack sight dimensions for Glock and makes them more usable. The intensity of dots is correct, rear ones do not overpower front one.
Trijis: no personal experience. Their dimensions are 0.138 for front sight width and 0.150 for rear notch width so I am not sure they’ll get any better sight pic than Mepros.
Dawson Precision has an array of sights, and they’ll make a custom front sight height for fee, or for free if their full set doesn’t give poi-poa. No personal experience.
Heinie’s are 0.125 front - 0.156 rear notch, give nice fast sight pic and more than adequate for precision. Mine shoot POA-POI and I prefer them to all of the above. Two gripes are price and no option for a Ledge rear sight design.
A few weeks back, I sent an email to Ameriglo inquiring about the HK P30 equivalent of the Kyle Defoor sights for the Glock. They said something should be coming out this year. I know they’re not night sights per se, but I’ve been interested in trying out some all black sights.
I’ve put the the Tru-Dot Mepros on one of my HK45C’s. The only reason I went with them is there is no “ramping” of the rear sights. They are are raised in the front enough so that the slide can be manipulated one-handed via the rear sights. I do wish Heinie made a set with that purpose in mind.
