Please, Opinions needed on H&K P30

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P71pilot

New member
I will be getting a polymer pistol soon, and am deciding between the Walther PPQ .40 M2, and an H&K P30L .40

I owned a PPQ M2 .40 for about 3 months, and after several weeks practicing with it i got very accurate with it, and loved every single feature of the gun. Soldnit because of financial trouble, and have missed it dearly ever since.

I have handled a few P30s at gun shops, and love how they feel in the hand. I also prefer a hammer fired system over striker fired. In the next couple of weeks i will rent one in 9mm and see how i like it. I realize there are several different trigger systems, i would prefer a standard SA/DA, with no safety, and a decocker.

The pistol will be used for everything, from concealed carry duty, to range and practice shooting, home defense duty, security out in nature, and everything in between. I have heard some say the H&K isnt worth the money, alot say it is, but my main concern is durability and teliabilty. Both pistols fit my hand very well, and i know from experience that i adore the ppq and its trigger, and although i only fired about 4-500rss through the one i had, it was totally reliable.

So i would like some inputs on experience with the P30, no matter barrel length or caliber or trigger system. I have yet to fire one, but that will change in the next few weeks. I am thinkingthe H&K will be slighly more reliable, when it comes to being dropped in the dirt/sand, or neglected cleaning and lubrication in an emergency survival type situation.

Any and all inputs appreciated,

Thank you, and have a great day
 
I have heard nothing but great things about them. 9mm is also the caliber to get. They are as tough and reliable as an H&K pistol, and if it feels good in your hand (extremely important) and you like it's mechanism (I greatly prefer hammer fired guns as well) then it's a new brainer. You should get one I think! :)
 
I have P30L and PPQ in 9MM and really like both a lot. IMO you are on the right track trying out the P30 and then making the decision. Both have been 100 percent reliable for me.

The trigger on the P30 is sweet in SA though DA is pretty heavy out of the box but gets better with use. Other than SIGs, most NIB pistols I have tried have a less than desired DA trigger out of the box. The reset on the P30 is much longer than the PPQ if that is a concern but not a problem for myself.

I have heard some say the H&K isnt worth the money, alot say it is,
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I guess you have not checked prices on .40 P30 lately. At sellers like CDNN and Grabagun they go for under $600 and as low as $499 during Black Friday.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/hk-p30-40s-w-v3.html?___SID=U

I am thinkingthe H&K will be slighly more reliable, when it comes to being dropped in the dirt/sand, or neglected cleaning and lubrication in an emergency survival type situation.
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Who knows and IMO not necessarily so. Personally I take care with whatever firearm I have to not let it get close to being so dirty that it could be a problem.

Since you favor hammer fired DA/SA, the P30 may be the way for to go assuming you like the P30 after shooting it.

Good luck.
 
It's been a while since these have compared to one another. It was pretty common a couple of years ago.
I have a PPQ M1 and a HK P-30 V3 (which is what you are looking at) both in 9mm. These guns have more in common than not. The main differences being hammer vs striker and their trigger pulls of course. Their looks are very similar as is their feel and size. Both have front and back serrations, longer extractors, paddle magazine release levers, 15 round magazine (9mm non extended), replaceable back straps, longer ambidextrous slide releases, ribbed slides, larger ejection ports. They have different grip textures, but both are comfortable and help keep a good grip on the gun.
The sights are quite different from one another but, both work weel for me. The HK has a steel recoil rod with a recoil buffer and the PPQ's is plastic. While they both have paddle levers. The HK's is wider and shorter with the PPQ's being longer and thinner. The HK's is a one piece assembly where the PPQ has two separate levers connected by a cross pin. The HK has the additional side panels that are replaceable. The PPQ's trigger has far less creep and the reset is much shorter.

I would have liked to see the PPQ's frame have another slot in the rail with those little "Wings" moved rearward a little. The serrations on the PPQ are fairly sharp and I'd rather the Walther logo not be in the middle of the front left set. A cocking indicator of the PP-99 would have been nice to have but not a must. A little more width on the paddles would be nice as well.
The HK could have a little longer paddles. The trigger could have less creep and a shorter reset.

Pull weight on my HK P-30 is 10lbs/2oz is DA and 5lbs/8.5oz in SA. the PPQ is right at 5lbs. Take up for the HK is 1" in DA and 3/8" is SA. The PPQ is 3/8". Reset on the HK is about 3/8" vs the PPQ's 1/8".

Accuracy on the PPQ has been exceptional with the P-30's being excellent. Both guns are as reliable as the other without any issues in the few thousand rounds each has seen.

Quality wise they are pretty close with a slight edge to the HK.

Either way you end up with a very good model, just depends on which one each you like better.

 
I have owned my P30 V3 9mm for 2 years now and I have enough range time with it and about 3K rounds through it to give it my highest recommendation for an excellent EDC that shoots reliably and accurately. I do think the LEM trigger variants are worth considering, such as a P30S (with thumb safety) and a V1 Light LEM trigger variant. I have a Walther PPS M2 9mm that I have liked from the first day I picked one up and now after about 1.5K rounds I like it even better, a smaller thinner EDC that works with every holster I've tried with it, and shoots targets like a bigger pistol. A win-win on both of these!
 
May I also throw out the Walther P-99 AS as an option if you like the Walther ergos and the H&K DA/SA system?

As for between the PPQ and P-30, I have a PPQ-M1 in 9mm and find it to be an exceptional pistol. The P-30 is on my "want to try" list, but the Walther is a high quality product in it's own right.
 
I appreciate rhe replys guys, thanks alot. I had no idea .40 P30s could be had for so cheap, i will have to look into this. Next weekend or maybe the weekend after i will head to the range and rent a P30 9mm (no .40 available to rent)

I have owned several pistols in the last few years

First one was a cz52 7.62x25mm, loved that pistol, very well made, and very accurate, but man ammo was starting to get expensive and be hard to find, also shot rrrreally low, and had a sssuper heavy trigger pull

Next i had a glock 20 gen3 10mm, couldnt shoot that pistol worth a darn, grip too large for mt hands, combined with heavy recoil resulted in gun torquing in my hand.

After the glock i tried an M&P40, which had an absolutely disgusting trigger, crunchy, gritty, heavy, just bad. Also caused my finger to get rubbed raw and tender after a few magazines through it. Couldnt shoot it all that well, but seemed very well made for a poly gun.

I sold off the M&P and bought what i knew and loved, a 1911, which i still have. Used to shoot it exceptionally well, but my skill has diminished with it, infact ever since i had the PPQ (bought after the 1911), i mostly shot the ppq, as at first i couldnt shoot it as well as my 1911, so i focused on it, and shot about 400-500rds through it, got very accurate with it, then had tosell it. I still have the 1911 but dont shoot it all that well these days.
 
I have both. I love both. I love HK more (as you can tell below).

The ergonomics are kind of similar, but the hump in the PPW just doesn't quite sit just right in my hand. The small is a little too small and the medium put the sharp hump in just the wrong spot.

The VP9 gets it a little better for me, but I still prefer the P30 for true grip perfection. The VP9 grip hump is a little different than the P30.

I really don't like 40, but I've been VERY tempted to pick one of those up at CDNN for the unbelievable prices they are offering. Given the significant discounts, the P30L in 40 from CDNN would absolutely be my suggestion if you're looking for a 40.
 
"The old gray mare ain't what she used to be." That's my my take on Walther these days, based on my experiences with a couple of guns over the past couple of years.

Basically, I'm a huge fan of HK, along with SIG (German models, some US models), STI, Ruger, S&W, Springfield and etc.

My personal taste does not favor operator/combat styling, so I sold my 10 HK's even though I admire their operation.

I owned both a p30s and a p30sk. My favorite was the p30sk, after I added the "pinky" extensions to the magazines. I loved the fit of both p30 models, feel they compare favorably to the 1911's and the CZ 75's. Some will find the p30 grip adjustments will yield the best fit ever.

Didn't care for the trigger on either gun. Liked the p30sk better; it improved with use. There are folks out there who can make those triggers even better.
 
Love my P30LS just because it fits my hand so well and is very accurate in my opinion. The VP9 is a great shooter as well but I think I shoot the P30 just a tad better. The PPQ shoots almost as well as either and I've seriously thought of picking one up in the near future. One thing I really like about hammer fired pistols is the reassuring feeling when your thumb covers the hammer as you are re-holstering. Being able to carry C&L is a valid point as well, all of the HKs I've owned had this option.
 
Rinspeed,

My brother has a VP9, and i shot a few mags with it, i didn't shoot it very well, and didnt like the trigger. the grips were set for my brothers larger hands, and this may have effected my accuracy, i shot it alongside my .40 PPQ and shot my walther much better. The VP9 is also out of the equation, because it is extremely unreliable, when it comes to torture testing.
 
The VP9 is also out of the equation, because it is extremely unreliable, when it comes to torture testing.
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I've watched the MAC videos. I already wasn't a huge fan of the VP9 for my personal reasons. To me saying it is "extremely unreliable" might be a bit of hyperbole. In the examples MAC tested it did seem less reliable than other striker fired pistols (though no striker fired pistol has gone through without any issues and the M&P did quite poorly as well). I wouldn't argue that the VP9 didn't do badly and frankly not liking the VP9 means I don't particularly care. What I do start to get a bit worried about is reading comments on those videos and seeing people say, "I will never own this pistol", or, "I guess I have to sell this pistol", based on a test of one pistol at a time in an environment that quite frankly is relatively extreme. Falling in the sand, dirt, or mud can absolutely happen. But some points in that test involve lightly burying the pistol in those elements. Now sans some US Marshalls type finale fight in the sand pit of a freighter we're starting to get out of reality, IMO.

Do I think there are better options out there? It certainly seems that way and I already had other preferences. But I'd point out the SIG P series didn't do particularly well either and that's a design that by all accounts has seen pretty extensive usage by people working in worse environments than most of us will ever encounter. I just hesitate to put as much weight behind those tests as people seem inclined to do, especially as on YouTube I can find a video of a given pistol failing and then another video of a given pistol failing a particular test.

As to the P30 itself, I've owned two and quite frankly I wasn't overly impressed. I never found the grip "fit" my hand particularly well despite the erector set of grip panels it comes with and the trigger isn't particularly enthusiasm inspiring. Now as someone that carries and uses Glocks predominantly these days I'm no stranger to less than ideal grips and meh triggers, but the pistol did nothing for me really that a number of other options didn't. One that I had took a substantial amount of time to "break in" to get the ejection pattern to what I have had in every other HK pistol and HK's response to my call about it was one of the worst customer service experiences I have had in 70+ handguns that I've owned.

Frankly I think the P2000 is a better pistol in terms of feel and shooting, especially if concealability is a potential concern, and given CDNN selling them for $550 currently for the 9mm models I'd be hard pressed to go to the P30 unless I was looking at the P30L as a full sized service type pistol. There are some great deals on the P30 in 40SW right now for sure, but that's not a caliber I particularly care for. In 9mm the P30 is running about $250 more than the P2000 and to me that's unwarranted.
 
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The VP9 is also out of the equation, because it is extremely unreliable, when it comes to torture testing.
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I'm sorry but that's a bunch of crap in my opinion. I've owned 50 or 60 guns in the last 40 years and not a single one of my purchases was influenced by some goofball with a youtube account and a video camera. :confused: If I had listened to half the "experts" I wouldn't own 15 of the pistols I do now, seriously. You pay your money and you take your chances, any mechanical device can and will have issues at some point. Even Wilson Combat puts out a dog once in a while, their upper end pistols are $6K or more. I guess my point is don't draw conclusions from isolated instances.
 
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Even Wilson Combat puts out a dog once in a while, their upper end pistols are $6K or more. I guess my point is don't draw conclusions from isolated instances.
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While I agree and that's a lot of my point above, the part that does give me actual pause is he's shown issues with 3 separate VP9s now. To me that's starting to become a pattern. I don't think it's the sky falling, but it isn't all hysteria.
 
While I agree and that's a lot of my point above, the part that does give me actual pause is he's shown issues with 3 separate VP9s now. To me that's starting to become a pattern. I don't think it's the sky falling, but it isn't all hysteria.
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He's had issues with three pistols and 20K other users haven't had any issues, that's not a pattern that's a couple isolated instances. I don't think the VP9 is the greatest pistol in the world but I do think you can make any pistol fail if that's what you're after. My objective is not to argue about it either, just state my feelings. If anyone thinks "torture tests" are even close to actual real world usage they certainly should take them into consideration. I've dragged guns through swamps, rain, blizzards for a bunch of years. Maybe I'm just looking at this concept of tossing your pistol into a pile of mud a different way, I've been wrong before that's for sure.
 
He's had issues with three pistols and 20K other users haven't had any issues, that's not a pattern that's a couple isolated instances.
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Right, but unless every single owner of those pistols wants to send them to him for testing or conduct those tests themselves in exactly the same way then he can only test so many. It wasn't three separate set of issues with those three pistols. The stoppages were essentially the same. That to me, understanding that I can't test 20,000 pistols, does make me think that it might be more than just a case of a "dog" of a pistol. Is is "proof" of a bad design? Not at all, which goes to my comments above.

If anyone thinks "torture tests" are even close to actual real world usage they certainly should take them into consideration.
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Again my comments above are similar.
 
The tests that MAC has been doing recently arent all that extreme, especially the first run, where he gives the gun a good rinse between materials. It is not out of the question to be in a fight or running from a threat, and falling to the ground, your pistol hitting the ground and being exposed to whatever material that may be. I can only afford to have one or two pistols at any given time, so i try to pick what is best for me, which includes fitting my hand well, with a trigger i like, and at least a decent track record of reliability/dependability. Police/military use and credentials dont hurt either.

The vp9 is out of the question for ME, it will either be the PPQ M2 .40 or P30 .40 v3, i just have to decide which one i like better. Whatever i get, sights are getting swapped asap.
 
and at least a decent track record of reliability/dependability
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Right, but one guy's tests on YouTube don't really qualify as a track record. Case in point the SIG P226 as I mentioned above and its performance in those same tests despite having been used by Navy SEALs for a number of years.

Again I have my own reasons for not liking the VP9, but even MAC himself has said multiple times that these tests are more for entertainment purposes and not really definitive proof of anything (of course the people watching the videos seem to gloss over that advisory).

If you're set on 40SW than I'd get the P30. The PPQ in 40SW isn't going anywhere and the prices are relatively stable there. I'm not sure how long the prices on the P30 in 40SW will stay at the levels they've been at lately. I think it's a better investment and I don't see one as dramatically more reliable than the other so if you don't mind DA/SA or LEM I'd go that route (plus you have a PPQ and a little variety is nice).
 
The sights on the le-a5 models of P30 (the law enforcement package with 3 mags and night sights) are very good. Hell for stout, good picture, easy slide manipulation with them if necessary, bright nights. They are not trij. HD style but still good sights.

You might want to go that route instead of putting new sights on.

Of the two I like the P30 in .40 better. I think HK has always made great .40 caliber platforms (except the M10). Walther never seemed to do really well with much other then 9 which they REALLY shine.

The PPQ trigger is however FAR AND AWAY better then any P30 variant and better then the VP9. I do think the P30 makes a better hard use (combat if you will) gun.

Like tunnel rat though I think the P2000 is the sweet spot and most versatile.

I owned a VP9 and it left me cold. Mine ran fine and felt ok and shot well but just didn't "feel" like that old hell for stought build feel. I am not saying it IS poorly built it just FELT like an HK, the first HK built to a price point not a performance level. Again that is all my subjective meaningless feeling not based on any issues I had. It seems to be a great gun. Just didn't scratch my itch.

I have LOVED every PPQ and P99 I have shot in 9mm. Never shot a .40 PPQ but didn't care for the .40 P99

I am not a .40 hater as a matter of fact I have move back towards it as everybody else moves away. I just feel there are platforms that make that round shine (HKs and SIGs come to mind) and platforms that don't shine in .40. (Glock, Walther come to mind).

My idiots 2 cents. Good luck in your search.
 
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