This morning we picked up a P30 for Mrs. Kenji and an S&W Performance Center 952 Long Slide (9mm) for me. (I am waiting for the HK45 to come out). We promptly went directly over to the range to try them out.
Now to be fair, we did not give them a thorough cleaning. We ran a swab down the barrels and wiped off as much oil as we could without taking them apart. Also to be fair to the P30 I shot 30 rounds through that before I even picked up the 952.
We were shooting Winchester and Remington UMC factory 115 gr FMJ. We loaded and shot 5 rounds at a time. We were shooting at 10yds in an indoor range. I am a big strong guy (aren’t we all in our own minds) and Mrs. Kenji is about 5’8” and 112lbs. She has an average woman’s hand with long fingers.
With the gun configured as it came from the factory with the medium sides and backstrap it felt comfortable and balanced in both our hands. But when holding the pistol for a while in different positions, I could feel the backstrap move ever so slightly as I adjusted my grip. We think we like this grip better than the USPs, we may not even want to put a Hogue Handall on it. The slide release was easy to operate for both of us. Trigger pull was 5lbs SA. It is easy to rack the slide, which is important to Mrs. Kenji, who sometimes has trouble on some other brands.
The decocking button seems like a good idea. We both shoot right-handed. Mrs. Kenji had no problem hitting the button with either thumb. Hitting the button with my left thumb was ok, but getting my fat right thumb around the cocked hammer to reach the button took some getting used to. Mag release is HK standard.
You notice the sights are a little different, but no better or worse than any other sights in normal light conditions. After being out for 1 hour at an indoor range and then being put back in the box for about 3 hours there was no sign of luminance, even in a completely dark room. Charging the sights with a 60 watt bulb in a reflectorized light fixture for 60 seconds, with the gun held at a slight angle to the bulb (to energize the front sight), with the rear of the gun about 2 inches from the bulb, was enough to make them glow brightly, (more brightly than tritium) BUT the rear sights were noticeably brighter than the front sight, so if you wanted to charge it with a flashlight, you would want to change the front sight more. After 10 minutes the sights were about as bright as tritium, but the difference between the front sight and the rear sights almost made it unusable for a quick sight picture. After 20 minutes it had darkened slightly but was about as bright as the tritium in my watch. Same after 30, 40, 50, and 60 minutes.
Perceived recoil for me is a mute point. As I said I am a big guy - .45 or 9mm not noticeable. Mrs. Kenji feels that the recoil is not bad but more than her 9mm Elite.
So now we get to how it performed. We shot about 130 rounds through it. First the bad – 3 times (1 for me – 2x for Mrs. Kenji) the slide failed to lock open after empty. Someone else on the message board mentioned the same thing. With my grip I would be 99% certain that I was not riding the slide release, and when it happened to Mrs. Kenji I was watching and she was not on it. Again to be fair – we had not thoroughly cleaned the gun before shooting, and we did not try the other magazine. There were 2 failures to extract, one for each of us, but maybe Mrs. Kenji’s was her fault, getting used to the gun.
The gun is reasonable accurate. Please keep in mind that we are not experts. Shooting at a Q target, at 10 yds we draw 2-inch circles on the target. I had a lucky streak and made one big hole with one 5 round group. Taking our time we were consistently making 3-4 inch groups. Remember this is not a target pistol. It comes back on target quickly, and putting a fast group where you want it is easy.
So to summarize – I have concerns about the slide failing to lock open, and the failure to extract. I will report back after the gun is thoroughly cleaned and we shoot it again. If these problems go away, I think that this would make a good carry gun.
Now please do not send me hate mail or death threats for the rest of this paragraph – our other HKs are a 9mm Elite and a .45 Expert. I would not go out and sell any of my other guns, or take out a second mortgage to buy the P30. It is not the best, most innovative gun ever to be produced. If the problems are resolved after cleaning it would make a good carry gun with 15+1 rounds available. If you are not going to carry it, and for the $850 I paid for it, I would add a few hundred dollars more and buy an Expert or and Elite (if you can find it), they are much more of a gun. If you have to have it, I would wait for the prices to come down a bit.
Just a quick blurb on the S&W 952 since I just got it. It has a 6 inch barrel and a trigger pull of 3.5 to 4 lbs. I can consistently put 5 shot groups into a 2-inch circle at 10 yards (for me, I can not believe it myself). We put 150 rounds through it with no failures of any kind. It is one sweet target gun. But it lists for more than twice the price of the P30.
Now it is time to go and clean them.
Now to be fair, we did not give them a thorough cleaning. We ran a swab down the barrels and wiped off as much oil as we could without taking them apart. Also to be fair to the P30 I shot 30 rounds through that before I even picked up the 952.
We were shooting Winchester and Remington UMC factory 115 gr FMJ. We loaded and shot 5 rounds at a time. We were shooting at 10yds in an indoor range. I am a big strong guy (aren’t we all in our own minds) and Mrs. Kenji is about 5’8” and 112lbs. She has an average woman’s hand with long fingers.
With the gun configured as it came from the factory with the medium sides and backstrap it felt comfortable and balanced in both our hands. But when holding the pistol for a while in different positions, I could feel the backstrap move ever so slightly as I adjusted my grip. We think we like this grip better than the USPs, we may not even want to put a Hogue Handall on it. The slide release was easy to operate for both of us. Trigger pull was 5lbs SA. It is easy to rack the slide, which is important to Mrs. Kenji, who sometimes has trouble on some other brands.
The decocking button seems like a good idea. We both shoot right-handed. Mrs. Kenji had no problem hitting the button with either thumb. Hitting the button with my left thumb was ok, but getting my fat right thumb around the cocked hammer to reach the button took some getting used to. Mag release is HK standard.
You notice the sights are a little different, but no better or worse than any other sights in normal light conditions. After being out for 1 hour at an indoor range and then being put back in the box for about 3 hours there was no sign of luminance, even in a completely dark room. Charging the sights with a 60 watt bulb in a reflectorized light fixture for 60 seconds, with the gun held at a slight angle to the bulb (to energize the front sight), with the rear of the gun about 2 inches from the bulb, was enough to make them glow brightly, (more brightly than tritium) BUT the rear sights were noticeably brighter than the front sight, so if you wanted to charge it with a flashlight, you would want to change the front sight more. After 10 minutes the sights were about as bright as tritium, but the difference between the front sight and the rear sights almost made it unusable for a quick sight picture. After 20 minutes it had darkened slightly but was about as bright as the tritium in my watch. Same after 30, 40, 50, and 60 minutes.
Perceived recoil for me is a mute point. As I said I am a big guy - .45 or 9mm not noticeable. Mrs. Kenji feels that the recoil is not bad but more than her 9mm Elite.
So now we get to how it performed. We shot about 130 rounds through it. First the bad – 3 times (1 for me – 2x for Mrs. Kenji) the slide failed to lock open after empty. Someone else on the message board mentioned the same thing. With my grip I would be 99% certain that I was not riding the slide release, and when it happened to Mrs. Kenji I was watching and she was not on it. Again to be fair – we had not thoroughly cleaned the gun before shooting, and we did not try the other magazine. There were 2 failures to extract, one for each of us, but maybe Mrs. Kenji’s was her fault, getting used to the gun.
The gun is reasonable accurate. Please keep in mind that we are not experts. Shooting at a Q target, at 10 yds we draw 2-inch circles on the target. I had a lucky streak and made one big hole with one 5 round group. Taking our time we were consistently making 3-4 inch groups. Remember this is not a target pistol. It comes back on target quickly, and putting a fast group where you want it is easy.
So to summarize – I have concerns about the slide failing to lock open, and the failure to extract. I will report back after the gun is thoroughly cleaned and we shoot it again. If these problems go away, I think that this would make a good carry gun.
Now please do not send me hate mail or death threats for the rest of this paragraph – our other HKs are a 9mm Elite and a .45 Expert. I would not go out and sell any of my other guns, or take out a second mortgage to buy the P30. It is not the best, most innovative gun ever to be produced. If the problems are resolved after cleaning it would make a good carry gun with 15+1 rounds available. If you are not going to carry it, and for the $850 I paid for it, I would add a few hundred dollars more and buy an Expert or and Elite (if you can find it), they are much more of a gun. If you have to have it, I would wait for the prices to come down a bit.
Just a quick blurb on the S&W 952 since I just got it. It has a 6 inch barrel and a trigger pull of 3.5 to 4 lbs. I can consistently put 5 shot groups into a 2-inch circle at 10 yards (for me, I can not believe it myself). We put 150 rounds through it with no failures of any kind. It is one sweet target gun. But it lists for more than twice the price of the P30.
Now it is time to go and clean them.
