I had the pleasure of checking out some P30s at my LGS the other day (I haven't played with one since I started looking for a first pistol years ago) and I have to say, the trigger is made out to be way worse than it is. The DA pull felt smooth and much lighter than I was expecting (I'm used to the DA pull of a USP 45) and the SA was just fine. Literally the only thing that felt "bad" was the reset (I've heard the reset came from design specs HK had to meet, could be wrong) which I know could be fixed with a GG SRT if I needed it. I started out with striker fired guns and just recently made the switch to DA/SA so take this with a grain of salt, but I really don't get the P30 trigger hate. Also, that grip is amazing, I am definitely getting a P30L V3 when the budget allows!
Shankdaddy
I’ve leaned to love mine (V1) simply through practice and training. It’s that simple. Work with what you have and become proficient with it.
IMO it has alot to do with the IG and Reddit gun culture, if those ppl spent 1/100th the amount of time at the range shooting DA/SA as they did on the internet posting pictures of guns they never shoot and complaining, they would master a P30 trigger.
Luckily HKPro has plenty of shooters who actually run their guns so u dont hear as much bellyaching here. It's a combat trigger, it is what it is.
Luckily HKPro has plenty of shooters who actually run their guns so u dont hear as much bellyaching here. It's a combat trigger, it is what it is.
Not saying HK triggers are good, bad or anything else...
Just gonna leave this here for the "suck it up and learn your trigger types"
From an industry insider who has been deep in the game for more than a while.
"So, way back...'88 or so, I met my shooting mentor if you will. I had just bought a Springfield 1911; when they only had the mil spec model. At the range, having zero pistol training, I was struggling with the gun/trigger that people call a "crutch".
Ron came over with a handful of rounds and asked if he could try. I handed him the gun and he proceeded to tear the x ring out strong hand only. He put the gun down and declared "you need a trigger job"...and a great, memorable but far too short friendship began. Ron was the original armorer to Delta and an accomplished shooter.
I asked him "you just shot out the x ring, shouldn't I learn to shoot with the ****ty trigger?" Ron looked at me as if too say - you are a dumb one and replied "no". He went on to explain that learning a bad trigger leads to bad habits and has no benefit. If you learn on a good trigger you will still be able to shoot a poor trigger. Years later, reading articles by BE shooters, they echoed the same sentiment.
So, is having a good 1911 trigger a crutch? -Or is it simply having good equipment?
Is having a hi cap 9mm a crutch for people that cant reload? A semi auto a crutch for people who cant shoot revolvers?
Having good gear is no "crutch" -its just having good gear."
Just gonna leave this here for the "suck it up and learn your trigger types"
From an industry insider who has been deep in the game for more than a while.
"So, way back...'88 or so, I met my shooting mentor if you will. I had just bought a Springfield 1911; when they only had the mil spec model. At the range, having zero pistol training, I was struggling with the gun/trigger that people call a "crutch".
Ron came over with a handful of rounds and asked if he could try. I handed him the gun and he proceeded to tear the x ring out strong hand only. He put the gun down and declared "you need a trigger job"...and a great, memorable but far too short friendship began. Ron was the original armorer to Delta and an accomplished shooter.
I asked him "you just shot out the x ring, shouldn't I learn to shoot with the ****ty trigger?" Ron looked at me as if too say - you are a dumb one and replied "no". He went on to explain that learning a bad trigger leads to bad habits and has no benefit. If you learn on a good trigger you will still be able to shoot a poor trigger. Years later, reading articles by BE shooters, they echoed the same sentiment.
So, is having a good 1911 trigger a crutch? -Or is it simply having good equipment?
Is having a hi cap 9mm a crutch for people that cant reload? A semi auto a crutch for people who cant shoot revolvers?
Having good gear is no "crutch" -its just having good gear."
Interesting opinion. Can't say I agree in full. I've seen it both ways. Amount of whining that I've heard coming from 1911 crowd about G triggers is irritating yet I've seen guys getting to GMs on gaming triggers and then not caring what trigger you give them after.
I do totally agree that [good] gear is gear. "Crutch" doesn't define gear but user's attitude and approach.
Yup, I was pleased recently with examining stock P30SKs. I thought they were better than what I remembered them to be. In light of what @dms16 posted above, this also could be a reflection on me as I've gotten a little better and a little more trigger-indifferent over time. That said, I still thought that USP triggers sucked so seems like P30 did change in a right direction.
I think that one thing worth mentioning is that dry firing a trigger isn't really the way to form a complete opinion. I am a GM in dry fire
; going live and for score, not so much by a wide margin.
Compared to a stock Beretta 92 or older S&W revolver it's not great but far from awful. Personally I prefer the v1 Light LEM since it go back and forth between my P30 and VP9. The trigger break between the two is close enough that I have no issues.
I've seen a couple of posts recently from a long time P30 shooter (YVK?) stating the newer models seem to have a better trigger. If I had to guess, HK finally lightened up on the stock fpbs.
In my personal opinion, too many people conflate "cleaning up a trigger" and "trying to make a match grade out of a trigger meant for combat." I have the Grayguns SRS and Flat trigger on my P30sk v1. It's still a 5+ lb trigger break. But, the exaggerated reset, break point relative to the web of my hand and overtravel have all been improved. It's still a far cry from a decent stock 1911 trigger much less a match grade one. In the end, if you're happy with the stock trigger, you don't need to throw a couple hundred at it. You can spend that on ammo/accessories.
As a side note, I really wish Grayguns would bring out their flat trigger for the full size USP.
In my personal opinion, too many people conflate "cleaning up a trigger" and "trying to make a match grade out of a trigger meant for combat." I have the Grayguns SRS and Flat trigger on my P30sk v1. It's still a 5+ lb trigger break. But, the exaggerated reset, break point relative to the web of my hand and overtravel have all been improved. It's still a far cry from a decent stock 1911 trigger much less a match grade one. In the end, if you're happy with the stock trigger, you don't need to throw a couple hundred at it. You can spend that on ammo/accessories.
As a side note, I really wish Grayguns would bring out their flat trigger for the full size USP.
I have a P30L, P30S & P30Sk All v3.
The P30S is an 18’, the P30L a 21’ and the P30Sk 22’.
All of these firearms are 100% stock.
I don't have a trigger pull gauge to put numbers on these firearms but the P30S has the worst feeling trigger of all 3 by quite a bit.
The P30L trigger is much smoother and somewhat lighter than my P30S.
The P30Sk trigger, for whatever reason, is both
smoother and lighter than my P30L and P30S.
So, i believe something HAS been changed regarding the stock spring configurations over the past few years on these firearms, in a significantly good way.
I have never considered my P30 trigger to be bad. It is certainly not the worst trigger of any pistol I have owned (the original LC9 trigger gets that nod).
It is somewhere in the middle as a double action trigger. In single action I actually like it, and the hammer is placed so you can cock it on the way up if you want - so no normal need to shoot double action if you don't want to.
It is somewhere in the middle as a double action trigger. In single action I actually like it, and the hammer is placed so you can cock it on the way up if you want - so no normal need to shoot double action if you don't want to.
No problem with HK handgun triggers here, got used to them a long time ago, but let's face it: Even the USP "match" trigger is one of the worst DA/SA triggers put on a handgun in this century, and no, a combat trigger doesn't have to be horrible. If a cheap stock M9A3 can have a DA/SA trigger that is so much better, then surely HK could come up with something better than this for their expensive high-end models after all these years? The notion that this industry leading awfulness is the price we have to pay for all that legendary reliability is pretty much the only thing you can cling to to get some kind of consolation. Let's do that.
Your post was a breath of fresh air, thanks. Good to see some sanity here, something that seems to be rare some days.
I am not a trigger snob in the least and I like my HKs. I dont think its horrible and it works just fine. But lets not kid ourselves about what it is. Its not a target gun, its a military/police gun.
However if you shoot the P30 and than shoot a Beretta 92 (especially an Italian made one) you are going to be in for a shock. Despite both being off the shelf pistols there is a wide difference in the trigger feel. The 92 feels like a custom gun and has the smoothest action of any double action gun I have used. I have no idea how Beretta gets them like this. It might have to do with the fact that it does not use the Browning action and Sig style lockup.
The P30 is much more vague and mushy but is quite useable. Frankly it feels kind of cheap and plastic-like. You get used to it if you shoot it enough, not a big deal IMHO.
In the end it doesnt matter. Just enjoy the P30 for what it is - which is a well made, super reliable pistol.
However if you shoot the P30 and than shoot a Beretta 92 (especially an Italian made one) you are going to be in for a shock. Despite both being off the shelf pistols there is a wide difference in the trigger feel. The 92 feels like a custom gun and has the smoothest action of any double action gun I have used. I have no idea how Beretta gets them like this. It might have to do with the fact that it does not use the Browning action and Sig style lockup.
The P30 is much more vague and mushy but is quite useable. Frankly it feels kind of cheap and plastic-like. You get used to it if you shoot it enough, not a big deal IMHO.
In the end it doesnt matter. Just enjoy the P30 for what it is - which is a well made, super reliable pistol.
Totally agree with your assessment OP. Use to own a P30S and eventually traded it for an LEM variant, but I felt the trigger on the P30S was fine. Smooth and not too heavy. Reset could definitely be shorter though. I had an HK45 and 45C converted to LEM and enjoyed them, so I figured I might as well have the P30 in LEM as well.
For me, when I first only shot HKs, the stock P30 trigger (light LEM) was sufficient. When I got an HK45 and HK45c, I didn’t like the longer reset but still wasn’t too hurt over it. When I started shooting 1911s and 2011s, I started to find that I was short stroking the P30 triggers quite often. The grayguns trigger eliminated that issue for me.
Of the da/sa handguns I own the best triggers are in this order: sig p220, cz p01, hk p30 and usp compact. The da trigger on these aren’t really separated by much except for the usp compact which stacks really bad all the way to the wall. The sa triggers are all decent but the hk’s reset is longer and breaks back further in my opinion. It’s serviceable but I’m not really fond of it. So when people say hk hammer fired triggers are trash I think they are comparing them to others guns I mentioned. Even the beretta 92fs I owned had a better trigger in my opinion. Trigger jobs can improve all these handguns, but in stock form my experience is hk’s are the worse out of the box. With that said I can shoot my p30 really good in slow fire applications. I also tend to shoot the da trigger very accurately on my p30 even though I don’t like it. I don’t know what that’s about. The usp compact though is not the most accurate in my hands no matter what trigger mode I shoot it in.
Edit: oh I forgot to add my Walther p99 to the list. Even though its striker fired it has a da/sa trigger as well. It’s even better than my sig p220 in my opinion.
Edit: oh I forgot to add my Walther p99 to the list. Even though its striker fired it has a da/sa trigger as well. It’s even better than my sig p220 in my opinion.
Couldn't agree more. I shoot 1911's also and love their triggers. But my HK's are great guns and I have no issues with their triggers, at all. Like beer, after the first couple they all taste good. At the range after a couple of mags any decent trigger feels normal. To your trigger finger. And the triggers on HK's are more than decent. They work well and feel just fine. As we used to say in the trades, some people would b*tch if they were hung with a new rope.
Well I 've owned many HK's in the last 30 yrs. and my P30sk V3 is probably a bit better than most. The single action is nice but the lloonngg travel getting there, it's a bit much, mine almost hits the rear. I'm looking to get something that will move the trigger forward to about 90 degree, that would be perfect. Reset is good, trigger pull is fine, it's better than my USP's were. I haven't got my P2000 out in a long time, so 'll see, The new HK grips are really good IMO.
I agree wholeheartedly! I’m new to HK, and I just got the P30, and its my favorite this far. It’s also my first taste of DA/SA, after years of striker fired guns and I’ve been hesitant on switching, but so glad I did. Wish I would’ve switched years ago. Getting the P30SK once I get the money lol.
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