[GASMan]

I've been an HK owner for about four months now and this is my first post. I purchased a P30SK Light LEM as my first HK totally on a whim. I normally do extensive research on anything as important as a firearm, but after a brief conversation with a friend where we both agreed that a HK was on our bucket lists, I went online and purchased a P30SK basically because it looked cool. Fortunately for me it turned out to be probably my best firearm purchase ever. I was so impressed by EVERYTHING about this little gun that in the next two months I purchased a VP9 and a HK45T Light LEM.

Being an engineer and a machinist I don't leave anything mechanical stock for very long. This post is about my mods to my little P30SK.

The first thing I did after a trip to the range to get a feel for the gun was a trigger job. I don't own a firearm without a modified trigger and my friends call me a trigger snob. They are correct and I take no offense. Since this was going to end up as my primary carry weapon I didn't do anything drastic to the sear engagement, just your normal polish and detail work of all mating parts. I also installed the LEM4.1 kit to reduce the pre-travel. Gun felt and shot great and I was very happy for a while.

Then came the VP9 and HK45T, both of which got tweaked. What I ended up thinking is that it's too bad that the P30 couldn't have a trigger position at break more like the VP9 and a shorter reset like more the HK45T. As it turns out it can. It's wasn't easy but the end result was worth the effort. The first thing I noticed was that the HK45T in LEM configuration already had the equivalent of the 4.1 mod from the factory. That begs the question, why didn't it come stock in the LEM P30's? Any way I started thinking about the 4.1 mod and wondered if the 1/3 reduction in pre-travel could be moved forward to give a trigger break point more like a striker fired gun than the "all the way to the back of the trigger guard" of a DA/SA gun. After a LOT of CAD modeling and prototyping this is what I came up with.

Here is the P30SK stripped down. You will notice an extra trigger and trigger bar. They will be explained shortly.

Thorough examination of the HK45T trigger group made me realize I could transfer some parts and concepts to the P30. You will notice the longer arm on the HK45T trigger. It is a drop in replacement for the P30 trigger and reduces travel somewhat at all stages of trigger movement. The only draw back is a heavier DA pull which many people complain about with the HK45T. Fortunately this is not really a problem with a LEM trigger group because you will never see DA pull except in the event of needing to make a double strike. I will gladly take that trade-off any day. I have yet to experience the need to double strike with quality ammo in any quality firearm. In this picture you can see the new trigger bar CNC machined from pre-hard 4140 chromemoly steel. The trigger bar is the heart of the modification. Also shown is the modification to the slot in the hammer. I should have taken a picture of the hammer before I machined it. This is a necessary mod and it copies the stock HK45T LEM hammer.

Here is a better view of the difference in arm length between the HK45 and P30.

This is basically the same picture but with the trigger bars flipped over to see the other side.

Here is a top view. Notice the repositioning of the trigger tab to a more forward position. I'm here to tell you that EVERY little dimension detail had to be just perfect for this to work flawlessly. I machined six prototypes before getting it just right.

In this picture you will see the "over travel" stop. It's not necessary, but it gives the trigger a great feel and any amount of over travel after break will be in the reset distance as well. Since people often complain about the long reset on the P30's this is a worthwhile addition in my opinion.

Here you see the trigger arm up against the over travel stop.

The next four pictures show the end result of trigger position thru the different stages of movement. This is the starting position. Trigger is all the way forward in the trigger guard in the cocked at rest position.

Here the trigger is pulled all the way up against the sear just before break. A more natural position and closer to a striker fired pistol position.

Here is max trigger travel with the trigger up against the over travel stop.

Here is the reset position. I don't know the actual reduction from stock because I don't have a stock pistol here to make measurements against. All I can say is that it is a very noticeable difference. The end result makes an almost perfect carry pistol perfect for me. It may not be for everyone but I love it.

I honestly cannot think of another pistol on the planet that I would trade (excluding for monetary reasons) my modded P30SK for in a concealed carry role. More than any other pistol this one gives me 100% confidence in it's overall safety (it's LEM), it's uncanny ability to meld into my hands when drawn, the way the sights automatically become perfectly aligned when pulled into the firing position, the total lack of "compact gun typically harsh recoil", and the absolute stone reliability of the firearm. Can you tell I'm happy with my purchase?

BTW - Installing the follower and base plate for a VP9 mag increases the mag capacity to 11 rounds.

Sometime I'll post my VP9 and HK45T mods as well.

 

[Wharf Rat]

Nice work Gasman. You gonna sell these mods?

 

[estesmonkey]

Congrats on your HKs. I have all three and each are great. I am not understanding your 11 rds in the VP unless you are stuck in a 10 round state?
I'm not certain I would have made the changes you have, but the LEM is about the best trigger I have seen yet. On the HK45T, its incredible. After a FPBS swap on my V1 P30sk, everything is as I like it. Thanks for the write up.

 

[ecsuser-closed]

Now that's how it's done. Great first post. Welcome!

 

[GASMan]

I am not understanding your 11 rds in the VP unless you are stuck in a 10 round state?

When I looked at the 10 round P30SK mag compared to the 15 round VP9 it surely didn't look 33% shorter. I knew there had to be extra room in there and I was right. The P30SK has a longer follower and a taller base plate than the VP9. I'm not sure why they would intentionally limit an 11 round mag to 10 unless it's to retain compatibility with 10 round limited states. Maybe they thought it wasn't worth it to offer both 10 and 11 round mags. There is no down side unless you feel the VP9 mag isn't reliable. I have about a 1000 rounds thru the 11 round mags and about 500 rounds since the trigger mods without a hiccup.

 

[brn2xl]

Now that's how it's done. Great first post. Welcome!

^^^ What he said!

 

[Cyanide]

Outstanding mods and first post!

 

[Speedy2015]

Very cool! Thanks for the right up!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[AGG]

Thanks for the great tutorial!!! :biggrin:

Tony

 

[YVK]

Strong work, bravo. The reset work (and now coupled with 4.1 parts) and OT stops have been available on the market. I have four guns set up like that. However, re-positioning the trigger break point forward, together with all of that work, is both unique and beneficial. If you go commercial on this work, let us know.

 

[GASMan]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. This forum has been a very useful resource as a new HK owner.

Nice work Gasman. You gonna sell these mods?

I'm not sure. Right now I have too much on my plate, so if I do it won't be for a while. I appreciate the inquiry though.

I have made a prototype CNC'ed trigger bar for my LEM HK45T that also moves the trigger position forward. I have seen a few post from members here stating that the trigger reach on the HK45 is too short if you have larger hands. I still need to do a few tweaks to the CAD model to get the position just right before I machine the final revision.

 

[blckdmnd]

So...tell me why you don't work at HK?

 

[GASMan]

So...tell me why you don't work at HK?

You know I was thinking once this was finished and working that HK could have made it like this themselves. Absolutely nothing was altered with respect to hammer block, firing pin block or any other safety feature. All they would need to do is use the HK45 trigger and hammer style along with a few dimensional changes to the trigger bar. Since they design primarily for military and law enforcement it's probably not worth their trouble. Although, it could easily be part of the 4.1 mod package since it already includes a new hammer. Just add the HK45 trigger and new trigger bar as an option.

 

[bastardsonofelvis]

I bet you a dollar that's the best first post on this forum ever.

 

[Crashmc]

You've done a lot in just 4 months being around HK's . It'll be interesting to see your results after some extensive testing.

 

[Hyno]

I personally would never use a pistol for carry which has been drastically modified, but to each his own I guess. Your work and end result are nice, just not my cup of tea unless it's a range toy.

 

[GASMan]

I personally would never use a pistol for carry which has been drastically modified, but to each his own I guess. Your work and end result are nice, just not my cup of tea unless it's a range toy.

I understand that some people aren't comfortable with carry pistol mods and I can respect that. Being the guy that engineered and performed the mods I have absolutely no trouble trusting my life with to the function of this pistol. It still retains 100% HK internal parts with no changes to any of the safety components and the CNC'ed trigger bar is far stronger than it ever needs to be. It is still the original trigger design as used in the HK45 with the trigger position moved forward.

 

[JonFrost]

Welcome to the forum!! Great introduction, can't wait to see what's next.

 

[longdriver19]

When I looked at the 10 round P30SK mag compared to the 15 round VP9 it surely didn't look 33% shorter. I knew there had to be extra room in there and I was right. The P30SK has a longer follower and a taller base plate than the VP9. I'm not sure why they would intentionally limit an 11 round mag to 10 unless it's to retain compatibility with 10 round limited states. Maybe they thought it wasn't worth it to offer both 10 and 11 round mags. There is no down side unless you feel the VP9 mag isn't reliable. I have about a 1000 rounds thru the 11 round mags and about 500 rounds since the trigger mods without a hiccup.

Do you think the VP 9 followers and +1 pinky extension from HK Parts.net would give you 12?

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[S404]

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing.