The latest in Heckler and Koch’s series of hammer-fired pistols is
the P30SK. Angela Harrell at HK tells me the suffix comes from German
spelling: SubKompact. With a stubby 2-finger grip frame, 10+1 9mm Luger
cartridge capacity, 1.37 inches thick and 6.42 inches long, it seems
designed to compete squarely in the market now dominated by the Glock
26.
The P30SK can be had in traditional double-action first shot/single
action thereafter mode, with its odd push-button decocker on the back of
the slide to the left of the hammer, or in LEM configuration. Our
sample was the light LEM. LEM stands for Law Enforcement Modification, a
concept going back to when double-action-only, hammer-fired autoloaders
were all the rage.
On our test sample, serial number 214-000260, the trigger pull
averaged 6.13 pounds on a Lyman digital trigger pull gauge from
Brownells. It has “second strike” capability without racking the slide
in the event of a misfire, but this brings the shooter to a default
trigger pull almost double the LEM’s standard weight at 11 pounds on
average. Fortunately the test pistol never misfired and we never needed
that long, heavy second chance at a recalcitrant primer, but it never
hurts to know the capability is there.
The fixed sights have good visibility, aided by luminous inserts
front and rear. Europe seems to regard Tritium the way “progressives”
regard the Confederate flag, and we see a lot of these sights on guns
from the Continent. Usually, they need 15 or 30 seconds of flashlight
beam to get a good glow on, but the ones on this HK lit up almost
immediately.
Another feature is long, slim ambidextrous slide-lock levers. This
speeds reloading and administrative handling for southpaws, and for
anyone the front edge of the slide stop lever provides a very handy felt
index for keeping the trigger finger in register on the frame in any
sort of ready position. A good and often overlooked safety feature,
methinks. However, a straight thumbs grasp can override the lever and
cause the slide to fail to lock back when empty.
The P30SK’s external extractor is designed to act also as a loaded
chamber indicator when its red part shows. Be wary: it extruded enough
on our test sample to show red whether or not a round was chambered.
The P30SK’s relatively high bore axis gave some muzzle rise, but wasn’t noticeable (arrow shows flying brass).
HK P30 unique magazine release design allows very fast reloads.
The arrow shows empty mag falling, while a fresh one is en route to the
pistol.
Race day. In front of 30-person audience, P30SK still delivered
perfect qualification score. The arrow shows the low hit in the A-zone
and Mas says
was all his fault. Final qualifying target scored 300/300 despite low shot.
Press Contact Range
A big positive, I think, is the recoil spring guide on this SK aligns
with the muzzle in such a way the slide won’t go back out of battery at
press contact. If the gun has to be rammed against a homicidal
attacker’s body and fired, this means it will actually discharge, while
many competing products will go out of battery and fall silent.
From the Caldwell Matrix rest on my 25-yard bay, we group tested the
P30SK with the three most popular bullet weights for 9mm Parabellum.
Representing 115-grain was the famously effective Federal 9BPLE, a
jacketed hollowpoint at +P+ velocity. Five shots formed a 2.45-inch
group, with the best three in 1.75 inches. The 124-grain choice proved
most accurate: Black Hills’ standard pressure load with the Hornady XTP
bullet delivered five shots into an exact 1.50 inches, with the bullet
holes measured center to center. The best three were in 1-3/4 inches.
Finally, the 147-grain subsonic in the form of Winchester’s WinClean
training load with jacketed truncated cone bullet drilled five rounds
into 1.85 inches, and delivered the tightest “best three” cluster of
0.95 inch.
This is impressive from a subcompact concealment pistol with a
3.27-inch barrel weighing 24 ounces unloaded. The test gun did shoot
high, though, with the 124-grain centered about 3 inches high at 25
yards, as did the 115-grain, and the 147-grain subsonic’s point of
impact was more like 5 inches north of point of aim. Nothing a
replacement front sight couldn’t fix, but still a bit disappointing.
Trigger reach was comfortable, and the LEM trigger pull itself was
quite manageable once I took a few shots to re-familiarize myself with
it. Unfortunately, I was also re-familiarized with my hand’s
incompatibility with the P30 series since it came out. On the inside
bottom surface of the triggerguard a little bump sits directly in line
with the toe of the P30’s pivoting trigger, and it tends to pinch my
index finger. Nothing I can’t get over, but I wouldn’t want to take a
1,000 rounds a day immersion shooting course with it. While I’m not the
only person who has this problem with the P30 series, most folks don’t.
Dry fire it in the gun shop and if it’s gonna be a problem for you,
you’ll recognize it immediately.
To test a deer rifle, you’d want to take it deer hunting. To test a
defensive pistol, you want to do some combat shooting with it, which
means either an action pistol match or shooting a police-type
qualification or teaching a class with it. There weren’t any IDPA or
similar matches that fit my schedule, so I took the P30SK with me in
June 2015 to teach a MAG-40 class for Thunderbird Tactical Academy in
Wichita, Kansas.
The HK worked out well for the course, though to teach reloading, I
borrowed a student’s pistol. Most autoloaders have a side-button
magazine release, but a signature feature of the HK series is the
ambidextrous paddle along the bottom edges of the triggerguard which,
when pressed down, dumps the mag. This also has the useful benefit of
getting your trigger finger out of the guard during the process. While
unconventional, the HK’s mag release setup is fast once you get used to
it. When this system first came out on the HK many years ago, the great
Ken Hackathorn said it was the fastest auto pistol to reload he had yet
seen. It was certainly quick for yours truly.
The Green Force Tactical IWB worked great in several days of constant concealed carry.
Mas shot this 60-round group practicing for qualification with the P30SK.
Speed Shooting
Before leaving for the class, mindful of the fact the gun shot high, I
took it for a test drive over the MAG qualification course, a 4- to
15-yard 60-shot compendium of various long-standing police handgun
quals. Using the same target as Bianchi Cup and the GLOCK Sport Shooting
Foundation, I was able to keep 59 of the 60 shots in the
4-inch-diameter center X ring. One drifted out into the 10-ring,
resulting in a score of 600-59X out of 600-60X possible. The group ran
about 4-1/2 inches.
But, as my old friend Tom Campbell used to say when he was building
his reputation as one of the International Practical Shooting
Confederation’s great champions, “practice ain’t race day.” The time
came to shoot a “pace-setter” qualification on the last day of the
class. Using a deep 6 o’clock hold because I knew this particular pistol
shot high, I managed to honk a shot low in the “A” zone of the IPSC
targets we were using.
This forced me to bear down, and I managed to finish the run with a
300 “possible” score, but nowhere near the 4.5-inch practice group.
(Congratulations to Andy Padilla of the Thunderbird staff, who beat me
with the same 300 score and an inch tighter group for tie-breaker.)
Continuing with the “How do you test a deer rifle” analogy, you test a
carry gun by, well, carrying it. The P30SK spent about 10 days on my
right hip, mostly in a Green Force Tactical Kydex inside the waistband
holster, which fit it perfectly and was delivered with alacrity. The
makers will make it the way you want it. I like it without a sweat
shield to allow a full grasp before the draw begins. For outside the
waistband wear, I found a Galco Cordovan holster for a GLOCK 30 fit the
P30SK adequately. In all-day carry, I found no sharp edges or abrasive
grip surfaces. It felt as if I was carrying a GLOCK 26 with a stubby
little hammer spur.
The best performance of the day came with this Black Hills 124-grain JHP 25-yard group of 1.5 inches.
Winchester’s 147-grain subsonic stayed under 2 inches at 25 yards.
Federal’s street-proven 115-grain +P+ grouped under 2.5 inches at 25 yards—exceptional performance in a subcompact.
Bottom Line
Noting the most important thing—no malfunctions of any kind in
several hundred rounds—I was by and large happy with the P30SK. Except
for the pinched trigger finger, I liked most of its shooting
characteristics. A relatively high bore axis gives it a bit more muzzle
rise than most of its striker-fired competitors, but it didn’t feel like
a handicap in shooting. The price of $719 is reasonable given the
evident quality and performance, though $59 per spare magazine tends to
raise eyebrows. On balance, I like the HK P30SK.
Law Enforcement Modification Trigger Pull Sequence
A The LEM trigger pull from the user perspective
is slightly different from other DAO trigger pulls. Here, the P30SK, it
is at rest. At initial contact, the trigger finger feels light
resistance, and at this point the hammer is coming back and finger is
feeling more resistance.
B Here, hammer is full cocked and trigger finger
is a whisker away from the release of the sear, hammer falling and
discharging the round.
C The trigger needs to return only this far
forward to reset for next shot. Note position of hammer at this point.
Once your finger is completely forward, so are trigger and hammer, to
position seen in “A.” In firing most shooters learn to run it forward
only to reset, sort of like a traditional-double-action shooter “riding
the sear” or “riding the link” when the TDA is in single-action mode.
The
White House on Monday shifted the blame for the Paris terror attacks
from jihadists to guns, as White House spokesman Josh Earnest said
members of Congress should make it harder for people to purchase guns in
the U.S. rather than worry about terrorists entering the nation.
