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H&K pistols have long been blessed with almost-supernatural reliability and cursed with long, gritty and heavy triggers. For this reason (and something having to do with taxable income), I haven’t spent much time shooting H&K’s pistols. With the introduction of their new P-30, I wanted to check out the veracity of David Jensen’s review. So I approached Heckler & Koch to ask everything I’ve ever wanted to know about their new pistols but was afraid to ask . . .
As David pointed-out, the P-30 is a hammer-fired (read: not a Glock) 9mm and .40 pistol with interchangeable backstraps and grip panels and fully ambidextrous controls. It’s got the best trigger I’ve ever felt on an H&K, even though the trigger reset is approximately the distance between Chicago and Minneapolis. Farago and I found it incredibly accurate, to the point where I gave up shooting at the ‘headshot’ target and started drilling the ‘half-headshot’ steel target instead.
With an MSRP of about $1,000, the H&K P-30 isn’t for the faint of wallet. But it was one of the most consistently accurate pistols we shot all day. While we had the rep in front of us, we asked the obvious question: does H&K hate its customers and think they suck? The H&K USA representative stressed that the famed German gunmaker is trying hard to improve their less-than-stellar customer service reputation “created in the 80s.”
He promised that that H&K’s re-organized U.S. arm (i.e. under new management) will respond to every question they’re asked. Their goal: to repair and return every firearm (under warranty or not) within one to two weeks. At these prices, you’d expect nothing less. And we say that in the nicest possible way.
Is this a joke? The P30 has been out for a while now. Didn’t you guys review it last month?
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/12/david-jensen/gun-review-hk-p30/
It appears either someone made a mistake this morning, or someone has a time machine in the garage they didn’t post about.
Jameson! Mulligan! Text amended.
I’m so glad that H&K doesn’t hate us because that means that their customer service is merely sh!tty, not purposefully sh!tty. What a relief.
The customer service may suck but the Guns are good.
I love my 40 cal P-30.
As a left handed shooter having a pistol with totally ambidextrous controls is great.
I told you all that its a pretty nice handgun. The H&K P30L my friend just picked up is even better.
I have a P30L and I love the way it feels and shoots. My ONLY complaint is this: for a $1000 gun, it should come with real steel and tritium night sights. I know, I know, you can’t have those in Europe, they are radioactive *oooo… scary*. BUT… for $1000 can’t they pull a “Glock” and import them with 10 cent plastic sights and put on a real set of Trijicons at the H&K plant in the US?
Hate us or not, nobody wants to pay that much money for plastic. I thought half the point of polymer was to bring costs down, so I can only imagine how much HKs would cost if they used alloy or steel frames…
And hey, while you’re improving that service HK why not give the public some non-neutered rifles and carbines that aren’t ARs?
I don’t think that HK can afford to be as big of a bunch of divas as they were in the 1980s and 1990s, given that they have lost so much of the police / military market share.
My recent experience with H&K customer service was very good. I had to send in my SP-89 because I dropped it and bent the front sight. (Doooh!) They had the gun back to me in less than a week (remarkable, given that it shipped cross country). They even took the time to check the rest of the gun, and called me to let me know that the extractor spring could use a change-out. They ended up replacing the extractor spring. I had them add a front night sight while they were at it. Overall, it was great customer service. My only complaint with H&K is that their products cost so damn much.
Fixing service return times is only the start of what HK needs to fix. Next should come the too high pricing for the quality and, the most important part, start selling ciilian versions of your cool guns to us lowly americans…MP7 anyone?
Right, I need another rifle I can only mail order ammunition for.
Tell them to bring back the P7 and release a .45 acp model and a 10mm model.
I am supposed to have the NY version inbound for review. So they think we are all on the same page and they don’t hate us cause we don’t suck…
HK DOES hate you, and the DO think you suck. Don’t be fooled….. germans
I have a P30 with the DAO “LEM” trigger and I have no complaints. It points very easily, the grip is ridiculously comfortable, it shoots straight and feeds anything no matter what. I’m a lefty and my wife’s a righty, so we have the medium side grip panel in the left side for my hand and the small side grip panel in the right side for her hand. The controls are the best I’ve handled, I’ve even come to love the weird paddle mag release. Also, for what it’s worth, it takes down more simply and smoother than any other pistol I’ve used. I got it for $830 with Meprolight tritium night sights installed. Yes, the price is a few hundred more than a Glock or M&P, but for me the ergonomics are worth it.
I am seriously considering a P30LS with the LEM set up. I am accustomed to about a 6.5 to 7 lb trigger pull via several compact-sized S&W semi-autos and can’t make a decision as to whether the V1 (4.5-5 lbs) or V2 (7.5-8 obs) trigger would be better for me. Intended purpose of the gun is recreational range shooting and home-based personal defense. Would appreciate any thoughts!
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