So I had a bunch of P30/VP9 mags sitting around after selling my VP9 and although I have grip extenders and they do double duty with the P2000s/P2000sk it still bugged me having a bunch of mags ostensibly for a gun I didn't have.

So I bought a P30 LE-A5 V3.

The VP9 never gelled with me. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with it, it just never really felt like a robust HK product and it's fit and finish never seemed up to previous HKs. I worked fine but I never shot it naturally well and like I said it wasn't for me. These were all personal intangible feelings about it, not tangible performance failings per say.

Anyhoo.... the P30 I picked up feels like a completely different gun. Triggers aside. It feels more robust, I like the recoil impulse better, the fit and finish is better and out of the box it shot easier and better for me. I will review it later but even the grip felt better. Where as on the VP9 I found myself dicking around with the grip panels looking for the right fit, the P30 was perfect out of the box. This is probably a combination of the aggressive stipling and trigger type.

At any rate for me personally the P30 is already gelling with me way more then the VP9.....and my mags have a new home now.

Now please don't think that the VP9 sucks, as it does not. I do however feel the P30 is built to a different standard.

Now of course the VP9 has a decent striker trigger (not in the same league as the PPQ IMO)and the P30 has a DA/SA trigger which I actually prefer. The big surprise on the P30 trigger that I have is the double action is actually ..... dare I say ..... GOOD. The reset however.....well lots less good.

At the end of the day I am shocked at how much I like the P30 yet was meh with the VP9 when they are damn near the same pistol on paper (action aside)

150 rounds of 9mm NATO and +P gold dots and it just felt better to me then my VP9 did.....but I have never been normal.

Feel the same way.
Have a HK45. Big gun but solid. Bought a VP9 because I heard the trigger was "amazing". Nice gun, but no connection. Didn't feel like a HK. Rattled a little. Sold it. Kept the mags.

Looking at a P30L myself.

quote:

I do however feel the P30 is built to a different standard.

And a different price point, don't forget.

quote:

And a different price point, don't forget.

A valid reason I do believe, since I noticed that difference with my HKs as well. The VP polymer feels a bit cheaper and chintzy and their build and assembly tolerances seem to fit their pricing. Additionally the VP40 feels more substantial than the VP9, but mostly due to its heavier slide assembly. Even so I prefer the strikers over my P30 by a large margin. It comes down to the triggers; I know now that I will never become friends with that V3 trigger and its excessive (to me) travel, no matter how hard I've tried. For me that's the definitive distinction and tipping point between the two platforms.

Slinger, you nailed my exact feelings about HK's.
I got a VP9 as soon as they came out. I was lucky to know a big vendor at the time. I basically got it home, cleaned it and ran off to the range. First shots were odd. Didn't like the recoil impulse and for some reason, it didn't feel like an HK.
Have had USP compacts, full size, P2000, sk and so on. VP9 didn't feel like them.
Took the VP9 to the range a few days later and same thing. I ended up selling it a week after I bought it.
Like you, not knocking or hating on it but it didn't work for me. Ran great, accurate, just not me.

I had the same reaction with the VP9.
I now have the P30 and am much happier with it.

Bob

I own and shoot both every weekend .
Other than one is a striker and one is a hammer gun I cannot see or feel any difference .
Buy what you like . They're both great guns .

I agree with the original poster. I have the HK P30L and believe it is a high quality outstanding handgun. I have shot the VP 9 and feel it is a different class than your other HK's. It is roughly half the price and thus sometimes you do get what you pay for. I have had people tell me why did I buy the P30L since I could have purchased the VP 9 for half the price but to me it simply does not have the traditional HK quality.

I can understand HK for wanting to enter the Stryker fire market and appeal to those individuals not wanting to pay more than other Stryker fire pistols. For me IMHO the P 30 L was the right choice for me.

Happy shooting

Hmm...Not an HK guy, but would it be any different to say that my 320 just didn't feel as solid as my 226?

Price point absolutely is different as is trigger and both of these things come into play.

I generally felt my VP9 didn't feel as well built or finished as some of its contemporaries either. Glock 17 for example.

Like Soggy, trigger is a personal issue for me as well as I am opposite and prefer non striker systems generally.

At the end of the day all I am saying is the VP9/40 is by most accounts a very good gun that is basically a striker fired P30. I am just shocked that what, on paper, should be nothing more than do you want the one with trigger X or Trigger Y is a much more drastic difference in my hand and use.

Once more my VP9 far from sucked and certainly was no Keltec but it just didn't do it for me on an intangible/personal level where the P30 is much better then I ever expected. Maybe that in itself is mentally what is going on. I EXPECTED the VP9 to be stellar and it was less so for me. Due to that I had trepidation regarding the P30 and had expectations that were far exceeded.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:.
So I bought a P30 LE-A5 V3.
150 rounds of 9mm NATO and +P gold dots and it just felt better to me then my VP9 did.....but I have never been normal.

...as the ever present bumper sticker says down here around Austin ... "Why be normal?"

MY VP9 was short lived also, same general feelings you expressed ... good pistol, just not for me. All my effort now is trying to decide between a P30LS V3 and a P30L V1. I think I've "decided" on each, multiple times! About 600 rounds through each ... and still comparing/deciding

Keltec owners group pitchfork and torch battalion deploying in five....four...three.....

Same slide, barrel and polymer. Only difference in polymer had a different factory stipple. And striker vs DA/SA which has more internal parts which makes it feel a tad heavier.

As for rattling, my VP has none. Can't say the same about the P30 ambi slide release. Rattles like a maraca. My HK45 doesn't do that.

As for the trigger. The P30 has the worst trigger and reset of any HK EXCEPT the VP70.

I sold my P30. Own two VP9's.

I've thought about getting a VP9 but I just can't get over the flaw that it shares with the P30 and that's the 17rnd magazine that only holds 15rnds. Which of course, means that the grip is longer than it needs to be. One of the great things about Glock is that nothing is there that doesn't need to be there. So HK makes their pistols size inefficient and harder to conceal because they can't or won't figure out how to make a magazine the right size. I've heard all of the excuses for why they do this but they're all lame.

I have both the VP9 and P30LS and love them both and for me they both shoot great. I took to the VP9 right away while my P30L took a little longer to get used to.

I can't see how one would consider them almost identical guns as the only parts they have that are the same are the sights, magazine, roll pin, and , magazine release. Other than that they are totally different. The shape of the grip is different between them also and at least for me I can get my strong hand grip higher and deeper under the slide on the VP9.

On the HK forum reports have come out from HK support that at least a few owners of the VP9 have over 65,000 trouble free rounds through their VP9s. I remember when some thought the USP had the firing pin made of pretzel stick as they had such a reputation of breaking until HK made a better one. IMO once can't necessarily use price comparison as a quality indicator when modern day machinery/manufacturing has advanced quite a bit in even the last few decades and HK very well could have made a decision to lower price point to be competitive and count of selling more units at lower profit for each unit . Other than the goofy "charging supports" falling out for some there are almost zero problems reported for the VP9 - typical HK quality. The trigger reset on the VP9 is miles better than the P30 for those that want a shorter reset.

Like anything else if something does not work well for a shooter, move on but that does not mean the what did not work well for you is somehow an inferior product.

Absolutely all of my complaints were personal feelings to me. Not tangible failures / issues. Never said the VP9 sucked by any stretch.

Interesting about the grip being different beyond the stipling. That would explain this P30 feeling great for me out of the box while the VP9 took a fair bit of playing LEGO with the panels.

I actually liked "the goofy charging supports".

When the VP9 first came out I could tell the difference between the VP9 and an HK45. But when I held another VP9 last fall, it felt good. Not sure if something changed, but it didn't have the same budget gun feel that it did the previous summer.

My nephew says the same thing about the P30 and the VP9. For me, I see no difference. I have even compared it to a USP 45T and didn't feel like there was a difference other than the trigger pull wasn't 50lbs. Now, compared to a P7, yea, I get the comparison.

I really like the VP9 and it was my favorite striker fired gun until I bought a P320 again. I bought the P320 early and the trigger was rough and grindy so I waited until it improved and I could upgrade it myself. The only downside to the VP9 is it doesn't seem to handle the elements well compared with the P30 or the Sig P320.

The P30 is much more gun than the VP9 (and much more $$$) But when you shoot them side by side, you know where that extra money went. I like my VP9 and understand some cuts had to be made to get it to the price point of its striker-fired competition, but it's a P30 that's riding on my hip right now.