HK P30L jams every shot

Koval

Koval

BANNED
Regular
BANNED
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Location
GTA
I put 2 boxes of ammo through it and jams almost every shot.

Before I continue, I will say I have owned 4 different handguns, including Remington 1911, Girsan Regard, TWO different M&P 9s and wifes SFP9, and shot THOUSANDS of 9mm ranging 114 grain, 124 and 147 grain. ZERO issues with any of those guns.

P30 really hated 115 grain, a guy at the range told me to try 124 grain as thats the NATO spec ammo and the gun is designed around it. Second box of 124 grain later and gun still jams, either FTE (stove pipe) or FTF.

Im not holding the gun any different, I think of myself as a fairly competent shooter and when someone gave me a glock to try for the first time, I shot better with it than my own guns, despite always hating it.

I also observed videos on utube of people shooting HK p30L using 115 grain without a single issue.

Some have said that it needs a break in, but why? All guns Ive owned shot flawlessly right out of the box.

Others have said because the spring is too strong and needs to be loosened up. My wifes SFP9 has a SERIOUSLY strong spring, it takes some effort to pull the slide back and the gun eats all ammo. P30 has much lighter spring than SFP9.

I dont believe in "break in" period for guns, this isnt some semi custom super tight tolerance gun, its a duty gun and it should work right out of the box. Did I simply get a lemon?
 
Have you tried different magazines? Checked the extractor/ejector for damage?

Try only loading1, then 2 rounds, etc. See what happens.
 
What’s the ammo you’re using?
I’d do a complete disassembly of the gun and reassemble it (properly) to begin with and check all parts.
might be a pin that’s not fully seated, spring not connected properly. Had this issue with my first Glock before I realized one of the pins hadn’t been inserted fully.

if you give up on it I’ll buy your problem P30L for $500 ��
 
Koval said:
I did use blazer brass with P30L, think that may be it?
Click to expand...

Everybody flames me when i say this cuz "ive fired thousands of rounds of it in my gun and it works just fine", but, the three types of ammo that i see cause the most problems at the range are:
1) cheap steel cased anything
2 and 3) blazer aluminum and blazer brass.

Its "cheap" (wait.....is any ammo cheap these days?) for a reason and that reason isn't cuz it's super awesome ammo lol.

Sure, it works just fine in a lot of guns (I'll even say most guns).....but I've seen many very good quality guns that wont run it worth a $hit.

I would suggest buying a box of 124gr federal american eagle, or Selliet and Bellot, and if it still has problems, then send the gun in for warranty
 
*MALICE* said:
Everybody flames me when i say this cuz "ive fired thousands of rounds of it in my gun and it works just fine", but, the three types of ammo that i see cause the most problems at the range are:
1) cheap steel cased anything
2 and 3) blazer aluminum and blazer brass.

Its cheap for a reason and that reason isn't cuz it's super awesome ammo lol.

Sure, it works just fine in a lot of guns.....but I've seen many very good quality guns that wont run it worth a $hit.

I would suggest buying a box of 124gr federal american eagle, or Selliet and Bellot, and if it still has problems, then send the gun in for warranty
Click to expand...

Ive used blazer brass with all my other stuff, and my wifes sfp9 eats it no problem.
You are right, it is cheap, I have 7k rounds of it cause all my other guns love it.
Guess Im just stumped that something so high quality can be so picky. Duty guns should eat the worst ammo.
 
1. Have a friend or another shooter at your range shoot that HK. Could be just how your gripping it and somehow impeding the slide.
2. Does the slide move effortlessly when placed on top of the frame with no recoil assembly in place.
3. Load one cartridge in the magazine and test. Handgun should cycle fully and the slide lock back.
4. Benching a handgun will add further support to help stabilize it. Plenty of videos available on how to do this properly.
5. Have someone take a picture of your grip while pointing the gun out with both hands supporting it.

In all the years I was gunsmithing I believe I had only one handgun that truly would not cycle correctly. A 1911 Colt in .38 Super. This was a extractor issue. All the others were all resolved by shooting the clients handgun in front of them. Todd Jarrett has one of the best videos for proper gripping a handgun.

Good luck to you and hopefully you get it resolved.
 
Koval said:
Ive used blazer brass with all my other stuff, and my wifes sfp9 eats it no problem.
You are right, it is cheap, I have 7k rounds of it cause all my other guns love it.
Guess Im just stumped that something so high quality can be so picky. Duty guns should eat the worst ammo.
Click to expand...

I disagree that duty guns should eat the worst ammo. I wouldn't want to trust my life to garbage/cheap ammo

And I'm not saying you shouldn't buy or use blazer (especially if it works in most of your guns), just that wheni do see guns having a problem with ammo, it's often blazer
 
Koval said:
...I'm just stumped that something so high quality can be so picky. Duty guns should eat the worst ammo.
Click to expand...

My limited experience with a P30L was identical to your own. (They can have them, AFAIC.)

Have you read about the HK's 'stepped' chamber? And have you tried the 'plunk' test?
 
How are the mags and how many are you using? Are you getting the same issues with all your mags.
I agree that the P30 should eat any ammo. I had one once and it was not picky and I was only feeding it the cheaps ammo available, so lacqure steel case and aluminum case crap.
 
Some guns just don't like some makes of ammo.

Try some Winchester, Remington, PMC, etc.

Also, some make/weights of ammo will shoot significantly more accurately than others. Find what the gun likes.

Don't argue with it.
 
Before we get into ammo types or grip; how is it "jamming"?

I get customers every week talking about guns "jamming", but most don't understand or explain which of the approximately 1000 different malfunctions the "jam" actually is... it's hard to fix a problem without knowing what the problem is.

Fail to fire? Fail to feed? Fail to extract? Fail to eject? Light primer strike? Stovepipe?

Any specific symptoms you can offer us?
 
The one thing I had a problem with getting use to on my P30L is with a high hold, I was riding the extended slide release with my left thumb (lefty). Instead of changing the grip I use on all of my pistols, I modified the right side slide release so it is about half length.

Mine digests everything I put through it, and the mags are superb quality, so if it isn't an operation issue with you the shooter, there is likely something that is mechanically amiss with your pistol.
 
beltfed said:
The one thing I had a problem with getting use to on my P30L is with a high hold, I was riding the extended slide release with my left thumb (lefty). Instead of changing the grip I use on all of my pistols, I modified the right side slide release so it is about half length.

Mine digests everything I put through it, and the mags are superb quality, so if it isn't an operation issue with you the shooter, there is likely something that is mechanically amiss with your pistol.
Click to expand...

+1. Probably this.
 
The OP defines his issues.

P30 really hated 115 grain, a guy at the range told me to try 124 grain as thats the NATO spec ammo and the gun is designed around it. Second box of 124 grain later and gun still jams, either FTE (stove pipe) or FTF
Click to expand...
.

I have had a few students suffer FTF due to anticipation of the handgun discharging. They relax their grip and slightly push the handgun forward just as the trigger moves completely rearward.
You discover this when you have them hand their handgun to you while on the range. You pretend to be looking at it while you extract a cartridge from the chamber and hand them back the handgun. They assume the handgun is ready to go again. I have them point in and fire. This experience effectively shows them what they are doing.

Not suggesting this is what the OP is doing.

Failures to fire with grip not being a issue and quality ammo being used I would insure no lube/oil is in the striker/firing pin channel. A very slight amount of debris on the back side of breechface can cause the striker to not protrude far enough forward to reliably ignite.
Looking at the primers of the rounds fired will also tell you how consistently they are being struck.
 
I had a p30L in 2012-2014.

Was doing competition with it. Duty type matches.
Fired mainly reloads. If not, 147hp winchester law enforcement. Was shooting 20-25k rounds per year back then.

The gun was running ok most of the time.
But it has been for me the most finicky gun I ever had.
I remember playing alot with seating depth for it to run properly.
Had to load hot. Otherwise I had many stove pipes. Light load did not work good at all.

Liked the pistol. It was super accurate for a duty style pistol.
But probably the least reliable I ever own.
Sold it for that reason.

Also keep it clean.
Was reloading 124gr. Round nose and HP.
The chamber was tight. So I could not flare my brass too much prior to seating. Very light crimp needed.

Cheers
 
It was meant as a duty pistol. mine needed hot loads and didn't like 147gr bullets at all. I just didn't like the mushy trigger. My sfp9 is a totally different story. I have never had a single ftf or stovepipe. I love that gun. I would like to get the long slide for it, but not at the prices they are asking. Between my sfp9 and my HK 45 (now that's a fabulous gun it eats absolutely everything) they are my favorite guns.
 
Suggestion:

1. take barrel out of pistol completely.
2. with removed barrel held vertical muzzle down.
3. lightly drop live round into chamber. repeat with multiple rounds and different brands.
4. check for tightness, difficulty to move and flushness of rim to buttress to slide.

5. since a sfp9 is around, perhaps compare both slide flushness side to side. (I believe they are of similar construction / lock up)

if something is defekt (rounds slide too deep, or is crooked or hard to pull out)... then barrel is issue. Otherwise it could be the extactor.

2 cents.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom