23,929 rounds
7 stoppages, 0 malfunctions, 1 parts breakages
Fairly uneventful week in terms of the gun chugging along as expected. The P2000 LEM trigger spring feels identical to the original so I haven’t even bothered to replace it yet.
This week, I spent a lot of time working on reloads. In fact, I did close to 100 1-reload-2 drills at the range over the course of the week. I’m pretty consistently around 1.70-seconds now (from underneath an untucked polo), and improvement of 0.10 seconds over a few weeks ago. The P30’s paddle magazine release is just incredibly easy to use.
However, a few of my magazines are failing to lock the slide back once in a while. I believe they need their springs replaced, which I’ll do this weekend. While doing that, I’ll also take a closer look at the followers. The mags will still lock the slide if I’m not in contact with the slide release lever, but even my normal grip — which hasn’t been a problem before now — is now sometimes enough to prevent slidelock.
This week I also began using smaller plates as targets (5 7/8″). It’s been very instructional. While my splits slowed down a tiny bit, the improvement in accuracy was substantial. As an example, drawing from an AIWB Looper underneath an untucked polo, I was getting five hits in 2.0 to 2.1 seconds consistently. Draws were from 1.10 to 1.25, with splits in the low .20’s. The P30 shines with drills like this: smaller targets that demand more attention to accuracy than just blind speed. Muzzle flip is so minor that the front sight never really leaves the small plate, so as quickly as I can make good trigger presses, I can get hits.
Speaking of the front sight, I did learn something this week that, embarrassingly, I never really noticed before … but explains why once in a while I’d find myself shooting left for some reason. It appears that the tritium dot in the Heinie rear sight is off-center! It’s clear as can be when you really look at it. If you line up the front & rear dots, the pistol points left by a little bit. You may need to click on the picture (at right) to see it more clearly on the full-size picture.
This week’s Gray Room picture is the endurance test gun along with another modern HK product you may recognize. Note to HK employees reading this entry: if you would like to see a 50,000 round endurance test of an HK416, just let me know.
As you can see, we’re quickly approaching the 25k mark. In fact, the plan is to be at 24,999 by the end of the day tomorrow. This weekend the gun will get cleaned and the replacement springs HK sent will be swapped out per their recommended maintenance (the only maintenance interval they recommend for the entire 50k test). Then on Monday, a VIP from HK will be meeting me at the range to fire #25,000. I suggested Jack Bauer, but apparently he is not available on Monday. Photos will be included in the Week Fourteen post, obviously.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Previous P30 Endurance Test posts at pistol-training.com:
- Week Twelve
- Week Eleven
- Week Ten
- Week Nine
- Week Eight
- Week Seven
- Week Six
- Week Five
- Week Four
- Week Three
- Week Two
- Week One
- Initial Report
When there are dots present on your sights, is it better to focus on the dots, or the sights themselves? I find myself regularly focusing on the dots when checking sight alignment, but as I’ve read this post, it seems that it would be better to get in the habit of using the sights as a whole for alignment and only use the dots for low-light conditions.
Have you or do you anticipate shooting any matches with the pistol? Curious.
I took some measurements and it seems the dot is more precisely positioned than the slot. It could be lighting or perspective effects, so you might double check this.
yeah it would appear the slot needs to be cut a bit more on the left side of the slot.
Why always appendix carry? For most people who have to sit or drive for extended periods of time in the everyday world it’s completely impractical… the only time I’ve ever even seen anyone appendix carry has been at shooting tactics/competition events, never on the job or in the street… why train in a habit that is unrealistic to everyday life in the real world? if a bad guy points a weapon at you and says “hands up” suddenly the length of your untucked polo matters more than your split times…
Just seems contrary to the other stuff you guys teach on here, not trying to be a stick in the mud…
Lane — traditionally, people are taught not to look at the dots. Personally, I find using the front sight dot a convenient, fast way to sight my gun.
gtmtnbiker98 — Kinda sorts. 😎
Chip — Among the folks I know who carry AIWB, most are very serious shooters who understand the benefits of having a centerline weapon for in-fight access, the benefit of being able to control the weapon easily in a retention situation, the benefit of having a gun bucket easily accessible both R- and L-handed, the benefit of having a gun that is quickly and surreptitiously available, etc. A properly designed AIWB holster is perfectly comfortable, including sitting or even driving long distances.
HC — Thanks, I will in fact take a set of calipers to it this weekend!
I can see how that sight could have slipped through quality control. It is ever so slight, yet wrong enough that it could throw some off at the range.
I agree that the tritium dot is centered in the sight blade, and that the notch is cut slightly off-center to the right. The Heinie on my Glock is the same. My understanding is that Heinie may make them this way on purpose, according to a thread I read about them a while back on another forum. My offset is just a few thousandths, but it is discernible to the naked eye if you look for it, especially when comparing the dot to the notch.
ToddG – I would be interested to hear what Heinie has to say about the sight.
Hey Todd would you mind telling me what watch that is?
The watch is a Suunto Core Black Orange.
The dot is centered, the notch is cut off-center to the right.
Assuming that it was zeroed using the notch and not the dot, the effect is the same in terms of practical shooting, when the dot is used to line up the sights.