US-made HKs: P30, P2000, VP9 quality?

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Ignition Override

New member
HKs: P30, P2000, VP9 quality?

My newer handguns, after upgrading from primarily owning Makarovs, are the CZ PO1, Sig P229 and brand-new M11 A1 (229 variation).
I might consider such an HK in the future, to carry on the most humid days in July-August, and for more German variety. The stock DA triggers on USP Compacts appear to be heavier than the DA on Sig P229s. If so, no USP for me (won't pay $$ for a mod.)

A video on Youtube depicts a loose slide release on a new P2000, which has an ambi safety etc.

Has HK kept US production at the highest Swiss/German standards? Even if these types began production in the US, the question is still valid .
 
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TunnelRat

New member
There is no ambi safety on the P2000. I am not aware of US produced versions of any of those you mentioned. There are HK45 Compacts with US made frames and German slides and barrels as they added some production stateside to meet requirements for military contracts. I know HK has plans to expand stateside production. If there are US versions of those pistols then they haven’t been produced for long, less than a year. Also, to my knowledge HK was never Swiss.

Edit: a note on prices. HK P2000s have been in the $500-$600 real for well over a year now, probably closer to two years. HK P30s have seen similar price drops since the end of last year. HK45 series pistols also saw large price cuts around the same time. In poking around the HK forums it seems that according to distributors these aren’t just promotions but new guidelines on prices. That might make some speculate these are US made, but the only US made seems to still be the HK45 series pistols, except now at the new plant in Columbus, GA as opposed to Newington, NH. It may be HK will expand production at that plant and add those other pistol lines.

I will say I do own an HK45c with a US frame. It’s likely the pistol I shoot the best of the close to 100 I’ve owned and in 2500 rds it’s been great. Compared to the dozen or so German HKs I owned it didn’t seem lacking.

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sigarms228

New member
HK has already been making the HK45 and HK45C for years in USA. I have one that was manufactured in 2012 and is at least as nicely made as my German HKs and have never read about any complaints about them. A couple forum members called HK directly and said there are no plans as of now to make the P30 in the new USA plant in Georgia, just HK45, HK45C, some rifles, and new models.

As far as the comment about heavy DA pull. That can easily be remedied, other than HK45C, by going to a lighter hammer spring and lighter HK firing pin block spring. The DA trigger pull is a very nice and smooth about 8.5 LBs on my P30L with those two springs installed.
 
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Siggy-06

New member
I prefer my HK's and Walther's from Germany, my Beretta's from Italy, my Glock from Austria, and my Hi Power from Belgium. I personally can tell a difference in quality, because I've had the chance to handle and shoot a lot of the same guns made from Europe and the US. I hate to admit it but a lot of US firearm manufacturers are quantity over quality.
 
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Coloradohtr

New member
I own a P30sk, a USP 40s&w full sized made in 93 in Germany and a HK45c Tactical. The two that are made in America, the P30sk and HK45c Tactical are extreamily accurate and reliable. I have never had any issues with them. I read an article about the Georga plant. HK sends designers and machinists to the Georga plant and rotates them out after a period of time so I believe the quality of the American made HK's are just as good as the German made HK's.

I have also shot the VP9 and P2000 alot and they are great just like any HK firearm. Thinking about picking one of the tactical versions of the VP9 with the RMR cutout once they are released here in the states. So far they are only being produced in that configuration in Germany. Since they are making firearms in the states however the prices are going down quite a bit. Especially the HK45 and P30 line. Still more expensive than a Glock but to me they are worth the extra money. One of my suppliers for the LGS that I work at has already seen the prices starting to lower. I just hope the SP5k will come down but I don't think that will happen. Either way if it's made in America or Germany and is an HK, you can't go wrong in my opinion.
 
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sigarms228

New member
From what I have read and seen so far with pictures of HK45 and HK45C, the HK pistols made in the new Georgia facility have no serial number on the slide. The sticker on the case the pistol comes in would also display where the pistol was made.
 
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cslinger

New member
Don’t think I’ve seen an American made P30 or P2K or SK versions. All the ones I have seen have the DE Mark.

Hk45 and 45c yes.
 
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TunnelRat

New member
Right I know about the 45 series, I was questioning how he knew his P30sk was US made as I’ve never seen that confirmed.

On my HK45c next to the date code is a small symbol that looks like a bell to most people rather than the antlers on the German made examples. According to HK the bell is actually supposed to be NH’s capitol building for those examples made in Newington. Not sure what they did for GA. For the record even having lived in NH most of my life I had to have someone explain it to me.


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Ignition Override

New member
TunnelRat:
Pardon my confusion, having read so much about my pair of Sigs, and production of the frames having finally gone to Essex NH. Also did lots of reading about the FNs 9mm types (Belgian, maybe now 100% US-made for our market).

I knew that HKs are at least designed in Germany if not partly manufactured there.

Reading about plans for increased production somewhere in the southeast led me to the wrong conclusion.:eek: I didn't mean to spread any disinformation.
Thanks for the info.:)
 
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TunnelRat

New member
You're not misspreading anything, so no problem. It's hard to keep track of all of it and I'm not right 100% of the time myself (or probably even close to that).

In my experience HKs are some of the most reliable out of the box pistols you can buy. There may be features from other manufacturers that someone likes more, but their QC seems to be generally very good. The same seems to be true for the versions that are made stateside. While HK hasn't expanded operations nearly as much SIG Sauer has, to the point where SIG Sauer Inc. (the US branch) is all we have access to for the most part, it doesn't seem to be suffering from as many of the complaints as SIG. FN seems to be the same way and what products we get from them seem to be mostly US (a lot of small arms contracts require production facilities stateside, and FN has a lot of military contracts). US made doesn't have to mean bad, though it's no guarantee of perfection either.
 
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Coloradohtr

New member
Turns out I was wrong. My p30sk is made in Germany. I assumed it was made in the states because the frame where the S/N is it says HKI-Columbus, GA. It also says on the frame made in Germany so maybe I got it confused haha. Its my EDC for concealed and the HK45c Tactical is my EDC for work. Looking in town today at some local pawn shops I found a clean P30L with night sights, the box and 2 15rd magazines for $750. Thought about putting it on layaway for $75 down but didn't because the wife would kill me with it haha.
 
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Ignition Override

New member
If we put the USP Compact in the same general group, this has also received superb reports except for the DA trigger, which appears to be similar to the full-size USP trigger.

Among these HK Compacts being discussed, I've tried the triggers on all of them, and among the hammer-fired, one of them seemed a good bit heavier than my Sig 229 and M11 A1.
The USP Compact might be the gun which really stood out, and apparently these always have really heavy DA pulls in the basic stock gun.

Can a Compact's hammer spring etc be changed to a Wolff spring to reduce the DA to about 10 lbs., like a Sig 228/P229, but keep the primer ignition very reliable (with US ammo)?
 
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TunnelRat

New member
Absolutely. I used to change the hammer springs all the time with ones from Wolff. I typically used a 12 lb. Wolff spring and found it lightened the pull to 8.5 to 9 lb. in DA. You can probably go as low as 10 lb. and still get reliable primer ignition on most cartridges.


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cslinger

New member
Stock for stock normal Gun to normal Gun the SIG triggers are always better. I prefer HK overall however.

I may try the 12 lb Wolff spring, even though the triggers don’t bother me all that much.
 
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