Glock 30 - how sweeeeet it is!

[DHart]

My Glock experience started with a 29. Great gun. Great power. Overall, not a gun I enjoy shooting a LOT, because of the power of 10mm. In my view, it's great for occasional use and carry in the woods, but not the best choice for daily shooting or for urban carry - that's just my personal preference, that's all.

Next up was a Glock 19 which SO VERRRY impressed me that I felt I just had to "up-the-power" a bit within the exact same platform... thus, I came to own a Glock 23. The 23 seemed the perfect balance of everything in a defense gun. That lasted a while. My 23 became my carry gun. (As with all of my Glocks, with 3.5# connector, smooth-faced trigger, and steel-recoil spring guide rod - just for the heck of it!)

Then, finally, my love of the .45 acp caliber (some will remember my love of the 1911!) prompted me to consider -and buy- a Glock 30. It took a little time for the fatness of the 30 to feel right in my hand, but I have reasonably large hands and over time, with a lot of in-hand experience, the Glock 30 actually began to feel really comfortable!!! Most notable was how great the 30 felt while shooting (I think the fat grip displaces the nice .45 caliber recoil "push" wonderfully throughout the hand - contributing to the soft recoil it is known for). And the accuracy.... MAN, the G30 is stone freakin' accurate - with both the stock barrel as well as with the Lone Wolf barrel!!!

Anyway, long story short... now I'm up to 1000 rounds through my G30, so I feel like I've sort of come through a threshold of sorts. About 665 rounds with the Glock barrel and 335 rounds with the Lone Wolf barrel. This gun freakin blows me away.... and the G30 IS my carry gun now! With a spare mag in the pocket. Awesome .45 acp potency with 230 gr. Gold Dots, Golden Sabers, or Rangers. Decent capacity at 11 rounds, before a reload.

This gun offers: Awesome accuracy!!! Stone reliability!!! Great defense potency... eats whatever I feed it: 230 gr. Gold Dots, 230 gr. Golden Sabers, 230 gr. plated FMJ bullets, 230 gr. FMJ practice ammo, 230 gr. +P Ranger ammo, whatever! Great feel in the hand! What's NOT to love about such a compact gun that gobbles up whatever .45 acp ammo that you feed it (factory & reloads!), holds 11 rounds before a reload, shoots so accurately, feels so good while shooting, and is so stone reliable? The G30 just rocks!

Ok... I DID do a few mods to mine... (3.5# connector yielding about a 5# trigger pull, smooth-faced G21 trigger-NICE, Wolff steel recoil spring rod kit, and a Lone Wolf barrel - which I only use occasionally... why I don't know really, because the stock bbl is perfect!) That's it.

Yes, the grip is a "fat boy" indeed... and that's precisely one of the reasons (along with the perfectly-tuned dual-recoil spring set-up) this gun is so soft shooting. Unless the shooter has small hands, someone with medium-largish hands can easily adapt, over time and with experience of the gun-in-the-hand extensively, to find the fat grip of the G30 actually really comfortable!!! And the shooting is pure pleasure.

All I can say is that if you've ever thought the G30 might be a good gun for you and your hands aren't small... just get the freakin' G30, live with it for 1000 rounds and then tell me you don't think this is one of the world's finest carry guns! I think you'll be thrilled with this gun!

P.S. I've never tried it with the larger capacity G21 (13+1) mags... so I'll have to defer to others about the efficacy of that combo... I am eagerly looking forward to adding a few higher cap G21 mags (13+1) for "around-the-house" and "reload" duty.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF MY ONLINE FRIENDS!

 

[Mac Attack]

Yup, I've had my G30 since they first year they were produced and have shot well over 15k rounds through it. The only malfunction I ever had occurred a couple of months back when a friend brought wolf ammo to shoot through it. I had a couple of FTE which I attribute to the lacquered casings. Prior to that it was 100% relieable.

BTW, I just heard a rumor that Glock was coming out with a G30SF version in 2008. I wonder how much different it will be from a standard G30.

 

[Baba Louie]

WHAT!?!?!?!
A DHart thread and.... (what's this? DHart and his little Glock... this will be good...) NO PHOTOS????

DonDonDon. I know it's just a G30, but come on man, show us the good stuff, puhleeze?

A Very Merry Christmas to you sir. And a heartfelt Thank You for ALL of your fine photos over the years. Even if you cheezed out here.

 

[DHart]

Baba Louie... merry christmas to you, my friend.... and thank you for appreciating the pics over the years. OK. YES! I promise to come through with some G30 pics soon! Happy New year, friends! ~

 

[shooting4fun]

Howdy DHart, and et al.,

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Just writing in to echo your thoughts on the G30. I find mine to be the pistol that rides with me during trail runs, and other serious occasions. I have also found mine to be very accurate. It was the one that scored on the bowling pin at 100 yrds on the first shot off hand. < December charity match, a dollar a shot, no sequential shots, better lucky than good! >

Yes, this little pistol is a very handy one to have. It is very comforting to have! I've also exchanged the trigger to get a smooth faced one coupled with a #3.5 Glock connector. Other than that it gets shot and carried a lot. It was my first Glock pattern and still is my favorite.

Merry New Year too!

Cheers!

 

[cslinger]

Not even DHART can make a Glock look pretty.

The G30 is a helluva gun though and I do actually own a Glock so I am allowed to make "ignant" comments.

 

[Ringer]

DHart and others that have both - How would you compare shooting the G30 to the G23? I know the difference in felt recoil is personal perception but how do they compare in getting back on target? I'm thinking the 30 might be a little faster on follow up. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find one to rent. I have a 19 and have shot a 23. I was about to buy a 23 but I'm starting to think G30 next. I already have a stock pile of GDHPs in .45. Oh one other thing; anyone have the Pearce extender for the 10 round magazine? Wondering how close the grip length is getting to the 19/23.

Thanks

 

[CountGlockula]

How would you compare shooting the G30 to the G23?

The G30 recoil pushes, while the G23 (my favorite) feels like a 10mm bang!

 

[Baba Louie]

Wondering how close the grip length is getting to the 19/23

The 30 is almost exactly the same height & length as the 19/23. Obviously a bit chunkier width-wise FWIW.

 

[Mr.Revolverguy]

I agree with the others we all know what Glocks look like but a Pic is priceless

 

[Baba Louie]

With DHart photos, it's not just the firearm, but lighting, composition, background, graphics... OK, it's the gun.

I just want to see what a master photo monster can do with a piece of black plastic and make it all artsy fartsy. If anyone can do it I'd think Mr. Hart should be able to bring some beauty out of the little beastie. (Now if he could just make it look like his little stainless Ned Christiansen Commander, heh heh heh heh, yeah right)

 

[DHart]

OK... I don't have any pics yet of my G30, but here's my G29 which is essentially the same gun, just different caliber.

I put Pearce mag extenders for the pinky on my G29 mags, but they aren't necessary on the G30 because Glock already has a nice finger rest on the bottom of the G30 mags.

As for comparing the G30 to the G23... they're my two favorite Glocks! I like shooting the G30 more as has been mentioned above, it's more of a push than a sharp recoil. I shoot only 180 gr. in my G23, so that makes shooting the G23 more comfortable than shooting 155 or 165 gr. loads. I like the G23 for capacity (14 rnds), but prefer the G30 (11 rnds) for caliber and enjoyment of shooting. I think the beefy grip of the G30 helps displace recoil in the hand, helping make the G30 soft shooting. If your fingers/hands are large enough to handle the G30 and you DO handle the gun a LOT (I walk around holding it in the house all the time), you will find that it becomes very comfortable feeling in the hand... you get used to it in the hand over time and grow to really like the beefy feel in the hand.

I alternate between the G23 and the G30 as my primary carry gun these days, with the G30 getting the nod about 80% of the time. I carry in appendix position with a High Noon Mr. Softy IWB holster... very comfortable and the quickest draw position there is. Dang, the G30 is close to perfect as a carry gun... I really think so!

 

[DHart]

Hey Gerk... nice to see ya! As for the pics, yeah, I know... I'm still workin' on gettin' better.... need more practice! Got some new guns that need to be shot, er, photographed!

 

[3/325]

I have to stop clicking on G30 threads. I want one so bad I can taste it.

Saaaaaaving the pennies...

 

[DHart]

This is an incredible gun, one of the world's verrrrry best concealed carry guns. No s#i+!...
.45 acp is no slouch in the self-defense department as a defense caliber.
And eleven rounds of .45 acp is quite nice for such a compact gun!

OK... I finally have some new pics to share. Please forgive me that these are just "point 'n' shoot" pics,
taken by my girlfriend, with my new vacation camera. At some point, I will create some better
quality pics... but for now, hopefully, these will get the job done...

Under the online tutelage of Gabe Suarez,

http://www.warriortalk.com

I have come to really appreciate the speed and wisdom of appendix carry...
that's why it's my preferred method of carry, as shown in these pics.
Trying this out.... snapshots with my new point & click...

 

[Curare]

The G30 is a very nice pistol indeed. It is rare to find a compact .45 with that combination of light weight, above average accuracy and near 100% reliability.

What ultimately steered me away was thickness and magazine issues. I'm not a fan of Glock's use of the magazine baseplate as a grip surface, and I found that the effort required to seat a 10 round mag with the slide forward was too excessive and hence unreliable under stress. I remedied the later with the excellent 9 round mag and Pearce G20 baseplate. Still, I prefer to not have the fleshy hypothenar eminence of my strong hand serving as a mag well--it can interfere with dropping and seating mags.

Still waiting for a 4.5 inch, Slim Line .45 ACP with a full length grip and 10 round capacity. I love that flat G36 slide. All Glock needs to do is to stretch it out. That would be a fantastic pistol--for carry, competition, law enforcement and military use.

 

[DHart]

Curare... no doubt, the G30 is a thick gun. Some have problems with that and some do not. I find the thickness in the hand to contribute to the softness of shooting, but yes, it is thicker in the belt than some other choices. Funny thing, I have so many awesome pistols that are suitable for concealed carry and many for home defense and ya know what? None of them are absolutely perfect in every possible way. I am constantly reminded that WHATEVER choice I make, whatever the topic, cars, guns, cameras, motorcycles, women, you name it, whatever the make, model, caliber, etc., there is ALWAYS something that must be given up for whatever is gained! Let none of us us ever forget that!

The mag base as a little finger baseplate has never caused me any problem whatsoever, so I'm not opposed to that at all - whether stock mag on my G30 nor Pearce mag extension on my G29. They work. No problems from my experience, anyway. And the grip feel is very good.

As for effort to seat a 10-round mag in the G29 or G30... yes, it takes some pressure to seat the mag! I haven't found that to be a problem in any way, either... I just apply the required pressure, seat the mag, and away we go. "Perfect"? Probably not. Reasonably effective? Yep!

Is the G30 "perfect" in every possible respect? Of course not! No pistol is. Show me a pistol that is PERFECT in every respect and I'll no doubt love it, as we all would. In the meantime, there are some awesome pistol designs which many of us can really appreciate for the wonders that they are... and the G30 is among them, for sure!

 

[Baba Louie]

Now that's what I'm talking about!!!

Please forgive me...

Well... since you asked nicely.
Forgiveness granted. Big group hug everybody!

Very nice photo's DHart's GF. (love the dog's loving look... he or she appears to want her own G30, eh?)

My son "inherited" my G30 early on and uses it for his CCW leaving me with the older 21. Darn thing is one easy to carry, sweet shooting .45. Might be time to buy another, rail or no. (not a big fan of rails)

Appendix or 2:00 carry, whilst not for the waistline challenged nor for those who dwell upon pointing the working end of their deadly weapon in the general direction of their friendly weapon (or femoral artery) certainly is quick in the hand. Just take reeeeeeal good care when reholstering, please Don.

Thanks for the photos DHart (and DHartGF).