Umarex is a leading purveyor of BB and pellet firing replicas of famous firearms and this example is a licensed copy of the popular P30 series from Heckler and Koch that is actually manufactured in Germany by HK for Umarex. Like its firearm counterpart, it is a polymer pistol sporting a metal slide. However, this is not a blowback pistol as the slide is non-reciprocating. It does separate, with the front section sliding forward upon depressing what would be the slide release lever on the actual firearm. Once the slide is open, either a metal 8-round rotary magazine or a BB adapter can be inserted into the gun. To shoot BBs, the plastic “BB adapter” supplied with the gun is inserted in place of the rotary pellet magazine and 15 BBs are loaded into the drop-free magazine.
P30 with magazine & accessories
This pistol operates in both single and double action modes and has a functional exposed hammer. The P30 is listed as being a semi-auto because the internal workings line up the next shot automatically and ready the gun for firing, but to shoot in single action, the hammer must be manually cocked each time.
While the P30 is a faithful reproduction in looks and feel, right down to the picatinny rail on the dust cover, the only controls that operate as on the original are the ambidextrous magazine release incorporated into the trigger guard and the de-cocking button at the rear of the slide, next to the hammer.
To ready for firing, a 12-gram CO2 capsule is inserted into the drop-free magazine after rotating the magazine base plate 180 degrees clockwise. A small knurled wheel at the base plate of the magazine is rotated to “snug up” the capsule and then the magazine base is rotated counterclockwise to pierce the capsule. The gun would then be pointed in a safe
P30 Magazine with base plate in open position
direction and the trigger pulled to make sure that CO2 was flowing and the gun would fire before loading it with ammo. Note that, with this gun, if the manual safety near the rear of the slide is engaged, it blocks the valve so you might think the CO2 capsule has not been pierced as trigger pull is not affected by the manual safety.
Nice features of this P30 replica include a 3.3-inch rifled steel barrel, vertical groves in the face of the trigger, front and rear sights that are drift adjustable for windage, a hard-plastic foam-lined case plus the inclusion of two 8-round pellet magazines and a small plastic tool for seating the pellets to the same depth. Additionally, it is a quiet shooter compared to other CO2 pistols I own, making this model “backyard friendly”.
Umarex rates the P30 at 360 fps for pellets (grains not specified) and 395 for BBs. Since I prefer not to shoot BBs through barrels with shallow rifling, I can only report my results from the pellets I used. My findings are based on a 90+ degree day at well over a mile above sea level. Using H&N Excite Plinking pellets weighing 7.3 grains the average fps was: 304.9 and with Predator GTO lead free wad cutters at 5.5 grains the average fps was: 278.1.
The P30 wasn’t stingy with the CO2, yielding only 45+ full power shots per capsule. It was fun to shoot and with the two magazines provided, was quick to reload for a full 16 shots, however, keep the pistol level and over your shooting bench when opening the slide to insert or remove the 8-round pellet magazines as they will easily fall out otherwise. The trigger pull averaged 3 pounds in single action and a very heavy 11 pounds in double action. Not unmanageable, but it was more pleasurable to shoot by manually cocking the hammer for each shot. Accuracy was acceptable for a nice plinking airgun at ranges out to 20 yards. All-in-all, I liked the way it shot and the solid, comfortable feel in your hand. If you are into the replica airguns at all, this one would make a nice addition to your collection. MSRP on this model runs in the $225 range and it can be found on the AofA website www.airgunsofarizona.com
for a considerable savings.