Really? You can't think of a reason why you'd decock after a shooting incident, or even just after finishing a string at the range?

Not really. I've never done it unless I'm putting the pistol away for storage. That might just be me though.

LEM is it's own animal.

I've heard it described as the "best street trigger", and I agree with that.

It gives consistency of trigger as a DAO.  It gives a mechanical safety in the slack so that even if you go after the trigger when you shouldn't, you really have to commit to pulling it.  It gives an exposed hammer that allows for safe reholstering - put your thumb on the hammer and if it moves, you know the trigger is snagging.

It's not the best super-accurate shoot-wings-off-flies trigger, but it's great for minute-of-bad-guy.  It's a good trigger for accuracy - not a great one, but requires training to it a bit.

Ask yourself what your application is going to be for this pistol.  If it's a range toy, it really doesn't matter.  You'll shoot better groups with one of the other triggers.  If it's going to be a constant carry gun, the LEM is excellent.

Some of the complaints about the gun also are the result of institutional use (or misuse) of the gun, and some of those even vary by region/sector/station/port, and if people were trained on the pistol initially or told "this new gun sucks your score is gonna drop".  Mind you this is an even more niche beans/no beans kind of argument.

There aren't really any disadvantages for EDC or self defense.  There are for just range shooting.

Paddle mag release is great for ambidexterity once you're used to it, and slide catches are good length on both sides for ambidexterity as well.  Not trigger related, but for platform.

LEM trigger will last a fairly long time, but it depends how much you shoot and how hot the loads you use.

The parts that will break are the trigger return spring (which governs the weight of slack part of trigger pull) and the hammer strut.

If the trigger return spring breaks when you really need it - and it won't break on the first round - it'd be the second (unless you broke it on the range and just decided to carry it broken), manually push the trigger forwards and it will reset and work again.  It'll be slow, but it will still function.

If the hammer strut breaks (and again it won't be on the first pull), you'll have a hard trigger pull - like cheapo RG pistol type 20# trigger pull.  And it will still function.

The recoil spring assembly can also go out, and you'll feel it not feed and chamber quite correctly, then it'll start to fail to feed - which you can again manually correct.

Mind you, by that point you'll probably be along in the gun at least 10-20K rounds (and probably the same in dryfire cycling) if it were a .40, and seeing how you said you're using a 9mm, it'll probably be far more than that.  There are a couple of agencies in DHS that have used them in .40 for 13-15 years (depending on when transition was done for each agency) and they started with 155 gr hot JHP ammo that beat guns up, changed to 180 gr JHP that doesn't beat guns up so much, then started using 180 gr FMJ for training that doesn't beat up guns but is kinda shit ammo, and in that decade and change, most guns are still holding up.  Especialy as abused government equipment, they still have held up pretty well.  If you get thrown off an ATV, you might break one.  Also, don't take a dremel to the slide and remove the finish just to make it shiny - even if it's your gun, that's dumb.

If you put the same effort into practicing with it as you've put into analyzing the advantages of the LEM trigger, you'll do fine.

When I came onboard in 2011 we were using a 135 gr load. Then we went to the 180.

You are correct about trigger return springs and hammer struts but you forgot the sear spring. I've personally had 2 guns go down from that cocksucker snapping. For a while it seemed it was a common occurrence, though it's calmed down a bit. We've also had some trigger bars break in half. I just took one off an officer on Thursday, his hammer is stuck back, being held only by spring pressure. I issued him a new pistol and haven't had time to tear his down and see what broke. I'm thinking it might have been the end of the hammer strut.

I haven't seen a sear spring break in many years.  Last time I remember seeing one break was probably about 2010 or 2011.

I've only seen 135 used with frangible ammo.  I've seen the 155 Winchester ranger, 155 Remington green/yellow box without the flash suppressing chemicals in the powder that old guys like to bring to night fire, 155 Federal (HB, I think), 180 Federal HC, 180 Winchester ITR purple ammo (same stuff Midway had for sale a couple years ago).  The 155 was entirely ditched due to guns breaking at a higher rate.  Since the transition to 180, I haven't seen as much breakage in general, even with guns being older.

But, different locations, too.

The other thing that I've seen go bad - and it was an issue for a while, is the trigger bar detent - at least on the P2000.  If the pistol is ignored... or say left next to you in the shower every time you get home from work and you never oil it ever... rust can develop and the trigger bar detent seizes up, rendering the pistol inoperable.  It'll act like it works, it'll function check like it works, but it'll go click instead of bang.  If you function check with a pencil in the barrel with the eraser end on the firing pin hole/face it won't send it across the room - it just won't move.

#23 & 22 there:


USP isn't quite the same, but there's also not really access to it from the bottom:


I've yet to see a trigger bar break, but I've heard of it happening.  I've personally changed at least a dozen trigger springs, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was two dozen or more.  I've changed fewer hammer struts, but still several.  And one or two recoil spring assemblies.  ...and many sights as pistols get banged around by some people.

I've also had two left side slide catches break, but I've never heard of that happening to anyone else.  I do run my P2K a bit hard sometimes.  

Some variants are DA/SA only, with no safety.  For those, decocking is better than carrying in condition 0.

HK just had its way with me...

Don't worry, it happens to the best of us

Are the standard factory fixed sights (not night sights) on the USP Compact metal or polymer?

I've never seen plastic sights on a HK. I have 7 HK pistols here, but my USP compact is waiting at my dealer. I'm 99.9% certain they will be metal.

I just placed my order...it'll be be my first. Good to know that HK hates polymer sights too.

The factory metal sights are decent sights . I just black out the dots on the rear sight and they work fine .

LEM HK < VP9

Just stick with a DA/SA if you want any of the other HK's.

Did they ever fix the dead trigger problem in the VP9?

And I'd take LEM any day over a striker gun, especially the VP9 and that particular issue. One of the reasons to buy an HK in the first place is utter reliability in all parts of the cycle of operations...and an intermittent dead trigger is a big no. If I wanted that, I'd use a Sig P320.

False.

I have a VP9 and a P30 LEM and have never had a dead trigger on either.  Can't say that about the G19.4 that I had.

I think the VP9 trigger is fantastic for an out of the box gun but I carry appendix and like the extra security of the LEM hammer system.

Yay!

Attached File


(LEM later)

Nice!

Legit - go to Lazy Wolf, or HKParts, and pick up an 11lb hammer spring. It'll make the DA a lot less...annoying. That's really the easiest and probably best overall quality of life change you can make; huge bang for buck. 2nd would be buying an HK45C mag release and replacing your existing one with that; it's larger and easier to hit. Note that kydex holsters will probably need to be bent a bit to clear the larger mag release. This one is kind of personal preference though; I've kind of found I actually sort of like the smaller USP mag release as it is.

Past that? Shoot the piss out of it.

Edit to add - you MIGHT want to get a flat floorplate or three for mags, just to see if they work better for you when carrying. They remove the finger rest from the mags. It makes the grip that much shorter, if you're in an area where max concealment is key, and really helps to prevent printing.

Excellent suggestions. Thanks for that post, Evil!

It's only a finger rest as a secondary cosmetic.  The reason for it is to provide a protrusion on the magazine that works for one-handed magazine removal in emergencies.  If a mag doesn't want to drop free, you can snag that lip on a shoe/boot/belt/barricade/etc and thus get the mag out.

Also true that it's nice to have at least one mag that is flush to print just a bit less for the mag in the pistol.  For reloads, it probably won't show (unless you carry reloads in some bizarre way).

Issued a Glock for 25 years and after retirement tried the P30 V1 lite lem and will never go back. Liked it so much I bought the P30sk in same configuration. It’s either one of my P30’s or my 1911’s.

My understanding was that HK changed the geometry of the notch in the slide to stop this at some point. My KF date coded USP 40 has a squared notch and closes on enthusiastic mag inserts. IIRC, later dates have an angle on the back side of the notch that holds the slide catch a little bit more secure.

My 40 has been trouble free even when shooting really dirty cast reloads.

I kinda hate mine because it's a .40, but I won't get rid of it because it shoots so nicely.

I hated every LEM I shot.

And HK's are my fav handgun by far