LEM Trigger question (H&K)

[mr_dove]

My understanding of the LEM upgrade is that is makes your gun a double action only but reduces the trigger pull significantly and gives you a short reset.

I know there's an 8 pound LEM and a 4 pound LEM.

The 4 pound LEM would give you a 4 pound double action only.

I think you can still retain your lever in whatever configuration you choose (safety, decocker, or safety only).

I wouldn't mind a 4 pound trigger as long as I had a good active safety.

Is my understanding correct?

 

[wardog]

I believe you are correct if you have a non-LEM you can have it converted and keep your safety lever. If you buy a new HK with LEM I don't think you have an option of getting a lever.

Have you had a chance to shoot one of these? I am very curious but do not know anyone that has one so I haven't been able to give one a try.

Have you ever stopped by Cal's Sporting Armoury in Denver? It's on Federal near Hampden. I went in once about a year ago. Lot's of HK stuff. Service didn't seem too great. Didn't ask about the prices.

They could probably answer any LEM questions for you though.

http://www.calssportingarmory.com/

 

[mr_dove]

I stopped in to Cal's once for a different purpose. I do reviews of local shops on my web site (see my signature). I visited for a while and wrote up a review of the shop. I got lots of feedback from other locals commenting on the shop and the owner. Universally negative. Everyone hates him and his shop.

There's some bad press about him on Falfiles.com as well.

I've never shot one but I've seen it compared to the Para-Ordnance LDA trigger. The Para has a safety though. I've read a few reviews on it. I'd like to shoot one but I'm doubtful that I'll find one in town. We need a network of gun owners so we can shoot each others guns and get a taste of other flavors.

Or maybe a shop with a good rental supply and policy. There's a shop that I'll be visiting in Arizona that has 60 rental guns and you can swap guns as many times as you want once you pay the rental fee. So, essentially, you can try all 60 guns for the $15 rental fee.

here's an LEM review:

http://www.outdoors.net/site/featur...earms+ArticleCode+901+SearchTerm++curpage+901

 

[wardog]

mr_dove,

Great site! Good info. If you'd like to add my comments to your site I'd be honored.

Cal's Sporting Armoury:
My 1 experience with Cal's was about the same. I got buzzed in and looked around for 10 minutes or so and no one even acknowledged me. (If they have to buzz you in, they can't make the excuse that they didn't know you're in there!) I didn't care as I didn't want to buy anything anyway. The guy there was on the phone with customer and I remember chuckling to myself about how he was treating the person on the other end.

Tom & Joe's Firearms:
My first experience with Tom's was similar to other's. He seems to have several "groupies" or friends that come in 2-4 times a week just to BS. The shop is so small that there really isn't room for a lounge. Some, including a good friend of mine, think he has an attitude. I've gotten to know him fairly well (from buying many guns from him) and think he's first rate. For me price is number one. When I'm ready to buy I already know exactly what I want right down to the exact model number. All guns are shipped overnight, so if you don't mind waiting a day or so it is the place to buy. I have shopped all over town and have never found better prices. He sells a ton of guns because of his prices. His shop is small and he is one-man operation but that's exactly how I want it to stay. Low overhead means the best prices in town on both guns and ammo. Before you buy somewhere else, call him for a quote.

Green Mountain Guns:
Green Mountain Guns has what I believe to be the best combination of selection and prices. You may be able to find a better price, and you can find better selection but you won't find a better combination both anywhere else in Denver. Customer service has been friendly in the last year. There are often very good deals to be had in the used/consignment case.

The Gun Room:
Friendly helpful people and a fantastic selection. Prices seem to be all over the map. Highest prices I've seen on some items, lowest on others.

 

[wardog]

and, mr_dove,

As for the "network", I'm in. Sounds like a great idea. Of course first order of business would be to find someone in Denver with a USP LEM who will let us shoot it!

 

[obiwan1]

I've had my LEM for almost 3 years now. I love it. Mine is the 8# setup. It reminds me of a Glock trigger with a slightly different takeup. 100% reliable. Since mine came factory LEM, there was no option for safetys. That's fine with the 8# trigger pull. None is needed. The only down side is that my duty weapon is a Beretta 96D DAO. LOOONNNGGG trigger pull. The transition from the Beretta to the H&K during quarterly qual is radical and I typically drop about 5-10 points on a 360 point qual just because of the difference. If I had the time to practice more with it then I could minimize the difference.

 

[lazhuward]

Great website, Mr. Dove!

I don't own, and haven't even shot, a gun with the LEM trigger. On the ones that I've handled though, the trigger pull is somewhat long. There's a lot of take-up (with a little bit of resistance to it) and then, right before the break, it suddenly gets heavier.

To my knowledge, the LEM trigger is not compatible with the safety/decocking lever, but I may be wrong.

The guy who works at Cal's Sporting Armory can indeed be very rude; he just wanders around talking into his headset and ignores his customers. The last time I went in there though (about 3 months ago), I got him to open up a bit. We discussed the LEM trigger on the new P2000s that he had in and he seemed pretty cool.

 

[mr_dove]

one point that might be important. Any HK compact can be retro-fitted with the LEM trigger for around $100. They send the original parts back with the gun and just about any gunsmith can put the parts back and remove the LEM kit if you hate it.

Not a super-cheap option but better than having a gun that you don't like.

 

[bradvanhorn]

I just had an LEM trigger put in my HK. The HK armorer didn't offer any option on the trigger pull, and I didn't know to ask about a lighter variant. He said the available LEM pull was about 8 lbs. but that he could 'smith it a little and get it to about 5 1/2 lbs., so that's what I had him do. I didn't ask if I could keep the decocker/safety, since I didn't want it, but he did make a point to say that it would come out as part of the LEM conversion.

With the LEM installed the trigger now feels very smooth and very light (it reminded me of about a 3 lb. 1911 trigger pull). I don't think you'd need anything less than that unless you're really into the superlight trigger thing. Although there is a fair amount of initial take-up in the pull, the reset is almost non-existant, and I found it very easy to rapid fire due to the very short reset.

The new trigger was definitely worth paying for, although I'm not exactly sure what it cost (about $100 I think), since I was having some other work done at the same time.

Good Luck!

 

[bradvanhorn]

Oh yeah, COOL website mr_dove!