H&K P7M8 - opinions wanted
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Rob Pincus
New member
My training partner swears by his. Personally, I have never been enamored with it. I don't like the fact this it is (to me at lesat) radically different from any other pistols I shoot regularly.
They are great guns, no doubt, but I think they require a little too much "extra attention" to fit into my collection.
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-Essayons
They are great guns, no doubt, but I think they require a little too much "extra attention" to fit into my collection.
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-Essayons
I have shot one, okay so it is a P7 PSP, and I highly recommend it on one condition. You must practice with it alot! As Rob notes it is a completely different manual of arms from other pistols. Don't mistake this as a minor issue, when the stress is on you will revert to what you have 1)trained the hardest with, or 2) trained the last with. So moving to the P7 is a big deal, unless you go whole hog.
The P7 design is so simple to operate and to clean, so don't over complicate it since it is German and expensive. Elegance is Simplicity.
Recoil is more manageable then any other 9mm I have shot, and the accuracy is better also. the fixed barrel is really key in accuracy. I have thousands of rounds through mine, including several thousand Cor-Bon. No problems so far, although I do change the recoil spring every 1000-1500 rounds.
All in all the P7 is, IMHO, the finest semi-automatic in the world
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Freedom is not Free
The P7 design is so simple to operate and to clean, so don't over complicate it since it is German and expensive. Elegance is Simplicity.
Recoil is more manageable then any other 9mm I have shot, and the accuracy is better also. the fixed barrel is really key in accuracy. I have thousands of rounds through mine, including several thousand Cor-Bon. No problems so far, although I do change the recoil spring every 1000-1500 rounds.
All in all the P7 is, IMHO, the finest semi-automatic in the world
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Freedom is not Free
I am sure I am not alone here, but I have owned and shot a whole ton of different handguns. The P7 is the best in the world, IMHO.
I have started selling off all my other guns and just buying P7's. Why? Because there is no faster, more accurate handgun made, (once again, IMO).
Like the unofficial P7 motto says: "Instant marksman, just add shooter".
And just to note: I am NOT a mindless "HK freak" that thinks that "anything that is NOT an HK is inferior". I don't even like most stuff put out by HK, but I LOVE the P7.
I also regularly shoot a 1911 among other handguns and I have NO problems with the manual of arms or changing back and forth from the P7 to other guns. I will say though that I am so enamored with my P7 that I "gun-sterbate" (*) with it a lot, so I become very familiar with it even when I can't go shooting. The minute my hand grabs the P7, the huge lever instantly tells my muscle memory that I am holding a P7. I have never had a problem with getting confused with other guns.
I have two P7 M13's and I am working on getting a P7 M10 for a duty sidearm. I also have just about talked my wife into getting a P7 M8 for herself to replace her UltraStar .40, so then I would have a complete collection of all the P7's made (sans the European PSP, which I don't want because I would never remember where the mag release is)! On my budget this is no small feat, so you can imagine how much I respect this handgun. Every time I pick up the P7, I can't imagine how anyone could shoot anything else without feeling short-changed. It is so fast, and so darn accurate! People that haven't put rounds through them just don't understand what "accurate" (in reference to a mid-sized semi-auto) means. Accuracy is on a whole different level with the P7 than other semi-auto handguns.
I have a tricked-out Colt 1911 Gov't model that is very accurate, and even that huge beast with every modification one can add (all added and tuned by a professional gunsmith), can not even come CLOSE to the accuracy of my smaller P7. The accuracy of the P7 is more on the level of a fine full-sized revolver, but with supreme speed and minimal felt recoil. With my P7 I can pump two clips of 9mm (that is 26 rounds!) into a head sized target at 50 feet in seconds (I don't know how many seconds, I never timed myself) at rapid fire (consecutive hammer pairs) on any day of the week without missing. Felt recoil is minmal so the gun stays on target, and accuracy is there to place the bullet where you point it. Just last night I loaded up two clips and put a target at 50 feet and pumped hammer pairs as fast as I could, and basically chewed the black part right out of a target. Other mid-sized semi-auto handguns cannot even compare.
I would suggest that you NOT get one, or you will become like me and refuse to shoot anything else.
Did I mention that I really like the P7?
thaddeus
(*) "Gun-sterbate" means to walk around the house with an unloaded gun (double check that!) and practice the manual of arms or sight aquisition, generally without pulling the trigger.
[This message has been edited by thaddeus (edited February 20, 1999).]
I have started selling off all my other guns and just buying P7's. Why? Because there is no faster, more accurate handgun made, (once again, IMO).
Like the unofficial P7 motto says: "Instant marksman, just add shooter".
And just to note: I am NOT a mindless "HK freak" that thinks that "anything that is NOT an HK is inferior". I don't even like most stuff put out by HK, but I LOVE the P7.
I also regularly shoot a 1911 among other handguns and I have NO problems with the manual of arms or changing back and forth from the P7 to other guns. I will say though that I am so enamored with my P7 that I "gun-sterbate" (*) with it a lot, so I become very familiar with it even when I can't go shooting. The minute my hand grabs the P7, the huge lever instantly tells my muscle memory that I am holding a P7. I have never had a problem with getting confused with other guns.
I have two P7 M13's and I am working on getting a P7 M10 for a duty sidearm. I also have just about talked my wife into getting a P7 M8 for herself to replace her UltraStar .40, so then I would have a complete collection of all the P7's made (sans the European PSP, which I don't want because I would never remember where the mag release is)! On my budget this is no small feat, so you can imagine how much I respect this handgun. Every time I pick up the P7, I can't imagine how anyone could shoot anything else without feeling short-changed. It is so fast, and so darn accurate! People that haven't put rounds through them just don't understand what "accurate" (in reference to a mid-sized semi-auto) means. Accuracy is on a whole different level with the P7 than other semi-auto handguns.
I have a tricked-out Colt 1911 Gov't model that is very accurate, and even that huge beast with every modification one can add (all added and tuned by a professional gunsmith), can not even come CLOSE to the accuracy of my smaller P7. The accuracy of the P7 is more on the level of a fine full-sized revolver, but with supreme speed and minimal felt recoil. With my P7 I can pump two clips of 9mm (that is 26 rounds!) into a head sized target at 50 feet in seconds (I don't know how many seconds, I never timed myself) at rapid fire (consecutive hammer pairs) on any day of the week without missing. Felt recoil is minmal so the gun stays on target, and accuracy is there to place the bullet where you point it. Just last night I loaded up two clips and put a target at 50 feet and pumped hammer pairs as fast as I could, and basically chewed the black part right out of a target. Other mid-sized semi-auto handguns cannot even compare.
I would suggest that you NOT get one, or you will become like me and refuse to shoot anything else.
Did I mention that I really like the P7?
thaddeus
(*) "Gun-sterbate" means to walk around the house with an unloaded gun (double check that!) and practice the manual of arms or sight aquisition, generally without pulling the trigger.
[This message has been edited by thaddeus (edited February 20, 1999).]
Thaddues, I did not know that there was a name for that "gun-sterbate".
I just picked up a P7M13 about 3 mons ago, I had always wanted one. I have shot a couple matches with it (IDPA) and love it. I had shot a friends P7M8 5 to 7 years ago and said that if I had a chance I would get one. I wanted the M8 because I have small hands, but over the years my grip has changed. The M13 is Fat but it is not a factor.
The P7 is a unique weapon and I say go for it.
I just picked up a P7M13 about 3 mons ago, I had always wanted one. I have shot a couple matches with it (IDPA) and love it. I had shot a friends P7M8 5 to 7 years ago and said that if I had a chance I would get one. I wanted the M8 because I have small hands, but over the years my grip has changed. The M13 is Fat but it is not a factor.
The P7 is a unique weapon and I say go for it.
Dave Finfrock
New member
It just doesn't get any better than the P7. These guns are dead nuts reliable, accurate, and very fast. I have both the M8 and M13 variants and they are by far the best handguns I've owned. You can't lose with the P7. The cost of admission is high, but the benefits are worth the expense.
I have owned both the original PSP and the P7M8. Excellently made, but exceptional gun. Fast to shoot, but human error can cause an accidental discharge if not mastered properly. If you buy a P7 practice with it a lot and don't switch between handguns all the time. I did not learn to use it well enough. My new love is HK USP Compact 9 (with 13 rd hicaps) with more conventional procedure. Ossi
Gentlemen,
I too had a very high opinion of the P7M8 and had a couple of them at any one time. However, after aproximately 9000 rounds through my main P7 it just slide locked and would not release. After about 15 minutes I finally was successful in releasing the slide but immediately sent it to H&K for repair. In roughly 2 months I had it back and it worked fine for another 900 rounds when it did exactly the same thing again, so I sent it back to H&K. At this point in time I lost all confidence in the weapon system and decided that as much as I liked the handling charcteristics and the feel of the gun it had to go. Lest you think lack of maintence might be the culprit I religiously cleaned the gas port and interior on a very frequent basis. Worst of all the H&K service department never did geve me an adequete reason for the malfunction. They would just send it back with a statement that it had been test fired by so and so and had been upgraded with new parts.
John
I too had a very high opinion of the P7M8 and had a couple of them at any one time. However, after aproximately 9000 rounds through my main P7 it just slide locked and would not release. After about 15 minutes I finally was successful in releasing the slide but immediately sent it to H&K for repair. In roughly 2 months I had it back and it worked fine for another 900 rounds when it did exactly the same thing again, so I sent it back to H&K. At this point in time I lost all confidence in the weapon system and decided that as much as I liked the handling charcteristics and the feel of the gun it had to go. Lest you think lack of maintence might be the culprit I religiously cleaned the gas port and interior on a very frequent basis. Worst of all the H&K service department never did geve me an adequete reason for the malfunction. They would just send it back with a statement that it had been test fired by so and so and had been upgraded with new parts.
John
I have had a P7 since before the M8 (they were only the P7 then -- circa 1982). It has seldom jammed (I think maybe 3 times out of 10K rounds). Great gun, very accurate. The squeeze cocker is very natural and not a problem. However, I shoot a ParaOrdnance or a Glock as my carry gun.
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