Wife's BNIB H&K P7...

[capdek]

My wife just bought an unfired, BNIB, absolutely mint condition H&K P7 Thurdsay from a fantastic dealer in Warrenton, OR (thanks again Jeff!).
It is the first P7 version imported to the U.S. and came with two brand new mint condition magazines in it's original box with all the original paperwork (manuals, warranty card, test target, and cleaning tools). He also had 7 additional brand new mint condition magazines, and since these are so hard to find now, we decided to get an additional 5.
The test target is in German, the warranty card is in German and English, and both manuals are in English. What's really cool is that one manual is marked P7 PSP Police from West Germany and the other is simply marked P7 from Federal Republic of Germany. Otherwise, they are identical.
The serial number and date code on the gun show that it was one of the first 10000 imported into Arlington, VA in 1980 - an extremely early piece.
Even the 7 mags are all date coded IA showing them to have been imported at the same time in 1980.
What an incredible find! I think this is one of the most beautiful handguns I have ever seen.
The wife is super excited (and so am I for that matter).
She bought it for concealed carry, but after talking it over with Jeff, we're pretty sure we should keep it in unfired condition as an investment. Tragic, I know, but it's just too perfect to shoot. She'll probably end up getting a Kahr CW9 or maybe an M&P9 (she has small hands) that she can throw in her purse. And we'll probably pay another wonderful visit to Warrenton when the time comes.

She'd be interested to know what other people think about keeping it unfired or actually carrying and training with it?

Here's a few of pics:

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[newthings]

It was mine. Hope you enjoy it. It paid for reloading equipment.
Roy

 

[BLU HWY]

Small world..!

 

[revjen45]

Will she let you shoot it?

 

[capdek]

It was mine. Hope you enjoy it. It paid for reloading equipment.
Roy

All I can say is thank-you! You certainly take exceptional care of your firearms!

 

[capdek]

Small world..!

Yes, especially since we found it on the Gun Broker site.

 

[capdek]

Will she let you shoot it?

I doubt it - even she doesn't want to shoot it now.

 

[Kimber Custom]

I have mixed feelings. On the one had I share your enthusiasm for a new gun; especially one that your wife is equally exited about. On the other hand guns are made to be shot. Saddens me a little that such a gem is going to get stashed away in a safe some place.

 

[capdek]

I know what you mean. Both of us would love to shoot it. It's amazingly compact and since it's a single stack (holds 8 + 1 rounds), it fits her hand extremely well. It's a very innovative design - extremely accurate and very reliable (fixed barrel for accuracy and a fluted chamber that makes extraction a no-brainer). I guess the only practical downsides are the European mag release at the bottom-back of the mag well, and the fact that it can get warm under the trigger guard when fired rapidly. H&K tried to address these two issues with the later U.S. release of the P7M8.
The only problem is shooting it will immediately devalue it - quite significantly I think. We are really torn about this.

 

[capdek]

I decided to modify the post to ask opinions on what people think about shooting it.
I'm wondering if this thread should be moved to the Handgun Discussion forum?

 

[newthings]

No problem, just buy two.
My favorite 22 pistol is the Smith 622. I bot two for the same reason.
Roy

 

[capdek]

No problem, just buy two.
My favorite 22 pistol is the Smith 622. I bot two for the same reason.
Roy

Jeff also showed us your FN Five Seven - wow!

 

[newthings]

In my much younger days, like when I bot the HK P7, I always went after the novel engineered weapons, but only ones that had been accepted by some national users like the German police. The FN57 being used by the Secret Service for a time, got me hooked. After the Ft. Hood shooting, the FN had a taint for me. Partly for the bad deed and also for the many wounded with few fatalities. The ammo performance stats are impressive, but the bad times upon us show how ammo can dry up. Very special ammo with limited sources, is causing me to give it up. One of my more recent follies was the Chiappa 4" White Rhino. So ugly but cool. Boy was that a bad idea. I was so happy to find one that I did not cycle the gun at the store. It has a complex linkage to the false hammer and it would not cycle at all. The barrel was dirty and the 6 chambers were dirty!!. The gun had to be a factory return that got out to a dealer. Not Jeff at Northwest Shooter Supply, BTW. The dealer took it back and I learned a lesson or two.
Roy

 

[SKN]

Worked as an instructor for HK's Training Division in the 90's and got a P7M8 at cost, as I did with some other HK handguns I purchased while I was with them. Unlike those others I relegated it to collector's/investment/safe queen status and have not shot it. But since I found the P7 to be the best out-of-the-box shooting 9MM pistrol ever made, for carry purposes I bought a P7 PSP (but had the slide duracoated for enhanced corrosion resistance) which is what it looks like you have with the European style mag release in the heel. Some general observations then about shooting the PSP if you decide to:

1) Out of the holster you will have to make sure that the front strap cocking lever is fully depressed to shoot the pistol and for multiple rounds (pairs, triples, etc.) make sure this pressure is maintained continuously, which does not usually happen for a shooter who relaxes their master grip from shot-to-shot (re-gripping), otherwise the firing pin will not reset for the follow-up shots;

2) If you're going to carry it and you're not used to the heel release you'll need to practice mag changes, both slide lock back to empty and mag save for depleted ones, to become proficent at it under stress. The former will be slower than can be achieved with an American style mag release as it may require stripping the empty mag from the well, and the latter can be somewhat awkward.

3) PSPs do not have the heat shield on the underside of the frame so it will get hot after 100 rounds fired continuously and perhaps unbearably so after 250-300. These weren't really made to shoot 200 rounds per session.

4) You can keep the gas tube cleaner by shooting 'Clean Fire' or similar environmentally friendly ammo, and don't forget to clean it after every range session.

 

[capdek]

Thanks for the great info SKN. We were a little concerned about the mag release and heat issue.
I'm glad to hear that the heat issue doesn't start to become a problem until such a large number of rounds have been fired.
If she decides to use it, I doubt she would ever be firing more than 50 rounds per training exercise.
And, hopefully, she won't ever have to do a tactical mag change under threat (ideally she'll never have to do a mag change under threat, but if it ever came down to it, a simple reload after the threat is neutralized would be preferable). Never-the-less, she would have to get accustomed to doing a well-executed mag change using the existing mag release.

And it's funny Roy should suggest buying two since I just happened to come across a listing on this site for a used P7M8. Perhaps, we should consider an option like that. The only downside, of course, is the costs involved.

 

[revjen45]

"The only downside, of course, is the costs involved. "

Yup. That's nearly always the main downside. If not for that my carry gun would be a Korth.

 

[capdek]

Never heard of Korth. Just looked them up. Holy crap, if a replacement mag costs $150, I can't even guess what the gun costs - ouch!

 

[SKN]

Forgot to mention that if she wants to carry it and can manage it IWB is the way to go with either the PSP or M8 because of their slimness. I'd recommend a Milt Sparks VM2 which is what I use but there are differences frame and slide dimensions between the two and few holsters will properly accomodate both.

 

[Bimmerman]

Forgot to mention that if she wants to carry it and can manage it IWB is the way to go with either the PSP or M8 because of their slimness. I'd recommend a Milt Sparks VM2 which is what I use but there are differences frame and slide dimensions between the two and few holsters will properly accomodate both.

Re: Milt Sparks VM2 for a P7.

I have a P7 PSP and an M8. I use the PSP for a carry gun. I tried the VM2 IWB holster because I was determined to carry IWB but ended up selling the holster. I had been told that the P7 does not work well with this holster, and I found that to be true (in my case). It was very uncomfortable and quite "unweildly" (wore at 4:00 position). I ended up buying a pancake style holster which was far more comfortable, cost half as much, fits the gun perfectly and conceals just as well.

I prefer the heel mag release (for the carry gun) as it is impossible to accidently hit the mag release when drawing the weapon.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

very jealous