P7M8 No Longer in Production

[TMan]

Hmmm, one of the pistols that always held some intrigue for me is the H&K P7M8. A friend wanted to sell me his P7M13, with nickle plating, but because of the double stack it just did not feel good in my hand.

However, now I notice on the H&K website, that there is limited availability of the P7M8, and it is no longer in production.

www.hk-usa.com/index.jsp?loc=101&SITEID=A&PartNumber=045002

Anyone know of anything bad about these - any reason why I wouldn't want to buy one?

[5ontarget]

I haven't heard anything but good about them. Then again, I haven't heard much if anything bad about H&K.

["DoubleAction"]

TMan; If you look in the Handgun Exihibits, under Striker Fired, I took some photos of one of my Brother's P7s. These are highly crafted pistols, very well made, made so well that H&K can no longer demand the price for what the pistol desearves. I expect the price of these to go up on the pre-owns, after a few years. It's very rare to see a pistol of this scale among today's newly manufactured handguns, a true work of art and craftsmanship.

[TMan]

Well, I went to a range today and rented one. The thing that really surprised me is after putting in a magazine, I squeezed the cocker lever and it released the slide. At first I wondered if that was a fluke, but then found that it consistently did it. Unfortunately, I didn't shoot as well with it as I do with my H&K Elite, which I do shoot better now since it no longer bounces brass off my forehead. The other thing was that the recoil was more noticeable on the P7 than on the Elite. Otherwise, it was a fun gun to shoot, but I'm not sure I'd want to own one.

[Callahan]

I noticed in the morning paper that the biggest gun dealer in town is advertising used P7M8s for $799, "was $1,500." Wonder where they are coming from? Some large wholesaler buy up a bunch from a European police agency or what?

["DoubleAction"]

The P7 seems more of a concealable carry gun, with it's low profiling design and unique cocking feature. I hope to get some range time on my Brother's P7 to prove the favorable impression this pistol has made on me already.

[TMan]

Well, I think I got a good deal - a NIB P7 (not the P7M8), for $749. Apparently this is the PSP model, but it doesn't actually say PSP on it anywhere. It came with two magazines and some kind of funny little tool for removing the firing pin. Only downside I can see is that the manual is in German. I have no idea how old it is or how long it had been setting on the shelve, but there wasn't any rust, and everything appeared to be 100%, so I believe them that it really is NIB.

Of course the box is a funny little plastic thing that has a label saying P7 PSP. The magazine release is on the bottom, but that is okay with me. It means that the magazine will never fall out on me. (I've had that happen on occasion with one of my Browing Buckmarks.)

I've been dry-firing it with a snap-cap and noticed that the trigger feel is interesting. I didn't really notice it when shooting the one that I rented (it was P7M8 though), but you pull the trigger, it travels and then suddenly it goes off. You don't feel any hesitation like I do on the Glock. I hate the trigger on the Glock, hope I don't on this.

The only downside I see so far is that it take quite a bit of effort to squeeze the cocker, more than I expected. I guess it could be an old grease problem, but I want to shoot it a little before I competely disassemble it.

At half the price of the new 1 of 500 models, which I probably would feel funny about shooting, I think I did alright on a pistol that I've always wanted to own.

[MLB]

What's the difference between the P7 PSP and the P7M8?

Looking forward to pictures....

[TMan]

MLB, the best I can tell the difference is in the magazine release, the P7M8 is more "American" style, but as I recall you pushed down on it, and it now comes (last production run) with wooden grips and some engraving on the barrel. DA has some excellent pictures in handgunforum.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=Show&action=display&n=1&thread=1101044226

My P7 PSP has the magazine release on the bottom, as I mentioned, and has plastic grips. Hey, for the difference in price... Oh the P7M8 comes in a fancy case too, along with some sort of tool for cleaning out the piston assembly.

The thing I think is really cool, okay - two things, is that there isn't any locking mechanism, and secondly is the cocker mechanism. According to what I've read, there is a bleed off from just in front of the chamber that allows gasses to escape into the piston cylinder. This delays the opening of the slide until after the bullet has left the barrel.

As I've mentioned, I've wanted one of these for a long time, but I didn't want to spend that much money and get something that I wasn't all that pleased with. I heard that there could be problems with fouling and using lead bullets could actually ruin the thing. So, I put it off, and put it off, and put it off. Some times procrastination pays off. ;D