[Dacos]

As some of you read my previous post, my main concern regarding the P7M8 was the lack of training I could perform in a given shooting period b/c of the heat generated as a result of shooting >50 rounds per session.

Being an engineer, I hated the concept of a pistol that was designed thus, but I've been thinking about the following improvement:

HK used a plastic heatshield, however polymers are not the greatest thermal insulators. How about a ceramic heatshield, made to the same dimensions as the current P7m8's? As an example only, the Space Shuttles tiles can be heated to a few thousand degrees and are cool to the touch within a few seconds. It would be interesting to see if a ceramics supplier could be given the exact dimensions of the shield and, if it performs and demand is high enough, see if they might offer an after-market part. Just brainstorming... Dacos

[dude]

I shoot around 100 rounds per session and P7 heating has never been an issue. Just as shooting a few mags out of an AK or AR type rifle leaves a very hot barrel............not being burned by the hot barrel is easy to avoid, so is not touching hot part of my P7. Normal shooting with a hot P7 is easy as the heat shield protects your finger while firing--don't touch the hot part.

[CWL]

Sounds good, but expensive. Probably cheaper if you ground your own, or took a design to local shop.

Then you'd have to dye it.

There'd be buyers for it most likely (I'd probably buy one or two).

How about carbon fiber wrapped over insulative foam? Skunk would buy one.

[WonderNine]

Ya, the hot barrel isn't an issue as long as you don't reholster for twenty minutes right? :)

I was thinking, doesn't the heat start to affect accuracy pretty badly?

[dude]

I re-holster a hot P7 all the time! Kydex or leather........what could be the problem w/that??

no---the lower frame area above the trigger guard is what is heating up, not the barrel.......... so accuracy is not at all effected.

Honestly, I don't see this so-called 'heat issue' that some folks have with the P7 as being a actually problem. I guess alot of interent commandos who 'heard' about it, or folks who have shot a P7 once or twice might consider it an issue.

[mete]

I never had a problem with heat with a P7 either. It's either certain size or shaped hands that have a problem or imagination. Maybe they don't know that burning powder creates heat.Some people are SO SENSITIVE.

[Jaywalker]

I have no P7, but I do have an opinion. (Insert smiley here - they aren't working for me!)

Ceramic is a better insulator, but that would mean keeping the heat trapped inside the frame - is that what we really want? Space Shuttles tiles cool to touch quickly, probably because they have a Mach 10 airflow cooling them off.

I presume the standard method of cooling the plastic heat shield is radiation (vs conduction and convection), though if you touch it often enough you're likely transferring some of the heat to your hand. (Insert another smiley.) IIRC correctly, radiation transfers heat at the fourth power of its absolute temperature, so the hotter it gets the faster it cools off. A cool outer would be good for users hands, but might keet the heat inside for hours since it can't conduct to the outside then radiate off. Is that a problem?

Jaywalker

[cslinger]

I have put 150-200 rounds through my P7 in around a 1.5 hour session at the range. All 200 were not consecutive but fast enough.

Does the gun get hot? Yes but not uncomfortibly so unless you hold it wrong or touch the area around the gas tube.

Is it really that big of an issue? Not for me. I was worried about this before buying and I do agree that it is a minor design flaw but I feel it's pros far far outweight this minor inconvenienc.

I guess with 150 rounds of hot +P or +P+ ammo it could get blazin' hot but I can't afford to practice that much with the good stuff. If I am ever in a confrontation that requires more than a magazine change then I am heading for the rifles.

I guess some people are more sensitive to the heat then others, no flame intended. I have a friend who doesn't like the heat build up and notices it when I just think it's getting warm. Different strokes I guess.

If you have never put 100-150 rounds of practice ammo through one I suggest you do so to try it out, if you can find one to try. It will get very hot but as long as I don't come in physical touch contact with the steel around the gas tube then I am just fine.

Just a personal observation. I am one of those "The heat issue isn't really a big deal " jokers so take my opinion with a grain of salt.


//HK P7 CULT ZOMBIE MODE=ON//
Must buy more P7s.....must expose virtues of P7....The P7 is the greatest....All must be shown the way of the P7....
//HK P7 CULT ZOMBIE MODE=OFF//

Must be some kind of strange subliminal marketing. Maybe a hallucinagenic in the blueing process. Hey that's really what that plum/purple stuff is on some of the slides. :D

[MrPink]

Do what I do: bring a pair of P7s to the range and alternate firing.

Honestly, before I got my second P7 (and third and fourth), firing a hundred rounds never got the gun so hot it was uncomfortable to shoot.

What you would spend on a custom ceramic heat shield could help pay for a second "refurb" gun that you could use to put range "miles" on.

[Tamara]

I guess alot of interent commandos who 'heard' about it, or folks who have shot a P7 once or twice might consider it an issue.

No, I've owned two and I've sure noticed it. I sold my most recent one to a friend, and the last time we were shooting it in the back yard we ran off 100ish rounds fairly rapidly (he'd shoot it empty, hand it to me, I'd pop a mag in, he'd load his mag while I was shooting, plus he ran through all three mags on him relatively quickly at least once or twice.) By the end, the gun was actually uncomfortable to hold (heat conducting from the gas tube area into the trigger guard and cocking lever) and was hot enough to raise a welt on the area around the gas piston.

The P7 is a fine gun, one of my all time faves, but there's plenty of cult-like activity to get the internet commandos all hot 'n' bothered, don'tcha think? ;)

[NIB]

I've fired 400 rds straight from my P7, sure it was hot but it didn't bother me.









wusses :neener:

[10-Ring]

Yeah, the P7 really does get hot quickly. I do tend to over look it because of the very positive attributes it possess.

[Skunkabilly]

Shot a steel challenge match and didn't get hot and bothered. Only shot about 30 rounds in a string, probably went through 200+ rounds that morning.

During training usually it's draw doubletap, or draw, shoot 3 BGs tactical squence, etc, then reholster, which doens't give the chance for it to get hot. Lots of manipulation but not THAT much of a round count.

Only time it gets too hot is at the square indoor range plinking. I don't see it as a problem during training as much as a plinking problem.

Waiting for it to cool off I do slow fire on a tennis ball at 17 yards.

[dude]

OK, I get it now. Some folks have problems with the the P7 bieng too hot after rapid firing a bunch of mags.

........................sort of reminds me of the guy who goes to the doctor and says "hey doc, it hurts when I do 'this' "

Fine, sell or don't buy a P7 because of it but don't fault the pistol as it was never designed to be a Military sidearm firing 1000s or rounds in a torture test, but rather a LEO pistol made to quckly solve bad-guy/gal issues with a few rounds. A task it does quite well btw.

[sanchezero]

I shot my P7s (yeah, 2 of 'em) in a class enough that I got blisters (burned) thru the tape I put on my fingers to prevent getting blisters. I think the big problem was the lack of shade. It was hot as hell and the guns just wouldn't cool down.

But I agree that most times a more sedate training pace solves the problem and it's certainly not an issue I'd encounter on the street since I only carry 17-25 rnds.

:D

[hksw]

How about a ceramic heatshield, made to the same dimensions as the current P7m8's? As an example only, the Space Shuttles tiles can be heated to a few thousand degrees and are cool to the touch within a few seconds. It would be interesting to see if a ceramics supplier could be given the exact dimensions of the shield and, if it performs and demand is high enough, see if they might offer an after-market part.

That sounds expensive. There was that one hairdresser guy a few years who had developed a paintable coating that pretty much did the same thing the heat tiles on the shuttles do. As a demonstration, he had painted an egg with the material, applied a acetylene torch to it, and broke the egg, which remained raw. IIRC, some governmnet brach or private company bought his formulation but haven't heard anything else about it since.

For me, the P7 has never gotten hot enough to make me uncomfortable. Some folks are just more sensative to tactile, taste, and odor changes than others.

[Kodiak]

The P7 does get hot once in a while if I rapid fire through 100 rnds in 30 minutes or less. But for me the nine holes 'all touching' at 25 yards makes up for it.

[Skunkabilly]

I like the carbon fiber idea too. The grips need it as well.

[Collier]

Forget the heat issue. It's not often that a gun is this pretty!