Hk p7

[senior]

Having owned a P7 before I am aware that manufacture date was usually stamped on the right side of the slide, howerver I just bought one that has no date, only a square with what appears to be a spread winged eagle inside it and to the right of that looks to be letters "DE'. Gun has serial number of 8000 on the slide and another box with eagle on the right side of the trigger housing. Left side show "made in Germany" (not west germany, just Germany) Imported though Columbus Ga. Anyone able to give rough guess as to manufacture date? Thanks

 

[Pilot]

If there is no date stamped, then there should be a two letter date code on the slide.

 

[Pilot]

From http://www.hkpro.com

DE code on HK guns

I recently came across a thread from another member questioning the significance of the new code DE on HK firearms. Some people surmise it to mean deutschland. I came across an article :
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo...t-Res61-66.pdf
Page 3 second paragraph:
"Each weapon of the Federal Armed Forces is unambiguously marked and bears the following information: manufacturer, weapon type, calibre, month and year of delivery ex works, serial number, proof firing stamp, possibly additional marks, such as, e.g., maintenance information.
The marks are applied in accordance with the standards of applicable technical manuals and are unique. In order to increase the transparency within the field of marking of SALW Germany has begun the process to introduce the stamp “DE” as a central identification code."

Base on what the article says, it sounds to me all firearms manufactured in Germany will have the stamp DE on them, not just HK guns. This makes me suspect that DE indeed stands for Deutschland (a country code of some sort), although the article never did say what if stood for. I suspect other countries will also have their own country code.

SALW= Small Arms & Light Weapons

Addendum: SIG pistols also have DE code stamped on frame

There should be another date or date code somewhere on your P7.

 

[usp9]

DE means it was imported from Germany. Required last year by German law.
Some early P7s had no date or date code.
The early serial number, 8000, indicates 1980 or 1981.

 

[senior]

date

thank u usp9, '80 or '81 is close enough for me, any idea if that early a model had problems with JHP? Finish on the gun must have been redone to be in the shape its in, couple of feet away u cant tell its worn!

 

[valorius]

The early models should work perfectly well with all JHP loadings from 100-127grains. The P7 is optimized for use with 124gr+P NATO FMJ ammunition. A P7 that's out of spec can have nose up feeding issues with 147gr ammo, but it works fine in a P7 in good shape.

My Lower Saxony P7 gobbles up anything i feed to it.

Note: exposed lead bullets of any kind should not be fired out of a P7.

 

[senior]

P7

thank you sir!

 

[usp9]

I have a mid production and late production P7, but just as valorius said, the P7 notoriously eats a wide variety of ammo shapes and weights. Never had any miss of any nature, including 147 gr. HP, but I don't carry a P7 so mostly I shoot the cheapest 115 gr. "sale of the month" or what I really like to shoot is NATO 124gr ball. Enjoy your P7.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Is yours early enough to have the extended mag release or is it flush with the grips on the butt of the gun?

One of mine is older then yours and it has an extended mag release. It is also my most accurate so consider yourself lucky. They are really good guns.

Mine will feed and fire pretty much anything that will make it in the chamber. 147 xtp's work perfectly in mine.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Is yours early enough to have the extended mag release or is it flush with the grips on the butt of the gun?

just as a point of clarification.

the first P-7s (often referred to as the PSP) had the narrower heel release that extended out from the backstrap...you pushed it forward to release the mag.

a later evolution extended the grip panels and recessed the mag release. this release is much wider, but it needs to be pressed in (between the grip panels)...it's a bit slower to use. i've heard this referred to as the "E" modification and was a transition model to the M8

 

[Peter M. Eick]

The way I understand it is my early "extended" mag release is a P7E and my later 2 P7's with the covered grip mag release are P7U's.

Either way I was just curious. My P7E is very accurate and I have not heard of many folks having them.

 

[9mmepiphany]

The way I understand it is my early "extended" mag release is a P7E and my later 2 P7's with the covered grip mag release are P7U's.

you may be right, i was just going off memory.

what i've always wondered is how we loss the use of "E" to the common usage of "PSP" which was the pre-production designation

 

[valorius]

The early protruding heel releases had problems popping out the magazines on german cops while sitting in their patrol cars.

The flush mount release is virtually impossible to accidentally disengage, making these model P7's the most CCW friendly IMO.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I read that the p7E was for the European style extended mag release. The P7U was for the United States version that protected the mag release with the grips.

I have some of both versions and just like the P7E better as it fits the hand slightly better.

 

[valorius]

There were very, very few US commercial P7 "PSP" heel release pistols ever sold here. If you have one of those, it is worth a lot of money to an HK collector.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

The extended mag release is the bottom one.

Does 3 of them make me a collector?

 

[Big Dave]

The P7E is marked as such on the slide. It's my understanding that very few were imported. It is my favorite carry pistol.