Is the P7 all it's been cracked up to be?

[mike4guns]

Realizing full well that H&K is a top shelf quality firearm and having not owned one ever ,I was able to help someone out in his time of need and take a grade A ,p7 psp ,saxony police trade in off him for a very fair price. Lets put it this way , "he needed the instant cash badly".
The pristine 9mm came with a brand new mag in it's grip and 3 more new 8rd'ers in the original H&K packaging. After reading the prices and demand for these guns and mags i now realize i got an amazing deal and feel much worse for the guy having to let it go so low.
I tested it's salt at the range with a box of winch white box 147grain hp's and it seems either i had a lucky hand that day or they are as accurate as they are known to be. I think the later. Obviously with a little help from me the stiff ,little 9mm left 3 or 4 ragged holes on the paper from the one box of ammo. So i guess i'm answering my own question in the title of this post but i wonder if there are any cons associated with this little ,purple 9.
I'm mainly a glock and sig fan so i don't see myself going out to buy any other H&K's anytime soon , mainly due to the high price they carry . I've been more than happy with my small gathering of sigs and glocks with a few old S&W revo's which i also love very much. I will keep this P7 because it's an easy gun to like. My wife also enjoyed using it that day at the range. It's definately a novelty item for me with it's unusual squeeze grip safety and it's little rod that pops out of the back of the slide upon trigger engage. However i definately do not need the 3 extra mags if i'm going to store it and pass it down to my son. One mag in the gun is going to have to be unique enough for him. Without a classified section here i guess a PM would be sufficient if anyone is interested in 3 br new mags in thier factory packaging. They go as all 3 or nothing. I would still be surprised to hear there is anything profoundly wrong with this unique H&K design in that it would cause me to want to sell the gun. Aside from the heat transmitted down into the trigger area from repeated firing. I just don't plan on firing the gun anymore. It's just to cool. 60. ea. PM me.

 

[rodregier]

If you're serious about passing it on it's recipient would appreciate having the extra magazines. They will be really hard to find later...

 

[mike4guns]

They are just of no use to me. Collecting the actual gun is one thing .Collecting the mags I could do without but in a broader sense your not entirely wrong.

 

[atblis]

Keep at least one extra mag. I'd keep them all.

 

[taliv]

some of the P7s are worth a lot more than others. iirc, there were a ton of them recently dumped on the market via police trade-in or something through cdnn. those aren't worth much.

but it is a cool little gun and easy to shoot, despite what looks like an awkward grip

 

[mm6mm6]

I wanted a P7 ever since I first saw one in a magazine in high school. That was in the early 1980's. I could never afford one until the CDNN police trade in guns arrived. I prefer the original P7 with the heel magazine release over the P7 M8. I bought an A-Grade for a very good price in the original serial numbered plastic box.

I've shot the gun in competion and I absolutely love everything about it except the extreme heat generated by the gas system.

So I just learned to wear Band-Aids on my trigger finger before I shoot.

 

[Runningman]

So i guess i'm answering my own question in the title of this post but i wonder if there are any cons associated with this little ,purple 9.

Hate to tell you but original P7 are black. If it has a purple shade on the slide it has been refinished. Typical of many European police trade in. Because they regrind the slide to take old department name off. A refinished P7 should not be called pristine. Just shoot it and enjoy it for what it is.

 

[tank mechanic]

Please do not sell those magazines if you are going to pass the gun down to your son. Even if one magazine suits your purposes for it, your son might like to shoot it a lot and those extra mags will come in handy.

 

[Fremmer]

Keep all of the mags. You want to pass them with the gun. One mag is not enough. For example, when your son accidently drops the mag on the ground and steps on it (mashing it into a pancake), he'll need another. And you always want at least 2 mags with a gun.

 

[mike4guns]

Those are all valid ,strong arguments for keeping the 4 mags together but i know i will never fire it again and my son who came out of the academy and has since then never used anything but sigs and will never carry it(the p7) nor use it. I'm sure anyone would enjoy owning one in a collection though. It would be only for thier value which is not so grand if they remain with the gun which is not a bad thing either but if i know my sig minded son ,he'll never give up his beloved 226 with a bu 239. Actually i don't blame him. I carried sigs before glocks caputed my heart also. Just cant beat the durable endurance of a glock.Mine have prooven themselves truly unbelievable. I have a g21 i have'nt cleaned for 3000 rds and is firing straight as a laser. Ya can't do that with a p7.lol You can however hit someone on the head and knock them out with it's weight if it gets to dirty to fire. Or to hot. Yes , a very cool , odd pistol indeed. I don't love it or hate it. I'm just gonna collect it.
This p7 is ceratinly a hair within 100% condition.' Pristine' just about sums it up well.

 

[steveracer]

I wanted one real bad until I had one. I sold it in a week. They aren't for everyone.

 

[alienbogey]

<<Hate to tell you but original P7 are black. If it has a purple shade on the slide it has been refinished.>>

Incorrect.

They started out blue/black and over time some will develop that purple tint. They are known as 'plum slides' and have to do with the metallurgy.

I had a P7 slide break and it was replaced by HK with a new-old-stock, never been issued or fired slide, and it has a nice plum patina.

I bought one P7 just because it had the 'plummest' slide I'd yet seen.

 

[nwilliams]

Is the P7 all it's been cracked up to be?

IMO, yes

I picked one up before Christmas and I absolutely love it. It's by far the most accurate handgun I have ever owned or fired, and this comes from someone who owns two Walther P88's.

 

[David E]

If it's to be a serious gun, buy two. That way, one can cool while you're shooting the other one.

 

[Sapper771]

As said before.....Keep the magazines! They are not cheap, and one can always use spare magazines(even if you think you dont need them, there may come a time when you will).
To your original question, IMO yes the P7 is an excellent pistol. I didnt know what to really expect when I got mine. I saw a few here and there, got bored one night and did some research on them and found them to be very interesting. I was at a gunshop and saw that they had two and I bought one of them. I got it home and went straight to the range. I was very impressed with the P7s handling and accuracy. I liked it so much that I started carrying it as my back up gun. The squeeze cocker takes a little to get use to, but it isnt anything major. I am not a big fan of the USP line of pistols , but I love this little P7.

 

[usp9]

Hate to tell you but original P7 are black. If it has a purple shade on the slide it has been refinished.

alienbogey is correct. If the slide is plum then that means it has not been refinished. Many of the really black ones and definitely the silver slide police trade ins have been refinished.

As to the mags...keep at least one extra. In the past, before the Saxony trades hit the market, magazines were very hard to find, and they aren't making any more. The mags may be a better investment than the gun.

 

[LancerMW]

i personally dislike "most" H&Ks they are overpriced XD's IMO, i perfer 1911's and BHP's even Glocks, that being said i own a P7

 

[gc70]

but if i know my sig minded son ,he'll never give up his beloved 226 with a bu 239

As previously noted, the P7 is not for everyone. As a Sig guy, the P7 replaced the P239 as my EDC. And my son (a Glock Advanced Armorer) often carries a P7.

 

[benderx4]

Hate to tell you but original P7 are black. If it has a purple shade on the slide it has been refinished.

As stated, incorrect. The plum slide is, indeed, proof that you have an original, non-refinished slide in near "pristine" condition. CDNN liked to put a "T25" nickel-looking finish on the police trade-ins and sell them as "two-tones". There was another large seller putting a Black-T like refinish on the slide that was close to the original bluing. Basically, back in the day when these were made, the metallurgy used in the HK slide was so hard that the bluing process would turn a purplish color over the years.

Who is the importer on your specific P7? What is the date code? What other rollmarks are on the right forward part of the slide? I'm also an avid fan of these amazing guns, and although I'd love to take the additional mags off your hands, (they are hard to find), I agree with the others that they belong with the gun. I KNOW your son will appreciate it someday. I would.

BTW, if you enjoyed shooting it, and your wife enjoyed shooting it, why do you plan on throwing it in the back of the safe? Just curious. I carry a P7, and whenever I head to the range, at least one P7, P7M8, and/or a P7M13 comes with me too. It was the interesting manual or arms and incredible accuracy/reliability/safety/trigger of these compact P7s that resulted in all my Sigs magically turning into HKs.

Congrats on your purchase and happy shooting!

 

[rellascout]

It sounds to me like this is one of the recent Saxony imports. They were selling for as low as $500 at one time for grade b guns. IIRC I paid $550 for my A.

They are no longer coming into the country and are not being made anymore. The recent Saxony PSP IMHO are the least collectible of the P7s on the market. They are the most plentiful and where sold at the lowest price point to begin with.

If you are looking for a true collectible, which is not my thing, you need to look for a commerical P7 M8 or P7 M13. These will run you a lot more than you paid for the P7 you own now.

You should shoot this gun. I doubt you will wear it out in your lifetime of your sons. They are built like tanks. I am not saying go out and shoot 1000 rounds out of it every week by why not shoot a gun you liked shooting?

You can get $150 for the mags now but you will regret it later. The longer you hold them the more you can get for them as more and more of these go out of service. 5 years from now they will be worth more. IHMO there is no need to sell them. As a package they will mean more and be worth more they day you give it to your son.

Again though I stress that these are not really collector guns at this point in time. They are shooters. You should shoot yours.

 

[jon_in_wv]

In my opinion the Saxony PSPs are a better investment than the P7 M8s or the M7p13. You can buy 2-3 PSPs for the price of one of the others. The price on them is already very high and in my opinion has largely topped out. You are going to invest 1200-1500 buying on of the more expensive ones to get maybe 200-300 return down the road. If you bought 3 PSPs for 500 I think you will get 800-1000 for them as collectors down the road. Of course a REAL collector is going to get one of each.

I paid 580 for mine with a plum slide. It came with two mags and I paid $200 bucks to get three more. Mine is a shooter. I don't care what it sells for. It is one of the best guns I've ever shot. Yes it is all its cracked up to be.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Yes.

I liked my first one enough to buy 4 more but now I am back to just 3 in total. Great guns, perfect carry weapon for me and exceptionally well made is all I can add.

 

[Pilot]

Mine is a shooter. I don't care what it sells for. It is one of the best guns I've ever shot. Yes it is all its cracked up to be.

This is pretty much how I feel. I bought a P7M8 about 10 years ago and bought a German police trade in (BMI) when the first started hitting the shores in 2003. Yes, they are all they are cracked up to be.

 

[benderx4]

P7 Porn

 

[jon_in_wv]

Nice grips! I like those.