

Many people - including P7 owners - don’t even realize it’s there, actually. That lever is only on the left size, and is really the P7’s only firing control that isn’t fully ambidextrous. PUSH INWARDS (TOWARDS THE GRIP PANEL) TO USE. However, there is an external slide stop should you want to lock it back manually it’s the little tab circled in the photo below. There is no external slide release lever other than the cocking lever. Alternatively, you can drop the slide by pulling back on it and letting it go. Squeezing the cocking lever again sends the slide home with the pistol already cocked and ready to rock and roll. When the P7’s slide locks back on empty, you’ll naturally release the lever as you drop your spent magazine and insert a fresh one. This makes it more foolproof in the stress of a gunfight.Īlso aiding your chances in a protracted gunfight, the squeeze cocker doubles as a slide release. However, it also works in reverse: pull the trigger then squeeze the cocking lever to fire.
#Hk p7 serial numbers and dates full#
The normal procedure is to squeeze the lever as you take your full firing grip, and then pull the trigger to fire. Keep it squeezed and the action of the slide re-cocks the striker after each shot, so it operates just like any other single action pistol - to be crystal clear, you do not have to release and re-squeeze the cocking lever for each shot, although doing so can allow you to strike a stubborn primer subsequent times. Release the cocking lever and the striker immediately and safely de-cocks. This fully cocks the striker, so the trigger is then a true single action with the sole duty of releasing the striker. It takes somewhere in the range of 10 to 15 lbs (depends on how you measure) of force to squeeze the cocking lever into the grip - it’s basically a moving front strap - but only about 1.5 lbs of force to keep it depressed, which means once it’s squeezed you don’t notice it with a normal firing grip. The backstrap is also lightly textured, which I note mainly because it’s not a standard texture you see every day on a steel gun. Likely the most notable feature of the P7, and the one that earned it nicknames having to do with staple guns, the P7’s striker is only cocked when the textured steel cocking lever on the front strap of the grip is depressed - i.e.

In no particular order, here are the features I know of that set it apart from other pistols…or did in 1976 when it was designed.ĭisclaimer: I’m not a historian and I’m writing from memory as I lack the time to research anything at the moment, so please consider everything you see below as though it has an asterisk reading “as far as I know” following it. H&K’s P7 may or may not be one of those things where the end result is “more than the sum of its parts,” but its parts alone are pretty darn impressive. Every last detail and feature was designed to make it more effective in a gunfight. The P7 is elegant, classy, and civilized, but also highly efficient and effective. Add a set of Nill grips and fuhgeddaboudit. Functionally it’s a great spy gun, but it’s also the pistol I would pick above any other to pair nicely with a tuxedo and a high-end timepiece. The P7 is what 007 should have been carrying since it was first made in 1979.
