Heckler & Koch (HK) P7

In 1976 Helmut Weldle and Heckler & Koch GmbH, designed and produced a German 9mm semi-automatic pistol called the PSP or Polizei Selbstlade Pistole (Police Self-Loading Pistol in English).

On September 5 1972 a group of eight Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September organization broke into the Olympic Village and took eleven Israeli athletes hostage in their apartment, soon killing two of them in the apartment.  At the military airport were the captors with their hostages had been transfered by helicopter to board a plane, all the surviving Israeli hostages were killed as well as the Palestinians, during a botched German rescue attempt. This sparked a decision by the West German police to upgrade their weapons to an advanced 9mm pistol and replace existing 7.65 mm caliber weapons.

The new weapon was to meet the following requirements: Chambered in a 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge Weigh no more that 1000 grams Be no bigger than 180 x 130 x 34 mm Have the initial muzzle energy of 500 Jules Last at least 10,000 rounds Have an ambidextrous safety Be very safe to carry with a loaded chamber and be quick to draw and ready to fire instantaneously. Each participant was up for a challenge. After a competitive bid the German police chose three pistols the Swiss Sig-Sauer P225 (designated the P6) the P7 (officially called the PSP) and the Walther P5

Series production of the P7 went into effect in 1979. Soon after, the pistol was adopted by the German Federal Police's counter terrorism unit and the German Army's Special Forces formations. The pistol was produced by HK and under license by Hellenic Arms Industry.

The P7 features a gas-delayed blowback system modeled after the Swiss W+F 47 pistol prototype. The design uses the gas pressure of the ignited cartridge that is fed through a small vent in the barrel to retard the rearward motion fo the slide by means of a piston contained inside a cylinder located beneath the barrel. The piston in the cylinder can retract and recoil the slide, opening the breech and ejecting the empty cartridge case. The chamber has 18 flutes that aid in the extraction process. The HK P7 has an innovative trigger and a striker firing mechanism, with a squeeze cocking lever located at the front of the grip, beneath the trigger guard. Pressing the cocking lever automatically cocks the firing pin. The weapon is then fired by pressing the single stage trigger rated at approximately 20 N. This method of operation dispensed the need for a manual safety selector while providing safety for the operator carrying the pistol with a chambered round and increased the speed with which the pistol could be deployed and fired. The P7 is fed from a single-stack box magazine (with an 8 round capacity), which is held inside the firearm’s frame with a release located at the heel of the grip.

The firearm uses a fixed, polygonal barrel (hexagonal with a 250 mm twist rate) and fixed notch iron sights with contrast dots that enable use in low-level lighting conditions. The pistol is completely ambidextrous and two-handed use is enhanced through the use of a profiled and enlarged trigger guard.

Between 1982-1983 the P7 received several modifications, mainly to address American market demand and shooter preferences. A new magazine release lever (available on both sides of the frame) was installed just beneath the trigger guard, which forced designers to modify both the pistol’s frame and magazine. The trigger guard was equipped with a synthetic heat shield that protects the shooter from excessive heating and a lanyard attachment loop was added in place of the previous magazine heel release. The firing pin and its bushing were also changed.

The popularity of the HK P7 led to several variants coming out including...

• P7M8 (which is an equivalent to the P7 with an 8-round magazine)
• P7PT8, P7M13, P7K3, P7M10 and the P7M7, all of which are no longer produced by HK.
• P7PT8 is a dedicated, straight blowback training pistol modified for use with the 9x19mm PT training cartridge with a plastic bullet. The pistols were marked with blue dots on both sides of the slide to differentiate the P7PT8 from other P7 pistols that can chamber lethal ammunition.
• P7M13 is the P7’s counterpart with a double-column magazine and a 13-round capacity.
• P7M13SD was produced in limited numbers exclusively for German special forces, featuring a longer threaded barrel and a sound suppressor.
• P7K3 is a shortened version of the P7 that uses straight blowback for operation.
• P7M10 was introduced to the American market in 1991. It is chambered for the .40 S&W (10x22mm Smith & Wesson) round and has a double-stack 10-round magazine.

Specifications