So I took the new baby (H&K P7) to the range today for my standard must-put-ammo-downrange-before-trusting-with-my-life testing. Considering that I bought this one to replace my Glock 19 as my EDC, I wanted to make sure it was going to do exactly what I asked it to do, and only precisely when I told it to do so.

I LOVE THIS GUN!

It's a damn tack driver, and considering I already own another tack driver (my 92FS, believe it or not!), I'm pleased as punch to have another one in the collection.

Easy <1" groups (isosceles stance) at 21 feet if the operator was paying attention to his sights. 2" if the operator wasn't paying attention. We won't talk about 75 feet. It wasn't the gun, it was the hot brass that almost went down my butt crack. More on that in a minute.

Fed everything like a charm, FMJ and my preferred HST. Kick was non-existent, even by 9mm standards. I lucked out and got three, count em, THREE mags in the box with it. All worked flawlessly.

The sole complaint, and it's not really a complaint, is that it flings brass a bit backward...and I'm a southpaw. The brass doesn't come back and hit me in the head, mind you. Not that much backward. What I did discover is that the lanes at Bills (had a free pass, so no BPR today) are just the right size for the brass to bounce off the wall and hit me smack on top of the head....every time. BANG...boink. BANG...boink. That gas ejection system really throws the casings, by the way.

All was great until my first 75 foot shot. Took a headshot, put the round smack in the middle of the head...and then it happened. I must have been leaning a little more forward than usual, and the boink happened at the back of my neck...and the hot brass continued down the collar of my open button-down, inside the collar of my t-shirt, and all the way down to my tailbone, where it stopped because my t-shirt was tucked in. I did the dance of pain for a good 3-4 seconds as I tried to lay the gun down on the bench while ripping my shirt out of my pants. I managed to get my hand back there just as the brass was about to drop into my pants, where I'm sure I would have managed to make a drunken sailor blush with what would have come out of my mouth. It was bad enough as it was.

The remaining shots at 75 feet weren't quite so spot-on. I blame the fear of further humiliation.

All in all, I'm keeping this one.

-Mark

There's a good reason to wear a t-shirt, or button the top button of your button-down shirt, when you shoot.

Oh, agreed. I think next time the button-down over-shirt is coming off. Just the right angle to go down the button-down AND the t-shirt. Man, that smarts.

-Mark

Glad -- but not surprised; you don't have your head up your penaz -- you like the P7.

It's all your fault!

And I even managed to finish Family Matters this weekend.

-Mark

And . . . ?

Short answer: When's the next one?

Long answer:

I haven't enjoyed a read that much in a long time...since the last Vince Flynn book, actually (very different genre, yes, I know). The second novel is far more of...almost a character study of small town, upper midwest life. "Coffee?" made me smile every time, thinking of my wife's hometown in central MN. I don't know how well they'd go over in New York or Los Angeles, but I get the idea that those folks weren't your target audience.

I've got to ask. How much of you went into Sparky?

-Mark

More than a little; less than all.

A question for P7 owners out there (and I know there are a couple beyond Joel)...

What do you use for a chamber cleaning tool? I know very few P7s come with them, and mine didn't.

Thanks in advance...

-Mark

Mine came with. Plus I got the "key" for unscrewing the firing pin assembly

I am truly blessed.

Over on Sig Forum there was a lot of discussion. I think somebody said that gun scrubber did a good job. I'd have to go look.

I got the key, at least.

Gun scrubber, hey? I'll take a look over there, but if you come across it could you post the link?

Thanks,

-Mark

You can find the scraper tools around; here's an ad for a custom-designed one on HKPRO... http://www.hkpro.com/forum/showthread.php?p=787236

I don't have one with either of mine, but a .22 (iirc) brush does a pretty good job.

Very cool. I did get the factory gas chamber brush, just not the scraper. Anybody else bother using the scraper? Maybe the brush and solvent is enough?

-Mark

looks nice, but I'm not willing to spend that on a scraper!
used to be a guy on the P7 Cult site that did a cheaper version, but that site has been out of commission for a while now...

I'm still waiting to find a smokin deal on a P7M13! (or for H&K to wise up and market them again here!)

Back before the Cult site went TU, I recall there was at least one person there that raved about how great "foaming bore cleaner" worked for completely cleaning the gas setup. Have no personal experience of the product: so far I've been okay w. spraying in Hoppe's or Shooters' Choice, letting it marinate a few minutes and giving it a thorough brushing (both PSPs had a brush in the box and I'm using one of those on the M13, too), so the usual disclaimers, YMMV, etc.

As for the P7M13, I don't think we'll ever see them generally priced at what anyone that works for a living would consider "reasonable". Unless one stumbles over somebody getting rid of theirs that's completely unaware of what they've got and/or what the current going rates are. In my case, after deciding I really, really, REALLY wanted one, just bit the bullet, found one for sale with finish and sights I wanted and sold enough other guns to put the money back in savings after the fact... Cleaning out almost all of the combat Tupperware cluttering up the place pretty much did the trick there. And made deciding what to carry any given day a lot easier.