Shot a HK Squeeze Cocker: P7M8

[SAWBONES]

If you have a P7 without the factory cleaning tool..........you're just wrong. It needs it for every cleaning, and unlike everything else, my P7's get cleaned the second I get home from the range. Also, don't go nuts cleaning the piston itself, it does more damage than it helps. Let something like Slip 2000 Carbon Killer sit in the back of the tube the piston goes in before and during scraping and the gun will run well when you are done cleaning. The quality of materials used in the P7's make them "lifetime guns" (and likely your kids and theirs). They will break various small parts, and I attribute a lot of that to heat build up. It is not that they were not intended for high round counts, they just don't like them all at once. P7's are great single box of ammo to the range gun (like most folks normally shoot). Generally, with my P30/VP9/Glocks, etc. I usually shoot round counts of 250 rounds during range sessions. With the P7's, it is usually a single box.

They are really solid guns. They just are not like anything else out there. They are unique and actually very good for a lot of people because of their specific attributes. They are not Glocks and need to be used different. If you use and maintain them like their real competition at the time, the .38 revolver, you will be fine.

^^^^^^^
This.

P7s DO require assiduous cleaning of the gas piston chamber.

If you know what to do and what NOT to do (blunt the edges of the gas piston flanges), it's good to clean the gas piston thoroughly too, otherwise just wipe it down well.

[LSP552]

That opinion is not universally held.

I had four as well; two heelers and two M8s. One of each broke; the heeler broke twice- firing pin bushing the first time, drop safety spring the second.

We had a pair of M8s for T&E back in the mid-90s. Both broke.

They are incredibly innovative, neat pistols; and IMO, they were never intended for high-volume shooting. The average German cop fires less than 30 rounds per year, except for those few who shoot recreationally, on their own.

Agreed, they rarely malfunction. They just break.

And when the T&E guns broke, HK's attitude to the question why was whatever, no big deal. Yes, big deal when both broke the squeeze cock mechanism and wouldn't fire. Needless to say they were not added to the list of authorized private purchase duty guns.

[Shumba]

There are few pistols as easy to feel madly, irrationally loyal towards than the P7, that's for sure. Maybe custom 1911s?

Guilty as charged, Your Honor!
Shumba

[SAWBONES]

There are few pistols as easy to feel madly, irrationally loyal towards than the P7, that's for sure. Maybe custom 1911s?

Yup.

And certain revolvers.

But not any polymer-frame pistols, functional as they may be.

[SAWBONES]

That opinion is not universally held.

I had four as well; two heelers and two M8s. One of each broke; the heeler broke twice- firing pin bushing the first time, drop safety spring the second.

We had a pair of M8s for T&E back in the mid-90s. Both broke.

They are incredibly innovative, neat pistols; and IMO, they were never intended for high-volume shooting. The average German cop fires less than 30 rounds per year, except for those few who shoot recreationally, on their own.

Agreed, they rarely malfunction. They just break.

Not so much an "opinion" as an experience, based on pistol status after shooting tens of thousands of rounds, given careful attention to the condition of the gas piston chamber and the gas piston after every shooting.

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I think they're exceptionally well made and reliable pistols, given proper care.

Maybe my P7M8s' firing pin bushings will break tomorrow, but I doubt it.

For those who want a reasonably reliable pistol that requires little or no attention to detailed maintenance, I'd suggest a 9mm Glock pistol of one or another generation. Some precision and accuracy are lost in comparison to a P7, but it's unlikely to matter unless you're a GSG-9 pistol-sniper.

The P7s do need some extra attention to detail regarding care, and aren't for Bubba-types, but they're definitely not unduly finicky.

[Dagga Boy]

And when the T&E guns broke, HK's attitude to the question why was whatever, no big deal. Yes, big deal when both broke the squeeze cock mechanism and wouldn't fire. Needless to say they were not added to the list of authorized private purchase duty guns.

It is bizarre at the radical differences folks have. I have a supply of spare parts for my p7's I have never needed, and they were the one gun that most folks did get good customer service on in the bad days of HK customer service. Maybe its cause you guys talk funny.....

[Drifting Fate]

If they still made them, I would probably make them my carry pistol. Sadly, I got rid of my only squeeze-cocker long ago in partial trade for a BMW GS/PD. Great bike, but a steep price to pay. If still supported, I'd happily ditch my G19 for one.

[LSP972]

Not so much an "opinion" as an experience...

I understood that. And to repeat your quote… my experience has been otherwise. And I didn't say the were unduly finicky… I said they tend to break.

FWIW, I was just as fastidious in my maintenance as you. The gun demands it, for one thing.

Whatever… not worth arguing over. I'm glad yours are working out well.

.

[Tamara]

...they were the one gun that most folks did get good customer service on in the bad days of HK customer service.

Back in '03, HK never did get around to sending us a FP safety spring and Shannon wound up making one for my neighbor's gun.

[YVK]

Mine broke both the FP bushing and drop safety spring at under 8K.

Which is about when my G19 broke a slide stop spring, and 3K after P30 broke its trigger return spring(s). So, I'd say par for the course or better as far as my experience is concerned.
Getting the stuff fixed or replaced was subpar.