HK P7

German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch's HK P7 was designed in 1971. A blue-toned, single-action semiautomatic pistol, it chambers 9 x 19 mm Luger ammunition and has advances safety features, such as the lever cocking mechanism located on the inside of the grip. A result of Heckler & Koch's in-house research and development, this feature is unique because the HK P7 can only be fired when this lever is squeezed. This mechanism is a foolproof insurance against accidental discharge and is certainly a landmark in the annals of handgun manufacture. The last of the P7s rolled off the assembly line in 2005, after a twenty-seven years' run.

The HK P7's first avatar was the PSP, introduced in 1976. It was a steeply priced self-loading semiautomatic designed specifically for the German police. This handgun featured a magazine release on the magazine's base - a design favored in European countries. Incidentally and significantly, the magazine underwent design changes when German police personnel discovered that the butt-heel release tended to drop out of its moorings when the handgun accidentally rubbed against clothing. Heckler & Koch was keen to have it adopted by the US Army as a service pistol, but it lost out to the Beretta 92 because its design was not found up to specifications. It sees occasional burst of production even today, however.

It is possible that the fact that its gas-delayed blowback technology had something to do with the rejection by the US armed forces - it caused the HK P7 to overheat faster than usual for semiautomatics. During practice sessions requiring repeated firing, this would render the HK P7 unsuitable for continued use. Other firearms that employ this technology are the Steyr GB, Vektor CP1, and the Norinco Model 77B. Heckler & Koch did tackle this inherent flaw by installing a plastic heat shield above the trigger guard, but this was evidently damage control meant to cover up a basic design flaw.

Despite the above, the HK P7 did make a niche of sorts with certain American law enforcement agencies and one of its variants - the HK P7M8 - is still in widespread use by them today. This handgun, which is as slim as the PSP model and is available in blue, nickel and two tone finishing, also chambers 9 x 19 mm Luger ammunition and shots from a magazine that holds eight single-stacked rounds. It weighs 780 grams in an unloaded condition and is 171 mm in length, with a barrel length of 105 mm. The barrel is fixed to the frame in accordance with the gas-delayed blowback technology employed in the HK P7M8. The gases produced during firing are vented from the barrel into a cylinder, which causes the slide's backward motion to be delayed. It is fitted with fixed iron sights.

There are various other versions of the HK P7. The P7M10, for instance, chambers .40 S&W ammunition and features a double-stacking magazine that holds ten rounds. The slide on this handgun is naturally larger, and this adds to the pistol's overall weight ands volume. The equally bulky P7M13 again chambers 9 x 19 mm Luger rounds, with a double-stacking magazine capacity of 13. The P7K3 can fire either .380 ACP, .22 Long Rifle or .32 ACP rounds, thanks to a removable barrel. The P7M7 was an extremely limited breech-locking edition, designed to shoot .45 ACP rounds. According to records, only half a dozen of this model were actually manufactured.

Market reports indicate that among all of the above models, the original P7 is still the largest seller. It is readily distinguishable from the PSP model by the fact that it does not feature the markings of the Police Special letters on the grip. Its flat and ergonomically designed body makes it an ideal concealed weapon, though some users find that it does not fit their hands as comfortably as the bulkier versions. However, with such a large number of models available, there is certainly a HK P7 to suit every taste in handguns.