Probably a 9mm.

Already have a P226 and am thinking of one of those P6 (P225) imports because it's the same manual of arms OR one of the HK P7 PSP (because they look cool).

Can't buy both.

Help me out here, which do you prefer and why?

I guess you should prolly count me in as a fanboy.


I jumped on the first German police trade-in P7 PSP that I encountered. Had always heard great things about them and it'd just been the high price tag that'd kept me from trying any of the commercial P7 variants over the years. So, I took the thing to the range, got home and immediately got moving on getting a second one for a spare while the getting was good. A little quirky, but it's neat to have a carry piece that's THAT flat, is completely uncocked until you go to a firing grip and still has a SA trigger pull all the time. Not to mention that the fixed barrel arrangement is pretty accurate, the gas retarded blowback system seems to actually reduce recoil to some degree and the magazine is 'way close to being perpendicular to the bore so it feeds nicely (no jams yet out of either of mine) while still having a "friendly" grip angle. Here's a schematic (of the M13 version, but the basic layout is simular) that illustrates what I said about the magazine angle. The stuff between the barrel and trigger guard is the gas tube/piston, which doesn't make a lot of sense at first glance until you remember that the piston is attached near the front of the slide and the idea is for gas to be vented from just in front of the chamber and resist the piston and slide coming backward (no locking mechanism at all, just this gas delay arrangement):

Minuses: gets hot in the trigger guard area if you shoot a lot of rounds in a hurry (less than 4 mags as fast as you can run through them will do it, easy). All steel, except for the grip panels and the coating on the trigger, so heavy for their size, which combines with the short front end to make them prone to lever themselves out of ill-fitting holsters. The squeeze cocking arrangement seems to attract NDs from people who don't remember their firearms safety rules and put their finger on the trigger when not intending to shoot, especially when using the cocking mechanism to run the slide forward after mag changes.

OTOH, I'm waiting for my dealer to get in the Sig Sauer P6/P225 I had him order for me.... One of the distributors was advertising a price too good to pass up for the chance to try messing w. one.

Once I get that P6, you'd be welcome to try 'em all out with me sometime if you think it'd help w. the decisionmaking process (easiest if you're in the NW Metro: I live in Anoka and mostly go shoot at Minnetonka Game & Fish up by St. Francis).

The 226 will always be readily available. The P7 is not and is not going to get any cheaper. Get one while you can.

I almost bought a P7 back in 1983. I was torn between a S&W 659 or a P7. They were both about the same price at my dealer at the time. I ended up with the S&W because of the high capacity. Later, I gave the 659 to my son so I don't even have it anymore.

Many times over the years I've been sorry I didn't choose the P7. I agree, get a P7 if you can, they are not that easy to find.

I have held one P7 and I liked it.

I decided on the P7. I think what pushed me in that direction is the fact that they are less common than other brands. Hopefully, if I take good care of it, it will hold it's value ( and maybe go up).

Hello lumbering.buffalo,

You could safely say I’m fan of the P7 also, Defiantly the HK P7 over the Sig P6.

Here is a quick snip from the P7 board for info.

1. Squeeze cocking. IMHO the safest gun for daily carry. The gun goes from perfectly safe to perfectly deadly in a split second. If you drop it you may have a heart attack because it might get scratched but you can rest assured it won't go off. This gun is incredibly fast.

2. Trigger pull. Thanks to the squeeze cocking system the gun is safely equipped with an excellent single action trigger pull.

3. Compact. Although it has full-size controls (no pinky hang), the gun is sized like a compact approaching a subcompact. It is much thinner than almost any handgun.(1.1-1.2 inches).

4. Full-size barrel. Despite this gun's compact size it has a full 4-inch barrel.

5. Fixed-barrel. This gun lacks the tilting barrel assembly of most other full-sized guns. This lends the gun exceptional accuracy. In combination with the aforementioned trigger, this barrel makes the P7 ultra-accurate.

6. Low recoil. This is likely result of the guns low bore/axis and gas system

7. Tough! This gun is CNC milled from a solid steel forging. The gun is so solid it could be used as a nasty set of brass knuckles in a pinch. Without picking one up it is hard to imagine how solid this little gun feels.

8. Excellent sight radius. Although the gun is short, HK maximized the sight radius by pushing the sights as far apart as practically possible.

9. Oddball manual of arms confuses bad guys and know it all buddies. There are many accounts of cops loosing their P7's to bad guys who were, in turn, unable to figure out the squeeze cocker.

10. Chamber fluting allows the gun to function even if the extractor is broken. This feature really makes you think when you are trying to determine which gun you want to bet you life on (no offense, but this a much more serious advantage than being able to freeze the gun in a bucket of ice or whatever).

11. Easily childproofed. The P7's striker can be removed without tools (and without any other disassembly of the gun). The striker can be re-inserted into the gun in roughly 1 second. This could be a major consideration to those of us with small children and stupid friends.

12. Ambidextrous. With the exception of the slide catch and take down buttons, every model of the P7 is completely ambidextrous.

13. Ultra fast slide release. Simply squeeze the handle and the slide will be released.

14. 110 degree grip angle gives the gun natural pointability. 110 degree grip angle makes the gun point just like you finger.

15. Low profile slide. The P7’s low profile slide means that there is very little recoiling mass relative to the frame. This, along with the above mentioned 110-degree grip angle makes reacquiring targets a breeze with the P7.

All of this combined with the current influx of surplus police imported guns that are on the market make for a deal that can’t be beat. The current best prices I have seen are from CDNN Sports http://www.cdnninvestments.com/ you need to call them to get the current price as their website doesn’t list that, it was running about $800.00 for an (A grade)

PS I have no ties with them just passing on info.

If you are looking for more info or have questions on the P7 check out http://www.parkcitiestactical.com/

Molasses, We should get together for a range trip some time.

Dorian

When and where's good for you? I don't expect any mandatory OT for almost a month, after which I expect my Saturdays'll be spoken for, but until then, weekends, late afternoons and early evenings are all good by me. Give me a couple weeks or less and we can also break in the P6 and the VP70 I'm waiting for, too.

Molasses I normally shoot at Bill’s in Robbinsdale but am flexible as to where.
Any week night but Friday, after 7pm till close works for me. My normal range night is the 3rd Thursday of the month, this month that is the 20th, but I make extra trips when I can. Let me know if that works for you.

P7 addicted
Nope I don't know what you are talking about





Dorian

How about this for a conceal gun?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=526655&in_page_id=1770

Terrific guns; I don't have one, but have been drooling over the P7M8 and P7M40 for years.

Hi Joel,

Thanks I do really like P7s. The M8 is my normal carry & the M13 is my range-class gun.
The M10 (the 40 cal one) with the over large slide is more for fun & to round out the collection.
If you would like to come & check them out they will be there on the 20th at Bill’s.
Or if that does not work for you let me know when & where you normally shoot & I’ll try to make it by.

Dorian

I took Dorian up on a previous offer to fire a few rounds through several of his P7's. Great guns and a nice guy. His wife was a pleasure to meet as well. She could shoot very well also. Take him up on the offer.

Oh, sure. I'm at Burnsville Pistol Range a whole lot -- always after a class -- and would purely love another opportunity to shoot a P7.

Thanks a lot Dorian. I just started getting over the need to buy one of these after talking and looking at yours at PPOTH south metro awhile back. Now because of you posting you pics I might just have to scratch that inch.