HK P7M8 at the Range

I am a huge fan of the Heckler & Koch P7M8 pistol.  My first modern centerfire pistol was an early-model HK P7 (PSP), purchased at the Hanau Rod & Gun Club in 1982, shortly after I arrived in Germany for my initial duty assignment in the Army (23rd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Division).

I knew next to nothing about pistols or pistol shooting, so I bought a bunch of gun magazines and read up on pistols and pistol shooting techniques.  The P7 was the hot new pistol at that time, and had gotten very good reviews for a variety of features, so I bought one and taught myself to shoot with it.  In 1984 I bought an updated model called the HK P7M8, which uses the same basic design but incorporates a couple of improvements based on experience with the earlier model.  I have used this gun as my primary defense and competition pistol for 35 years.

The P7 has a squeeze-cocking mechanism in the grip that gives it a number of distinct advantages over other pistols.  This mechanism turns the front of the grip into a multi-function control that eliminates a number of the buttons and levers  required by other pistols to perform the same functions.  Its gas-retarded blowback mechanism, lightweight slide, and low bore axis give it low felt recoil so it is very fast to get back on target. The fixed barrel and crisp single-action trigger enable amazing accuracy.  The squeeze-cocking mechanism is unique, and can feel somewhat strange to those accustomed to more conventional pistol designs. This unique mechanism and the pistol's relatively high price tag limited the P7's popularity with the general shooting public.  I think perhaps because it was my first pistol, and because I taught myself to shoot with it, that it feels much more natural and intuitive to me than it does to others.  I have to admit that even though the design is 40 years old, it seems a bit odd to me to think of this pistol as "classic" and "obsolete". I still consider it to be, in many ways, the apotheosis of combat pistol design.

HK P7 - Video Review

HK P7 - Gun Digest

HK P7 - Wikipedia

I have made a couple of minor modifications to my P7M8 over the years.  For protection against corrosion, I had it plated with a hard satin nickel coating (think of Hans Gruber's pistol in "Die Hard").  I didn't care for the appearance, but it protected the gun from rust.  A few years ago I finally sent it to W.E. Birdsong to have the nickel removed and get it coated with Black-T, a very highly corrosion-resistant finish that closely resembles the original look of the gun.

Black-T Information

Last year I decided that it was also time to upgrade the sights to tritium (glow-in-the-dark) night sights.  I bought a set of Trijicon sights in May, but never had the time to get them installed while we were still in Michigan.  Almost as soon as we arrived in Idaho, I found a local gunsmith and had the new sights installed.  Then it was time to go to the range and check them out.

Another thing I did almost as soon as we arrived in Idaho was to join the Fernan Rod & Gun Club.  This club is about 3 miles from our new home (as the eagle flies), and 10.6 miles by road.  It is also the venue for local Project Appleseed events, so joining it was a foregone conclusion for me.  It's a nice facility - much nicer than I expected from a range on U.S. Forest Service property.

Fernan Rod & Gun Club

The first thing I did after setting up my targets was to determine the point of impact of the new sights.  I used Winchester "white box" 115 gr. FMJ ammunition (also vintage by the way - headstamped "WCC 1987") on a B8 target center posted at 7 yards, which many consider to be a realistic self-defense combat distance.  I fired two magazines of 8 rounds each, at a deliberate pace, from a standing two-handed position:

Excluding the lone flyer, the groups were clearly about an inch or so to the right.  I've been shooting this pistol for 35 years and it's always been dead-on point-of-aim accurate, so this told me the sights needed to be adjusted slightly.  A trip back to the gunsmith would be necessary, as I do not have the tools for proper adjustment of fixed sights.

After this test, I decided to use up the rest of my two boxes of ammo (84 rounds) shooting a series of defensive pistol drills.  I used Jeff Cooper's "Mozambique Drill", also called the "Failure Drill" in police and military combat training.  This drill gave rise to the saying "Two to the chest and one to the head, then you're sure they're really dead":

Mozambique Drill

I set up two targets at seven yards downrange from the firing line.  The usual target for this drill is either a silhouette target similar to the B27, or else a paper plate for the chest and a 3"x5" card for the head.  I didn't have either of these, so I used B8 centers for the chest (the 8-ring is about the size of a paper plate) and my business card for the head.  I used the back side of the card, which also includes a 1" black square ("aim small, miss small").

My two targets as they appeared from the firing line.

I loaded all magazines with eight rounds.  I put one magazine in the pistol and two in my left-front-pocket magazine carrier.  I planned to shoot three shots per target (two to the chest and one to the head), reloading as necessary.  This would provide some approximation of combat conditions, since the reloads would be at odd intervals in the middle of the drill.   I fired six of these 3-shot drills:

The results from my first six 3-shot drills.

Although I was able to complete most of these drills within seven to ten seconds, I realized that I need to practice drawing from concealment and doing combat reloads much more often.  The first few times, the back of the pistol snagged on my vest as I was drawing it, and when I had to reload, the entire carrier came out of my pocket along with the magazine.  I adjusted my draw technique accordingly, and also loosened the retaining screw on the magazine carrier slightly.  The most encouraging result was that I was on target for 100% of the torso shots, and four out of six of the head shots.

I then switched to a transition drill, firing 2+1 on the right-hand target, then 2+1 on the left-hand target, for a total of six shots on two targets in each drill.  I fired all of these drills without changing or pasting up my targets, only pausing to walk down and take the first couple of photos, to record the results in my notebook, and for a couple iterations of reloading magazines (I only have ten, and three of them remained loaded with my defensive ammo).  I was able to shoot each of these drills within five to seven seconds, which for me is very good.

The results of my first 6-shot drill.  Very encouraging.

The results of the first two 6-shot drills.  Still not bad.

The results of 66 rounds fired in a series of 6-shot drills.  I can live with this (I hope that never needs to be literally true, although that's the purpose of the exercise).

The right hand target after all the 6-shot drills.

The left-hand target after all the 6-shot drills.

There are a number of ways to mix up this drill (e.g. left-to-right instead of right-to-left, firing all the chest shots first, chest on one then head on the other, etc.), but I didn't do any of these.  I stuck with the same 2+1 right to 2+1 left for the entire time, as I was concentrating on my drawing and reloading as well as the shooting.  Variations can wait for another day after I've re-honed my skills on the basics.

It's been a long time since I did an exercise like this.  Although I was satisfied with the results, I also had a couple of unpleasant surprises (snagged pistol and botched reloads) that would be disastrous in a self-defense situation.  It's *much* better to experience these during practice, to work through and establish good techniques for smooth drawing and reloading, and to commit these techniques to habit/muscle memory.  Now that we have finally built our home and accomplished the move to Idaho, I plan to visit the range much more often than I have for the past couple of years, and to re-hone my combat pistol techniques through frequent practice.

Following my tradition from Germany, North Carolina, and Michigan, I have a new license plate to add to my collection.  This will be the last one, though - like the sticker says, we are finally home. 

Mood:  Happy
Music: AC/DC "Shoot to Thrill"