Future production P7M8

**AFCATM** · 10-07-10, 00:03

With HK ceasing manufaturring of this series is there any hope someone will buy the manufacturing rights and machinery to restart production? Heck if a new model is of equal quality offered in Stainles And Carbon steel, Night sights, Commonality of holsters and other parts and accessories and is offered around $900.00. I would buy it if it had Lorcin or Hi-point on it at that point.

Anyone think we are that Lucky? I mean Stoeger bought the Cheetah from Beretta and Magnum Research bought the P99 manufacturing rights from Walther... I can only hope.

**kmrtnsn** · 10-07-10, 00:57

HK never sold enough of these to make money on them when they were in vogue, I doubt there is enough interest in the platform to justify the expense; frankly, no one would turn a profit selling a few hundred a year.

**Greg Bell** · 10-07-10, 01:04

Yes, but they were always very costly. I believe H&K sold over 100,000 P7s.

HK supplies police and military contracts. The P7 doesn't fill this niche' anymore, so they stopped making it. If someone started manufacturing them they could make money. Especially if they could introduce a slightly melted version with a lightweight frame.

**ThirdWatcher** · 10-07-10, 05:44

I'd buy a P7M7 (.45 ACP) if they were available.

**Army Chief** · 10-07-10, 06:59

Actually, HK has been out of the P7 business for several years already, and I would be very surprised to see anyone else take this on, given the complexity of the platform, the costs associated with manufacturing it, and the fact that so many ex-Polizei guns have now saturated the market at a very low (in relative terms) price point.

From a manufacturing standpoint, there really is no efficient, cost-effective way to build these guns. They require extremely high grade steels, are quite complex in terms of design, feature a barrel that very few companies can even produce, and are machined to tolerances that we tend to associate with custom firearms. I'm not persuaded that a third-party firm could approach the level of refinement needed to effectively make a P7, and if they did, it would surely have to be priced out of the market. All of the surplus guns that have landed on our shores over the past few years seem to have led many to forget that a typical P7 sold for $1,200 (and up) back when they were still in active production.

Finally, there is the question of which P7 variant you produce. I've owned all of the major caliber versions, and found that I strongly prefer the pre-M series guns (or what we tend to call the PSP). The M7 project was stillborn, and the M10 with its built-up slide was unwieldy at best. The M13 was popular, if expensive, but traded away compactness and trim lines for greater capacity. The M8 does very little that the PSP will not, costs significantly more, and is still only an 8/9 shot pistol.

I guess what I'm saying is that the best that one could probably hope for would be a reissued PSP-pattern gun, and you can already buy an original HK in like-new condition for less than what it would cost to build one. In purely economic terms, that doesn't seem to leave much of a niche market to go after, and no one is likely to take this on purely as a labor of love. Anything is possible, of course, but would be highly surprised if we ever saw a third party attempt to get into the P7 business; especially in view of the fact that they are still so widely available.

AC

**TOrrock** · 10-07-10, 07:49

The Greeks (Hellenic Arms) make/made them for their own consumption, as they made the G3.

I doubt you'll see them in the US though.

**Army Chief** · 10-07-10, 10:37

Good point, though isn't Hellenic basically an HK-licensee? I know they get tooling and technical support from Oberndorf, but have never been quite sure what the extent of that arrangement really was/is.

AC

**skyugo** · 10-07-10, 12:37

i personally wouldn't want a P7 clone. I highly doubt any little startup company could build it right.
plus like everyone has been saying, it would cost MORE for a reissue than a new or lightly used real HK P7.
would be cool if HK started making them again, but i doubt it. They'd rather sell us 900 dollar glocks

**Spiffums** · 10-07-10, 15:28

When I can afford it (and find one I can afford) I'm going to get a mate for my M13 and call it good.

They are one of the best shooting guns out there.