Whats The Difference Between DA And SA ...

[Point44]

got my dad to explain it to me on the phone just now. turns out you can fire the gun either way. it will fire in 2 ways.
squeeze the grip then trigger or squeeze the trigger then grip.

damn i wish i could own a gun now.

 

[Yahmanin]

I'm sure there's a charging rough outline of a BG off stage right.

Not a P7 owner, but I can't see when you'd want to cock it and not immediatley fire. Chuck?

 

[craigz]

If people carry semi autos around, and if they have them cocked with the safety on, does this eventually wear out the spring, (or whatever is going to push/pull the hammer forward)?

In a word, no. The best thing about the 1911 is that it is a proven design with almost 100 years of history behind it. I've heard stories of people finding their dad's or granddad's WWII Colt in a trunk, still cocked and locked after 50 years, and it functioned perfectly. My personal carry gun has been cocked and locked almost continuously for more than five years, and it has never failed to fire.

 

[Gollnick]

Woops! The HK website seems to advocate cocking the P7 with a finger in the trigger guard

That is how it's done.

When the P7 is properly holstered, the gun is not cocked. The mechanical energy to fire the gun is not in the gun. As a result, the gun can not fire.

When the gun is drawn and gripped, you compress the handle just as you would most any other gun and that cocks the gun, puts the mechanical energy into the gun.

If you release the grip, the gun uncocks immediately. For example, dropping a cocked gun can be very dangerous. There's a good chance that the impact will cause it to discharge in some random direction. But if you drop a cocked P7, it will uncock before it hits the ground.

If you hold the grip, the gun remains cocked.

If you pull the trigger while the gun is cocked, it will fire with a double-action. If you then release the handle, it will uncock. But, as long as you hold the handle, gun will remain cocked.

If you pull the trigger (or accidentally activate it in some way) while the gun is uncocked, it will not fire.

This is what makes the P7 so incredibly safe. You carry it completely uncocked, completely safe. But, when you want to fire it, the very act of gripping it cocks it. There is no need to pull back the hammer, no need to rack the slide, and no safety lever mechanism to forget about or have to fiddle with. Yet as soon as you are finished firing the gun (or not firing the gun) and put it down or resheath it, it automatically uncocks and becomes completely safe again.

And if you are forced to wrestle for the gun, you can relax your grip a bit thus uncocking the gun so that it won't go off in the struggle. This is why I laugh at the scene in Tomorrow Never Dies where 007 shoots Dr. Kauffman with his own P7 still in his own hand. An "expert pistol marksman," a man who could, "shoot you from Stuttgart und still achieve zee desired effect," would have relaxed his grip thus uncocking the P7. He may, of course, still have been dazed by the effect of Bond's stun-gun cellphone.

 

[SIFU1A]

i almost think the cocker would work better on the back of the grip vs front on the P7.

it would imho be a rare event for a modern gun to drop and fire without something hitting the trigger, the way the things work precludes this.

the P7 family is now disco'd, isnt it??

 

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted by ExMachina
Woops! The HK website seems to advocate cocking the P7 with a finger in the trigger guard

--------

That is how it's done.

While I share your appreciation for the P7, I must strongly disagree with you on this point. When you cock the P7, your finger should most definitely be outside of the trigger guard, lest you inadvertently pop off a round while cocking the gun (which is how it seems a number of West German police officers shot themselves over the years ). This is very similar to the manual of arms for the 1911, which dictates that your index finger is outside of the trigger guard when taking the thumb safety off.

A stress induced, contractile muscle response is a very instinctive and imprecise thing. It's hard to tell digits B-C to contract while telling digit A to remain stationary. This is why all S&W autos rely upon an extensor muscular motion to take their safeties off--a liability protection against ADs from under trained police.

 

[SIFU1A]

the P7 definitly requires a diff manual of arms than other pistols imho, i think if ya are gonna carry one ya should stick to that gun for that reason. i know i had to have one in the mid 80's, everyone spoke very well of them, so i got a P7 and i was kinda disappointed, blockier than expected, diff manual of arms, leather was hard to find/expensive when ya did (this was pre- internet remember...) spare mags where also high, must say it was reliable, with the limited # of hollowpoint ammo available then (ie winchester silvertip was it IIRC) anyway, but the P7 was just diff enough to turn me off to it.

if ya have to have one find one to shoot before purchase is my reccomendation, make sure its really what ya want. imho there is lots of better stuff today, some made by H&K. ya can get the P7 fairly decently priced these days, i looked at a police trade in (west german IIRC) that was about $600 or maybe $650, i probably paid $500 yrs ago for the one i had. was gonna get it for my wife for a edc, didnt fit her hand well though (small hands) and i was worried she would have probs with the cocker, she likes guns but isnt enough of a gun nut to master the P7 imho.