hk p7k3 .380

[gimmejr]

Saw one at a local shop today. $1899. I have no affiliation with the shop I just sometimes post a gun people might have interest in. PM if you want to know where.

[imported_lunde]

If you're referring to the one at The Gun Exchange, I checked it out a month or two ago, and found that its buffer had gone bad. HK has no more buffers, which means that it cannot be replaced, and also cannot be fixed. The only hope is to find a .22LR conversion unit -- which consists of a new slide, new barrel, and new magazines -- that doesn't require a working buffer. When I stopped in there to buy the Sig-Sauer P228 that was on consignment, I was surprised to see that the P7K3 was still there.

[gimmejr]

Ive been there a couple times since then and they only had a p7m8 out. They could have taken it off the shelf when you told them and then put it back up later I guess.

[Guest]

What buffer?

I'm getting ready to buy a P7M8. Is there anything I should look for?

Do recoil springs wear out in these? If so are there replacements? Any other parts wear out?

Thanks,

Dan

[saki302]

THe P7M8 has a gas-retarded blowback system. The P7K3 has a plastic recoil buffer in its place in the .32 and .380 calibers. That part will wear out- the P7M8 just needs the gas system cleaned out once in awhile with the provided tools.

-Dave

[imported_lunde]

Dave A., you wrote:

The P7K3 has a plastic recoil buffer in its place in the .32 and .380 calibers.

It is not plastic, nor polymer. It is a rather complex hydraulic buffer. Its body is about 8mm in diameter, and maybe 1.5cm long. It fits in the area that would normally house the gas tube in the frame, but of different dimensions. Its front has a 2mm or so steel pin that projects forward, which is what makes contact with the slide during recoil, and has a buffering effect.

These wear out by having the fluid inside of the buffer leak out. It uses a combination of fluid and one or more springs.

[imported_lunde]

Older HK pistols, such as the P9S, did use one-piece polymer buffers.

Also, the other HK P7 variants do not use a buffer of any kind, and instead are gas-retarded blowback in operation, as another posted indicated.

[Guest]

Thanks. I was pretty sure the only plastic on my P7 is the heat shiels and the grips but I am often wrong.

I'm going to shoot it Friday. Anything you check when buying a used gun?

Dan

[saki302]

Check the exterior for unusual wearor signs of refinishing (soft corners, loss of texture). Check theinternals for weird wear. If it's a revolver, check the cylinder endshake and lockup and timing. On a semiauto, check the barrel hood and slide interface- on some guns if you shoot them a lot, it will pound an indent into the breech face (1911). Check the barrel hood for wear too- on Sigs, that's an obvious sign the gun has been shot a lot.

If you work on guns long enough, you get a good 'gut feel' when looking at a used gun. It's like a gun psychic thing- you can just feel that a gun was abused sometimes

-Dave

[Guest]

Dave,

Thanks. I decided not to buy it. I was going to get the P7M8 kalibear has for sale but good sense prevailed before I saw it and was forever lost.

$750 for a P7!!! That's just insane. I was going to get a second so one could cool down while I was shooting the other.

Thanks again,

Dan