This (for once) early edition of
Saturday Night Gun Pron is my attempt to take care of the backlog of items I've been intending to post. I'm spending a lot of time caring for my mother, which is rewarding but time-consuming.
I liked my H&K police trade-in P7PSP so much, I bought a "hand-picked, select" one just to serve as a safe queen, so I can take it out and admire it, while the other one works as my carry piece. The "new" one, built in 1985 rather than 1986, must have never left its plastic box all these years. Externally has 99%+ original finish, with absolutely no internal wear. I might have removed the official factory grease when I cleaned and lubed it.
The one on the left now has Trijicon sights, and the newer-style "flat" grips. After about 200 rounds, traces of wear are starting to appear on internal parts. I've probably put more rounds through it than the priginal owner ever did.
I'm still debating whether to even fire the new one. I did, however, order a set of walnut grips from the German company that made the fancy walnut grips for H&K's last-of-the-breed production run of 300.
One unexpected bonus was the 1980-marked magazine that was included with the new P7. The P7 was only in development in 1980, so this might be one used in that program. All production magazines have stamped markings, and no date. This one seems to be electro-etched, instead.
Just an added bonus for a weapon they don't-make-;ole-they-used-to, because they're not made at all, any more.
This installment of
Saturday Night Gun Pron concerns an ugly duckling that followed me home from the EBR emporium. I realized I have 1000 rounds of .32ACP 71gr FMJ that's too hot to fire comfortably in my little Beretta. So now I have a CZ VZ61 to take care of all that excess ammo.
This is a major redesign that takes an open-bolt blowback SMG and turns it into a BATFE-legal closed-bolt semiauto handgun. All it took was a ground-up redesign of the lower receiver, and all-new internal parts. Surprisingly, the firing mechanism is a miniature version of the M1 Garand, which explains why I could get a 3.5lb trigger pull after a little tweaking with Nanolube.
This produced admirable results the first time on the range, although I replaced the cheap walnut "civilian" grips with some even cheaper military ones.
This was shot at the usual "social interaction" range of seven yards. It has no more recoil than a .22 handgun, but the sights, marked "75" and "150" are pure wishful thinking. I couldn't even hit the paper at 50 yards, which didn't surprise me.
However, this is one weapon where "spray and pray" is quite effective at close range. I could see something like this as a modern cavalry sidearm, to go along with a modern saber. Fortunately for horses, major powers no longer fight on horseback.
Aside from more appropriate grips, I hit some sites to buy more 20-round magazines ($20 each, cheap in today's world), and some (Czech) GI surplus holsters and cleaning kits. Assuming the worst when it comes to military surplus, I bought two of everything, and got one decent example out of it.
On the top row, the belt holster on the left was mildewed, but the one on the right cleaned up nicely. It's designed to wear on a belt, with a cross strap to help support the rather hefty weight, while still protecting the VZ61 with a ten-round magazine. Under the flap is a military acceptance stamp with a 1970-something date. Very solid and substantial.
The bottom row shows two "concealment" shoulder holsters. They're made of rather flimsy cowhide, rather than the pigskin used in the belt holster. All the elastic straps and clips indicate this holster was designed more for concealment, rather than shooting. Straps and flaps cover everything, and the magazine is kept in an internal pouch, rather than in the weapon, ready for use. Again, the one on the left is pretty ratty, while the other one is in decent shape, and cleaned up nicely. This is the first time in ages that I've tried to rejuvenate leather goods.
And in between is a complete GI cleaning kit, made by combining what was in two separate kits. Nothing special, but having it appeals to me sense of completeness, and "getting while the getting's good".
Here's the VZ61 (oh, BTW, "vz" is short for "vzor", Czech for "model". Slavic languages seem to have a shortage of vowels.) It's a lot more classy than the cheapo black Cordura-and-Velcro hip holster that came with it.
All told, an amazing little package that combines accuracy with easy shooting. Much easier to master than a "normal" handgun. As a SMG, it would be a deadly little item at close range. As is, it's still a blast to shoot.