In this episode of TFBTV, James and Patrick interview representatives of Battlefield Las Vegas and Heckler and Koch to get some basic information about the mysterious H&K MP7 Submachinegun. Of course, James and Patrick (as well as TFBTV’s camera guys, who had never shot a gun before SHOT 2017) get to cut loose with the MP7 on camera. Note that the version fired at Battlefield is an MP7A1, while the model used by H&K’s rep is the A2 variant.

If you want a little background on the MP7 before watching the mini-doc, no one sets the stage better than TFB’s own Nathaniel F. The following excerpt is from Nathaniel’s article “The HK PDW: The Origins Of The MP7”:

Though rare in the wild, mostly seeing use with special units and some police departments, is a favorite of Hollywood movie-makers and Triple-A video game developers, thanks to its compact size, striking looks, and fully automatic firepower. The gun itself, however, was originally intended to be an inexpensive, compact, and unobtrusive weapon that would be better for troops far from the front, the MP7 eventually became a weapon more commonly associated with the tip of the spear, direct action teams, and SWAT officers.

The MP7 began life in the last year of the 20th Century as the Heckler & Koch PDW, which was intended to compete directly with the Fabrique Nationale P90 in NATO trials to standardize an echelon weapon for second-line troops, vehicle crews, and support personnel.

The resultant MP7 differed somewhat from the PDW, in that it was heavier (1.9kg/4.2lbs vs 1.6kg/3.5lbs) had a longer rear receiver, a flash hider, full length top Picatinny rail (deleting the molded in fixed ironsights of the prototype), taller buttpad, and mounting points for rails on the sides of the forward receiver housing, all changes which hastened the PDW’s evolution from a dedicated personal defense weapon to a more generalized submachine gun that could be used equally well by echelon troops or direct action teams. This evolution is ongoing today, as Heckler & Koch recently released the MP7A2 variant, which does away with the folding vertical foregrip of previous versions in favor of a tri-rail mount.