Image credit
- Title
- File:HK MP7 Bundeswehr noBG.png
- Author
- KrisfromGermany(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HK_MP7_Bundeswehr_noBG.png
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m2 g30.86 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- v720 m/s2,362 fpsverified
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
measured at this barrel length
Inputs
- v720 m/s2,362 fpsverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm1.9 kg4.189 lbverifiedsourceWith a 20-round empty magazine. The MP7A1 with magazine is published at 2.1 kg.
- v_recoil0.7579 m/s2.487 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity20verifiedsourceDetachable box magazines of 20, 30 and 40 rounds.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m2 g30.86 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- v720 m/s2,362 fpsverified
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass2 g30.86 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- diameter4.65 mm0.1831 inverifiedsourceC.I.P. G1, maximum bullet diameter.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass2 g30.86 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article, which publishes bullet mass in grams.
- velocity720 m/s2,362 fpsverified
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Gas, short-stroke piston
- Roles
- Designed in
- Germany
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 2001
- Production
- 2001–present
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
- 1.9 kg4.189 lbsource
With a 20-round empty magazine. The MP7A1 with magazine is published at 2.1 kg.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
- 638 mm25.12 insource
Stock extended; 415 mm collapsed.
- Length, folded
- 415 mm16.34 insource
Stock collapsed.
- Width
- 51 mm2.008 insource
- Height
- 169.5 mm6.673 insource
- Barrel length
- 180 mm7.087 insource
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Chamberings
- HK 4.6×30mmprimary20 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Heckler & Koch MP7638 mm25.12 in
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours.
Detail
Small enough to be worn on a belt, and built around a cartridge that did not exist until Heckler & Koch made one for it. That is the personal defence weapon idea: soldiers whose job is not shooting — drivers, signallers, crews — carry something the size of a large pistol that will nonetheless defeat body armour at a hundred metres.
Mechanically it is a rifle in miniature. A short-stroke gas piston and a rotating bolt at a scale where every other weapon this size uses blowback, because 400 MPa of chamber pressure cannot be held closed by bolt mass alone in something weighing under two kilograms. The stock telescopes, the front grip folds, and at 1.9 kg loaded it is lighter than most service pistols with a spare magazine.
Its competitor is the FN P90, which reached the same conclusion by a different route eleven years earlier and lost the 1999 NATO evaluation to nobody in particular — the requirement produced two cartridges and no standard.
This is one of the few entries on the site where the encyclopedia publishes width, height, cyclic rate and barrel length together, which is why the spec table below is unusually complete for a modern weapon.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Heckler & Koch MP7 · Wikipedia · 1370163649 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated