Everyone has an off day eventually, and for H&K one of those off days took the form of the P7M10. Introduced in 1991, the M10 was based on the frame and magazine body of the double-stack P7M13, with a .40 caliber barrel and a substantially increased slide mass. This extra mass was deemed necessary by Oberndorf engineers to safely handle the .40 S&W cartridge, although this was not a universally shared determination. In addition to slowing the opening of the slide, this extra mass substantially handicapped the pistol's handling, making it top-heavy and bulky.

The effort had been aimed at law enforcement sales, for whom the .40 was a very popular cartridge at the time. The poor handling and looks of the gun prevented any major agency sales, and the gun was taken out of production in 1994 when the AWB passed. The ban prohibited importation of the P7M13, and while the M10 had legally-acceptable 10-round magazines, it was clearly a poor seller and was based not he M13 production infrastructure. With the M13 removed from manufacture, the M10 no longer made sense to build. Enough remained in inventory to list in H&K's 1995 catalog, but they were gone by 1996. The P7M10 is a scarce and collectible gun among a niche group today, simply because of its small production numbers.

Thanks to H&K for letting me film in the Grey Room for you!