HK VP70
| VP70-Z | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| general information | |
| Civil name: | VP70-Z |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Heckler |
| Development year: | 1970 |
| Manufacturer country: | Germany |
| Production time: | 1970 to 1984 |
| Model variants: | VP70-M (military version); VP70-Z (civil version) |
| Weapon Category: | Inline fire pistol |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 204 mm |
| Total height: | 144 mm |
| Total width: | 32 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 0.82 kg |
| Barrel length : | 116 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 9 × 19 mm |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 18 cartridges |
| Cadence : | Triple shot: 2100 rounds / min |
| Fire types: | Single fire , 3-shot burst |
| Visor : | open sights |
| Closure : | Spring-mass lock |
| Charging principle: | Recoil loader |
| Lists on the subject | |
The HK VP70 is an in-line fire pistol from the German gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch . The designation VP70 stands for fully automatic pistol and was introduced in 1970. The weapon is also known colloquially as the “people's pistol” due to its simplicity in production and handling.
Due to its structure and function, the VP70 has a special position. It was one of the first pistols to have a polymer grip - now standard for most manufacturers. It works - despite the powerful ammunition - as an unlocked recoil loader with a spring-mass lock . This enables a simple construction, inexpensive production and high intrinsic precision (due to the rigidly built-in barrel), but requires the use of a heavy and massive locking piece and a rather tight closing spring. These disadvantages are negligible in practice, since the VP70 was intended from the start as a military hand weapon for vehicle crews, artillerymen, etc., so concealed carrying was out of the question anyway. In order to reduce the heavy recoil, which are features in the run cut exceptionally deep. This allows the gas pressure of the exploding propellant charge to escape past the projectile through the muzzle before the projectile leaves the barrel. The muzzle velocity achieved by the VP70 is therefore lower than with other pistols of comparable barrel length.
Apart from a dismantling lever, the magazine holder and a push-button safety device (acting on the trigger), the weapon has no other controls. As one of the first self-loading pistols, the VP70 had a purely cocking trigger ( Double-Action-Only , DAO), which is now considered to be groundbreaking for the construction of service pistols.
For VP70 included an anvil shaft , which also serves as a carrying container (this is historically from the Mauser gun C96 and the long gun 08 common). The buttstock also contains a mechanism with a fire selector lever which, when using the buttstock, can fire the VP70 as a fully automatic in-line pistol with three-shot bursts of very high theoretical rates of around 2200 rounds / minute - a common feature today as a three-shot burst military submachine guns and assault rifles . Due to its possible application, the VP70 anticipated the current concept of the subcompact MP as a " personal defense weapon ".
As a fully automatic machine, the VP70 is a "forbidden object" according to the Weapons Act; private persons are not permitted to own it. The VP70-Z model was therefore temporarily produced for the civil market, which has been modified in such a way that the socket shaft cannot be attached or used with the fire selection device. The pistol was unable to achieve commercial success mainly because of its dimensions and the high trigger weight. The VP70-Z is now considered an exotic weapon in the history of weapons that collectors are looking for.
literature
- AE Hartink: The Complete Encyclopedia of Pistols and Revolvers . 3rd edition. Rebo, Lisse 2005, ISBN 90-366-1510-0 .
- Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun, Wilfried Copenhagen : small arms . (1945-1985). In: Illustrated encyclopedia of rifles from around the world . 5th edition. tape 1 + 2 . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 , p. 130, 131 .
Web links
- Maxim Popenker: HK VP 70. In: Modern Firearms. modernfirearms.net, accessed December 18, 2018 .