The round has a small diameter, allowing for redoubling penetration capability and high capacity in a very small magazine. The DM11 round penetrates the NATO CRISAT target (20 layers of Kevlar with 1.6В mm titanium backing) at 200 m. Standard AP high-velocity DM11 (Ultimate Combat) round with a 2.0-g (31 gr) projectile has a muzzle velocity of 720В m/s (2,362В ft/s) and a muzzle energy of 506 J (373В ft-lbf). The MP7's specially designed armor piercing (AP) high-velocity rounds consist of either copper-plated solid steel (DM11), alloy-plated steel jacket (DM21) or copper-alloy-jacketed lead core projectiles (Fiocchi FMJ ZP). It is compact and light, due to the use of polymers in its construction. It has an extendable stock and a folding front grip (MP7 and MP7A1 variants, MP7A2 lacks the folding front grip) it can be fired either one-handed or two-handed. It features an ambidextrous fire selector, bolt catch lever and magazine release. The MP7 allows a conventional 20-, 30- or 40-round box magazine to be fitted within the pistol grip (the 20-round magazine is comparable in size to a 15-round 9Г—19mm magazine, while the 40-round magazine compares to a 30-round 9Г—19mm magazine). The MP7 has a cyclic rate of fire of around 950 rounds per minute. This ammunition is unique among submachine guns in that the bullet is made almost entirely of a hardened steel penetrator instead of softer copper or lead. The 4.6Г—30mm ammunition is exclusive to the gun and offers low recoil. The MP7 uses a short-stroke piston gas system as used on H&K's G36 and HK416 in place of a blowback system traditionally seen on sub-machine guns including those by H&K. MP7A2 with attachments, including a weapon lamp, weapon belt light, and an Aimpoint Micro T2 In response to this trend, Heckler & Koch designed the MP7 (along with the cancelled UCP pistol, which uses the same ammunition) to penetrate soft body armor while being small enough to be used in place of either a pistol or a submachine gun.

The proliferation of cheap yet effective soft body armor has begun to make guns that fire pistol ammunition (such as Heckler & Koch's earlier MP5 submachine gun and USP pistol) ineffective. The weapon has been revised since its introduction and the latest production variants are the MP7A1 and MP7A2. The MP7 went into production in 2001, and is a direct rival to the FN P90, also developed in response to NATO's requirement by Belgian company FN Herstal. It was designed (together with the new cartridge) to meet NATO requirements published in 1989, which called for an SMG-type weapon with a greater capacity to defeat Kevlar body armour (versus pre-existing submachine guns using conventional pistol cartridges such as. The MP7 ( German: Maschinenpistole 7) is a personal defense weapon chambered for the HK 4.6Г—30mm armor-piercing cartridge designed by German defence manufacturer Heckler & Koch. Tritium-illuminated flip-up night sights handgun and rifle sights (adjustable) Gas-operated, short stroke piston, rotating boltД§35В m/s (2,411В ft/s) (Fiocchi CPS Black Tip ammunition)Дў0-, 30- or 40-round detachable box magazine HK MP7A1 with a suppressor, extended magazine and Elcan reflex sight

Pistol fire rate mod