GUNS & AMMO
Gun Review: Heckler &
Koch MP5K PDW
T
here are very few firearms as iconic as the MP5
family of submachine guns. They’ve starred in just
about every action movie from 1970 through the
1990’s, appearing in such groundbreaking cinematic
tours de force as Navy Seals starring Charlie Sheen,
UHF starring Weird Al Yankovic, Escape from L.A. starring Kurt Russel, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle starring
Tanya Roberts, and Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach starring Bubba Smith. You know — the classics. While Hollywood might like the gun for its sleek
lines and super-cool looks, there’s a reason that the gun
has been just as popular with military units and SWAT
teams across the world for the last fifty years . . .
The MP5 was developed during a period in history where
small pistol caliber submachine guns were all the rage
with military and law enforcement units. The guns were
designed to be as small as possible, allowing them to be
stashed in tight places and easily maneuvered in close
quarters. To fill those roles, the various major firearms
manufacturing countries all came up with their own designs: Italy developed the M12, America developed the
MAC-10, and Germany developed the MP5.H&K had
just finished developing Germany’s newest battle rifle,
the G3. The idea at the time was to produce a series of
firearms that all had the same manual of arms and op-
erating principles. H&K decided that the roller-delayed
blowback action was the way to go. The mechanics of
that action were what made the German MG42 machine
gun so fast and deadly, and giving that same kind of firepower to the individual soldier seemed like the perfect
next step.For about ten years, the original MP5 reigned
supreme. The gun met all of the requirements military
and law enforcement units were looking for and performed well in the field. But for some, the gun was still
far too big. Even with the collapsible stock that came
with the MP5A3 the thing was still too big to comfortably conceal under a trench coat or in a briefcase, and
still didn’t quite fit in some extreme close-quarters situations. There was a demand to make the small SMG
even smaller and H&K responded with the MP5K.The
“K” stands for kurz — “short” in German. In order to
make the gun even smaller the Germans had shortened
the barrel and forend, and also trimmed the rear end of
the bolt and receiver. The original K version came out
around 1971 for the special forces crowd and used a flat
base plate at the end of the gun. A 1991 revision saw
the addition of a folding stock for comfort and ease of
use. The base plate can also be swapped for a standard
fixed stock if you really feel like it, but that kind of defeats the point of the gun.Disassembling the gun is easy
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