Recenly our friends at TPM Outfitters really did us a favor by showing up at out KRISS Vector demonstration with an H&K UMP to use for comparison. I mentioned that they surprised me by bringing an MP5-N I commissioned them to build for me and I was absolutely thrilled to shoot it, and now I figure it is time to do a full review, especially considering that 2014 is the 50th anniversary of the MP5!

I showed up at TPM with a box of MP5 parts I had collected over the years that I eventually planned on building into a complete gun. I had everything I needed, and had bought a part here and there every time I found a good deal. I probably had $1,000 or so dollars in components, so I did not want to risk ruining anything by trying to bend and weld up my own receiver. After I saw the detail that TPM puts into every gun they build, I knew that they would do me right if I had them finish everything out. They told me they would do it all for $900, a price I was more than happy with considering Vector clones cost $2,200 new!

At the KRISS shoot I had the opportunity to run it for the first time and boy was I hooked. Since the gun was built for me as a pistol, it transferred normally on a 4473, but with the addition of a registered auto sear you are allowed to legally add a stock the fun is multiplied by ten fold:

I also got to run it with a Knight’s Armament suppressor, which I would like to buy in the near future. While not as quiet as an MP5/SD it was still very cool:

When the day came for me to come pick up the gun, Ken called me and mentioned that he was at the grand opening of a local premier shooting range that was setting up as a big time H&K dealer, so much so that members of the H&K corporate staff and the H&K shooting team were there. Ken said that he took my MP5 pistol there to show the guys too, and they even they were impressed by it!

As soon as I took possession of the pistol I threw it in my safe and planned a nice big range day, with the MP5 being the main focus (at the KRISS demo we were obviously more fixated on the Vectors).

On 12/17/13 my friend Chris and I headed to my shooting range with the MP5 in tow, auto sear installed.

For those wondering, the red tape on the mags are to keep my mags separate from other people’s. I can’t tell you how many times I have had a mag make it into someone else’s range bag, and a few pennies worth of electrical tape is a quick and easy fix!

This gun is equipped with an “S-E-F” trigger pack. These represent German words.

S translated to Sicher, or ‘Safe’. E translates to Einzelfeuer, meaning “single shot” but literally “single fire”. F translated to Feuerstoß meaning “burst fire” but is the German way to say fully automatic. A running joke among German soldiers is that the “F” setting for fully automatic actually means “Frieden”, or “peace” in English (who said the Germans don’t have a good sense of humor?). American shooters have of course developed their own translations for the S-E-F packs according to HK Pro:

S= Safe
E= Economical
F= FUN!

And boy was I in for some fun that day.

Chris and I started slow, doing a burst here and burst there:

I also got a quick accuracy test at 25 yards from a standing position with 115 grain S&B ammo. Here is the

best:

And the worst:

I am sure I could have done better using a rest of some kind, but as a sub-gun would almost always be used while standing or on the move, I like to try and get accuracy tests that way with them.

But of course we then moved onto gratuitous mag dumps and all sorts of fun:

Chris and I shot 700 or so rounds with the MP5 with zero malfunctions, but were left with some sore thumbs from loading mags!

Anyways, onto my bullet points:

The Good:

• Affordable for an MP5
• Accurate
• Incredibly reliable
• Full auto ready
• Unmatched build quality
• Updates received during the build process

The Bad:

• This post will probably generate a flame war in the comments, haha
• To really shine, you need to plop down the cash to SBR one of these or throw in a sear

The Ugly:

• I got nothing!

So that’s that. TPM did right by me and this gun will now be my “all purpose weapon”. Matt opened my eyes into hunting with an MP5, so it will be used for hogs, target practice, sub-gun matches, other competitions, defense, and a tool for farming lead!