Zenith Firearms has been successfully importing and selling MKE MP5 pistols for the past several years. Notice how I didn’t use the term “clone” or “patterned” when referring to the MKE? When talking with Michael Farruggio, Public Affairs Manager for Zenith, I was quickly corrected that the MKE guns are not HK “clones”: Farruggio refers to them as the “real deal” gun that comes from a HK factory line.

If you are a fan/follower of unique HK guns like the integrally suppressed 9mm submachine gun MP5SD, you may have been (im)patiently awaiting further news from Zenith/MKE on the plans to release their own version of the iconic gun. At the 2016 SHOT Show, Zenith announced the possibility of the importation of an SD pistol model and the HKPro forum has had a discussion thread active ever since.

After a brief Q&A with Farruggio, I got some of my questions answered about the MP5SD due to be released by Zenith/MKE.

1) Will Zenith be offering a MKE SD (MP5SD clone) for commercial sale?

We have built a “real-deal” (factory line, not a clone) MKE import version of the SD called the Z5RSS and are waiting for ATF approval for import.  It will be a pistol and a single tax stamp gun.  We will also sell it out of our custom shop as a two tax stamp gun if desired to LE and citizens.

We will be making it but may use others as well.  The proprietary points are kept confidential.