If you have ever seen the Christmas movie classic Die Hard (yes, Christmas movie) then you know what we are talking about. For a very long time Heckler & Koch has stated lots of reasons for not being able to import their wildly popular and heavily romanticized MP5 sub-machine gun to the United States.
The reasons varied from tooling being tied up in military contracts… not enough US interest… to other seemingly disappointing reasons. Well, it looks like H&K has delivered all of us a Christmas wish early because they now will have a semi-automatic MP5 firearm shipping to the United States dubbed the SP5! With the PCC (Pistol Caliber Carbine) market growing in leaps and bounds the SP5 has great timing to land in the US. The SP5 is a pistol variant of the original MP5 and is semi-automatic as opposed to having a select-fire option like the original firearm we see throughout Die Hard 2 that launched the firearm to new levels of popularity.
The beauty of the SP5 is that if you ever purchase or see one it will truly be the real deal. It is not some Frankenstein-ed, half-effort clone that you might see at a local gun show or being sold at an over-priced rate on Gunbroker. The SP5 is manufactured “in the same factory, on the same lines, and by the same workforce that has been making MP5s for years” (direct quote from H&K). Some of the most popular and notable features present on the SP5 are the Navy barrel with a threaded tri-lug adaptor, the desirable paddle magazine release, a fluted chamber, and a chrome-lined bore. The tri-lug adaptor is a huge plus for people who own silencers because of the extremely fast ¼ turn On/Off you can perform while mounting your silencer. The paddle magazine release is also one of the easiest to manipulate and fastest magazine release designs seen on a PCC.
Something else that is very unique to the SP5, and all MP5 variants, is the roller-delayed blowback operating system. While many PCC firearms use a simple blowback design, the more intelligent and thoughtful roller-delayed blowback operating system makes for a softer shooting experience as well as more accuracy and reliability.
The final question you might have if you are interested in getting one of these new H&K SP5 pistols is what kind of price are we looking at here?... Well, it might not surprise many people, but it is going to be expensive. The current retail MSRP is benchmarked at $2,799. Considering how popular and scarce these firearms will be once they enter the US they may go for significantly more than that. So, if you have never had the tantalizingly sweet opportunity to slap an H&K MP5 charging handle home, there has never been a better time than the present! The Heckler & Koch SP5 is here! Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We love it when you participate in our articles and keep the conversation going!
