I'll start off by saying that my full auto experience is very limited. A couple of magazines through an M16, several magazines through an Uzi and several hundred rounds through an M2 Carbine that the PD I work for owns.
I was at a neighboring small PD on Saturday afternoon for firearm qualifications and got to shoot a few magazines through an MP5. The PD I was at is small, 3 full time and maybe 6 part time. The story of how they ended up with an MP5 is interesting. Back in the '90's, they had some money, so they hired a guy full time to work at our County's Drug Task Force. While not rich, the guy they hired had some money. He carried a customized Browning High Power and a customized Government Model. He approached the Chief at the time and told him that, if the PD would issue the necessary paperwork, he would put up the cash to buy an MP5. Since part of his job at the time was high-risk search warrants, the Chief agreed and they bought the MP5. A couple years later, the DTF had a huge problem with Agents stealing guns and other evidence. The Agent who bought the MP5 was one of those caught and he ended up getting fired and, IIRC, did some jail time. Since the MP5 was bought well after the 1986 cutoff date for adding FA guns to the ATF registry, it cannot be transferred to an individual. If the PD owning it wanted to get rid of it, it would have to go to either a dealer or another PD. The current Chief at that PD is also in our County's SRT team and uses the MP5 there. After we finished qualifications, he brought out the MP5 and let anyone who wanted to, shoot it. This gun has a safe-semi-2rd burst-full auto trigger pack, fixed stock and flash suppressor. Not the same gun, but a decent pic of the way the gun is set up.
I must say, I was IMPRESSED! I completely understand now about all the hype surrounding it.
To start off, it was VERY controllable. Semi and 2 rd burst, it didn't really recoil at all or have any muzzle rise. Full auto, as long as you had a good, aggressive stance, it just kinda sat there and vibrated while spitting out bullets. VERY easy to keep all of the fired rounds on target out to the about 30 feet we were shooting at. Even for Officers that had absolutely no full auto experience, when coached into a good, aggressive stance, they had absolutely no problem controlling it in full auto and making good hits.
The trigger, although heavy (I'd estimate the trigger pull was 8-9 lbs), was reasonably crisp and had a pretty good pull. Kinda long, but overall I'd call it pretty good, Not great, but pretty good.
I don't know what the rate of fire is for an MP5, but in full auto, it was pretty easy to get good 3 rd bursts. I had a couple of 4 rd bursts due to my lack of experience with full auto, but I can see how someone with even a little training could get good 3 rd bursts every time.
The ergonomics were very good. The pistol grip fit me well, the stock fit me well and the forearm fit me well. It seemed like the gun was made just for me, it all just fit together very well for me. I would have liked to be able to try a collapsible stock variant, but this particular gun only has the fixed stock and the Chief doesn't want to get a collapsible stock because the fixed stock works well for him, too. He doesn't need to conceal it, so fixed it is.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable experience and, like I said, I can see now why they are so well thought of. I thought the Uzi I had shot was controllable. The MP5 makes it seem like an uncontrollable bullet hose. Not that the Uzi wasn't controllable, the MP5 was just so much more controllable. I REALLY wish that the registry was open and we could get new MGs. I haven't looked at the prices for a registered MP5 lately, I think I was told they are up to about $40,000. That's pretty much as much as my wife and I paid for our house, so there is no MP5 in my future, unless we hit the Powerball or something. If we could afford it, however, I would have bought one Saturday night. VERY good gun and, as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Bub
I was at a neighboring small PD on Saturday afternoon for firearm qualifications and got to shoot a few magazines through an MP5. The PD I was at is small, 3 full time and maybe 6 part time. The story of how they ended up with an MP5 is interesting. Back in the '90's, they had some money, so they hired a guy full time to work at our County's Drug Task Force. While not rich, the guy they hired had some money. He carried a customized Browning High Power and a customized Government Model. He approached the Chief at the time and told him that, if the PD would issue the necessary paperwork, he would put up the cash to buy an MP5. Since part of his job at the time was high-risk search warrants, the Chief agreed and they bought the MP5. A couple years later, the DTF had a huge problem with Agents stealing guns and other evidence. The Agent who bought the MP5 was one of those caught and he ended up getting fired and, IIRC, did some jail time. Since the MP5 was bought well after the 1986 cutoff date for adding FA guns to the ATF registry, it cannot be transferred to an individual. If the PD owning it wanted to get rid of it, it would have to go to either a dealer or another PD. The current Chief at that PD is also in our County's SRT team and uses the MP5 there. After we finished qualifications, he brought out the MP5 and let anyone who wanted to, shoot it. This gun has a safe-semi-2rd burst-full auto trigger pack, fixed stock and flash suppressor. Not the same gun, but a decent pic of the way the gun is set up.
I must say, I was IMPRESSED! I completely understand now about all the hype surrounding it.
To start off, it was VERY controllable. Semi and 2 rd burst, it didn't really recoil at all or have any muzzle rise. Full auto, as long as you had a good, aggressive stance, it just kinda sat there and vibrated while spitting out bullets. VERY easy to keep all of the fired rounds on target out to the about 30 feet we were shooting at. Even for Officers that had absolutely no full auto experience, when coached into a good, aggressive stance, they had absolutely no problem controlling it in full auto and making good hits.
The trigger, although heavy (I'd estimate the trigger pull was 8-9 lbs), was reasonably crisp and had a pretty good pull. Kinda long, but overall I'd call it pretty good, Not great, but pretty good.
I don't know what the rate of fire is for an MP5, but in full auto, it was pretty easy to get good 3 rd bursts. I had a couple of 4 rd bursts due to my lack of experience with full auto, but I can see how someone with even a little training could get good 3 rd bursts every time.
The ergonomics were very good. The pistol grip fit me well, the stock fit me well and the forearm fit me well. It seemed like the gun was made just for me, it all just fit together very well for me. I would have liked to be able to try a collapsible stock variant, but this particular gun only has the fixed stock and the Chief doesn't want to get a collapsible stock because the fixed stock works well for him, too. He doesn't need to conceal it, so fixed it is.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable experience and, like I said, I can see now why they are so well thought of. I thought the Uzi I had shot was controllable. The MP5 makes it seem like an uncontrollable bullet hose. Not that the Uzi wasn't controllable, the MP5 was just so much more controllable. I REALLY wish that the registry was open and we could get new MGs. I haven't looked at the prices for a registered MP5 lately, I think I was told they are up to about $40,000. That's pretty much as much as my wife and I paid for our house, so there is no MP5 in my future, unless we hit the Powerball or something. If we could afford it, however, I would have bought one Saturday night. VERY good gun and, as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Bub