Palmetto State Armory (PSA) is working on an MP5 clone. The demand is there — price dependent (as always). So I had corralled a PSA rep at SHOT Show and asked about the rumor that PSA’s MP5 will run around $600. Nope. #aintgonnahappen. Nor should it . . .
Building a reliable MP5 is much more difficult than building an AR15. The pieces require hand fitting. A stamped receiver must be welded. Man/woman/Non-cisgender work hours will be high. Quality control will be tough to maintain, especially at an budget friendly price point. So . . .
I asked the PSA rep if the guns will sell for around $1,000. He politely informed me that PSA doesn’t have firm pricing yet — but their MP5-a-like should end up playing in that ballpark.
My guess: a $1,200 MSRP for a $999.99 plus tax street price. If that’s the final figure and quality is good PSA’s MP5 will fly of the shelves.
The model Jeremy and I fondled at SHOT Show was equipped with a collapsible tailhook brace, which looks perfect on an MP5.
The barrel on the demo model had a tri lug suppressor adaptor. The production model will have a threaded barrel as well as the tri lug mount. That’s a good start.
The PSA MP5 clone will also take HK trigger packs. This might end up being a good host weapon if you have a registered full auto HK sear. (If you do, drop us a line!)
PSA plans on releasing their not-MP5s in late 2018. I’d be surprised if it’s readily available before 2019.
Swing down lower or shelf type?
What do you think?
After two bad experiences with Palmetto, including insanely long wait times for items that were supposedly in stock being charged for an order that never shipped, I would strongly suggest people avoid Palmetto.
I sort of agree. Their lowers are amazing, but I’ve shot an upper of their’s twice and had to RMA it twice. I can only recommend their lowers, their BCG, and their “Enhanced Polished Trigger”. Beyond that, PSA has proven wanting.
Everybody kinda knows that the risk of slow or messed up orders is the price you pay for PSA’s great pricing. Over the years I’ve read many complaints, but “didn’t make it right in the end” has never been one of them.
People have been giving PTR hell, but for what it is, only people outside the HK afficiando world think sub 1,000 is possible for quality.
It took PTR years to get where they are in the 91 market, it took fmp HK tooling, blueprints, leaving a high tax state, reevaluating the flagship product and releasing what the people wanted, it took awhile. I trust PTR because I’ve had 4 91s dating back to A series JLD ct guns, to new Aynor, SC guns, and ive had an hk import. PTR does it better than HK. That takes work. Therefore myself, and many others are looking forward to PTRs take on it.
I love PSA, but roller locks are kind of a specialty gun that most people trying to clone fail hard with. I’ll more than likely give psa a shot, but PTR has the track record.
I like PTR. I plan to buy one of their 91’s later this year.
I agree, for a QUALITY clone… PTR is easily the way to go. Also, they will exist in the US marketplace in a month (coughcoughHKcoughcough). This is going to be another PSA fail. Also, how is nobody talking about how on the ONE show gun PSA brought to SHOT, THE CHARGING HANDLE BROKE OFF!
Because they mentioned in most of the videos it is a rough prototype? I mean look we’re already bitching about how it will fail when we aren’t even allowing it to come to market first. PSA AKs had some problems with the first gens, but generation 2 was a big improvement. More options the better, because maybe HK will look at it and say, “Oh! So people are interested in our MP5s, our legit ones… Okay lets crank out the MP5’s and MP5Ks with options.” Though that is more hopeful thinking, obviously.
I like it since they are literally offering it in options that are favorable and keep the MP5’s look (by that I mean I like the retractable stock included and the other models being hinted to looking more like the MP5 with the handguard we know and love).
Hk doesn’t care. You suck, and they hate you. They’ve watched european and german competitiors glock, sig, walther, etc blow them out of the water for years with handgun and rifle sales in the us, and the vp came along…after a decade of getting owned. Hk’s socialist anti citizen beliefs gets in the way of making profits.
Since the crown says I am not “allowed” to have a select fire version I’m not that interested. It’s the “law” after all.
Or I could buy another Scorpion, with a few hundred bucks left over to get some cool upgrades.
But is a Scorpion an MP5? AhHA! Checkmate!
The Scorpion is my czech mate.
😉
Well done.
Rekt.
I say modernize it with a flared magwell!
Will it take GLOCK mags?
get an mpx if you want a modern version
I don’t see the point to a lot of these semi auto submachine guns and machine pistols. They were designed to be most effective with full auto and without it, they just become bulky, overpriced pistols.
I think one would be well served with an 9mm AR pistol, a Glock in a RONI Sig pistol brace unit, or that Scorpion everyone is all hot about now.
You keep forgetting one important detail, namely that MP5s are COOL AS FUCK!
They’re cool? I guess that explains why anyone would even remotely consider the IWI Uzi Pro pistol.
They can at least make them affordable.
Which in this case they wouldn’t be making it affordable.
So yeah, just get a pistol.
If it was affordable and anyone could get one, it would not longer be cool.
Then why are Glocks “cool” ?
Glocks aren’t cool. People don’t see you shooting a Glock at the range and go “Dude is that a Glock?!? Awesome! Can I shoot it?” People will do that with guns like an MP5, even a clone.
The point is they’re easy to control like rifles, but with the cheap, low recoil ammo of pistols. They’re fun, they have low recoil, and they’re cheap to shoot, all of which makes them great for introducing new shooters.
And a suppressed 9mm SBR, with a red dot, rail mounted flashlight, and 30 rounds of subsonic 147gr +P hollow points is a great home defense gun.
I would think that when introducing a new shooter to our sport, one would be best served by introducing said shooter to a .22 rifle, preferably with .22 LR ammo as it seems to be the least expensive, just as most of us old timers got their start, lo those many years ago. Also, .22 is perfect fare for perfecting target shooting and competition. I bought a .22 target pistol about 18 months ago that went for nearly $800 as I wanted something that would last me and withstand the test of time.
Not saying that I don’t like or shoot higher caliber firearms but for everyday plinking, I find a .22 hard to beat.
even my 4 year old gets bored with .22lr and would rather shoot the .223 AR or 9mm PCC. Only advantage .22lr has is that it’s cheap, but so is .223 and 9mm
Wonder if the BFS HK trigger pack will fit?
Semi-auto Machine Pistols like the Uzi or MPA MACs are just dumb – those aren’t good guns in the first place. But semi-auto SMG clones like MP5s, pistol-caliber ARs, etc., if you have to ask the appeal of them, it’s clear that you’ve never shot one. They’re compact, light, maneuverable, low recoil, suppress incredibly well, and are cheaper and more comfortable than shooting a rifle. I’m of course talking about one that’s a legit SBR that you can shoulder without playing the loophole game. Go rent one somewhere or hop on r/nfa and see if you can meet someone at a local range to try one out, you’ll be able to answer your own question pretty quick.
$1000 for the whole gun or just for a receiver? IIRC previous posts were solely concerned with the receiver…?
Also, it’s an NFA item right? Or did they find a way to get around that?
It’s not a stock, so it’s just a “pistol”.
Just a brace. I missed that part. Forgot that you can now shoulder those without “redesigning” the firearm.
Does anyone else feel their blood pressure go up whenever they see a “pistol” brace because the [insert appropriate profanities here] NFA restrictions are so [profanities again] stupid. [More profanity].
Are we even pretending anymore that there’s a meaningful distinction between a SBR and pistol with a “brace”?
After the investment the major firearm companies and consumers have made in their new “braced” “pistols,” if the ATF (again) reverses their opinion about shouldering braces, I except a civil war.
If that were true we would have had about 3 or 4 civil wars more than we did.
Strych9, what would make this “pistol” an NFA item? It has a “pistol brace” and there is no vertical forward hand grip to suggest being an NFA item.
Going to be a lot (more) of roller-lock tuners out there.
Finding matched rollers that’ll provide a good gap will continue to get funner-er, unless and until someone starts increasing the sources.
I would love to see a drawing for those parts. I can’t imagine that there is nobody who can make a high tolerance part cheaply enough.
Wrist pin suppliers do this sort of high precision grinding day in and day out, with tolerances in the microns and exceptional surface finish to boot…
Hell. Scale down the sizing and od grinding machines and I expect they would work beautifully assuming they are cylindrical OD
Strych9, what would make this “pistol” an NFA item? It has a “pistol brace” and there is no vertical forward hand grip to suggest being an NFA item.
Interesting however PSA has botched their AK’s and still hasnt made them right so I’ll wait a long while before dropping a grand.
Sweet baby Jesus! This just might push me over the edge and finally get the gun that I’ve lusted over since I was a young lad. I mean, what gun is sexier? Watching the MP5 in all those action movies growing up fueled decades of daydreams. Yeah yeah…it’s not HK but I’m not a 1%er so I’ll have to settle with what I can afford.
Will their bolts, gap?
~$1000 MP5 with a threaded barrel… yes please! With a collapsible tailhook even better… Can’t wait. With the binary trigger for HK already available (at a ludicrously expensive price however) this will be one hell of a range gun. My 9mm upper runs fast on my Binary-equipped AR15 lower, so I can imagine it should be pretty close to a giggle gun.
I’m waiting for the FBI version in 10mm! With the right ammo you get into rifle ballistics in a lightweight more accurate package. And instead of losing power in a shorter barrel like a rifle cartridge you gain velocity. And last, but not least, if Hi-Point can do it anyone else can! 😉
What is this gap ppl speak of?
Something very important in roller-delay guns; basically their analogue of ‘headspacing’ which a number of companies have either 1) had a hard time setting correctly, or 2) taken very questionable measures to attain (like grinding on bolts or locking pieces). It’s no different than any other breech-locking system, but all the critical factors are based on trigonometry as opposed to simple fixed measurements, so ‘Century monkeys’ have a hard time doing it correctly.
Wow
A buddy of mine paid the crazy sum for a real hk. I don’t see what the big deal is. No last round hold open, mediocre sights, outright bad trigger, awkward mag release. I’ll stick with my 9mm ar.
Once you fire the fabled mp-5 an uncontrollable desire overtakes you. It is incredibly accurate, easy to control and the ergonomics you speak of are not fight stoppers they just require learning the manual of arms. I have a POF mp-5, an AR 9mm and a CZ Scorpion. They are all great but only one gun scratches the MP-5 itch. It’s expensive but why not have what you want. It’s a shame HK can’t/won’t make what we want but a couple of the countries they sold manufacturing licenses and tooling to will. Thankfully
I’d like an MP5 to channel my inner John McClane, but I don’t care for HK’s roller system. As noted above, it requires hand fitting (which costs). It also beats up your brass and isn’t any more reliable than other designs.
If they made a clone that used the Sig MPX mechanism, that’d be the hot ticket.
I can’t decide which is worse, maybe getting a $1k jalopy from PSA in a year or paying $3800 for an HK that I might get in 18 months.
Or . . . $2k for an Omega 9 version of the MP5 carbine that is 922(R) compliant and U.S. built. Good quality, too. Available at Atlantic Firearms and in stock now.
Also, here is hoping PTR comes out with a carbine version of their MP5. It’ll also be in the $2k range. Their pistol versions will be available soon-ish (next few months) for about $1800.
Parabellum Combat Systems has been making US 922r HK clones for over a decade, beats the pants off Omega with parts quality and has a sale on MP5’s right now for $1750. AND you can have it in about 3 weeks turn time.
Now I have a Machinegun Ho, Ho, Ho.
On a serious note, I have two PSA builds, both AR pistols, work great and are very accurate. If they do as good a job as they do with the AR’s they will be great.
I’m just hoping that the competition will bring down the price of the Turkish MP5 clones, and the Pakistani MP5 clones. Those are both still $1200+ guns, that have enough profit in them to be squeezed down to $700 guns.
I could care less about a PSA gun, but want them to jump in to make the better clones from POF cheaper
PSA produces crap and is not known for quality. They are known for using customers as guinea pigs. The POF-5, produced on authentic Hk tooling is $1200, and they’ve had decades to work out the kinks. I doubt PSA will produce a better product at that price. The MP5 is extremely finicky about machining tolerances. Old school German Engineering and all. Making 1 is hard, but easier when its hand crafted. Mass producing 1000s that run reliably … Ill bet on Feinstein changing her tune on guns first.
Can I ask a stupid question?
Isn’t the whole point of using stamped steel receivers that they are cheaper to produce?
So how does this thing end up costing double what an AR costs?
Yawn. A Sub-2000 @ $400 = a better deal.
“This might end up being a good host weapon if you have a registered full auto HK sear.”
Not to sound like a snob but if you can afford the 30-35k for an HK auto sear then you can probably afford to buy a slightly better MP5 clone. Although I do hope these end up being quality clones.
That being said I already scratched my MP5 itch last year with an authentic A3 HK parts kit. The kit came with the full auto trigger pack which I traded to my gunsmith in exchange for the machine work. Got less than 2k in it including extra mags and the tax stamp so I’m a happy camper.
I myself would like to have a MP5 semi auto with the fixed shoulder stock and the 8.85″ barrel. I think it would be a nice home defense gun since it would still quite manuvorable around the house and looking like a machine gun to an intruder would be a plus.
After seeing how poorly PSA handled the KS47, I’ll make sure I look very hard before I leap. The MP5 clone will have a considerably higher demand over the KS47, so maybe PSA will be less likely to ditch at the first sign of trouble. Not sure if PSA is really deserving of my cash at this point.
I’ve always wondered why nobody ditched H&Ks complicated delayed roller locking system on a semi-auto “clone” and built a simple, straightforward plain-jane blowback system that *looks* like an MP5. I mean, High Point can make a reliable, accurate blowback carbine for a couple of hundred dollars. Is it really THAT hard to do an appearance thing? If it LOOKS right, shoots reliably and is accurate, would we care that it doesn’t use the same design?