Article Published Date: 03/31/2008

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I recall when we were stationed in Germany in the 1970’s seeing West German polizei armed with submachine guns walking through the Frankfurt airport or manning traffic stops along the autobahn we used to drive.  I did not pay all that much attention to them, neither the polizei or the weapons they were carrying.

Then I remember being interested in a certain submachine gun sized firearm that was deployed with the SAS on  May 4^th, 1980.  The date the SAS raided and ended the hostage crisis at the Iranian Embassy in London.  You probably have seen the video and the stills of the black clothed SAS men on the balcony of the building, the blasting out of the window and the subsequent attack into the building.  Since then, you could say I really wanted one?  Well you could say it…but it would never happen.

Something changed.  Just after Christmas last year, while lazily leafing through a copy of Shotgun News I happened upon a color add of an MP 5.  Okay, sure, these ads are always in SGN…but in reading it closely, I noted that it was a .22 version of the famed terrorist killer.  Hmmm…once again, I figured it would be out of the budget range.  After all, if a standard caliber (9mm) MP5 was running upwards of $1500+ for a CLONE…well, a .22 version had to be serious money as well.  Keep that thought for a moment….

As you can see, they are pretty dang close to each other.  To scratch the MP5 itch that I had, I ordered one from Scottsdale Gun Club who said that it would be late February when the order would be filled.  Turned out it was shipped out a lot sooner.

The GSG-5 came semi-assembled.  You’ll have to put on the buttstock yourself.  A matter of fitting one screw through the stock and receiver.  Man, did it look good! It felt good.  Now, mind you, I have never handled a real MP5 except those clone copies one sees at some gun shows here and there, so I cannot with 100% accuracy say that it feels “just like” a real one.  But I can tell you that it does just plain has a great ergonomic feel to it.  It shoulders straight up, sights are easy to use, using the HK ghost ring types with a front post.  And, of course, it has a serious “coolness” factor to it. 

The 16 inch barrel is made of what appears to be in the white steel.  When you take off the fake silencer (actually a barrel shroud) you can see it is a pretty plain jane .22 barrel.  You can leave the shroud off, but it does not look right then.

The pistol grip and trigger group is plastic, which, I believe the real MP5 is as well.  I am, however, fairly certain that it is not made of the same plastic glass reinforced material like the MP5 is.  The grip thickness and angle are comfortable and easy to hold on to.  The trigger itself is about 3/8” wide and is what I would call “semi” 2 stage.  It has a fairly long pull until you reach the release point.  Breaking at around 5 pounds or so, it is not a target affair.  But then again, it is not billed as one.

The sights are like your standard MP5 types.  The rear sight drum that has a V notch and then three apertures of varying sizes.   Sight picture is a rear aperture and a front fairly large/wide post.  I use an aiming style where I make the front ring (protector) around the post match the rear aperture.  Here is one disappointing item on the carbine; the rear drum is made of plastic!  You would have thought….

The charging handle operates like the real thing.  On the left side, pull back on the handle and, if a loaded magazine is in place, let it fly forward to load the gun.  Or there is a notch to lock it back, that way you can look really cool slamming your hand down on it when you want to charge the gun, like in the movies.  The gun does have a magazine safety and the bolt stays open after the last shot.

The receiver and charging mechanisms are metal and have a nice solid feel to them.  Having said that, the fore stock and the butt stock have a cheap plastic feel to them.  More so than the plastic polymer that you find on AR or FAL type plastic.  HOWEVER, as I surf the web, I am finding out that replacements are available for nearly anything on the gun, stocks, sights, and attachments.  It appears that a lot of the higher end MP5 AIRSOFT accessories will fit or can easily be adapted to the GSG5.  Being that this article is a preliminary introduction to the carbine, I will not go into that discussion much farther, instead, I would point you in the direction of various forums and such on the web that have sprung up regarding the GSG5.  (Google GSG5)

But can it shoot?

I ran it out to the range with the type of ammo that you would want to shoot a large capacity semi auto with, that is CHEAP ammo that you buy in bulk.  As per the manufacturer’s manual, I stayed on the hotter side of .22 loads for the most part. 

It was cold here the day I went out.  Cold enough that you would want to keep your gloves on as much as possible.  This is one thing where this little carbine excels at.  The designers of the magazine were very kind to us fumble fingered cold weather shooters.  You can actually load this .22 magazine with gloves on.  The magazine has a very large and easily accessible spring holder that is ambidextrous.  Large enough to hold down easily with a gloved hand.  Too bad the .22 shells are so small I DID have to remove that glove or else risk dumping shells all over the place.  The polymer magazine (of which there will be extra ones for sale soon in 10 and the standard 20 round makes) is solid and takes 20 rounds easily in a single stack.  The rifle comes with one 20 round magazine.  One recommendation I would have for you is to order a couple of extra mags.  At $35-$40 a pop, they are not cheap though.

I tried out the following types of ammo:

Remington 22 Thunderbolt

CCI standard velocity

Federal Match Auto (AM22)

Federal American Eagle

Federal Value Pack (745)

Aguila Gold Eagle Target

All of the above ammo types fires with no function issues, EXCEPT the Aguila Gold Eagle target.  I figured that this ammo has a couple of things that the GSG5 does not like.  First off, it has a more waxy lube on the bullet that may contribute to it not wanting to be chambered properly.  Secondly, more importantly, this is a target load which just does not seem to have the power to cycle the bolt properly.  It short strokes for nearly every shot.  As with the directions in the owners manual, stay with the high velocity ammo and you should be fine.

Accuracy for this type of carbine was pretty darn good.  Of the two clips (40 shots) that I pumped through the rifle for accuracy testing, I could easily keep all shots inside a 6 inch circle and, in fact, I was able to keep nearly all shots within a 4 inch circle at 25 yards, from an unsupported off hand position.  For grins, I moved up to about 10 yards from the target and did some double tapping fun.  From there, a full clip of 20 shots formed a ragged hole barely larger than a quarter, again, unsupported off hand firing rapid double tap shots.

Take down and cleaning is not a complicated affair.  If you do not want to really strip the gun down and take out the bolt mechanism, you can use a bore snake as a cleaner.  Matter of fact, even after removing the bolt mechanism and stock, I would still clean the barrel by pulling a cleaner from the muzzle end.  The reason is that there are a lot of little springs and gizmo pieces in and around the chamber area that could get hung up or be fouled by your cleaning jag going in from the breach end.  I used a .22 bore snake on my barrel while the gun was complete, and then took the gun apart to clean the bolt separately.

What can you use this carbine for?  The manufacturer writes it up as plinking and varminting.  Sure.  I would say it is probably one of the easiest of semi autos out there to shoot.  It shoulders naturally, it sights easily and it has near zero muzzle raise, making it a really fun, fast gun to shoot.  Current pricing is around $500 (2008), as they get imported, they are not cheap.  But I do not want people to compare them to your standard .22 autos like the 10/22.  They just are not in the same shooting experience league.  If you gotta just have an MP5, here is a very good and cheap shooting (ammo wise) alternative.  And, as I mentioned before, a complete eyeball popping WOW at the range.

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