H&R 635 - the DEA's [Colt 9mm SMG] clone: First Shots - Range Talk

This video is brought to you by Slate Black Industries. For grips and accessories, visit slateblackindustries.com. So, Henry called me up, he said I have a great idea for a video. I want you to shoot the AR-9 against the MP5. We'll do a versus setup. You can burn it down and show people the power of the AR-9. So, I brought out the LSA, the comp gun, and figured, you know what, like, let me just, let me just let him, let me just let him have it, just rip it out. And then Henry was like, that's not what I meant at all. Because you need a carry handle. See, carry handle, external light. That's all you need. That's all you need. You don't need any of that nonsense. By the way, one of the casings hit me in the teeth. Chips, any chips? Nope. This is it. This is all you need. This is it right here. So, how, how do you think a 90s era Colt SMG compares to, okay, I, uh, how do you think that trigger is? So, the real question is, how do you think a 90s outfitted Colt SMG compares to something either super modern, which doesn't have a carry handle, takes away half the power of it anyways, or the illustrious MP5, the king of SMGs? Oh, you've already decimated that paper target too. Today's video is about the H&R PSA copy of the Colt 635. Now, I plan on getting this shortened quite a bit, but I haven't gotten the other kit yet. The other side is, before I form one now, and I've learned this by experience, I want to shoot these things to make sure that it works. Ah, yes. A man of many mistakes. Yes, that's not my first time. Nice. First shots, I guess, with Josh, a PCC, USPSA PCC Grandmaster. Who once, once upon a time. Who competed with this style of PCC. I wanted him to go back in time and experience the classic. Where did we come from? So, so far, what do you think? And that trigger is definitely not stock. I put a JP single-stage trigger in it. Oh, okay, yeah. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Nice. Which is interesting, because I didn't really notice it. Because I think you jumped from the LSA to that. Yeah. Well, what I can tell you is that AR-9s, with their direct blowback configuration, are notoriously bouncy. They have a lot of recoil to them for what a 9mm is, right? Yeah. Within the context and the confines of other systems and other versions of a 9mm PCC or SMG. And this is no exception. From feeling how this shoots, the recoil on this is stout for a 9mm PCC. And when you look at a configuration like this, a modern full-race PCC, the buffer system in this is completely tuned up. There's all sorts of... I have hydraulics in here, a hydraulic buffer system with extra power, tuned springs, all designed to try to mitigate that direct blowback snap, if you will. But with that said, with that said, no optics, shooting carry handle only. I was trying your iron sight only over the top of the carry handle. It has to be very low on this one because I think this one might be zeroed quite a bit closer. So for that one, you'll see that the iron sights, I've drilled the hole out. Ah, did you? A bit of a ghost ring to use. I mean, those are doubles at 25. Yeah, it's definitely doable. So off the bat... Let's talk about the difference between this and the Colt offerings, because Colt still makes the AR-9 that takes... This is a Colt mag, takes modified Uzi mags. And I mean, there is a difference. Yeah, I mean, it looks so janky. It looks absolutely janky, right? Because these are Uzi mags that Colt somehow made it, put it into an AR-15 and came up with a system that is essentially a tube gun. So the operating system is no different from, let's say, a Sten gun. Hey, are you guys enjoying hanging out on range with us? Well, maybe you'd like to join the Patreon and hop into the private Discord. We'll see you guys there. Let's get back to it. It had its issues. It had its issues going into it because the original Colt 635s, this one, you'll see that H&R actually used a forging. And you'll see that on the bottom of the forging, this is actually milled specifically to a Colt, an Uzi mag's footprint. As opposed to having a mag insert or a mag block. That's the issue. That is the issue. The original Colts have an insert inside of them. And you'll see that there are a couple pins, like one pin up here and two pins in the back. And that pins the mag block inside of it. Outside of it, allowing it to space out the Uzi mag. The other thing that that spacer does is that it gives you an external ejector up here. You'll see it a little easier right here. That external ejector is the other thing that the spacer gives. You got one in the tube. I do. It is, yes, I do know it's a hot firearm. And so those are the things that Colt used, what Colt did to make this in the AR-15 into a submachine gun. And the primary competition it had was the MP5. So they were specifically using this to compete with the MP5. Henry, do you have some strong opinions on this? Give me this back and then let's talk about your strong opinions. No, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will digress to a little bit later in the video on that. Now, that, you know, despite that being a very janky way of running 9mm, it works, right? But one of the big issues that the Colts used to have was when those pins started to walk, or if you had any issues with the spacer block inside, you would, it's jam central. And sometimes you would also have to tune the ejector to make sure it ejects at the correct angle and it continues to work. So that may be less of an issue as a semi-auto, but imagine that on a full auto. Sure, I'm going to give a rip here on the close range. Upper torso. Not bad. Yeah, it's not bad. So now that, despite its shortcomings, I still think the way it looks, man, like with a giant hockey puck coming off the side, and this is the black block gas and deflect casings. Despite all that, it gave, Colt made a super flavorful, I mean, it looks so cool with an Uzi mag sticking out of the bottom because it's one of those that it should not happen. It does not look like it should exist. And yet it does exist. Especially in this with the 16 inch barrel. Right, but that was a thing that they used to offer. But, but, but why is the H&R1 specifically something that I think is interesting? I think it's interesting right now. The H&R operates, so Colt does currently make an Uzi mag fed AR-15. I think it's like 65 series something. I forget the actual, the four digit code for it. But the current one, it's actually a flat top. So it's Picatinny rail on top. Ah yes, modern, usable, functional, edition of optics. Henry says, no, opinion rejected. It also still uses the pinned block on the bottom. So now that would, I could be able to look past all that because still, even with all that, you still have the really cool roll mark on the side, right? Not anymore. Is it lasered now, Henry? Not only is it lasered, it looks like whoever was freaking running the laser had issues. You know, like when you, you know, old people, when they try to, when they try to put pictures on PowerPoints, they always get the aspect ratio wrong. Oh no. The SMG on the side, we'll flash it on camera. It looks like some old dude didn't know how to do the aspect ratio and just like stretch it across. So like, unlike this one, you'll see, like you can see on right here, very, very classy. It is lasered, but you know, like it, it, it mimics the roll marks quite well. These are the small things that are like absolutely aesthetic. It is not functional at all. I get it. I understand. Whatever. I think this is cool. It mimics the old Colt markings, SMG on the side. Whereas the actual Colt ones nowadays is just this giant box that they slapped onto there. It's one of those things like PSA in this aspect is beating Colt at their own game. So where I first remember seeing these, and this is actually an interesting little ode to our, our childhood, I suppose, is both you and I have talked about how neither of us grew up with guns or around guns. I saw this configuration. I remember on like, whether it was an airsoft forum or something of that effect, I'm being like, what in the absolute crap is that? What is this? It looks stupid, right? It does. But it's one of those things. It's like, it's like the stand with a side magazine sticking out the side. Yeah. You can't stop looking at it because it's absolutely phenomenally iconic to see. So actually, if I recall correctly, and I'll have to go back and look for sure. But back in the day when we were really messing around with PCCs for the first time and shooting matches, I think I was shooting a .308 Spring. What? For a 9mm? So that's just to generate enough pressure so it doesn't bolt bounce. Well, so you don't get that like really snappy like BAM coming back. But does that does that hurt you on the reliability? Not if you tune it correctly. You see, there seems to be a system out there, Josh, that doesn't require like heavy spring tensioning. Before Henry goes all MP5, let me get one more nice rep. All right, go ahead and show us your German superiority. This is actually an American copy, much like that one is a copy of the original. So this is a PTR-9. It is one that we have used ad nauseum on the channel at this point. And for years, the problem with the MP5 system for years, it's been unattainable to anyone. You had to have the original for it to be a reliable original. But then you come out with this, a super light recoiling system with not a lot of spring tension to pull it back. I'd say the one has specifically designed with the roller mechanism to be able to not require all right, we were just talking about. But I mean, as as we move forward, and I, the interesting thing is like JP took the direction of using a heavier spring and a hydraulic buffer on the end. Whereas you had some other companies like CMMG who would come out with a radial delayed blowback system. And it seemed like on the market for AR-9s, there were more and more and more different methods of trying to overcome the pitfalls of an AR-9. So a lot of those are here to improve the AR-9. But me being Henry, I just I did not care for the improvement. I wanted the aesthetics of the original. But specifically, God, oh my gosh, it's like after shooting the MP5. Now we're even closer. Not even close that I will say like, like the UMP. I mean, like, like the UMP, though, these things seem to the MP5, I think is easier as a submachine gun, though. But these things like even though it like it bumps you, if you know how to shoot them, you know that return puts you back on target. Yeah, that's a good point. So there's a difference in it's not just looking at the recoil, it's a little bit more nuanced than just the recoil. We're looking at the entire motion of the recoil and where it puts it and how you do your micro adjustments to those, those motions with it. Right? Yeah, in many ways, it becomes like shooting this, shooting this, I can basically just pull the trigger as fast as I want. I'll just on the paper just really fast here for sake of argument. Like, oh, that's a zone, right? It's as fast as I can basically shoot or pull the trigger. And I'm not really waiting for the sights to hang out. I'm not really waiting for the sights to do anything with this. I'm seeing the site. Now it's a bit harder also, because I've got a dot versus I'm trying to shoot through irons where my head's cranked a bit further forward. But on on this setup, I'm seeing it snap up. And as Henry said, I know the guns going to come back with proper recoil control. It's almost like I'm timing, waiting for it to come back. And before I can pull the trigger again, because if I just run the gun like crazy, I could probably run it up the target. The UMP is the one that this reminds me of. In terms of that, the timing and the predictability of the return of the recoil. I think that's at first, the first time we shot the UMP, we were like, oh, look at that recoil. But then it clicked in our minds that, oh, it's just like shooting an AR9. You just need to make sure that, you know, like it'll drive itself close back to your original point. Just be ready to pull the trigger at that point. That's right. I don't know. I think it's interesting. Oh, there's one more. I think this thing, it's still interesting to delve into. So the history is like this came through the 80s and the 90s, right? When it was a dead heat competition between the MP5 and the AR9. Yes. Well, I mean, we'll make it a little bit closer of a competition if you catch my drift down the road. All right. So that's something we're going to do moving forward. Of course. I mean, this seems to work. It seems to work just fine. The one thing is Surefire grip seems to be rotating a little bit because usually the Surefire grip times with the cap. And this cap is rotated off because there's no gas tube. Oh, keeping the keeping the so the whole group is. Yeah, it was like twisting off. That's interesting. Moving forward. Like I want to kick this out with period correct stuff to see to kind of experience and try to try to see what the competition was like between these two. I think it was an interesting era. It was an interesting clash with a lot of ideas and a lot of people trying to put forth their contraptions and score a specifically agency contracts, which is what these things were for. These were not here. These were not made to score a civilian contract. Ironically, PSA now makes this one that is like unabashedly. We're going to provide civilians and not law enforcement have a company making these things. But I think this is a very flavorful rifle. That yeah, flavorful rifle that currently is not being made by Colt or rather PSA beats out the abomination that Colt is currently putting out there. The original somehow needs to learn from the apprentice. But I'm just excited. I'm excited. Like just right here. Look at that target. If you were a federal agent, Waco would have been in trouble.