H&K's MP5 and the British SAS..... running CQB with 3-point slings (Feat. BOTR, Forgotten Weapons)

This episode was brought to you by Slate Black Industries. For M-LOK grips and accessories, visit slateblackindustries.com Welcome back to Nine Hole Reviews. Today we examine one of Heckler & Koch's crowning products, the MP5, and a US clone by PTR Industries, the PTR-9. We will then demonstrate the classic SAS technique of shooting the MP5 with sling tension and no stock extended. The MP5, in our opinion, is one of the best multipurpose subguns, in contrast to, for example, the Kriss Vector, however useful as a much more narrow deployment venue. Very rarely does any firearm transcend the amount of adapted countries in every continent, sustain 50-plus years of service in many high-profile incidents, and still have a relevance in the current firearms market, with relatively little change to the base design. But the MP5 does. The year was 1964, when H&K engineers set out to develop a G3-styled roller-delayed blowback system in 9mm. Major submachine guns of the period prior to the MP5 operated in an open-bolt direct blowback system, such as the British Sterling submachine gun. Open-bolt SMGs rely on a giant piece of weighted steel reciprocating as the bolt, that strip and fire the cartridge when the trigger is engaged. For an easily controlled open-bolt submachine gun, the receiver is typically heavy. However, then the bolt lock does not help with its semi-automatic precision. And it has a lock time like a flintlock. That's a long way for the bolt to move before it goes bang. You really do have to get used to this. It's not like the almost instantaneous lock time of a closed-bolt system. So there's a real schlunk, and you can see the recoil happening from the breech block moving as you release the trigger. A few of us are getting used to it going schluck, but once I was, that's going basically where it's pointed. Designated as the Maschinenpistolen 5, or MP5, its roller-delayed system drastically decreases the SMG's recoil, using a very lightweight bolt and firing on a closed-bolt system. This changed the game. Unlike anything on the market at the time, the MP5 was an incredibly rugged, reliable, lightweight, controllable submachine gun that was able to put precise fire on a target with no movement of the bolt upon a trigger pull. The MP5 quickly gains momentum in major European governmental agencies. Then, in 1980, CQB pioneers, the SAS, were seen with the MP5s in Operation Nimrod. Shortly after, US Special Operations Units, SEALs, and Deltas started to use the MP5. The US domestic SWAT teams also took form after the LAPD, who were also an early adopter of the MP5. From all around the world, the MP5 served. Today, we have the true H&K MP5 in a semi-automatic SPR copy by PTR Industries, with quite a bit of external MP5 parts replaced. Mechanically, we do not see any major differences between the two, and major components are also interchangeable. At this point, the PTR has taken north of 2,500 rounds of mixed-quality ammunition, steel, brass case, full-metal jackets, and hollow points, all with zero malfunctions. The H&K is a demonstration submachine gun that's taken thousands of rounds into its system, and we also experienced zero malfunctions. One point that escapes people's minds is exactly how old the MP5 system is. The MP5's roller-delayed-recoil system draws roots from the Sturmgewehr 45M, a prototype assault rifle developed in late World War II Yahtzee, Germany. This system is a satisfying product of careful mathematics and mechanical ratios that requires no gas system to lower the felt recoil. So how low is the recoil? There goes 30. Would you look at that. Nice. Pretty darn good grouping. When I contrast that against some of the guns with the higher rate of fire that we shot, like the Vector for example, Vector in bursts seems more controllable. This, up here, was as the sights, right off my first burst, as they started to go up, I saw them going up, I was able to see them climbing, auto-correct myself and come back down hard. That's where the bulk of the group is. But wait, we said that it is quite accurate on semi-automatic as well. We recorded this 2.7-inch 9-shot grouping on the PTR-9 at 25 metres with standard 115 ball ammunition, which is excellent for 9mm. The H&K actually grouped tighter with 2.2 inches on the grouping. Now keep in mind, many accuracy reviews are taken at 15 yards with 5-shot groups. A sub-3-inch group is exceptional at 25 metres with ball ammunition. Now the main complaints on the MP5 come down to the manual of arms and the optics mounting. The beauty of the MP5 is a no-frills simple operation. One charging handle, safety and a mag release, much like the Kalashnikov. Very easy to teach a less technical operator, but there is no bolt hold open, nor is there a single-hand mag release mechanism. The magazine is also very tight and difficult to lock in the magwell unless the bolt is locked back. To many North American AR-15 users, the MP5 can present its challenges. But just like any other European-designed firearm, training is crucial for any operator's success. Comments? Comments? What do you think? No comments. I need to get it right first. A reload on the MP5 does require more movement from the support hand to lock the charging handle back, strip the old magazine and load and re-chamber. Training is vital to running the MP5 fast, but one could still easily operate the MP5 with a lack of training, making it suit a wide spectrum from basic to professional users. In fact, you can see me fumble the reload in this video when I only had a basic knowledge of the MP5 and Josh loaded in 30 rounds instead of 29. Versus now, where charging the cocking handle on reload has become second nature and reloads are no longer an issue. The standard MP5 has a pair of rugged diopter sights that are very intuitive for CQB. Keep in mind that the standard MP5 was developed and sold well around the world for 30 years, before the US Picatinny arsenal designated the MIL standard 1913 rail system. So yes, the standard MP5 lacks Picatinny rails on top. While it is true that for years, there was the H&K claw mount to interface weaver-based optics. As you can see, there's not any provision for modern day optics on top of the stamped steel receiver. There are, however, two ledges on either side of the receiver that enable the use of this claw mount. The claw mount goes right across the top and attaches very securely onto the gun. It's a very solid mount, however, it has its own problem from an operational standpoint in the sense that when you operate the charging handle, you're asking for this sharp ledge to cut your knuckle open, as you can see. As a result, the modern preference is to use a low-style Picatinny optic mount in place of the old claw mount to prevent injury. However, PTR welds on an OEM Picatinny rail to address this issue directly. Accessories are easily swapped out on the MP5. This German A3 collapsible stock is one of the tightest lock-ups we've experienced. The handguards change out with a pushpin for the classic Surefire handguard light, or any type of M-LOK accessory rail as you would prefer. Suppressor mounting is simple with the H&K Trilug, while some variants have suppressor threads in the front. So yes, these standard model MP5s can be suppressed quite easily, but I suspect you would want us to go over the suppressed variant at a later date. Now, the development of weapons handling is almost as unique as the new system itself. Contemporary doctrine is overwhelmingly for the two-point slings focused as a shooting aid, and often considers a three-point sling as an overcomplicated device. The MP5's three-point sling, however, was developed for the MP5 as a solution for law enforcement to go from foot patrol to an escalated force scenario in an instance. While there are multiple methods of deployment, the British SAS extensively developed the employment of the sling to maximize the mobility of the submachine gun. One of the methods that the SAS back in the day ran the MP5 in a CQB operation was to use the sling tension method. So they would push it out and fire the rifle and continue to press tension onto the front. And you can see it's doable if you're using a three-point sling, and this is one of the methods that requires a three-point sling to employ well. Because a three-point sling puts your triangle right here into a single point, and then that enables you to maneuver the sub gun from the front. Why did they do that? Negotiating obstacles in front of them. When you're breaching, it's easier to tuck the sub gun in than it is if you had to stock out to do either a high port or low ready. It's just easier when you're breaching doors to do that, and that's doable if you have a very controllable sub gun like the MP5. Now, one of the other reasons why they did that was to accommodate the use of a gas mask. Now this is an S-10 British gas mask, similar, identical to what the SAS issued, except they would use filtered lenses on the oculars. That way they wouldn't be affected by the flash bangs as they breached the room. This way they could employ flash bangs, they could employ CS gas to immobilize the target inside of a room before they breached or as they're breaching and not have the elements affect them. Now one of the things when you put on a gas mask, if you're using the sling tension method, it's a lot easier to aim than to have a gas mask on and to run it with a stock, which you cannot aim with a stock. One of the other caveats too, they frequently used MP5s with lights on them, and when they were in a close range scenario, let's say 7 meters or so, they would use the light, the torch, to illuminate the target and roughly get where the shots would go. We'll demonstrate that a little bit. Probably not the light, but with the gas mask and the sling tension method. So as you see, is it the ideal shooting position? No. But a lot of times if you're in a breach scenario, you're working with trade-offs. In this sense, they're trading off for mobility in close quarters or something that they could still wield the subgun and have it function well. And one of the big reasons it works, specifically for the MP5, is because of the light recoiling characteristics and the compactness of the subgun itself. Perhaps many critics of the MP5's 3-point sling have not carried the MP5 on a long-duration foot patrol, nor have they been fast-roping into a CQB environment. The Hong Kong Special Duties Unit, or SDU, and the Airport Security Unit, or the ASU, are the former British colonies' elite units that were trained by the British SAS, and that legacy can be clearly seen in their training footage, even from the 2010s to 2020. The SDU is the premier counter-terror unit in Asia, and known for operating in highly urban and technical operations with high-rises. In this training scenario, one could easily see the SDU breaching with a sling-tension technique and stocks all collapsed. Classic SAS. The ASU specializes in mass transit counter-terror operations while functioning as a roaming patrol and a quick reaction force in the Hong Kong airport, one of the major transit hubs for the Asian Financial Centre. These officers are often seen on armed patrols around the airport, with their MP5s on 3-point slings in the classic patrol position. Take note of the SAS-style thigh MP5 magazine holders and the old-school SAS-style drop-leg holsters. In this training footage, you can see the ASU officers transitioning from patrol carry to low-ready and sling-tension CQB engage mode with no stocks extended. This ASU medic is seen here using a 3-point sling in a low-back carry position to free his hands up front. At the end of the day, the MP5 to the SMG world is much like the AR-15 or the AK to the duty rifle world, or the Glock to the pistol world. The MP5 system is simple enough for the generalist to use, but also can require more training to progress into a true specialist's weapon. It's a versatile system that's revolutionized the deployment of an SMG and still maintains a healthy footprint in uniformed services around the world, even when the duty carbine has become more and more prevalent. The MP5 is indeed the giant of the sub-gun category.