H&K Roller Gun Guru James Williamson of Teufelshund Tactical goes into the history of the iconic 9mm PDW.
The H&K MP5 gained worldwide notoriety after the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980 as the SAS, on live TV, executed their counter-terror strike in London and rescued the hostages held in the embassy. The success propelled the 14 year old weapon to prominence and has spawned over 100 clones and variants with several licensed production facilities worldwide.
Where the AK series are the most produced and reproduced rifle and the Glock is the same for handguns, the H&K MP5 probably holds that distinction for submachine guns, at least of the generation 3 type (closed bolt select fire, modern ergos)
The K (Kurz) variant of the MP5 was developed in 1976 and was stockless, it used a shorted variant of the operating internals and had a higher fire rate than the original A2. It also chopped a down the barrel and handguard portions to complete the compact and concealable select-fire system.
The later ‘PDW’ variant added a modified stock assembly that worked with the shorter receiver but kept the very small profile of the weapon. It still sets the
