As a long time airsoft player and member of a large UK airsoft team, I have used an extensive array of airsoft bb's guns throughout my career and built a sound knowledge on their construction, repair and effectiveness.
I've played on every type of airsoft site, including woodland, urban, quarries, FIBUA (fighting in built up areas) and CQB (close quarters combat), and can safely say that out of all of the guns that I have used, any one of the mp5 airsoft gun variants would serve you well as an effective primary weapon.
The Heckler & Koch MP5
The MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun created by gun manufacturers Heckler & Koch in the 1960s. 'The 'MP' in 'MP5' is short for the German Maschinenpistole, meaning 'machine pistol', and it's light weight, compact size and rapid fire have made it a highly successful and widely adopted weapon across the world.
Used by law enforcement units in over 40 countries including the British armed response, the MP5 has seen a large number of variants to adapt itself to any situation thrown at it. However, the most popular variants are the MP5 PDW, featuring a foldable skeletal stock and vertical fore grip, and the MP5A4, featuring a full stock and standard (angled) fore grip.
The MP5 airsoft gun
The first MP5 airsoft gun was first created by Tokyo Marui, but is now produced by a wide range of manufacturers including Classic Army, Jing Gong, Cyma, Well and ACM.
The build quality and materials used will vary from brand to brand, but most have hardened plastic bodies made of ABS or another similar plastic. Due to the compact nature of the gun, most MP5's will use version 2 gearboxes, holding the motor in suspension inside the handle between the bottom plate and the gearbox itself.
The guns use slim curved magazines which can hold high capacity magazines of up to 200 bb's. While a 200 round magazine is relatively small for an airsoft gun, it is possible to carry 5 or 6 quite easily with suitable webbing and even double them up with double magazine clamps if required.
Miraculously, the guns ingenious design means that they can use 8.4v 1400maH stick batteries, threaded along the top of the gun (similar to the AK47's) and connecting at the fore grip. A battery of that type should last you most of the day (assuming you're only firing at what you can actually hit) but it is advisable to change it before it runs out, as removing the battery under fire can be a very difficult task!
Inner barrel length
Unsurprisingly, the compact nature of the MP5 does mean that their inner barrels are very short - in fact, the inner barrel of the MP5K, a mini version of the MP5 with no stock, is only 110mm. This can mean that their effective range is shorter than many airsoft electric guns, however this can be extended with a higher quality barrel or hop up, such as those made by Systema or Prometheus.
Alternatively, the inner barrel can be made longer by extending it into a silencer or using a larger MP5 variant such as the MP5 SD series, which features an elongated fore grip and integral silencer, allowing inner barrel lengths of up to 363mm.
MP5's in airsoft game
Like any airsoft gun, the MP5 can be a help or a hindrance depending on your play style, but one thing that can be said is that they are incredibly versatile.
The MP5PDW is an incredibly effective CQB weapon. It's just plain fast - fast to move with, fast to turn with, fast to draw and fast to fire. It's small size is a huge benefit when playing indoors as it keep your profile compact, doesn't poke to far around corners and keeps your gun where your shoulders are pointing.
Even in woodland games many snipers find that the MP5K is a fantastic sidearm, and its ability to use stick batteries and 200 round magazines vastly outperforms other machine pistols of that size such as scorpions, tec-9's and mac10's.
Of course, an MP5K is too small a primary weapon in woodland games, and that's where the variants come in. The standard MP5A4 is more than capable as a primary weapon, and if you're a sneaky player you'll love it's light weight size when you're crawling through the mud.
In my opinion, the only things MP5's are not suitable for are as support weapons and sniper rifles, but if you are one of those players, I'm not really sure why you'd be reading about MP5's in the first place!
So get out there and get one, you won't regret it.
