MP5 Full-Auto Conversion
Converting an MP5 to Full-Auto
Technically, this gun is not a MP5—it’s a PTR clone. We bought the full-auto trigger pack from a dealer at the Eugene Gun & Knife Show and then modified it to fit with the PTR. Then, per NFA law, I engraved the gun with the name of our company and our location. Finally, we test fired our newly full-auto MP5. On the first trip, the full-auto sear wasn’t working correctly. So, we went back and improved the fit. Back at the range the second time, it worked perfectly!
As a Type 07 FFL with a Class 2 SOT license, we can possess and manufacture fully automatic firearms. Though this conversion makes our MP5 non-transferrable, we wouldn’t want to sell it anyway.
The MP5 History
In 1956, West Germany commissioned a new rifle for their army. H&K won the bid and began producing a version of the CETME rifle—a Spanish rifle created by a former Mauser engineer—known as the G3. Following the success of the G3 and the rising popularity of 9 x 19mm Parabellum, H&K began developing a line of small, compact guns.
CETME
In the 1960s, H&K engineers Helmut Baureuter, Manfred Guhring, Tilo Möller, and Georg Seidl created the MP5. Based on G3 design, it was a 9mm closed bolt, compact gun with the same roller delayed blowback mechanism first found in the CETME and inherited from the MG42.
With a rate of fire between 700 and 900 rounds per minute—significantly faster than a Browning 1919 which operates at 400 - 600 rpm—the MP5 is built for suppression fire and short-range targets. Compared to other submachine guns, it was light, reliable, and controllable.
The MP5 on the World Stage
In 1966, several German police and military units adopted the MP5. Since then, almost thirty variations have been produced including a suppressed version. It has been adopted by over forty nations and was used by law enforcement and military groups around the world including the Navy SEALs and Delta Force. But the MP5’s rise to infamy came in 1980 when it took center stage in a highly publicized counter-terrorism operation in London.
During the Iranian Embassy siege, six Iranian gunmen held twenty-six people hostage. On the sixth day, after the terrorists killed a hostage, British special forces raided the embassy and rescued the remaining survivors. The raid was televised live, and the MP5 made its way into the limelight.
After the siege, the SAS forces and the MP5 got a lot of attention. It became the popular submachine gun for other specialized military units and law enforcement groups around the world. But, when law enforcement lacked the proper equipment to deal with the North Hollywood Shootout in the late 1990s, most SWAT teams in the U.S. replaced the MP5 with the M16.
H&K UMP - Successor of the MP5
By Asams10 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3681707
In 2000, as a response to the dying popularity of the MP5, H&K began producing the polymer UMP (Universal Machine Pistol) chambered in .45 ACP and .40 S&W.
They sought to improve the MP5 design which many thought over engineered. The roller-locking, delayed-blowback system was designed to enable the safe use of high powered cartridges in light rifles—unnecessary for 9mm. So, H&K eliminated the complex system and created the UMP with as a straight blowback gun. While the design is simpler and the gun uses a more powerful cartridge, it resulted in less control of the firearm when compared to the handling MP5.
Because PDWs like the P90 began super ceding submachine guns like the MP5 and the Uzi, H&K’s UMP hasn’t seen as much success as the MP5.
And though most people now only see the MP5 in video games and old movies, the MP5 will live on forever in our shop.
