Airsoft Action - December 2023

RED CELL
MP5 UPDATE
stages now the stock has been added although the
sights are still a tad low for my liking at closer ranges
so you have to aim a little lower to compensate, but
in most cases it works excellently. Definitely a fun gun,
but has also claimed its fair share of eliminations in
skirmishes already as a surprisingly utilitarian piece
of kit with a reasonable range and consistency, again
much more so than the WE counterpart although that
thing is second-hand and beaten up like my wallet
after this airsoft habit, so perhaps not the fairest
comparison.
In general I’ve been fielding the HK53 a lot and
using it on stages as well, planning to use it at the
next Kaohsiung level 3 TSMOC rifle competition after
Christmas just to be a little different but not at a
disadvantage like I was with the FAL. Maybe I like that
more than the MP5 series now? Controversial...
WE Apache MP5A4/A5: This was third-hand from
a teammate if memory serves and is still going strong
thanks to some upgrades he did before offloading it
on me; the improved internal barrel makes it a fairly
straight shooter and last time I ran it at CQB as a
backup gun/alternate choice to the FAL I managed
to post rounds through windows consistently and
take out people at a surprising range! The recoil
is somewhat softened as a result of the upgrades,
although I can interchange the bolts between this
and my WE Apache MP5k PDW easily enough as that
one’s has a lot more kick to it, although I think part
of that is as much to do with the shorter receiver and
slightly different recoil spring system tuning as well.
At present it’s on loan to some foreign friends who
won’t be around long enough to justify buying their
own guns, and they thoroughly enjoyed emptying
all the magazines on their first outing with us a few
weeks back. At least it’s still running and gunning with
fun factor.
My teammate Kevin’s however not so much; he
brought his out to our new airport-side site while he
was visiting from his new home in Canada and tying
up loose ends back here, and managed to completely
shear the somewhat pot-metal bolt carrier in his in
a quite spectacular fashion after only a few shots! It
was admittedly particularly hot that day, and the gun
hadn’t been used in maybe a year or more, but the
failure certainly screamed “ooh look data point” to
me and the photo I took really illustrated the scale
of the breakage... the bottom half of his bolt stayed
rearward, the top half went back into battery. Sad
times.
In general it’s continuing to serve me thus far but I
will probably try and offload it and the other WE guns
over time to replace them with upcoming or already
released VFC alternatives as they are both licenced
and clearly better quality with their continual product
improvements over recent years since I came here.
WE Apache MP5k PDW: This has definitely seen a
lot of service being something I acquired second-hand
years back as maybe my second or third GBB SMG,
it was already a bit worn at the time but I invested in
more magazines as well as tooling it up with a red dot
sight and mount and it worked very well throughout
its use at Action Bunker as a relatively low-powered
alternative to my KWA MP7 which always danced
around the site power limit depending on the
temperature that time of year. The WE MP5s tend
to throw out around 85-90 m/s as standsrd so can
basically be used like pistols in terms of power output
in most instances, but obviously afford you some more
range, magazine capacity (45 BBs in the double stack
open-fronted versions I have) and obviously the stock
and sighting options.
This has definitely been beaten on by me during its
time though, breaking a fire control unit mainspring
strut from sheer use and hammer which caused
a catastrophic stoppage in game, as well as the
somewhat fragile barrel retention threads snapping
off the front trunnion halves that form the HOP
unit clamshell too during a range session where the
whole front end of the barrel and vertical grip rather
comically slid off forwards and left the exposed inner
barrel and a bemused expression on my face.
Since VFC’s release of their Version 2 MP5 system
this has definitely taken a back seat as although it
isn’t lacking in recoil it tends to be a lot sharper and
louder in terms of really ringing the receiver and
spring system with its curt bark rather than heaving
the bolt like the VFC system; I wonder if this perhaps
counterproductive ferocity is what caused the failure
of the bolt in Kevin’s WE MP5A5, the VFC at least has
a largely steel construction by comparison.
For now like it’s larger sibling it is still functional
“THE IMPROVED INTERNAL BARREL MAKES IT A FAIRLY STRAIGHT SHOOTER AND
LAST TIME I RAN IT AT CQB AS A BACKUP GUN/ALTERNATE CHOICE TO THE FAL I
MANAGED TO POST ROUNDS THROUGH WINDOWS CONSISTENTLY AND TAKE OUT
PEOPLE AT A SURPRISING RANGE!”
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