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Word broke late last night that H&K would be importing a civilian legal version of their MP5K platform for the first time in roughly 30 years. Included in that announcement was some interesting language stating that the gun being imported wasn’t actually the venerable MP5K but a handgun that “matches the look and feel” of the gun which is banned by name from importation into the United States. That’s an important legal distinction that the company needs to make to get around the ban, but it left many people (myself included) wondering what exactly the differences will be between the old MP5K and the new SP5K?

According to the rep at the H&K booth, what we have here is basically the same thing that we’ve been seeing from people like Zenith and Pakistani Ordnance Factory. This is a standard MP5k produced to the same specifications as the original, meaning that every existing accessory will work just fine. Mostly.

The biggest mechanical change comes in the fire control group. There’s no forward retention pin, and a block has been welded in place to keep the average citizen from slapping a full auto fire control group in place. Which is exactly the same thing that the other companies are doing.

Also missing: a three-lug adapter or threaded barrel for mounting a silencer.

Another change is in the receiver. There’s a rail welded on the inside of the receiver to prevent a proper full auto bolt assembly from being installed, accepting only the neutered semi-auto roller system.


Aesthetically the one thing that people will notice the most is the forward handguard. Gone is the short plastic handguard (from the H&K rep: “we lost the mold”) replaced by a much more comprehensive handguard and barrel shroud. The idea seems to be to keep shooters from placing their appendages in front of the barrel by constructing a protective shroud around the business end of the gun. It’s a smart move that shows me H&K is actually putting some thought into the design before releasing it to the public.

Speaking of nice additions, the claw mount rail system will come attatched from the factory for your optic mounting pleasure. Then again, so does the Zenith Z5P. At a fraction of the price.

The real question will be how well these things will sell. The H&K brand goes a long way with the premium buyers, but with so many options available at much lower price points I doubt that it will be a mainstream gun. Stay tuned.

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  1. Meh… Yet another pointless piece of junk nobody asked for. When I can get a third party clone for half the price that’s more authentic to the original than this abomination, why should I give HK my money?

    After all, they suck, and I hate them.

    • I used to feel the same way about H&K. In reality they don’t hate the American gun owner, they hate getting the shaft by our stupid import laws. After reading the history why they don’t send the fun stuff here you would understand it was a money pit for them.

    • This. When we remove import bans and can bring in actual units with actual features, I’ll give H&K some money. I’ll also donate money to whoever signed that repeal bill/EO.


    This will kill sales to anyone who wanted a new sear host.

    “(from the H&K rep: “we lost the mold”)”

    Frankly, I don’t believe that, as there would never be one single mold for plastic injection parts such as that. They intentionally changed the design for imagined liability reasons.

    • Saw a few at a gun show today with the brace. My reaction was

  3. And the point of this firearm is… what?

    The whole point of the MP5 is that it is a sub-gun that handles really, really well, is versatile and reliable.

    Remove the full-auto aspect, and you have an ungainly semi-auto pistol.

    • So what’re your thoughts on civilian legal ARs? After all, rhe whole point of the M-16 is that it is a select-fire assault rifle that handles really, really well, is versatile and reliable. Remove the full-auto aspect, and you have an ungainly ugly semi-auto rifle.

      • An AR-15 is a rifle. It is useful and usable as a rifle firing one round or 30. As such, the AR is useful for taking long-range, aimed shots at whatever your target is, with a cartridge that has much more killing efficacy than a pistol round.

        The sub-gun exists in a mission-specific netherworld of “more than a pistol, but not a rifle, not even a carbine.” The sole qualifying feature of a sub-gun is being able to put a high volume of pistol-cartridge fire into a short-range target with better accuracy than a full-auto pistol (like a Glock 18), but in such a compact package that it is only slightly larger than a pistol. That’s it. That’s the only feature of a gun like the MP5 – or a M3 grease gun, or even a Thompson sub-gun.

        Remove the volume of fire aspect from the MP5 and you’ve got an overgrown pistol with a large magazine, and I can get 33 round mags for a Glock right now for a whole lot less money than anything H&K will ever charge.

        • Well, I guess if thats how you define things. Kind of begging the question though. “An MP5 is only useful for one thing, shooting full auto. As such a semi-auto is useless because it doesn’t shoot full auto” or “An AR is useful even in semi-auto. This can be proven because a semi-auto AR is useful”. Your conclusions assume the very conditions they are trying to prove. I could argue that a semi-auto MP5 has utility over a glock with a 33rd mag due to better ergonomics, longer sight radius, longer barrel for increased velocity, (easier) ability to add a stock or “arm brace”, etc. Similarly I could argue that for slow fire/single shot applications, any number of bolt-action and break-breech are going to be lighter, handle better, be more reliable, weigh less, be more elegant visually, etc. than an AR. If you need rapid-fire, large volume of fire, then why cripple yourself with semi-auto, you need full-auto/burst. Remove the volume of fire aspect from the AR and you’ve got an overgrown rifle with an unnecessarily large magazine, ugly lines, unneeded mechanical complications.

          Point I’m trying to make (since it seems you maybe missed it in my first post) is that the question “what is the ‘point’ of -X- firearm?” is one that cannot be answered objectively. Its a matter of opinion. Based on your own personal priorities, opinions, etc you will deem some firearms as pointless that I would maybe deem as very useful/desirable. Same goes vice versa. Its a silly question to ask. There is no answer.

        • @RocketScientist

          Yet you’d take a semi AR15 over a 223 bolt gun any day for home defense. Rapid fire huh?

    • You’d have to have the barrel replaced, which means buying a barrel and sending it off to a specialized gunsmith to do the work. Probably $800ish total.

  4. Speaking of HK, I got my eye on a German made HK 93, not a clone at a good price including 1000 rounds of ammo, retractable stock and fixed stock and extra magazines. Now all I have to do is spend the money.
    I’ve looked at it, it’s so nice.

    • I’ve looked at and briefly considered buying an HK-93 (and a G3), until I realised that half of the ridiculous asking prices was for the name. So I went with a CETME instead.

      But if you’ve found a screaming deal on one, including all those extras, by all means snatch it up.

      As for these pistols….. they’re expensive range-toys for HK fanboys, nothing more.

  5. HK will not excite me until and unless they reintroduce the HK P7 M8.
    Hey Colt ! Want to revive your fortunes ? Buy the tooling/machinery and patents from HK for the P7 M8/13, and start cranking them out at a reasonable price.

    • Right, I’m sure no-one will mind paying an extra $1,000 for a gun that can’t be used as a sear host, and doesn’t have provisions for mounting a suppressor (things which many of the MUCH cheaper clones CAN do). I’m sure they’ll sell some to H&K fans with enough money where the cost difference is minor. But I’m pretty sure it’s not going to sell at anywhere near the volume of some of the clones.

    • The clones sell because their MSRP is ~$1,000 (or more) less than what H&K is looking for, and include trilug adapters.

  6. Why H&K welds a block in place to prevent FA conversions is beyond me… with the Scorpion, you can literally drop the FA group in (you just can’t source it). Maybe the source of FA trigger pack supply is just too great for the H&K.

    Short of holding a manufacturing SOT, it’s kind of a moot point, anyhow.

    • With a semi-auto H&K, the ATF approved method of having a blocking piece in place is to have a shelf that prevents an unmodified trigger pack and lower from fitting. That’s sufficient and the go-to for all the clones on the market, pretty much. Why H&K would go above and beyond is up for question. Liability? German laws? Who knows.

      As far as it being a moot point, not really… having a gun able to accept a legal, pre-86 sear pack is a big selling point to many of the clones. With that, you still couldn’t put the correct carrier in this new H&K semi-auto, which wasn’t the case with the HK94.

  7. Hey Nick……are you also going to suggest altering this receiver/host to accept a full auto registered trigger pack and or full auto bolt carrier as you did in your review of the Zenith/MKE Z-5P a few months back since this HK has a altercation to the receiver to not accept a full auto bolt assembly? To every reader of any review’s that are posted on TTAG, i would be extremely careful on what you read or what any of them suggest and do your homework with ATF rules before you go shaving parts of a gun to accept full auto capable parts. Altering a host receiver in anyway shape or form that was made to accept semi auto trigger group to accept a full auto trigger pack or trigger housing is highly illegal and could get you put in a nice federal prison if caught. Even if the pack itself is registered. Even the suggestion of doing this in his previous review made me lose every single shred of credibility and trust in anything i read on here anymore. Even if you didnt “suggest” doing it or tell someone to do it. The mere mention of it being able to be done was a major fuck up. A lot of people on here dont know or are not aware of the complicated rules by the ATF on full auto conversions and the multiple rules that need to be followed to do so. Its confusing as hell even to seasoned gun folks. So before you go thinking “well i can just file that block or altercation off the accept a part, do your homework, and dont just go off what you read on a forum or on some gun review here. AS far as this gun in particular……its a neutered MP5K. And from what i can tell not even close to being to spec of the original one. Your better off getting the MKE/Zenith Z-5 series than this thing. At least those are as close, if not almost identical (except for the bar block and altered trigger housing to only accept semi auto trigger packs) as getting a real MP5 as you are going to get.

  8. HK is the best… When needed, the jamming lower cost clone is worthless like a Chinese fire extinguisher when you smell smoke in the middle of the night… Give me an HK and a KIDDE any time….


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