H&K MP5SD (Manufactured by Umarex, Licensed by H&K)

Caliber: .22LR

Price: $450-$530

Ever wanted to larp like your SAS without breaking the bank on a 9mm clone and spending 9mm prices on ammo? H&K basically called up Umarex/Walther (someone in Germany I don’t know) to essentially take one of their airsoft replicas and stick a .22lr firing mechanism and barrel into an MP5 shell and call it a day. Now you can brag to all of your range friends that you have an H&K MP5. Even though you probably shouldn’t tell them it’s actually made by Umarex and it didn’t cost you and arm and a leg to actually purchase. Don’t tell it’s not delay blow back like the real MP5 either. Oh and it’s in .22lr so you can shoot it all day without crying about cent per round.

For a .22lr clone (well it’s technically not a clone because it has the H&K license and logo on the gun) it’s actually a lot of fun. Ever wanted to do an H&K slap? You can do it on this gun. Controls are virtually identical to the real 9mm version of the MP5. They come in a pistol variant and a rifle variant with a fake suppressor to cover the long barrel. I went with the latter since I like the look of the MP5SD. The trigger isn’t too bad either so you can get off shots fairly quickly and though the sights and length of pull aren’t my favorite compared to other guns I’ve used, this is probably one the coolest gats I enjoy shooting at the range. It also seems to attract a lot of attention at the range too by other shooters who will say things like “whoa that guy has an MP5!” “Is that a real silencer?” and so on.

The only downside to this rifle is the aftermarket. It’s very sparse. Not to mention, even the magazines are absurdly expensive and hard to find. If you do find them, expect to pay H&K prices for them. Speaking of which, the magazines (as well as most of the gun) is built like a high end airsoft gun (mostly polymer/plastic) so it’s not a rigid as a real MP5. The magazines in particular have a magazine assist slider that can pop off and though it doesn’t affect the reliability or the loading ability for the magazine, it is something that makes loading a lot easier so baby your magazines while you can. This kind of goes for any .22lr magazine with a loading assist in general. Another thing worth noting is that real MP5 stocks won’t fit this particular .22lr clone. Supposedly the hand guards will work but everything behind the stock won’t. Don’t know why they did that but considering these are made by Umarex there is a theory that some airsoft parts made by Umarex/VFC could work on these rifles/pistols. If you go the pistol route with the MP5 in 22lr, considering checking out Haga Defense as they have various brace and stock adapters for the MP5 22lr model. For everything else, I guess you can look at HK Parts though most stuff on there are absurdly expensive.