Germany plus Historical East and West, Roller Locks - HK

Brace Options for the HK SP5K

December 8, 2018 RoninsGrips 1 Comment

In the last post, I told you I bought an HK SP5K. It’s relatively heavy and begging for a brace. I don’t really feel the need to spend the money and wait to register it to be a Short Barreled Rifle (SBR) and there are actually a ton of arm brace options out there.

Option 1: The SBT5KA Brace

I have a SB Tactical SBT5A Brace on my POF-5 and really like it. I knew they made a version for the SP5K known as the SBT5KA but I was hoping for something different. Please note they are two different models of braces reflecting the different receiver end caps.

HK SP5K pistol with brace, red dot sight, and foregrip in a black case.

Option 2: The SOB Brace

Every time I write this product name – the “SOB” – down, I smile. SB Tactical has a ton of braces for the AR/M4 weapons family and they have evolved a ton away from the ugly original. The SOB has clean lines and I run one on my PTR PDWR. I think it looks good and has handled the .308 rounds from the PDWR just fine and feels solid too.

Black Heckler & Koch SP5K pistol with Vortex scope and brace

Option 3: The SBPDW

I thought I had found just what I wanted with the SBPDW – a collapsing stock that looked really slick and it would be easy enough to add an M4 adapter to the SP5K. So, I ordered a very well made adapter and the expensive SBPDW stock and guess what? It would not fit.

HK SP5K pistol with SB Tactical brace attachment

Needless to say, I was bummed. I had it completely installed only to find out that the guide rods on the SBPDW run right into the sides of the SP5K. Crud. I didn’t feel like figuring out all the changes that would be needed.

Purely for reference, here’s the same PDW brace now installed on a 10.5″ AR Pistol but that is a story for another day. It is a rock solid brace.

HK SP5K with brace, red dot sight, and light on a black bag

The Winner? The SBT5KA

Well, I was bumming from the strike out with the SBPDW so I went with my second pick – the SBT5KA. I felt it was most true to the lines of the MP5K and ordered one. As with their other braces, SB Tactical did a great job.

Installation was a breeze. Pull out the two small pins at the back, swap the old end-cap for the brace, push them together and reinsert the pins. I did make sure the recoil rod lined up and nothing was binding as I reassembled the unit.

SIG SAUER MPX telescoping brace for HK SP5K

HK SP5K with a brace attachment, showcasing aftermarket brace options.

I Did Clean and Lube The Internals

I should point out that when I removed the end cap, I went ahead and slid out the bolt group and lubricated everything. I applied Super Lube grease to the bolt body and Mobil 1 Synthetic 10w30 via a precision oiler to the rollers of the bolt and rotating surfaces. I also oiled the pins on the trigger pack while greasing the hammer face with Super Lube.

Letter from ATF stating Magpul AFG legal for AR pistols

HK SP5K trigger mechanism with installed brace

HK SP5K receiver being cleaned with a Tipton brush.

Summary

So you see I went with the SBT5KA brace. In the next post I will discuss handguards.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

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Germany plus Historical East and West, Roller Locks - HK

So, I have an HK SP5K …

December 8, 2018 RoninsGrips 2 Comments

Folks, I have thoroughly enjoyed my POF-5, which is an MP5 pistol clone, this past summer. We easily put way past 500 rounds through it with zero failures to feed or eject. All my family members and friends wanted to shoot it and we had a ton of fun. However, in the back of my head, there was a little voice saying “you need a real HK”.

Finding a Real HK

I’d talked to a few guys and the consensus was that a real HK will just go up in value even after being shot plus there are the bragging right of owning a real HK. There was one problem – HK stopped making MP5s available for civilian sales. There are definitely a lot of parts kits out there but then someone needs to pay an HK smith to assemble the subgun. I thought about doing it but I lack the experience and the tooling. Given the price $1,600-3,200 price of kits, I wasn’t about to experiment.

It turned out that HK still made a civilian pistol – the SP5K – “Sporting Pistol” 5K – that is a semi-auto version of the short MP5K submachine gun. The one catch is that it comes to the US market a tad neutered. Surprisingly, this was done due to strict German export laws and not US import laws. For me, the sad part is that the barrel is 115mm/4.53 inches long and ends abruptly at the sight block – not only is there no threading or tri-lug attachment point but the abrupt end means you can’t add one either without replacing the barrel. However, accuracy reports are excellent so at least that and reliability were still there.

Before I seriously considered buying one, I did some research:

There are also some choice articles:

Hard to Find an Affordable SP5K

Of course, these things aren’t cheap and they are really hard to find in stock. I hunted around online while my FFL, Scott Igert of Modern Antique Firearms, did the same. After hunting for a few weeks it dawned on me that I would need to use GunBroker. So, I started by watching auctions and seeing what stuff sold for before I started actually bidding and losing. I learned a while ago not to chase auctions – set a price and don’t go past that limit. I finally found a deal after watching and bidding for over a month.

So, the seller was Town Police Supply, located in Collinsville, VA, who goes by GunTalker on GunBroker. They had an A+ reputation with over 700 trades. I always prefer to deal with sellers that have a lot of trades. At any rate, they were great to deal with. I won the auction on 9/24/18 and it arrived at Scott’s shop on 9/25. Literally.

As you can imagine, I picked the SP5K up as soon as I could. It came in a real cool HK hard case with two 10 round magazines, a sling and a sight adjustment tool as you can see in the featured photo at the top.

Here’s the plain pistol out of the box:

HK SP5K pistol with Tipton Best Gun Vise packaging in background

In summary

So, it was definitely cool but if you know me, you also know what was going through my head – “I can customize this!” In my next blog post, I’ll talk about what I considered for braces.

Amazon product links are at the bottom of the blog.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

Hatsan AT-P2 QE: Questions & Answers

December 8, 2018 RoninsGrips

As mentioned previously, I purchased a Hatsan AT-P2 QE pistol. A few guys email med asking questions and I decided to post my answers here for others to read also:

How comfortable is it? It looks like a kid’s toy.

I’m 5′ 8″ and find it very comfortable shoot. I wanted a small profile PCP repeating airgun so I bought it wanting to hold it close to show a small profile. I’m right handed and my left hand naturally goes to the front of handguard. I think that is why they designed it with that angle.

I have the stock adjusted one click back out of five. The cheek piece is adjustable but I found it did not need to be changed. Again, it works fine for me. I have no interest in trying to use it as a giant pistol.

How tight is the stock?

It wiggles just a tiny bit without a load but once I put it to my shoulder and place my cheek on the rest, it is solid.

ATF letter confirming Magpul AFG legality on AR pistols, referencing GCA and NFA.

Does it have two triggers?

No. The front thing that looks like a trigger is the safety lever. It’s actually very slick once you get used to it. My Gladius has the same safety and trigger set up. While it may look different, you can very easily turn it on, off or check the status.

The trigger itself is Hatsan’s Quattro trigger and is user adjustable. It has three screws for overall trigger travel, second state engagement and trigger pull weight. Hatsan USA has a video on how to adjust the trigger – click here.

Does Hatsan make decent air guns?

Yes, they actually make very good airguns. They are located in Turkey and don’t have the same brand recognition as Daisy, Crosman, Gamo, etc. I posted factory tour video a while back that I found.

Why did I pick .22 caliber?

Well, I was worried that if I went with .177 that I would not have enough foot pounds of energy (FPE) to cleanly kill the pests I expected – squirrels, ground squirrels, and rabbits. In talking with guys and reading, I decided to go with .22 for a trade off between power, air use and sound. The bigger calibers are much louder and use more air. I’ve found that .22 is plenty for me given I am shooting relatively short distances most of the time.

Does a hand pump really work or should a person buy a SCUBA tank?

Guys, the last thing I want to do is to buy a tank and deal with going to get it filled. I have a Hill Mk.4 hand pump and highly recommend it. I bought it for my Gladius and now use it on the AT-P2 also. What is nice is that the air cylinder is small on the AT-P2. I shoot about 8-10 rounds and then top it off back to 200 BAR and that takes about 20-30 pumps. When I see I am down to 2-3 pellets, I top the magazine off.

Now if you tell me you plan on shooting a ton, then you might want a tank or one of the new little portable compressors that are available. I’m using it for pest control so my average number of shots at a time is 1-2 and then I done. It’s easy for me to top off the magazine and the tank.

In Closing

I appreciated the folks sending in the questions and hope my answers helped them out.

6/29/2020 Update: Still very happy with the AT-P2 – it’s great on pest control with squirrels. We now have replacement fill-probe O-rings and caps to keep your fill probe clean. Click here to learn more.

Russia and also USSR

Kalashnikov Concern’s Own Video About Early AK Variants

December 2, 2018 RoninsGrips

As you well know, I am very interested in AK rifles, their history and how they are evolving. In September 2018, Kalashnikov Concern released a very interesting video that shows you some of their early AK variants.

Custom 21" HI Sirupati belt grinder with motor and controls

In the video, Vladimir Onokay, a technical consultant with the Kalashnikov Concern, will show some unique AKs manufactured in 1948 at the Izhevsk motorcycle factory as well as models produced until the 1950s.

Please note that the following video is hosted in Russia and you may need to let it buffer a bit for smooth viewing. It’s just over 4 minutes long and any student of the AK design will find it very interesting.

Czechoslovakia

There is a surprising ton of vz.58 stuff for sale on eBay if you look for it

November 29, 2018 RoninsGrips

The Czech vz.58 is an interesting 7.62×39 rifle. While at a fast glance it may look like an AK, it is actually a different design and doesn’t share any parts with the AK-47.

Four custom 21" HI Sirupati kukris in progress on a wooden surface.

Outside of the military, it has a sizable following with civilian shooters. While folks may be aware of parts from sources like Apex and Czechpoint, they may not be aware there is a ton of parts and accessories on eBay.

Here are real-time search results that you can review and order from if so desired:

There’s even more that you can browse through on eBay if you click here.

Image attributions:
1. vz.58P Rifle Image Source: By Jan Hrdonka (en:User:Hrd10)
2. vz.58P Rifle Field Stripped: Ibid

Russia and also USSR

Kalashnikov AK-308 Promotional Video

November 27, 2018 RoninsGrips

This is a promotional video hosted by the Kalashnikov Concern of the 7.62×51/.308 AK-308 rifle. It looks pretty slick and borrows quite a bit from the AK-12 but some noticeable differences are the 20 round magazine and different muzzle device.

Here’s the Video

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and remain the property of their respective owner(s).

Russia and also USSR

Really Interesting Overview Video of AK-12K, AK-15K and RPK-16K at the Army-2017 Defense Exhibition Outside Moscow

November 27, 2018 RoninsGrips 3 Comments

In 2017, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation held their annual international military-technical forum known as ARMY-2017 outside of Moscow. There were over 1,000 exhibitors and over 500,000 visitors. It was an ideal spot for the Kalashnikov Concern to show off their short AK-12K, AK-15K and RPK-16K weapons.

In the video, Vladimir Onokay, a technical consultant with the Kalashnikov Concern, does a great job showing the three weapons and giving an overview of each’s design points.

AK-12K in 5.45×39

Some things he pointed out were:

Free floating handguard
It has Picatinny Rails for mounting accessores
Front sight on the gas block and with the rear sight at the end of rail, the sight radius is longer than traditional AKs
The muzzle device is more for controlling flash during night operations
He showed the windowed magazine for quick round counts
The rear stock is adjustable

AK-15K in 7.62×39

The AK-15 is simply the AK-12 but chambered in 7.62×39. He does make the interesting comment that they found a sweet spot in weapons weight of 3.2-3.3 kilograms for controllable fire in 7.62×39. They try to make the weapons as similar as possible and this is really a family of weapons that can be made in different calibers.

The RPK-16K in 5.45×39

This light machine gun sports a 95 round drum and has swappable barrels. A short one for close quarters battle (CQB) that requires a shorter weapon and a longer barrel for other use.

The Video

It’s an 8:00 video and has some great footage.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Please note that all images were extracted from the video and are the property of their respective owner.

Bulgaria

Very Cool Slow Motion Video of AK-74 Operating – See It From Many Angles

November 25, 2018 RoninsGrips 1 Comment

Larry Vickers and his team assembled this really cool video of a Bulgarian AK-74 firing. They do different angles plus shots at normal speed and slow motion. You get very clear shots of the fire control group, bolt carrier, gas piston and the muzzle brake.

It’s a brief 2:45 and worth it.

If you are interested, here’s a computer generated graphics video that does a great job at demonstrating how everything works on a Type 2 AK.

Here is the link to Larry’s book on AK rifles that he is selling directly and not through Amazon.

Ronin's Grips

Brace Options for the HK SP5K

Option 1: The SBT5KA Brace

Option 2: The SOB Brace

Option 3: The SBPDW

The Winner? The SBT5KA

I Did Clean and Lube The Internals

Summary

Like this:

So, I have an HK SP5K …

Finding a Real HK

Hard to Find an Affordable SP5K

In summary

Like this:

Hatsan AT-P2 QE: Questions & Answers

How comfortable is it? It looks like a kid’s toy.

How tight is the stock?

Does it have two triggers?

Does Hatsan make decent air guns?

Why did I pick .22 caliber?

Does a hand pump really work or should a person buy a SCUBA tank?

In Closing

Like this:

Kalashnikov Concern’s Own Video About Early AK Variants

Like this:

There is a surprising ton of vz.58 stuff for sale on eBay if you look for it

Like this:

Kalashnikov AK-308 Promotional Video

Here’s the Video

Like this:

Really Interesting Overview Video of AK-12K, AK-15K and RPK-16K at the Army-2017 Defense Exhibition Outside Moscow

AK-12K in 5.45×39

AK-15K in 7.62×39

The RPK-16K in 5.45×39

The Video

Like this:

Very Cool Slow Motion Video of AK-74 Operating – See It From Many Angles

Like this:

When Strength and Quality Matter Most

Option 1: The SBT5KA Brace

Option 2: The SOB Brace

Option 3: The SBPDW

The Winner? The SBT5KA

I Did Clean and Lube The Internals

Summary

Share this:

Like this:

Finding a Real HK

Hard to Find an Affordable SP5K

In summary

Share this:

Like this:

How comfortable is it? It looks like a kid’s toy.

How tight is the stock?

Does it have two triggers?

Does Hatsan make decent air guns?

Why did I pick .22 caliber?

Does a hand pump really work or should a person buy a SCUBA tank?

In Closing

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Here’s the Video

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Like this:

AK-12K in 5.45×39

AK-15K in 7.62×39

The RPK-16K in 5.45×39

The Video

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Like this:

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Like this:

When Strength and Quality Matter Most