ARMOURY: CYMA MP5

WITH SO MANY ULTRA-MODERN “SMG-STYLE” AEGS COMING INTO THE MARKET IT WOULD SEEM TO BE THE IDEAL TIME FOR THE “DADDY” OF THEM ALL, THE VENERABLE MP5, TO GET A LONGAWAITED MAKEOVER. BILL HAS DISCOVERED THAT THE “FIVE” IS INDEED RISING AGAIN, IN SOME THOROUGHLY UP-TO-DATE AND AFFORDABLE FORMS THANKS TO GOOD OLD CYMA!

If you look around the world of real military and police firearm users, there’s one single SMG design that seems to find fans amongst professional users worldwide, one that has continued to gather praise even to this day and, of course, I’m talking about the “Maschinenpistole 5”, or “MP5”, from Messrs. Heckler and Koch!

But what is it that makes the MP5 such a favourite of mine and a bit of a “must have” for any airsofter? The simple reason is that it has some serious “provenance”, being used by military and police forces worldwide, has appeared in the hands of many screen “action heroes” and of course was the firearm

carried by the SAS during Operation NIMROD in 1980. Yes, yes, I know I say this whenever I mention the MP5 but when you saw it happen live on TV as a kid, it tends to stick with you! It’s also been used by the USN SEAL Teams, GSG-9 and virtually every special operations unit in the western world and even today we see the MP5 in the hands of our firearms trained police officers.

The fact is that the little MP5, in all its various guises, still ticks almost every box you can imagine, and that’s probably why it still ranks as a “first buy” for many new airsofters. Spare parts, upgrade parts, magazines and a whole host of accessories means that your MP5 can be as individual as you are, so when it comes to simple AEGs, in my mind the MP5 is undoubtedly the “daddy” - and that’s coming from a man with an AK addiction worthy of Mikhail himself!

But the fact is that the platform, stupendous as it is in both real life and airsoft form, is now looking a little jaded when you put its basic form up next to some of the “uber-SMGs” and PCCs that have become available in the past couple of years. Yes, you can throw a front rail and a claw-mount onto any MP5 out there, but that is not going to scream “2021 tacticool” at you, and let’s all remember that the MP5 has a LOOOOONG history!

HISTORIC CORRECTNESS

During the early to mid-1960s it became apparent to security forces worldwide that the rise in terrorist atrocities was a trend that they had to counter and, for this reason, many police and military units started the hunt for a lightweight, accurate, pistol calibre sub-machinegun (SMG). The Germans, of course, had a bit of a history with SMGs and “machine pistols” and two companies, Carl Walther Waffenfabrik in Ulm-an-Donau and Heckler and Koch (H&K) GmBH in Obendorf-am-Necker, were at the forefront of the development process.

Initially, the Walther MPL and MPK (basically a long and short version of the same firearm) seemed to have the edge as the design was already finalised in 1963. In 1964 though, the first designs of the MP5 from H&K started filtering through and the rest, as they say, is history.

H&K looked at the successful G3 rifle designs and then adapted things so make use of the 9×19mm

Parabellum pistol cartridge. The MP5 was created within this group of firearms and was initially known as the HK54. First created in 1964, the H&K MP5 was developed as a pistolcalibre, blowback operated rollerlocked member of

the H&K weapons system and in 1966 it was officially adopted by the German Federal Police, border guard and army special forces. In repeated and exhaustive testing the MP5 has proven capable of firing more than 30,000 rounds without a single stoppage or parts failure and it is not uncommon to find MP5’s still serving with in excess of 500,000 rounds through the original barrel and receiver! Still regarded of as one of the most reliable and effective submachine guns in the world after nearly fifty years, has seen the MP5 become the choice of the worlds’ most famous elite anti-terrorist, special operations and special law enforcement organisations. While more modern submachine guns have been designed since the introduction of the MP5, it very much still does the job it was designed to do all those years ago! standard 5-length (9 inch Barrel, 6.3 inch M-LOK) with the

SMALL, BUT OH, SO SWEET!

Given that the MP5 has SUCH a strong heritage and pedigree, I thought it would only be a matter of time before someone gave the platform a bit of love and although there have been some stabs at it, I have to admit I didn’t think it would be CYMA that actually went the whole hog and did the job properly, however, in the past couple of years the elusive brand has been doing some downright righteous things when it comes to AEGs, so why not “update” the MP5?

Of course, the CYMA takes (yes, multiple!) look like MP5s but are rightly unbranded as there is no licence agreement here. Again, I know I say this every time but if there’s no licence then don’t use trademarks and what CYMA have done is to take the “principle” of an MP5 and enhance it in a way that has no realworld equivalent. This I can live with, as it’s what CYMA has done internally and externally that matters here.

The CM.041L (5 inch Barrel, 3 inch M-LOK) is basically a railed “K” with a PDW stock, the G is same stock and the H replaces the PDW-stock of the G with a buffer tube and sliding carbine stock, but they all come from the new PLATINIUM series, created as a cooperation again between CYMA and TAIWANGUN.COM (TWG). The metal body and outer barrel marry with a nylon pistol grip

up like

the real deal and the compact with different adjustable stocks design makes

all three models ideal for CQB/CQC.

By cocking the charging handle you can adjust the hop just like virtually any other MP5 AEG design, but internally things look good, as you get a reinforced V2 gearbox frame, full steel tooth polycarbonate piston, CNC machined steel gear set (ratio: 13:1), CNC machined aluminium silent cylinder and piston head set (ball bearing piston head, double o-ring cylinder head), all of which is powered along by a high-speed motor and benefits from a processor unit with built-in MOSFET system. All three variants are what CYMA call their “E-EDITION” & “HIGH-SPEED” models, and set up like they are they’re said to come in with a power around 350-360fps on a .20g, plus, in combination with a LiPo battery, a fast trigger response and OOTB ROF around 25rps!

If you’ve ever used an MP5 AEG then everything on the CYMAs is going to seem simple and intuitive, as all the controls are exactly as you’ll find them on any of the airsoft (or indeed real) variants. The fully ambidextrous fire selector has the “bullet” pictograms to show “safe, semi, and auto” and the magazine release it where it always is; namely directly in front of the trigger guard. Sights are simple too, with an enclosed post at the sharp end and an adjustable dioptre at the rear. Obviously, the new batterycompartment stock configurations are thoroughly

The CYMA .041 E-EDTION series AEGs all look great, are superbly finished

MP5 popped up to date and the new alloy M-LOK rails are re really cool-looking and rock-solid. CYMA are doing both rail lengths as standalone external upgrade accessories for existing owners (TWG just these up on their

website), to find solution wired.

Luckily, I was G-configuration a long-suffering get it onto the range to check although you’ll need a battery storage if yours is front-

able to borrow a

CM.041 from mate and woodland things out

and using .20g BBs the

MP5 gave a mean chronograph reading of 1.1 Joule/345fps, which was very consistent and obviously perfectly site-friendly in most places. Setting the fire selector to semi-auto and easing that sensitive trigger sends BBs downrange in a most satisfying manner and, for something with a relatively short inner barrel, the MP5 is quite astonishingly accurate, hitting sandbag targets easily at 30m and the fancy-looking 130rBB Mid-Cap magazine feeds exceptionally well. Switching things to full-auto gave exactly the same result - but with multiple BBs impacting the sandbags rather than just singles, with no discernible loss of accuracy.

Overall, the CYMA CM.041G “MP5” is a really tremendous little AEG and I can really see it, or either of its siblings, becoming a favourite for many players getting started or needing a cost-effective backup AEG - and I’m certain that the sniper fraternity will love the “L”. They’re not expensive RIFs either, as you can expect to pay well under £200 for the AEG with a bunch of magazines (MP5 mags are relatively inexpensive and easy to get hold of too!) and for that outlay you are getting an absolute modern-daymaschinenpistole bargain! and put together and function flawlessly from the box. CYMA have been around for a while, their AEGs have been tweaked and refined and their latest take on bringing a classic completely up to date offers superb value for money. What you get from any CYMA these days is an AEG that will be a trusted companion for the majority of your “airsoft life” if you look after it and that, my fellow BB-shooterists, is more than a bargain in my opinion!

My thanks go again to our friends over at www. taiwangun.com for sharing their action images with us to support this article - and what great pictures they are! Please do check them out for any and all of your CYMA needs …and much, much more! AA