Gsg-5

[Tyga]

It had been a long time coming, so when they finally arrived I was very excited about the new gun. My first impressions were that it was a very good looking little rifle. It is very light and point able, with easy to use controls. I was quite concerned about the 16” barrel when I first heard about this rifle, however the company have done a very good job with the fake moderator shroud. It looks just right, and in fact when I took it to the range, the majority of shooters thought it actually was a sound moderator. The barrel is a very thin profile on the GSG, most likely to reduce weight. On the range it seemed accurate enough for a fun gun, just don’t expect to shoot a possible at 100m with it!

When handling the gun, parts of it do feel a bit cheaply made, for example the fore grip feels like it is off a toy, (and most likely is, since the company originated from the airsoft market). The same goes for the plastic stock, and the pistol grip isn’t the most comfy thing ever. This isn’t a major problem, and I’m probably just nit-picking, nevertheless you can tell the difference between the straight, simple GSG-5 grip, and a real H&K MP5 one, which is contoured with finger/thumb groves to fit your thumb comfortably.

The action on the other hand is very solidly made. Unlike the trigger group, stock and forend, it is all metal, and seems to live up to the expected standards of German engineering. There are countless screws holding the 2-part receiver together, along with the cocking handle, and main-spring, although for normal cleaning it is not necessary to undo these, and it is probably best to leave them be, thread-locked in place. The bolt group is easy to remove for cleaning, and there are no strong recoil-springs that go flying around! You simply undo 3 screws (stock, trigger-group, and recoil buffer ones), and then it slides out with the trigger-group. It is very clever how it is all in one unit (see pics), which allows it to be taken apart, cleaned, and put back together in virtually no time, without the need for an extra hand like some guns!

By the time I got to the firing point, the test rifle had been admired by just about everyone on the range, and there was a long queue of people wanting a go. I had prepared the gun for firing the night before, so we were ready for the first shot! I started off with Mini-Mag, as this was a recommended ammo, and it shot flawlessly from the word go! When you pull the trigger, the action is so smooth it is hard to tell if it has cycled or not, and there is zero muzzle flip. I am used to shooting a 10/22, but the GSG-5 is much smoother.

While shooting I had one failure to feed (looked to be magazine related) out of the first 300rds, and it failed to hold open on the last shot a couple of times. When the Mini-Mag was all gone, we moved onto Wolf Match Target (standard velocity ammo), which again shot flawlessly, with no jams until the gun started to get dirty at about 450rds, but then a quick spray of oil got it working again. On the reliability side, there are no complaints at all!

The magazine is easy to load without wrecking your thumbs, and has a nice tight fit into the receiver. The manufactures say it is a 22rd magazine, but it will work perfectly with 24 in. The release catch is a bit stiff, so may need loosening up in the future. The safety catch is ambidextrous, and easy/quick to use unless you have short stubby thumbs. The open sights are very good for quick target acquisition, and will easily hold a 1” group at 25m. You would probably be able to tighten this up a bit with an optic, however as we found out, these mount very high on the MP5 platform, so you would want some kind of cheek piece.

The trigger was the only slightly disappointing thing while shooting the GSG-5. It’s not too heavy at about 5.5-6lbs break, however it has a very long travel, and has been described as a bit spongy. Again this is not a major problem, as you can still double tap very quickly with the rifle, it is just something to work on.

There has been a lot of talk about cutting the barrel down to 12”. I would personally advise against this, since the stock is easily removable by taking out one screw, and (I haven’t tried this) but it looks like the rifle would function perfectly without a stock attached. Therefore the stock could be classed as removable, so not included in the overall length, which means you need the 16” barrel. I may be erring a bit on the cautious side here, and we won’t know for certain until there is a test case on it, but I’m sure no one wants all that hassle. Also if you want to attach a retractable, or folding stock, you need the 16” barrel.

In conclusion, the GSG-5 is a very nice, well made little gun, which is a pleasure to shoot, reliable and accurate. These are not target rifles, but more fun guns, ideal for Mini-rifle competitions, steel plate shoots, Bianchi etc. I have not done a comprehensive ammo test, but it seems it will shoot standard and high velocity ammo reliably, as long as you keep it clean, as with any semi-auto. A standard gun is good enough to win competitions out of the box, however there are improvements which could be made to the trigger. There is a wide range of accessories available, including different stocks, forends, mounts etc, and I predict they will sell well at the RRP of £429

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