The Hobbit Hole XXXVIII - There and Back Again!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I hadn’t realized it was coming at us

In this part of the country you need to keep an eye peeled from Memorial Day till Veteran's Day.

[300winmag]

Any SP89’s hiding in that deep hole 300 ?.......;o)

What a perfect lead-in to my "Sunday supplement".

Here's the right-side view of the HK94 and GSG5. I was able to refurbish a HK leather sling so it looks decent, although not as nice as the new one that came with the HK94 back 25-30 years ago.

Speaking of leather slings, permit me a slight diversion to mention I bought a leather sling for my CZ 453. I wanted something as classy as the rifle itself, so I blew a lot of bucks on the Brownell's "Latigo sling".

The sling is made in Germany, and is really top-notch leather. It's a single piece of leather, and once adjusted for the distance between the sling swivels, can be lengthened or shortened with one hand just by pulling on one of the straps.

Its aroma reminded me a a high-end tack shop, where $5000 dressage saddles are considered "entry level".

With that out of the way, we now see the basic difference in internals between the H&K and the GSG.

The delayed-blowback H&K uses a long recoil spring that reaches back to the endcap on the stock. The GSG has a modular block (used in their other .22 baby EBRs) that is fixed in place. Inside it, it has the blowback bolt, recoil springs, and other stuff that makes it go "bang". Pretty ingenious, actually. The trigger mechanisms on both weapons, totally unlike in design, both use internal frames that hold them inside a hollow steel or plastic grip shell. Also, you can see from the picture that GSG "cheated" a bit by not making the round portion of the receiver go as far forward as on a real H&K product. There are airsoft accessories to add that back on so genuine H&K pieces can be added. There are cottage industries out there dedicated to make airsoft "weapons" look more like the real thing.

The idea behind airsoft is to make stuff that looks "close, but no cigar". Being made by Walther under license from Colt, the M4-22 upper and lower receivers match the real M16 mold lines at about the 98th percentile, IMHO. But that's because it was intended to be a real weapon from the beginning. The GSG-5 probably has a 80th percentile match. Even minor things are "done different" so people (other than the designers at the factory) can't work mischief.

I had a brand new MP5 fixed stock and wide "navy" forend back from the days when genuine H&K parts were expensive, but available. I just can't find them now, and that pisses me off. They are much more solid and durable than the airsoft plastic parts, and are one of the few genuine items that can be adapted easily.

Now that the lecture is over, on the the firing range, for the mid-term exams. The GSG-5 has a long, soft, but acceptable trigger pull. I just have to remember how to transition from a match-grade trigger to a plinker.

I started my sighting-in at 20 yards, since the optics are only 1x. After two trial groups (circled), I figured the final results were good enough to do the final adjustment at 50 yards.

A problem arose when I realized that a 25-yard pistol bullseye is almost invisible to me at 50 yards. The Leupold 1x scope made it clearer, but it was still so tiny that the center aiming dot was bigger than the bullseye. I did my best to guess where the bullseye was. Here's my best guess:

Because of the long eye relief, the scope works perfectly for me, even mounted as far forward as it is. I have to decide to either keep what I got, or look for another mount that can bring a magnifying scope closer to my eye. My present setup was done with stuff laying around my bench.

Oh, Squantos, in regard to your original question, yes, I did find other interesting H&K items, even if they weren't the original plastic furniture I was searching for.

Yes, that's an unfired SP89. Back before the 1986 AWB, it was scarce, but available. Today, I'm afraid to look up what those things are going for.

I still rue the day I had to sell my last-one-off-the-boat Sig 550. The 1986 "assault weapon" ban just went into effect, as BATF (as they were then known) was trying to browbeat importers to send back the items they already had in stock, and paid for, to BATF for "storage".

The dealer and I pretended we didn't see the BATF letter, and I walked out the door with it, legally. A year later, I needed cash when I lost my job, and selling it kept me from starving. Today, it would probably be worth my than my post-0bama 401K.

[Corin Stormhands]

Doesn’t look like it’s going to be too bad, but y’all stay safe and dry.

[JenB]

I bought gas, water and batteries so it should be nothing. I think that’s the hurricane equivalent of milk, bread, and toilet paper.

[Corin Stormhands]

Well, yes. Except you also need milk, bread and toilet paper...

[JenB]

Maybe people down here keep those on hand already?

[Corin Stormhands]

extremist

[Overtaxed]

...and ice.

[TalonDJ]

With beer you can dispense with the milk and bread. But you still need ice...

[300winmag]

With beer you can dispense with the milk and bread. But you still need ice...

When the northeast had that 36-hour outage a few years ago, I found that dry ice at $1 per pound was potent cooling medicine. Saved a whole freezer full of stuff.

It's best to find a source before you need it. I found a dry ice/icemaker distributor a few miles away.

[osagebowman]

Yikes! “Sprinkles” are headed our way, gonna hit you first.

LSA

[JenB]

Ah,interesting thought. Fortunately this time we should escape such power outages...

[Squantos]

Love that post....... I am a big fan of the MP5SDA3. Used em in the service with 147gr OSM 9mm. Never had a problem with em yet admit that they were carry a lot and used only on the range for the most part. With the advent of common body armor available to anyone who wanted it the M4 or M1A was my tool of choice. Places like central and south America were places I saw the MP5 series the most yet LEO’s and Security in Europe and far east still pack em as regular issue pretty much.

I wish a company like Hk or Glock etc would come out with a suppressed subgun / handgun combo that uses common magazines be they standard or extended like the Glock 18 uses with their 32 round magazine. Always carried a Browning High Power when I was packing the MP5 series for logistical purposes and local supply etc ..... but as stated always wanted to be able to use pistol mags in subgun and subgun mags in my pistol if transition was needed without having to strip brand A of ammo for brand B magazine.

Oh well want in this hand and crap in the other.......:o)

Guess a Glock 18 with a folding stock and a can along with a second Glock 18 is best possible for that need.....LOL !

Stay safe and thanks for sharing that project with us. I for one am grateful !

[300winmag]

Guess a Glock 18 with a folding stock and a can along with a second Glock 18 is best possible for that need.....LOL !

The neatest thing I saw was on some TV documentary, where they showed an Israeli gadget that was like a plastic universal pistol stock. It was hinged in the middle, and the front part took a plastic adapter for your pistol of choice. Also in the front end was a miniature TV camera. A small LCD display was on the rear of the stock, where the rear sight would go.

A snap of a latch either locked the two halves together, or let the front end swivel left and right over 90 degrees from the centerline. The shooter could point the pistol around a corner without exposing any part of his body, and fire the handgun with a remote trigger. It would be a neat toy if it wasn't a NFA item.

[Squantos]

We used E1’s and E2’s for such recon shots........:o)

I saw that on the TeeVeee as well....IDF or such had it, they even stuffed the end of it in a dead cat so it looked like a real kitty if said target saw it at the corner etc ......LOL !

[TalonDJ]

Looks like GSG is coming out with a 9mm version of their -5PK. Saw a pic of it here.

[Overtaxed]

Yep. Leaves on thelawn again. I think I can mow through them though.

[300winmag]

Looks like GSG is coming out with a 9mm version of their -5PK. Saw a pic of it here.

Interesting on a couple of points. First, there's no handguard shown. If you put a MP5K vertical grip on, it becomes a NFA item, and you win 10 years in the joint.

Also, GSG lost that lawsuit against H&K, and they can't import any more items into the US, and have to stop selling here at the end of January.

Meanwhile, people in gun-unfriendly Canada can buy a GSG semi-auto-only copy of the historic MP44 in 8mm kurz. BATFE forbade importation into the US of that item.

[Overtaxed]

[osagebowman]

One of the annual rumors is that Glock is coming out with a carbine that takes advantage of the 33 round magazines that have been circulating for some years now. Only time will tell.

The local gunshop has a nice selection of GSGs both rifles and pistols. The Colt/Walther and the Smith varieties of .22 AR clones were out but the Ruger ones were there. Not much chance for the Sig one till after the first of the year, he’s not a big sig dealer.

Thanks for the link to gunblasts, there were some interesting varieties of weaponry.