Maker: Tokyo Marui
Model: No. 46
Release year: 1996
Model name: MP5K PDW
Model type: Automatic Electric Gun, w/ Hop-Up system
Motor type: EG700
Gearbox: version 3
Battery: 8.4v AK type (stick)
Model length: 629mm (393mm w/ stock folded)
Barrel length: 141mm
Model weight: 1980g (including battery)
Calibre: 6mm BBs
Magazine capacity:
- standard: 28 round short or 50 round long
- hi-cap: 240 round short or 200 round long
Muzzle velocity: 90 m/s (w/ light-weight BBs)
Rate of fire: 750~850 rpm (w/ 8.4v battery)
Price: 25,800 yen
Manufacturer: Heckler & Koch
Model number: MP5K-PDW
Gun type: submachine gun
Gun length: 629mm (393mm w/ stock folded)
Barrel length: 139mm
Gun weight: 2790g
Calibre: 9x19mm
Magazine capacity: 15 or 30 rounds
Muzzle velocity: 400 m/s
Rate of fire: 900 rpm
There are few airsoft MP5K-PDW reviews on the internet, but that was not the reason I bought a MP5K-PDW, furthest from my mind in fact. I purchased a MP5K-PDW on eBay for $232.50 shipped with full trademarks and a 8.4v 600mAh NiCd AK stick battery. A good deal I think, eBay is great for that, but you're not supporting your local airsoft retailers (if you have any), and forget a warranty if it breaks sooner than expected. It's a chance you take. Anyway, I bought this AEG because my Western Arms SCW Wilson Combat CQB malfunctioned (yes, it can happen), and I wanted/needed a reliable airsoft model that I could use as a backup. Why the PDW and not just a standard K model? Because I didn't want a simple machine pistol, and with the foldable stock and threaded flash hider, I have far more options to work with and I now own my first airsoft submachine gun, with all the advantages of the small MP5K SMG.
It's a great model, very light and solid. The fact that the battery fits inside the main body of the AEG itself will increase its stability and solidness. From what I've heard, the PDW is surprisingly accurate, and I would assume this is due to the strong build of the model. I have not yet had a chance to use the PDW in a skirmish, but I will update as soon as I can report how it handles. The only parts I can see having some play in them are the stock, as it's designed to be removed to install the battery and where it meets the receiver is not quite so tight--a few millimeters of movement to either side, and the cocking handle wobbles a bit when in the forward position. The cocking handle is very minor (and easily silenced by placing your forward hand on it, only if you're right-handed though), and the stock should prove no issue with a decent stock weld once in the shoulder. Neither will affect operation of the AEG in any way.
Yes, this battery change is laborious, but not as bad as one may think. You must take the two pins from the rear of the receiver and remove the stock, remove the large flash hider if you have it attached (I never do, it's merely cosmetic and is another thing to get in the way or get lost) then use one pin to remove the front receiver pin to remove the forward handguard/grip, then disconnect the battery and use the cocking handle to push the battery out the back of the AEG. I'd hate to have to do this in the field, but when you have time in the assembly area, it's not so hard. Considering this is my backup model, I don't foresee having to do it too often. Make sure the wire running the length of the battery is inserted on the lower left-hand corner. Consult your manual for more detail on it.
On the cocking handle subject, it is metal, so you can release it from its locked back position with that groovy chop to the fore-end without much fear that your cocking handle is going to snap off and fly away. The total travel distance isn't even three inches, probably the least amount you can work with to chamber a 9x19mm Parabellum round in the real thing. The hop-up is located underneath the forward handgrip on the left side. Just adjust the slide back to increase hop. Obviously, not easily adjustable in the field, so do it before you head out.
The sights are a front post sight protected by a ring, and a rear rotating sight that consists of four square cuts of different sizes. You can adjust the rear sight windage with a screwdriver. Elevation is done by rotating the rear right. The magazine is inserted straight into the mag well, straighter than you would think given the curved magazine. You can remove the magazine one of two ways, either with the paddle located forward of the trigger guard, or with the button on the right side of the receiver, just behind the mag well. Unlike the M16, you cannot place your finger on the mag release on the right side with your trigger finger, unless you very, very long fingers. The paddle release is easier (and more common on most automatic rifles and SMGs), but I think the right side mag release was designed to be pushed with the forward hand that grabs the mag and reaches around to hit the button.
I should mention a bit more about the stock. According to Arnie's Airsoft, the MP5K-PDW he used came with a solid polymer stock, while the MP5 R.A.S. he was reviewing had a PDW-style stock that was hollow and had moulding seams. Well, maybe the early PDWs had more authentic stock, which supposedly was made by the same people who made the real thing, or perhaps that MP5K-PDW owner had attached a real PDW stock to his MP5K (I'd like to know where he got it), but my PDW stock is also hollow and has the moulding seams of the MP5 R.A.S. I agree with Arnie, it's perfectly strong and will hold up to abuse and skirmishing, and the advantage is the lighter weight, but a real, or closer to real, PDW stock would have been great.
Speaking of stock options, the MP5K-PDW is easily converted to a standard MP5K if you can get your hands on a MP5K receiver cap. Alas, I've never seen one for sale, as I don't think Marui sells one by itself. They probably don't want PDW owners to so easily own two AEGs for the price of one and a single replacement part. If you know where I could get one, please do not hestitate to e-mail me about it. Oh yeah, the stock folds by lifting up on it and swinging to the right. It unfolds simply by pulling it back.
On the other end of the PDW, the forward handgrip I think it feels very natural. One thing you can say about Heckler and Koch, they know how to make an ergonomic weapon (except the MP7, which looks very uncomfortable). Even if you dislike vertical handgrips on your assault rifle, on this small SMG, it feels very easy to get a hold of and probably even necessary given the overall size of the model and the fact your forward hand is further back than it would be on a larger submachine gun or assault rifle. If you absolutely must, you can place your forward hand in a position similar to a assault rifle hold by placing three fingers (middle, ring and pinky) behind the grip and hooking the index finger around the grip while your thumb is alongside the left side of the handguard.
The MP5K-PDW comes with a short 28-round magazine, which is made of plastic sadly. It's strong enough and weighted to give it some additional heft. It also comes with the typical Marui catalogs, various papers and targets, 200 rounds worth of TM 0.25g BBs, a red barrel shroud, two instruction manuals (the MP5K manual, and the thinner PDW manual with all the differences between the two), a very small barrel cleaning and de-jamming rod, and also a very short loading rod. The small loading rod was the oddest thing, as I'm sure we're all used to the long loading rod that comes with nearly every other Tokyo Marui AEG. But this one is less than half the size, I suppose because the standard magazine that comes with the model is very small as well. I think this small loading road is ideal for the field, but obviously not as useful as the Marui 9mm pistol magazine-styled BB loader that comes with the SIG SG552.
Picking the model up and playing around with it a bit, I think the MP5K-PDW is an excellent AEG. It's lightweight which is always a major factor to me, very compact but also versatile and as capable as any other submachine gun. It's solid and I do not think will develop any performance problems (barrel wobble is an impossibility). If I had to think of a criticism, it would be the slightly shaky stock (less than 1/8th inch), and the flash hider came loose and would rotate when I attached then removed a suppressor. I took off the forward handgrip and tightened an allen screw and that problem was fixed. Keep a few key screws tightened (the stock screws to keep the stock as stable as possible) and you should have no trouble with the PDW--true with all AEGs. Unlike the full-size MP5, it's a few inches shorter than the compact assault rifles like the Beta-Spetsnaz, G36C or M733 (all of which I own). It has greater firepower than a pistol and has more ability than a machine pistol simply because of the stock alone--accuracy should be greatly improved. Once I buy a few magazines for it and get a chance to use the MP5K-PDW in the field, I think I will like it even more than I do now. And I like it a lot, it suits my preference and style very well.