The Best MP5 Clone? The Zenith MKE Z-5
God, Man, German Engineers, whoever you believe in, created the word “aesthetic” to describe the MP5. Initially, I wanted to start this post with an eloquently crafted love letter of the clean lines, the robust finish, the craftsmanship, and the prolific function of the gun world’s darling, the MP5. But just calling it simply aesthetic, does the job and more. Right beside the AK and M16, the MP5 is there as one of the very few guns that would be aesthetic to gun people and non-gun people alike. And this is all gushing about it before even firing and handling one. For those who have had the pleasure, know their love and respect for the MP5 only increases tenfold after sending some rounds down range with it.
My affinity for the MP5 is not at all hard to trace and may give more context to my gushing over, what is, an old and outdated gun. My dad was a big HK guy, I always gravitated towards it in video games, my first airsoft gun was an MP5 and lastly, it was the first gun I ever shot. It's a platform that continually wowed and impressed me the more I gained experience around it. From the engineering behind the roller delayed system to the sleek aesthetics to the way it just fits right in my hands; the MP5 feels like it was made for me. Obviously, that's an outrageous notion, but the MP5 just feels that right to me. I know everyone has that particular gun or platform for them and in my case, it's the MP5.
Why it feels so right to me simply comes down to the fact that I had the airsoft gun. It sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. Being an airsoft gun, it was something I could always have on hand as a teen. So for years, I had this thing that was a decent facsimile of an MP5 always within arms reach. I could manipulate it, mess around with the manual of arms and shoulder it. That obviously resonated years later. It's no goof either...my pistol airsoft gun that I handled the same way? It was a Walther P99. And today I primarily use a Walther Q4 for a handgun.
Anyways, all that to introduce I like MP5s. I have several, which I'm sure you could infer by now. But today we're going to focus on my first one, a Zenith MKE Z-5. I bought this gun second hand originally as a rifle. The gun had a nub in the magwell that limited it to these particular 10 round Zenith mags. Getting rid of the nub was the first thing I did to this gun in a laundry list of tweaks to get it where it is today. I took it out a fair amount and was continuously blown away by the recoil of it. The delayed recoil from the roller lock system was so exaggerated in my first shots when I was getting myself reacquainted with it. It felt like a whole half-second behind and the softness of the recoil made it feel like something was going wrong. Obviously, nothing was wrong and I was feeling the effects of the design. Since then, I’ve always paid attention to people I take out shooting and their reactions with the MP5. Nine times out of ten, it’s their favorite gun from the range visit.
Back to my Zenith MKE, eventually, I couldn't resist, and Form 1'd it. This gun transformed from this point into a Franken-MP5 that would appall any HK purist. I had the barrel cut down and threaded with a tri-lug mount attached with rock set. I only intend to ever use tri-lug cans, so I was fine to not have any threading as an option. I attached a Midwest Industries handguard to it. From there I put on a Surefire Scout light with a tape switch in a Cloud Industries switch holder. I use a KAG as my grip, placed perfectly where my fingers rest on the tape switch at about 4 or 5 o’clock on the handguard.
As it was imported in a rifle configuration there was a weird quirk with the Zenith MKE Z-5 that the trigger housing was attached to a cheap plastic A2 styled stock. So that whole thing had to go once it was SBR’d. Either way, it didn’t matter because I was going to go with a collapsible stock, but this did mean I needed to get a new housing. I went with an SEF trigger housing and moved the trigger pack into it. This trigger ended up being the gem of the gun as I later learned that I was lucky enough to fall upon a gun that had custom work done to its trigger. I plugged in some Magpul ambi safeties as well to round off the gun and further make it a mismatched abomination (to purists).
Lastly, for optics, I use a B&T Low Mount with a Scalarworks Leap Mount and an Aimpoint T2 to top it off. It allows me to view the irons through the mount too in case something were to fail, which with a T2, I’m not worried about, but it’s a perk to the setup. Oh, and I put a Meprolight Tritium front sight post for night shooting if the irons are needed.
So now with the gear part out of the way, let’s talk about this gun and how it has performed for me. I got it used so there's no telling what was shot through it beforehand but I have, myself, about 6,000 rounds through it. In all that time, I cannot recall a single malfunction, and 100% confident it hasn’t had a single malfunction since I SBR’d it (4000 rounds since SBRing).
Zenith MKE Z-5
My Zenith in its current and most up to date configuration.
I did James Williamson’s MP5 operator course and guys had HK, Dakota Tactical, and other excellent MP5s that were choking all through the course. It was a dusty environment too so there were some elements there affecting everyone equally. My Franken Zenith went without a hitch. That’s no knock on those and doesn’t hurt my confidence in my HK variants, but it was certainly very interesting. We did a walk-back drill testing the MP5’s range and learning where it falls off in its effectiveness. Because of the trigger job on mine, I was able to shoot more accurately and faster than the others. Not because I was the best shooter there, but because the clean 2-stage trigger beat out the other mushy, stock trigger breaks of the other guns. I already loved the thing and it had proven itself to me before, but seeing it measured up to other guns endeared it to me on a whole new level.
I also took an MP5 armorer's course (with James Williamson) and learned the platform inside and out. With that, I replaced the worn parts and learned what parts to have on deck. With that said, I see this thing to continue performing admirably for years to come and am prepared and knowledgeable to keep it running. I trust this thing more than any other firearm I have. For those who fuss about this: I shoot brass through it, 115 and 124 grain, nothing fancy, but only brass. I couldn’t tell you about how it’d perform with steel, and that’s not something I intend on shooting steel with. This honestly comes down to how dirty steel is and how dirty roller lock guns are. Want to torture someone? Make them clean a roller lock gun...a 308 or .223 one if you want to be particularly cruel. I stay away from steel in these guns for that reason.
Another highlight and usage of it were I used this gun in a PCC “fun match” recently. It was my first competition so I went with a laid-back competition. I’ll write more on that another time. I had the gun configured as I outlined earlier, not at all in a “gamer” mode and I was able to get second place using it in my first match ever. I already had this cemented in me, but this again further endeared me to the gun and that it feels so natural in hand and an extension of my body.
This post wasn’t so much a review of the Zenith MKE Z-5, as this was a personal sharing of experiences and a few objective anecdotes of reliability. But I can hope this conveys confidence in the MKE guns, which are now being imported through Century Arms as the AP5. I have two AP5s now as a result of my confidence gained through this particular clone. I will start to put those through their paces to see how they compare and will post that in time. And yes, I have two HK's, an SP5K and an SP5. They’re awesome guns, but if I have a reliable workhorse variant in the clone, then I’ll use that and keep the HK on the sideline for the moment to stay pretty.
I’ll keep logs on all my HK and MP5 experiences. If you couldn’t tell, I love the things so that’s something I’ll follow up on again and again. Now please excuse me as I go pick up my AP5-P from my FFL!
Author: John Gelardi
