The ZF-5 is the HK MP5 lookalike you’ve never heard of, but it’s high time you do.
HK MP5 platforms are extremely expensive and hard to find. There is an American manufacturer that has captured everything that makes the MP5 great and converted it into a near-distinguishable clone.
Enter the ZF-5, Zenith Firearms’ answer to collectors that don’t want to spend months of their lives searching gun shops and traders for an HK MP5 but want something effectively identical.
American-made is better, anyway.
ZF-5 Specs and Features
The ZF-5 is basically an American-made MP5 with a more attractive price tag and everything that makes the MP5 what it is, anyway.
It’s 17.9” long, 8.3” tall, and 2.3” wide with an 8.9” barrel, and weighs 5.5lbs without the mag and 6.7lbs with a fully-loaded 30-round mag, basically the same as an HK MP5.
Also, like the MP5, it’s chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum and runs a silky-smooth, extremely reliable roller-delayed blowback operation that is less harsh and smoother-shooting than a direct blowback action.
It features a manually actuated lever safety, a crisp, 6-8 trigger, and a mil-spec cold hammer-forged 4150 CMV barrel with an FNC treatment that is extremely durable and corrosion resistant. The ZF-5’s barrel also has 1/2×28 RH threads and 3 lugs.
It also features a fixed hooded front sight and an adjustable rear sight with a 4-aperture rotary drum; this adjustability, combined with the 6-groove 1:10 rifling, enables excellent accuracy.
It also features a Pic optics rail above the receiver, conveniently expanding the platform’s real estate to accept optics and other shooting accessories.
In all other respects, the ZF-5 is all but indistinguishable from the HK MP5. It is aesthetically very similar, down to the tropical handguard.
One point of difference between the official Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun and the Zenith Firearms ZF-5 is that the ZF-5 is strictly semi-automatic. While it’s not capable of selective full-auto fire like the MP5, this makes it more approachable to many American buyers who don’t want to have to deal with an NFA weapon or jump through hoops. Semi-auto is just as practical and much more convenient.
The ZF-5 also offers a number of other selling points. For instance, Zenith Firearms sells these ZF-5 platforms with high-quality carrying cases and two-point slings.
Zenith Firearms also produces a number of shooting accessories and MP5 parts that are compatible not only with their platforms but with H&K platforms and other clones.
For instance, Zenith Firearms produces barrels, muzzle devices (such as flash hiders and MP5 thread protectors), firing pins, and magazines that are compatible with both platforms. Their magazines, specifically, are a big selling point. They feature all-steel construction (down to the stainless steel follower and reinforced feed lips) and are electro-plated for corrosion resistance. They even have a round-count indicator at the rear of the magazine to eliminate guessing.
All in all, the ZF-5 is an affordable, reliable, high-quality, downright fun gun, and a great collector’s item, too.
MP5 Accessories
Take note also that Zenith Firearm’s collection of ZF-5 parts, including firing pins, magazines, barrels and MP5 thread protectors, are compatible not only with Zenith’s platforms but with H&K’s and with other roller-delayed blowback 9mm platforms.
In addition to these parts, they also carry stocks, cleaning kits, hammer assemblies, takedown pins, guide rods, and hardware kits – basically most of what you could need for firearms maintenance, repairs, or upgrades.
For more information on the ZF-5 itself or on the ZF-5 and MP5 parts and accessories that Zenith Firearms sells, visit their website online at ZenithFirearms.com or get in touch with them at [email protected] or at 434-202-7790.
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