The Spice of Life

For the last couple weeks, I have been focusing my attention on my series on affordable defensive firearms. While acquiring a handgun under the desired price ($500) will not be difficult, finding the parts to build an AR15 for under $500 is proving to be much more difficult. So far, I have acquired one part, and ended up taking a bath in credit card fees and shipping costs. Nevertheless, the quest will continue.

This past Thursday, I took a break from AR15s and made what will perhaps be known as the best trade I ever make. Somehow, I convinced someone to trade their $1200 rifle for my AR15 pistol that I had only put maybe $600-700 into. I consider it a early “congratulations on being a Lieutenant for a whole year” present to myself. This rifle was somewhat of an impulse buy/trade, although in my defense, it was only a matter of time until I acquired one. The rifle is a clone of an HK53/93, a Vector Arms V53/93.

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I say it was only a matter of time because, despite owning zero Heckler and Koch (H&K) firearms, I have  been fascinated by them for a long time. I am unable to pinpoint the exact time I became interested in them, but I think I remember reading a novel in which a main character carries an H&K P2000 as his primary weapon. However, the real fascination toward H&K started with one of the most iconic guns produced in the last half century: the MP5.

Used extensively in action movies, I saw this machine pistol in the hands of hero and villain alike on the silver screen. There was a History Channel show called Shootout where they would detail the gritty details of famous shootouts in history, and one of my favorite episodes was the SWAT team shootouts, specifically because of how much they mentioned the MP5.

Through this fascination, I began to do research, discovering that not only did H&K produce the MP5 and P2000, they had a whole production line that is used the world over, in both reality and entertainment. Jack Bauer of the show 24 uses an HK USP 9mm as his primary handgun. Pick up any Call of Duty or Battlefield Video game and you are bound to find something from H&K, if not the ubiquitous MP5, then their space age assault rifle, the G36 or .45 ACP pistols like the HK45 Tactical or the USP45. H&K even has been in the news as the “gun that killed bin-Laden” (which should be worded “the gun those Navy SEAL guys used to kill bin-Laden”) is an H&K M416, an enhanced version of the M4 Assault rifle.

So I’m a bit of an H&K fan. But I’ve never owned one. Which I compare to being a particular sport, but having never actually played it. So when the opportunity came across to haggle over this rifle, I jumped at it. Now, the V53/93 isn’t necessarily a true H&K. Rather its like the Toyota  Land Cruiser to the Lexus LX570. Built using the same parts, with a different name on the hood. It is a gun built using the same parts as the H&K 53/93, just under license in Malaysia instead of Germany. Whatever, it looks cool and you can’t really tell the difference, unless you are an even bigger firearm nerd than me, which is fine. I like it. Moving on.

Basically the H&K53/93 is a scaled down version of their G3 battle rifle, which is chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO (.308). H&K decided to scale the rifle down for 5.56×45 NATO and export it to other countries, specifically the United States. Then they got banned by law, and pre-ban versions from H&K go for many more dollars than I can afford.

Since I do not want to bore you any further, lets talk about my rifle. It’s pretty awesome, but it has some downsides. One, it only came with one magazine, and replacement magazines are going for upwards of $80 a pop, if I want to get an authentic one (which I do not). I can acquire some less expensive ones, if I can find them. Two, the rifle has a 1 in 12″ twist rate, which means that, when fired, the rifling in the barrel causes the bullet to make one full rotation every twelve inches of travel. Most modern rifles chambered in 5.56×45 NATO have a 1 in 7″ to 1 in 9″ twist rate in order to stabilize heavier bullets. When the H&K 53 was designed, the standard ammunition weighed 55 grains, and this wasn’t a problem. Now, standard ammunition is heavier (62 grains), and the heavier bullets will not stabilize, causing the bullet to behave unpredictably and for you to miss your target, if it is further away than 25 meters and smaller than your average aircraft hangar. If you use the proper ammunition (55 grain), then the accuracy is just what you would expect (so-so).

The final complaint I have for the V53/93 is that modernizing/customizing this rifle seems like it really is needed, but would be very cost prohibitive. While most other rifles of this ilk (AR15s, AKs) have readily available, and cheap, accessories, nearly all accessories for this rifle have to be made by H&K, and are thusly more expensive. So this rifle is probably going to remain in its current state, which was designed and put into production prior to the start of the Vietnam War.

Despite all of that, the rifle is pretty sweet. It is a bit on the heavy side, so recoil is even less of an issue than it normally is for the small 5.56×45 NATO ammunition. The trigger is heavy but workable, so that’s a plus. The collapsing stock is highly reminiscent of the MP5 (most of the reason I acquired the rifle), and makes it a bit more difficult to gain a proper cheek weld, but it looks so cool that I have forgiven it entirely. You also can do that cool move where you slap your hand down on the charging handle to send the bolt home on a chambered round when you are loading the rifle. Sometimes I do that move with an empty gun just to feel more alive when I am at home.

I haven’t shot this rifle nearly enough to tell you whether its the greatest thing since sliced bread, or only sorta-great-but-still-pretty-great, but I can tell you that it is fun to expand my collection from the ordinary AR15s and pistols. Hopefully I will be able to get my hands on an MP5, or more likely a clone of an MP5, to help my collection even further.

In closing, this rifle is cool. It is interesting in the way that it is different than your average AR15. It helps fulfill some of my H&K nerd fantasies, but also stokes the fires for more collection opportunities. It is a finely tuned piece of equipment, and I enjoy it for that. It will not be replacing my AR15s in any capacity as it is too heavy and old-school to keep up with their lighter, faster designs. Although I should point out that the original AR15 design and the H&K53 are pretty close to the same age.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Affordable defense series. I am close to narrowing down some parts for the AR15, and have all but decided on the pistol. It is gonna be a fun time.

Do what makes you happy,

-Spencer