Whats your favorite HK94/MP5/Mp5K/Clone etc Lower / grip?

[Pappabear]

Zenith uses polymer SEF housing on their MP5 clones. Navy ambi housings make much better sense given that it is 2019 and not 1979. When I bought my Z5 rifle last year, the first thing I did was buy a German FBI Navy style housing with a US made trigger pack from HK parts. Ergonomics are much better, and it is easier to switch the safety on and off without having to move your hand off the grip like you have to do with a SEF housing

Who agrees with this and can you post a link, any help much appreciated?

PB

[militarymoron]

Who agrees with this and can you post a link, any help much appreciated?
PB

Pappabear, what Zenith do you have - 9mm or 5.56, pistol or rifle?

Yeah, I agree with it (I'm a lefty, though), but do find Navy style housings more ergonomic as the grips are ambidextrous. If you're not familiar with 'Navy' vs. 'Navy style', 'Navy' generally refers to the genuine German ambi grip, ambi safety/large hole, pictogram housing. 'Navy style' refers to the grip having the same shape as the Navy housing, but having a small safety axis hole, and being compatible with all commercial semi-auto and SEF trigger packs. 'FBI' lower refers to the semi-auto only version of the Navy lower.

If all you're looking to try is a Navy style grip, then a safe-semi Navy style housing is cheap; you just swap it out with your SEF style housing in less than a minute.

My housing 'journey' over the years for my SP89 and HK93 is illustrated below:
SP89 original steel -> SEF style 0-1-30 plastic -> Navy style with ambi safety (best value for what I needed, and what I'd recommend)
HK93 original steel with aftermarket 'Navy shaped' replacement grip -> Navy style SEF -> Navy/FBI (bought before the aftermarket ambi safety was available)

The SEF and 0-1-30 housings were bought before the semi/two-position housings were available - for a semi-auto weapon I didn't really want three positions indicated.

[ccosby]

Do you know who made that aftermarket grip on the 93 lower pictured? I haven't seen that one before.

[militarymoron]

Do you know who made that aftermarket grip on the 93 lower pictured? I haven't seen that one before.

Unfortunately I don't - I bought it around 25 years ago at a gun show; it caught my eye as I walked past it sitting in a glass case. I haven't seen another one like it since. It doesn't have any markings on it.

[JoshNC]

Do you know who made that aftermarket grip on the 93 lower pictured? I haven't seen that one before.

Iirc I think it was Ergo that made those. They were advertised in SGN and Gunlist.

[JoshNC]

The “best” hk lower is highly subjective. You really have to try out a contoured and Navy pattern lower. I personally prefer the navy pattern. True ambi lowers are far more expensive than SEF. If you’re not a lefty, a lower that uses the standard SEF type fire control (either contoured or Navy pattern SEF) is fine and less expensive than the ambi lowers.

[Danus ex]

Navy-style with non-ambi right-handed selector.

[eodinert]

There are a few other things to consider...

Do you like your guns to be reasonable facsimiles of the original guns, or are you a shooter looking for the most comfortable or practical?

Original MP5s only came with plastic trigger housings; never stamped steel.

Is your gun a 'push pin', or does it have the 'shelf'? There are two (ish) ATF approved methods for attaching a grip housing on an HK clone. Up until the POF and MKE guns started coming in, there was only the 'shelf' mount.

The MKE and POF guns are 'push pin' and often take factory HK machine gun trigger housings without modification. Sometimes, you have to open up the hole in the front of housing for the trigger pack denial block to poke through. Sometimes, you have to hack the shit out of them to get them to fit.

Up until the SP5K came out, there was only one spec for the 'shelf' style trigger pack. SP5K shelfs are different than legacy SP89 shelves. I don't have an SP5K, so I can't really speak to the nuances of that. To put a machine gun trigger housing on a gun with a shelf, the housing will have to be modified to fit. A housing so modified is generally referred to as 'clipped and pinned'. Clipping refers to cutting the inside/front of the housing to rest on the 'shelf' on the lower, 'pinning' refers to cutting a push pin used for mounting the pack on a machine gun in half, and gluing it in the mounting holes so it looks like a proper factory gun, and not a neutered semi-auto. The 'clipping' part is necessary, the 'pinning' part is cosmetic.

Re: Difficult to turn selectors
Lots of countries made SEF selectors, and there are selectors with different style detents on them. I found that SEF selectors with a 'plunger type' detent is much stiffer than the style with a dimpled flat spring. I don't know the source guns (or countries) for the dimpled flat spring style, but they are much, much easier to activate than the plunger style selectors. The next time you are at a gun show, at the dude with all the HK parts in bins, look through the bins at the different styles and you'll see what I mean. I find them for $10 to $15 bucks.

Also, there are two different axle lengths for SEF selectors. One for steel housings, and one for plastic. Find a long axle SEF selector with the flat spring detent, and you will find it is much easer to activate the safety.

Selector-Lever.jpgSELECTOR.jpg

..and to answer the original question: Contoured SEF is the best housing, but it looks the most salty and original.

[SteyrAUG]

Original MP5s only came with plastic trigger housings; never stamped steel.

That's not true. Now it is true that most MP5s in this country were HK94s that were converted, but HK offered steel lowers as a factory option on MP5s. However the vast majority were slimline grip, straight magazine and poly SEF lowers.

[eodinert]

I don't claim to have any special inside knowledge, but that's different from what I have read other places.