Ok, I guess that , for some reason, you savages wanted some detail…

It’s a PTR9T which is pretty much a copy of the HK MP5K. I bought it for absolutely no good reason. In it’s current configuration it is less useful than a Glock 17 with a 33-rd happystick in it. In fact, in its current configuration it is fairly useless as a handgun. However…drop an ‘arm brace’ on it and you’ve got something.

But, honestly, the reason I bought it is for the cool factor. If I want a compact little package I have a CZ Evo. The gun is 1/2 the price of the PTR, mags are 1/3 the price, and the weight is less as well. But….it doesn’t have the cool factor of the MP5K. Heck, this thing will even fit in an operational briefcase. My plans are a lot less sinister. I just wanted one. With the moron in the White House getting more and more mouthy about ‘assault weapons’ bans, it seemed like a good idea to get anything I wanted that I didn’t already have….and that, my friends, is a short list. But, a little MP5 clone has been on my list for a while.

It does conceal nicely, though. Pretty cunning, dontcha think?

Original mags will be spendy, Magpul does make a drum but no sticks, and the only real aftermarket mags are either ETS or Unity (the same guys who made those AK mags a few posts back.) Honestly, I think I’m just going to tuck this away in the closet for a couple years and see if it appreciates in value as a result of a new ban. But….I might order up a few accessories for it just in case I decide that it’s just too shiny to not shoot.

So there you have it…..it’s not some deeply thought out part of a greater preparedness plan. Its an impulse purchase for no reason other than simply “I’ve always wanted one.”

I loves me some takedown gun action. I’ve a Model 12 Winchester that fits in my backpack so i can keep it handy for close encounters, and I’ve always liked the idea of a takedown 9mm carbine. When Ruger came out with their PC Carbine in 9mm that took Glock mags…well!

And now Magpul has sweetened the deal.

I know, I know…there’s always that contingent in the comments who feel the need to pontificate about pistol caliber carbines are worthless, etc, etc. Look, dude…Springfield’s Evac has, apparently, become vaporware and Ruger discontinued their takedown AR as well. So except for some boutique shops, there’s not a lot of mass produced takedown semi auto guns in .223 or 7.62.

Besides, I like the streamlined logistics of one caliber and one magazine between pistol and carbine.

Regardless, I just ordered the stock off Brownell’s. Let’s see how it works out.

Well….that happened:

A Winchester 94 in .44 Mag. (Pre-safety version), and a somewhat rare Browning BL92 in .44 Mag. Gotta say, that Browning is a smooth and slick action. Unfortunately it was only made for about eight years so if I need spare parts, I might have some issues. On the other hand, the Japs built some pretty solid guns in that Miroku brand.

For lever actions, I prefer Marlins (real ones, not that Remington-era crap). Don’t know if I’ll keep the BL92 or not yet. Probably not. I’ll have to see if I can trade it off for a nice Marlin .44 or .357.

But..yay leverguns.

The guns I sent to Bill Springfield came back last week. Sorta. There were several rifles shipped in two separate boxes and somehow FedEx managed to screw things up to the point that it took an entire week for box #2 to arrive.

But, I’m pleased. I’m less than pleased wit FedEx, but I’m quite pleased with Mr Springfield’s work.

And, since TPIWWP:

The paddle mag release really overcomes one of the biggest headaches about the semi-auto G3-type rifles. I had taken to not shooting the non-paddle guns just because they weren’t as convenient as the paddled ones. As a result, I have a couple of the PTR rifles here I haven’t shot in probably seven years. Now that they are all functionally identical, I’ll probably shoot them more.

If I had to do it over again, I’d get the AR-10 from S&W and go with that for my .308 needs. But, I’ve already got a goodly amount of these, a huge amount of mags, and a decent amount of support gear.

Anyway, I feel more at peace now that the incompetent goobers at FedEx finally(!!!) got me the rest of my guns.

TL;DR version: Worth it. Satisfied. Recommended.

So a week or so back I sent of a bunch of PTR rifles to Bill Springfield for some work. Specifically, I wanted these PTR rifles to have the paddle magazine release installed. PTR rifles of newer manufacture now come with this paddle release, but prior to that pretty much all HKlone rifles did not have it. The reason why the paddle mag release was left out on semi-auto guns is covered elsewhere.

So when looking for someone to do the paddle release conversion, Mr Springfields name is the one that came up the most. He had a reputation for good work and quick turnaround time. (And in these uncertain times, the last thing I wanted was a handful of useless PTR halves that used to be complete and functional rifles because someone was taking their time doing the work on them.)

So I contacted Mr Springfield, told him what I had, what I needed, and was he in a position to take in a buncha PTRs and get them back to me in a timely manner? He replied in the affirmative and the deal was struck.

So, I got them back today and it’s time to see how they came out. This is really not something I’m and expert at…I know very little about machining and welding. But..I can tell if a gun is working properly or not, so I’ve got that going for me…which is nice. How do they function? Seem to function just fine. Mag locks in, mag comes out. Of course I’ll take them to the range and fire a few mags out of each one just to be sure, but so far it seems like a pretty solid job.

I also had Mr Springfield send along a trigger pack that has his trigger work done on it. The G3 series has a fabulously unpleasant trigger. It’s my understanding that this was because the German military had, as part of its testing requirements, a drop test where an un-Safe’d gun had to be dropped from a height of 12′ and not go off. The designers of the G3 apparently decided to build in a bit of safety margin and as a result we get a trigger that is not conducive to terrific marksmanship.

I pulled the trigger pack out of my ‘hunting’ PTR and dropped in the improved trigger. A very welcome and very noticeable change. Barely any take up, no creep, and a nice clean(er) break. Definitely a more advantageous trigger to have on the scoped gun.

A word about economics: a new paddle mag release PTR dealers out at around $1100. This means that if you purchased your PTR several years ago when they were in the $700-800 range, it makes more sense to send the rifle out for a week and have the paddle conversion done than buying the newer rifle. (Unless your PTR is old enough that it has the older style chamber fluting as well, in which case then it makes more sense to buy the newer.) All of my paddle-less PTR’s were in the sub $850 range, with my last one being $400 which really makes the conversion a no-brainer. If you really want a PTR, either buy a new one with the paddle release OR get an older one at a cheap enough price that the $200~ for the conversion still puts you ahead of the game.

All in all, I’m pleased. Communication was good, turnaround was good, and quality of work seems good. I’ve nothing to really complain about. If you have an older PTR that doesnt have the paddle mag release and you want to upgrade to something much more convenient to use, I can recommend Mr Springfield based on my experience thus far.

Well, I got an email from Mr Springfield that my paddled PTR’s have shipped. I have to give him credit, I’d been following my bank balances to see when I would get billed and he billed after the work was performed and the guns were on their way. So…so far, thumbs up. FedEx is supposed to deliver them today. We shall see.

And, because I am an impulsive type, I had him throw in a trigger pack with a trigger job to try out. Because..why not?

According to the UPS tracking numbers, the PTR’s I sent to Bill Springfield arrived the other day. As I’ve mentioned several times before, the semi-auto HK91 platform really benefits from having the original mag release on it rather than the pushbutton release. So much so, in fact, that it is worth the $$$ to me to have it performed on my older guns.

If you decide to buy a new PTR or other G3 clone, hold out for one that has the paddle mag release already on it.

I am hoping to get my PTR’s back sometime next week (I hope) at which time I’ll be happy to report back on what I think of the job that was performed.  Stay tuned.