The concealed collapsible briefcase MP5K, with firearms and weaponry expert Jonathan Ferguson 

Jonathan saw so many cursed guns on game spot so he had to get a portable emotional support mp5 😂

Hi Jonathan, I was actually trained on this configuration. The way it is deployed is: left-hand carry with the muzzle pointing BACKWARDS; drop the case; bring the gun up holding the handle whilst swinging it around into muzzle forward position and to eye level; putting your right hand on the pistol grip and trigger, aim and fire.

I was only familiar with the briefcase MP5 that was actually fired inside the briefcase rather than something that quick drops. This design does seem a lot more practical.

One thing I love about channels like this is that there is no rivalry they freely refer and mention each other when someone has done a similar video or breakdown

FINALLY some gun range action!!! 😎 Jonathan, you're the most bad ass gun nut ever 🤣😎 I vote for Jonathan Ferguson as the next Q in the next Bond movie!

Still amazes me everytime I hear that the MPK5K was made in '76. It just doesn't feel that old.

Now thats a real conceal carry policy

Everyone: German stuff is overengineered ! Germans: Pushes the button on the Zerfallkoffer

Hey, nice to see people giving a shout out to The Armourer's Bench. Criminally underrated content, and if you like this, chances are you'll like some of their stuff too.

Wow, I've never actually seen the Operational Briefcase used. That was much faster than I was expecting and about as slick. 👍

That moment in Ghost in the Shell's first scene is amazing.

"What is this weapon?" That absolute weapon is called Jonathan Ferguson

Ghost in the Shell vibes… cool.

NGL, the way the case flys open rather dramatically definitely adds to the cool factor.

Jonathan 's audition tape for John wick 5 is looking good

"Zerfallkoffer" would be closer to "fall apart suitcase" but "break away case" isn't far off so either would be good. As for pronounciation, the german Z at the start of the word is a hard z - much closer to a [ts]-sound (like in Tsunami or like "the explosive hiss sound of a snake") but aside from that the pronounciation is excellent. The pronounciation of "Schießkoffer" is pretty much flawless.

The most badass intro in all youtube history

There is even on the inside of the claw mount a label with an arrow "Schußrichtung" (nowadays "Schussrichtung") which means "Shooting direction"

That's a nice T-Shirt, Mr. Ferguson👍

0:04 when Bob has stolen from the office fridge for the last time. also, real nice shirt, they should add nother line on the name card, connoisseur of dandy shirts, and cool briefcases.

Masamune Shirow likes that. Ghost in the shell shows a few things very similar.

This was clearly the inspiration for the bodyguards’ guns from the opening scene of the original Ghost in the Shell.

Regarding the transition from carrying to shooting. Without handling the gun, the way of carrying suggested by the manual makes sense to me in way: If there's an immediate danger, you get your hand on the trigger without having to pass the grip at first, enabling quick firing while the other hand is still on the top handle. It's probably not very accurate or comfortable, but could have you spewing fire a tad quicker in the direction of the engagement.

I had a play with one of these once in the very early 1990's and never saw or heard of it again. The RMP had it for CP duties. No idea how many were in service in the UK or if it was just for demo. The drill as I was told, was apparently to carry in left hand, drop case, keep hold of the carrying handle and get off the first burst before swapping to front grip. I do remember you needed a grip of iron to depress the release.

Someone PLEASE make a gif of Jonathan walking in and dropping that briefcase

That comes out so fast, its kind of terrifying. I'm surprised I've only seen this style of concealment in Ghost in the Shell, it's highly cinematic, practical or not.

I knew this existed! I saw a German language documentary on the GSG-9 unit. There was a spot in it where two of their operators in some sort of action demonstration as they sprung into action by deploying this particular MP5K setup and weirdly enough, they grasped the forward grip in an upside-down hold as they fired them. The documentary is here in RU-vid.

If you’d CGI’d Desmond Llewelyn into that opening scene it would’ve been perfect!

I was right. It was an Mp5. Sweet. You had fun with it, and that is fun to see

I want this for my MP5K. MP5K is one of my favorite firearms that I own.

Very very cool to see this version of the "Operational Briefcase"

Omg ilove Ferguson. The intro killed me 😂john you are golden 👍

Honestly... you have the best job...

Im new to the channel. Im so glad i have some caughting up to do on videos.

We had the one that discharged from the case on a job once. Interesting bit of kit to master.

Weaponised luggage....nice! You do have the coolest job in the world BTW.

The MP5K is my favorite submachine gun! I first saw the MP5K when I was eleven years old when I first saw it in "Die Hard 2" and it's been my favorite submachine gun ever since!

Okay this is the coolest intro I've ever seen on any RU-vid video, ever! 😂

I hadn't seen this one before. I knew about the operational briefcase, but this is actually a lot more practical. A semiautomatic version with no foregrip would also be legal to carry for Americans with concealed carry permits, since it would technically be a pistol. The original operational briefcase would be classed as an "Any Other Weapon" because it can be fired in its disguised configuration. This one can only be fired when it is outside the briefcase, meaning the case is just the equivalent of a holster.

Considering pronounciation - the first two were spot on. Zerfallskoffer is spoken with a hard "Z". Like Tsar - Zar in German.

The only thing missing from the intro scene was the Bond theme

Ghost in The shell!

Now thats an intro johnathon

I think that, since your right hand has higher motor function than your left, it would be a slight bit quicker to do it as the manual says, as you can grab it quicker. And you already have a general idea where your right hand wants to hold a gun, whereas the left usually just follows suit. Just my thoughts. This would, obviously, be reversed for left handers.

I never leave home without one.

Great German pronunciation and spot-on translations.

Another reason for the left hand drill, that is the side of the body one would be expected to carry a briefcase (leaves the right hand free for doing more important things like shaking hands) you don't want to be swapping hands or standing out with this kind of weapon

Thats such a cool intro

Carrying left makes sense because you can have your shooting hand on the pistol grip the moment the case breakes away, so you can start firing even with your left hand still on the case grip if every second counts. Then you can switch your left hand to the foregrip. You have one less transition before the first shot. So the manual is plausible.

The example of the fire-inside-case version in the Dutch army museum has a big white dab of tipp-ex in front of the carry handle, as a visual reminder which side is the front. Just figured I’d share that info on a field modification. I dunno how common it was, but hey, it’s not every day I get to be the one sharing info on a firearm…

This is so cool 😍

I guess nowadays all these weird guns(briefcase guns, shoot behind the corner guns, guns that collapse into a container, guns that can be concealed in a sleeve, etc.) would still find usage, but they would require updating to either similar PDW rounds to MP7 uses OR to heavy subsonic ammo like VAL or Whisper, depending on if the gun has space for silencer. Besides nowadays for most of them you can get far better sighting equipment that would allow to use them "off hand" or in weird positions like lasers(existed, but were weak, fragile, bulky and too expensive), red dots(existed, but had same trouble) and even direct feed(technically exists nowadays, but we're not on smartgun level yet. But someone like secret service can probably afford and maintain it).

Great gun, as I use it in Far Cry 6 and especially Rainbow Six Extraction!

I just re watched ghost in the shell they have inspired by this the guards in the opening scene

Jonathan is the coolest nerd out there 😎

when you have a very special Business offer

Carry it left handed but with the muzzle pointing to the rear. Bring it up to fire by dropping the case and bringing it up across your body. Keep hold of the carry handle with your left and then grasp the pistol grip with your right hand and push the safety/change lever all the way down to "A". Lean into it with your weight then have at it.

your sooo lucky to be able to shoot these in the uk

Very cool case and video. Although I'm very distracted by all of those Em's, an entire rack of them! Lol

The left hand operation is probably to get the trigger hand on the weapon first. You could fire while still holding the carry handle

ISS Props in SoCal has a newer one for the MP7. I saw it when I toured their facility in 2019.

For stylized variants of this and the Mateba, check the brilliant 1995 anime Ghost In The Shell. Yes, "Fallkoffer" means breakaway case, or literally "drop case". People often ask me what "Heckler and Koch" means and I used to answer "Nothing, they're just two very ordinary family names." That's not right, since family names often refer to a location or a profession. Heckler & Koch means "Lumberjack and Cook".

There's something wryly amusing following up firing concealed automatic weaponry with a polite, "Hello everyone, Johnathan here."

not a german speaker (not a native english speaker either, so this might be really wrong), but zerfall pretty much means "to fall apart" so "break-away" seems to be a fitting translation.

I wonder if the carrying in the left hand is in order to keep the right hand clear for other stuff, e.g. if you instead needed to draw your handgun (presumably you'd have one)

Hi Jonathan, love the vids, just wanted to chime in regarding the German usage manual, could it be that you start with it in you left hand so that when you then grab with your right you are technically able to fire, even if it isnt advised, step 1. LH deploy, step 2. RH is fully gripping gun with ability to pull trigger, where as if you started right, there's an extra step before you could start firing, 1. RH deploy, 2. LH grip, 3. RH is gripping and ability to pull trigger, obvioulsy you'd want both hands gripping the gun before firing but in an emercency LH holding does allow you to pull the trigger sooner Also it may be possible to release and transfer to right hand in one movement making it even quicker, No idea if any of this is accurate but it seems logical from my amateur POV

Because you asked in German the 'z' isn't voiced. In English 'Zerfallkoffer' would be writen 'Cerfalkofer' or something similar. Translated it means "disintegrating briefcase".

These were in the Ghost in the Shell movie. I kind of want one.

Ah yes, notable firearms expert and vampire hunter Jonathan Ferguson

First saw one of these used by the UK Special Police (Firearms Unit SO9?) for when President Reagan went to UK in the 1980s. US Secret Service were not allowed to carry weapons (at least openly) but SO9 carried these along with handguns and rifles (H&K 33 SG1s). Some other special units were involved due to the "Troubles". H&K USA in Arlington and later Chantilly had these in inventory, but the "reach in" style leather case and later Operations Case were demoed to Police and Federal Agencies, and the drop free case was not. Biggest buyer of these was Saudi Arabia. I had two H&K MP5Ka1 fixed sight SMGs in my 24 hour command post with these drop fee cases. I traded the Saudi Security officer in charge a whole bunch of Marlboro hardpack cartons of cigarettes for one. I had a H&K MP5K-Navy SMG with the long barrel, and it worked fine with this case. Sold it to a collector in Indiana years ago for the price of a new Jeep......he had more money and desire for things H&K than I would have thought possible. Still nice to see a H&K rarity documented outside of Germany and the Middle East! Nice content Jonathan!

In the briefcase where you fire from inside the case, how are the casings able to have room to eject?

The Royal Military Police close protection teams still had these in inventory in 2017, they may still be using them today.

I would love to see more about the EM-2 rifles in the backgound! most of them have wood furniture that I love but, some have a black material, polimer/plastic I wonder?

Break-away case sounds like a good translation, fall-apart case would work well too; Zerfall can also mean breakdown like in nuclear material but thats not useful here

What if you carry it in your off hand but facing backwards and then rotate it as you bring it forward so that the grip goes straight into your dominant hand? Wouldn't that be the fastest way?

I would think it meant in the left hand facing behind you so as your swinging it infront of you the case drops and you can reach for the handle with your right hand.

Could you show us round the shooting range at the museum? How does it work, are rounds counted in and spent rounds counted out for security? Knowing are gun laws are so tight? Be interesting to see i think

I do remember you mentioning this in a Game Spot video (or one of the cases). "Zerfall" is close to the German word for decay "Verfall". Do not know if it is related but it is close.

love the shirt!

Zerfallkoffer sounds like something from Schrödingers lab. Beautiful word.

I suspect the reasoning behind carrying it in the left hand might be to get your right hand on the trigger more quickly. If you are in an extreme close quarters situation such as being indoors in the same room as your targets then it might be more important to get shots off quickly than to take proper aim. Depending on how sturdy the briefcase handle attachment is perhaps it is even viable to still hold on to that when you fire rather than switching grips?

Was used in The movie The Replacement Killers

Love the punchline at the end. 'So if I saw someone with a (hard shell) briefcase 💼 and a shifty pair of eyes 😎 walking around, I might be suspicious.' Same as you would be if you saw some guy walking around in a trenchcoat in Iraq probably.

Left hand carry for right hander makes sense to me, because if the gun is deployed there propably would already be an ongoing life threatening situtation and in that case the priority would be to get the firing hand on the gun first and be ready to fire immediately. Getting the support hand on the gun would be a secondary priority in my eyes.

Jonathon there's a HK product video on here showing the one case being fired if you want to look it up! the title is the HK weapon system (full video)!

Nice to see this low visability option. I did know a person who used a system like this. he was a courier escort in london. Him and a partner would shadow the carrier if anyone tried it on his job was make them regret it. he was very well paid and retired early.

There’s one for sale on one of the forums right now

Nice. Do you have a UC-M21 as seen in Robocop 2?

Love the backdrop of Em2's and L85 prototypes - Maybe a vid idea is a tour of the racks? Anyway, interesting briefcase idea.. looks a bit clunky shooting it with the handle on top, but I suppose its situational to the use case eh

I'd love to see the expenses sheet for "60 rounds, 9mm - MP5 briefcase magdump (for posterity) (multiple takes)"

if you said a left hander should have it in their left hand after stating what sounded like the opposite. the only reason to sacrifice saftey of passing to the offhand first would be to fire with one hand asap. you could even fire while holding the handle without changing grip if you need to spray some cover fire asap. which speedy shooting would be a purpose of having the gun already in your hand.

Someone did a very interesting cased firearms in the 90's. it was a 22 but with thousands of rounds fired very fast, cut right through anything with the weight of rounds going down range very fast firing no recoil to speak of. Saw it once in a demonstration, but never heard of it again.

When I was on active duty I saw a patrol return from an action where they found 33 empty cases of these in a school. Just imagine what happened to the gun!

Zerfallkoffer would be more like a fall-apart-case.

Spectacular video, thanks a lot! 10:55 What use is there for this system in the German military? Dignitary protection? 11:55 Would a folding stock even fit in such a case, given how it operates? 14:50 Wasn't GSG 9 part of BGS at that point, hence the name?

I think that since it is meant to be concealed and you shake hands with your right. I imagine salutes were also a major consideration. Not to mention that these weapons are clearly meant to get close to a target and the assailant may need to quietly use their dominant hand to knife a dude in the neck to get close to whoever their target is. I'm just speculating.

I've seen these things in movies but I had no idea that they were a real production item

Nailed it at the end.....who the hell moves with 80s cases anymore....unless they're Moore era Bond villain.

The carrying on the left side maybe connected to a thought principle in the German military to keep the "working hand" free. At least that what was thaught in basic training.

way too cool