It's strange, when you go to slo-mo...you gain about 40 pounds, hair turns red, gets shorter and you lose the glasses and hat. It's amazing what you see when things are slowed down.
It had a few years head start on the MP5, but that's kind of how the story goes anyone since 1964: invents a new SMG Every customer in the world: can I get more of that MP5?
I own no guns, have no knowledge or shooting experience and I am still addicted to watching this channel. The history and tear-downs are always interesting; the presenting style is endearing and holds my attention. Never change and keep the passion for forgotten weapons going strong!
***** Same here. I'm interested in guns as part of the military equation, like tanks or battleships, not as something I aspire to own personally, and also as examples of engineering and design. Ian's presentation, with technical detail, historical perspective, and a touch of humour is much more appealing to me that the "gung ho" style more typical of gun channels.
WVgregWV Well I'm in the UK, so the firarms world is limited, expensive and highly regulated here. Not really worth my time and effort since I have no aspirations to be a marksman or work with guns.
It's a bloody crime the Britons are so restricted in what they can own. Perhaps it's because I grew up around guns (yes, I'm a Yank), but I find shooting to be a very enjoyable sport, a method of help develop focus as fine marksmanship requires discipline, and a useful skill to have in case of emergency. And despite being a Yank, if I could own a proper Holland and Holland double rifle, I would have what is probably my holy grail gun.
I like this channel and I am also quite happy with the gun laws here in the UK. I could not feel safe in a country in which all and sundry can own guns easily.
Fact: The lettering on the saftety means the following: S - Sicher (Safe) D - Dauerfeuer ('continguing fire', full auto) E - Einzelschuss ('one shot', semi auto)
With the Uzi coming out a decade before the MP series, and with the German army adopting the Uzi, I reckon that was probably the largest contributing factor in why this gun didn't see greater initial commercial success. And with the MP5 coming out a few years later, it was pretty much left as a relatively unknown gun. Still a very neat design. Thanks for the video Ian and everyone else on the team.
@@olisk-jy9rz Ever hold an MP-40? I was shocked when I picked one up, off a gunshow table a few years back, only to realize it was at least as heavy as my Yugo AK/M70-AB2... (bout 12 pounds or so), the folding stock really sucked, and the sights were awful. And yet, all of those German soldiers, in all those war movies, made it look so light and user-friendly, right before they got killed... lol!
If you ever used any other sub-machine gun from the mid-20th century, uncomfortable stock and bad sights is a compliment. The MAC 10 series is a example of a popular gun, but was trash gun all around.
I remember this gun from Call of Duty Black Ops, and it was my go to gun in that game. Always loved the way this gun looked, but never understood why this gun never caught on either? Amazing weapon!
Walther and many other companies including non German ones used much of what was learned with the StG 44 and StG 45 to create a lot of there weapons, hence the G3, AK47, and even the M16 when you look at its bolt dust cover which flips down as opposed to the StG which flips up.
Even though most of the SMG's in black ops were largely the same, it is still cool to wield funky and rare Vietnam era weapons in a video game. You don't see to many Vietnam games.
If anyone wants to know, these were made from specifically 1963 up to 1985, so for exactly 22 years, & as well, in case any one else was wondering, here is there list of users copied & pasted STRAIGHT from WikiPedia (with the exception of reference links removed & "citation needed" messages removed). You're welcome. Brazil: MPK variant. Colombia: MPK variant. Germany: Used by various naval units in the 1960s. Also used by various police forces. Mexico: Mexican Navy. Portugal: Portuguese Navy. South Africa: MPK version (SA Police standard submachine gun from 1970-1990). United States: Used by 1st SFOD-D during Operation Eagle Claw. Venezuela: MPK variant. Zimbabwe: MPK variant.
policia militar do Rio de Janeiro utiizou a versão MPK até mais ou menos o inicio dos anos 90 e complementação da Taurus MT12A uma cópia um pouco modificada da Beretta BM 12 e das velhas INA M50 e M53 cópias da Madsen M50.
Not surprised to see the MPL used by naval and special forces. This looks like it was set up by a post- Vietnam war navy special forces warfighter ( I know it was made and issued years before that time ). The design and ergonomics just line up with the way they trained and operated.
As a child I remember the first SMG I saw was an MPL on a police officer in Munich airport in the early seventies. The message was clear....don't fuck with Germany. Of course I was made to feel very welcome in Germany and have spent many happy times there. German guns. German beer. German Cars. German machine tools. German porn. Unbeatable.
@@hanfpeter2822 So it's actually a few German actors with poor boundaries making it for degenerates in English speaking nations? Wouldn't it make more sense for us Anglophones to produce our own scat porn? Could also be that German consumers of scat porn are bashful? It's not like I know of anyone watching it here. I saw "Two girls and a cup". Left me uninspired. I have no doubt that people enjoy this kind of thing. I know - let's blame the Brazilians. They don't seem to mind.
@@hanfpeter2822 I've seen German porn. You have some very attractive ladies. They are athletic, appealing to the eye and passionate. I wonder if they smell and taste as good as they look?
About why it was not more popular, although this is just a guess, it is because: - Not as easy to hit accurately as a closed bolt. - Too expensive for an open bolt to justify the quality. If hostage rescue accuracy was needed, people would prefer MP5. If the mass of the open bolt clunking back and forth does not matter for the application, then something more cheaper and/or simple in design, like an UZI, can be just as good. I can see how MPL can be a premium quality open bolt submachinegun, but people who would want or need a “premium” in an open bolt would be very limited.
So basically it sits somewhere between UZI and MP5 in the price range without meaningful advantages over the UZI? That could be why the BW never adopted it
I remember them well from my time in the West Berlin police. I found it extremely controllable and pleasant to shoot. Interestingly West Berlin Police's pistols and submachine guns were made by Manfacture des Machines du Haut Rhin (Manurhin) in France.
A classmate of mine joined the West Berlin police in the late '80s, may be you've met him?His name is Christian Steiof and I gather his career was relatively successful.
Fun fact: The standard submachine gun used by the Amestrian forces in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the Walther MPL, while the standard pistol was an FN Model 1910.
Very nice sub-machine gun. It does not look like it would cost a ton to manufacture ether. The only possible explanation I could hypothesize on why it was not more popular is the sub-machine gun market was well saturated at the time this came out. It might had just gotten caught in the waves of sub-machine gun designs competing for popularity.
One of the most gorgeous submachine guns ever made. Many are iconic, very few are pretty. Quality has a quantity all its own, or something, something, darkside. Like an AMG BMW coupe, you don't need it to be popular, you just need it to work for you. One is enough. Let the masses have their Stens and PPsH. I just need one finely tuned MPL.
What an awesome little SMG. 10” barrel, simple design, seemingly low maintenance, additional safety feature, runs cheap ammo, comfortable ergonomics, German engineering… only problem is finding magazines. Would love to have one.
Walther did that safety well. If you look closely at 12:50, the safety catches and holds the bolt even before it was far enough back to strip and feed a round from the magazine. Slick.
We had these in the South African Police. We were not keen as they were not as effective as the Uzi that we were also issued with. Good fun though do they always came out on a range day. To be honest they lacked spares and were pretty well worn so tended not to be carried as most preferred the R1 (FN) or R5 (GALIL SAR).
It's one of those things, so many cars are very similar in all specs, but some are sold millions some people rarely even see on the road. In this case, it's the comparison between MP5 and other sub-guns. First time I saw the MPL and MPK in a magazine I fell in love with them.
I did training with this in police college and we also were issued with in the riot unit. We were warned that in event of dropping the weapon with magazine in, and it lands on the stock end could result in accidental discharge including possible runaway auto. So therefore we were not permitted to travel with loaded magazines inserted irrespective of whether safety was on or not. This after a driver was accidentally shot dead when one was dropped inside an armoured vehicle. I found it to be a fantastic weapon, just that the sights needed getting used to.
Hey Ian, the South African BXP, which is a Mac 10 type SMG, was built to replace the Walther MPL being used by the South African Police. It uses the same magazines and has the same type of sights. I owned one; have you ever fondled one of those? I know there are a few Stateside.
Thanks for reviewing this gun I never owned or fired one I remember having this gun in call of duty 1 and there was something I really lived about it. I don't k ow what it was but it was a very fun and an attractive gun to me it's one of my top 10 favourite guns thank you for reviewing it again ☺☺☺😀😀😀
Wish I could own one now, This is one of the first Subguns I ever shot as a kid. in the 80's i was able to shoot one for a whole day. My sister chose the MP5, I chose this one and we shot for about 4 hours long. I was about 13, my sister was 10.
it's really cool to see in the slow motion that the recoil system actually makes the gun tip ever so slightly downwards upon firing instead of recoil. Therefore with a tiny bit of adjustment that thing could fire like a laser pointer.
imagifyer Oh, you mean the P38 festooned with (mock) silencer, stock, scope, extended mag and all? As wielded by David McCallum as agent Illya Kuryakin?
bigred2989 Wiki says the extended magazine on the "U.N.C.L.E. Gun" P38 was a dummy, but it became so famous that it actually inspired the invention of extended auto pistol magazines--rather than the other way around.
When I was a boy I saw a picture from Hans Ulrich Lenzlinger on his office with a Walther MPK on his hand. Impressive control in full auto; I use to pay attention to these slow motion movies and this gun fires like the Beretta modelo 12 and the MP40. The MPK version was used in Rio de Janeiro by police for little more than 25 years (now they use rifles, too many criminals with bullet proof vests here). A small question: If the cocking knob escapes from the firer's hand before the sear catches the bolt, will the bolt be intercepted by this secondary safety sear? **a second small question... if the sear fails and the bolt escapes from the sear, will the bolt (again) be intercepted by this secondary safety sear? Open bolts use to be unsafe and, when all safety issues are solved, the entire gun becomes more expensive than a closed bolt version. I suspect the first SMG to use this type of bolt is the italian Armaguerra OG 43 and 44. Or not?
When I was a kid considering joining the Army, my recruiter had me go to Ft Lewis and some green berets showed us the Walther MPL and MPK in a display of foreign weapons. We got to handle them unloaded. They were cool then and now in my 50s I still wish I could get ahold of one. I’ve shot many subguns, but these are still unchecked in my bucket list
I'm utterly astounded at how that countryside looks completely identical to the UK where I grew up!! I mean... I still live here, visit my home town 90 odd days a year and it's exactly the same down to the grass, the *bird song* and the treeline! How fascinating to see how places so far apart can be so similar.
I sure did, additionally it made an appearance in the James Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987) in the hands of Czech police officers., despite them not using them in real life. It is really nice when video games include largely forgotten weapons in them, I have learned quite a bit about many unique firearms from playing various action games.
I served in the South African Police in a Counter Insurgency Unit from 1969 to 1973. Although I wasn't issued with one, I had a personal issue FN FAL 7.62 mm, some members of our unit were issued with them. I have used them on many occasions and learned to strip and clean them. An excellent weapon but it lacks the hitting power of the FN.
It was my MP as I was on duty by the German Police in West - Berlin during the 80s in the last century. The MP 5 is more effective, the Walther more simple and easy to remove for cleaning up. Nice report👍
The recoil is surprisingly light for a 9mm. The recoil system seems very good and the rate of fire is perfect for the gun. The fucking muzzle barely moves at all, its beautiful to watch. Definitely looks easier to handle than the MP5 which I found kicks more that one would think given how common it is and how it fires the 9mm. You'd think from all those games and movies and the fact that its *the sub machine gun* that it wouldn't really kick much, oh but it does. Not far away from a .223 at all despite firing a much inferior pistol cartridge. MPL honestly seems like the better gun here purely from a shooting standpoint. It might not be as reliable and cheap as the MP5 though so I don't know. Too bad more countries didn't adopt it, the MPL is fucking gorgeous! Make a modernized version of it and I'd rob a bank to buy one! I have no doubts a modern version would sell like crack in the hood.
I shot a version of the mp5 in Budapest on a bachelor party and yes, i was suprised of the kick. We shot pistols like the walther ppk used in james bond up to .44 calibre magnum, mp5 m4 and ak47. The muzzle flash from the .44 scared me like hell, and the sound was brutal inside the bunker!! The walther (it didnt really have much recoil, i was just expecting well, not much at all) and mp5 suprised me the most, the rest I was more prepared for since I already expected a pretty big kick
I used one of these for an international Police shooting competition when I was an MP in Berlin in the 70's. There was a short version also called the MPK. The k was for Kurz - German for short. The American Army did not have a submachine gun available to us so we borrowed some from the German Police. The competitors were Berlin Police, French Gendamerie, British MPs and the American MPs. They had these shoots every year and it was a source of a lot of fun and camaraderie. The MPL was given to us because the K version was so short the Germans were afraid we would shoot our fingers off. We never used the sights but fired from the hip. The Germans explained that this was how they fired instinctively.
also Ian, I know that typically your comment for a wire stock is "not very comfortable". Now Out of all automatics you have shot, which wire stock was the just absolute WORST of them?
DFX2KX The Sterling, The Madsen, The Steyr, The Beretta, The Walther...all "forgotten weapons" now. The MP5 is the only one of that generation left standing. Is the Uzi seen outside of Israel much these days?
pinz2022 maybe among gangsters but even at that most of those guys prefer kalashnikovs. honestly I think you have better chances of seeing an old m1928 chicago typewriter than you do seeing an Uzi.
This gun came out first by a good bit of time... but i think they were compared not to mention at the time there were still a ton of leftovers from ww2 and there wasn't much need for a new smg untill the mp5 came about.
it says on the wiki page for the guns that the walther mpl started production in 1963, and that the h&k mp5 started production in 1964. so, not a good bit of time to be honest.
+BigWheel What's funny is that the Bundeswehr already had adopted a submachinegun in the late '50s ...the Uzi (MP2). The MP5 was pretty much always a specialist's weapon, not like the open bolt SMGs which were supposed to be cost effective issue weapons for the rear echelon and vehicle crews. An MP5 is basically as expensive as a rifle.
I've always loved the way these guns look. I used to have some squirt guns that were modeled after these. If I had a chance to own one SMG this would be a top contender 👌😀👍
I’m very surprised by the lack of “better than the MP5” comments. This was kinda like the last hoorah for the open bolt subgun as the MP5 started to rule the world. Cool gun, would love to fondle with one someday.
Just for completeness, MPK stands for Maschinen Pistole Kurz. (Short). German weapons designations often include that sort of information. For example the Walther PPK is Polizei Pistole Kurze; Short Police Pistol. (It has a short barrel, not stature-challenged users.)
Germans are straightforward and like to use German words that describe the role/function of the weapon in their model designations. The Americans seem to typically prefer designing company names (AR-15 = Armalite model 15, NOT "assault rifle" as some morons would have you believe. similarly, the Springfield M1903 rifle was designed and manufactured by Springfield Armory). The American military also has a separate military classification for equipment that always just uses "M" followed by a number, which used to be the year of adoption but now is arbitrarily just whatever, for everything from pistols to tanks. Speaking as another American, I don't really get that, and I can tell you there isn't really much rhyme or reason to it. The Brits used to be wonky though. For example, STEN is an amalgamation of the designers' names, Shepard and Turpin, as well as the manufacturing plant, the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield. More recently, it seems that UK equipment has more straightforward naming conventions (i.e. SA80 for Small Arm, 1980s)
In American military terms, the initial designation "M", "F", and so on describes a function, though M usually means "model" and the number is what sequence a weapon appears in the arsenal. The M-16 is the 16th model of rifle trialed by the military, and the lack of an "XM" designation means it was adopted for service. The M-4 is the 4th weapon intended for special operations and rear echelon soldiers and was the replacement for the M-3 Grease Gun SMG. But like the English language, good luck keeping the rules consistent.
I have always wanted to see the mpl in action you made my day with this video. I'm always excited to see your videos love all the guns and info you have. Keep up the good work.
i heard the reason it didn't catch on was because its an open bolt submachine gun that was released around the same time as a lot of companies were releasing closed bolts and people prefered closed to open so the argument is that it was sold at an unoportune time
