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ICS MP5a5
Reviews Views Date of last review
3 13609 10/8/07
Recommended By Average Price Average Rating
100% of reviewers £151.33 7.7
Gun

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Description: The ICS MP5a5.
Keywords: ics mp5 a5
Homepage/URL: www.icsbb.com


Author
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Corvid


Registered: July 2005
Location: Charlbury, Oxfordshire
Posts: 282
Review Date: 24/9/05 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: £189.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Great out of the box power, Good range, High quality metal body, Huge upgrade potential, Metal hi-cap as standard, No obtrusive trademarks
Cons: Mini battery (fixed by a custom modification), Slightly wobbly stock, Fairly high price, No real steel trademarks

After picking out all the airsoft guns I would possibly want, I researched them all, reading reviews, comparing them, and so on. One by one, I ruled each one out. Eventually, after ruling out the G36C, I was left with the ICS MP5 range. From that, I picked the A-series, over the SDs, and chose the retractable stock version. With a big grin, I realised that I had a fair chunk of cash left, so I ordered a 30rd lo-cap, a gun bag, a sling, and a bag of bbs. It came in a huge box, which I gleefully tore open. The gun came packaged as all ICS guns are: cable-tied to plain cardboard box.


My first impression of the gun before I had even picked it up was its size. It is quite small compared with AEGs like the M4A1 and the AK47. Even without the metal magazine and the battery, it is a very weighty gun. In comparison to a Sauer Super 9 (weighing 2kg) due to its size, the MP5 feels very heavy, even though they both weigh the same. However, after 3 weeks of owning it, I held my friend’s ICS M4A1, which compared with my MP5 was very heavy.


Lets look at the bodywork in more detail. The MP5 is truly worthy of the title “full metal”. Just take a look at the picture below. All the green is sturdy ABS plastic, and the red is solid metal.


As you can imagine, this gun is heavy for its size! One of the guns comforting features is a moveable bolt. Although it has no practical function, it still sounds very cool! You can lock it back and “slap” it back into position. On the real MP5 (and indeed most other guns) you need to either rack the bolt (slam it back and forth very quickly) or “slap” it back down. The reason for this is that the springs in firearm magazines are very strong to keep a reliable feed of bullets. If you let the bolt ride forwards in your hand, the bolt does not gain enough momentum to strip a bullet out of the magazine. Anyway, back to the review. I’ve heard it said that on the Tokyo Marui MP5 series, slapping the bold down could break the bolt off. I don’t know if this is true for the ICS models, but the bolt on mine seems to have no visible damage, and I can’t really see how the bolt could break due to its metal construction. As you would expect, the gun is very solid. The retractable stock is very sturdy, with very little wobble. The only wobble you get is when the stock is fully extended, and even then it only moves a tiny amount. This gun has very few trademarks, which is good and bad. One of the only trademarks is ‘ICS’ stamped under the cocking handle. At least you don’t have ‘ICS MADE IN CHINA’ written on the side.



Using the gun is simple once you get used to it. The battery compartment is located in the front grip. A little hint; don’t try to take out the fuse carrier unless the fuse has blown. It won’t go back in again, and even if it does, it will come out every time you open the battery compartment. The battery is fairly simple to put in, and as with most guns, it’s a little fiddly to put the cover back on, but nothing unusual.


The sights are designed to be a permanent way of aiming, not just there to look good, until you get scope or red dot sight. The rear sight can be used in two ways. You can use the V shape for wide angle aiming, or use the aperture sights for more precise aiming. Adjusting the sights is simple: you use a screwdriver to adjust the windage (left and right) and that’s it! To adjust the elevation (up and down) you simply turn the rear sight ring to the right height. This means you can adjust the sights from close to long range in seconds, and without tools. However, in dark conditions, whilst wearing my S-10 respirator (with ballistic eyepieces of coarse!) it was a nightmare to aim. I have ordered a red dot sight, which I hope will solve my problem.


One thing I like about the Heckler & Koch guns is the selector switch. I find it very easy to use, unlike those on the M4 series.


Now, to the function that matters the most: firing. I decided that target shooting was no way to test my gun, so I took a trip down to London, to Elite Urban Epsom, an underground bunker/target range converted into an airsoft site. It was here that I found how useless the iron sights were in practice. I also noticed that my rate of fire was pretty poor in comparison to many of the other guns there. However, when it was chronoed, all became clear. My gun was running at 320fps, and therefore had a lower rate of fire using an 8.4v battery. Although the site limit was 300fps, I was allowed to continue using my gun, much to the annoyance of anyone who got in my way. Next time I go down, they have offered to downgrade my gun using an M80 spring, which I gladly accepted. This will also increase my rate of fire Smile.


Until I read the manual, I had problems firing on single shot mode with the metal high capacity magazine. With the gun I ordered a cheap 30 round mag, and that seemed to fire fine on single shot. What I was doing was over winding the hi-cap. I was winding it 40-50 times, instead of 15 times as recommended! This caused the bbs to be pushed so hard up into the gun, that they couldn’t be chambered. The gun chronoed at 320fps last time I skirmished it. A single point blank shot to a soft drinks can nearly pierces both sides, but on full auto the can disintegrates into a wreck of twisted aluminium. When I bought the gun, I was expecting a very low battery capacity due to the mini batteries. However, with a 1050mah battery, I can usually get about 6 hi-caps before the battery is totally dead. The average amount a hi-cap holds is 230, so that makes for 1380 shots. Take it down to 1200 shots, because after an entire hour of non-stop full auto, you can clap your hands faster than the gun can fire.


I soon realised that 1200 shots just would not do if I were to going to skirmish with it. So, with the help of my dad (who is good with electronics) I made a custom battery out of a 3300mah battery pack. I got a really good deal, as the battery only cost me £17 ($30) instead of the £40 ($70) most airsoft shops were charging (oh the wonders of eBay!). The 6000 shots that the battery provided lasted me an entire days skirmishing, and I still haven’t run it flat!


In terms of replaceability, this gun is spoilt for choice. Since ICS only make 3 brands of gun (Colt M4, MP5 Series and soon the AK-74M), you can buy every part under the sun. Also since they are so popular, there are a multitude of other companies who make upgrade parts as well. Not to mention the laser that fits into the cocking tube (the envy of many CA/TM MP5 owners!). This gun is a real winner for upgrades.
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iloveics
GZ was epic, same again next year!


Registered: November 2006
Location: Hampshire, Fleet
Posts: 1321
Review Date: 11/3/07 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: £185.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: solid, shoots hard and accurate. nice ROF
Cons: mine whines

iv had my ics mp5a4 for ages.
skirmished it over 10 times. its neva failed me in the field, and iv got loads kills with it.
dont put a 9.6v in it. the gearbox will explode.


great gun if you stick to an 8.4v, still going strong.


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drgnslyr12

Registered: August 2007
Posts: 1
Review Date: 10/8/07 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: £80.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: good, full metal construction. YOU CAN SLAP THE COCKING HANDLE DOWN! did i say full metal construction?
Cons: no battery or charger with it. selector switch digs into hand slightly on full auto.

Well, having only bought this today, i cant really say that much, except that i love the full metal construction and high quality of the parts (I have used a real MP5 before, and i cant say theres that much different in balance and dimensions) as i said in the cons, I didnt get a battery with mine, so i have been forced to canabalize a battery from a RC tank of mine, simply cutting away the plastic wrapper and electro taping it to fit in the foregrip. staying on the build qulity, something that i was hesitant to do at first, but was amazed to find i could do safely, was slapping down the cocking lever without the actual cocking lever continuing on another four or five feet, wich was great (Mil-sim team requires us to do proper reloads if our wapon permits it). probably the only problem i can say i have with it without having fired it yet (Shame on me, i know!) is that when the selector switch is on full auto, is that the little bit at the back of it sticks down into my finger and thumb if i hold it properly, but its easily sorted by gripping lower.(Sorry, it just had to be mentioned)


I will be updating this tomorrow with the results of the shooting tests after i have got the battery finished.
[D]


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