MP5/G3 Large Tactical Handguard
made by Guarder/Intrudershop
reviewed by Arnie

Build Quality: The first thing you notice about the grip straight out the box, is how sturdy it is. Up until now the only large handgrip you've been able to get hold of has been the First Factory grip.

Now not to belittle the product from First (as I personally believe it was a pioneering product), but it has some downfalls. Firstly, it's rather flexible, and tends to creak, secondly and most notably, it has a bad habit of splitting down the mould seam at the front.

When you get hold of the Guarder LTH you'll notice that it's made of a heavy plastic and even 'unmounted' it's amazingly rigid. If you cup the grip in your hand, as if it was mounted on an AEG and squeeze you'll find it barely bends - even in my great hairy mits.

Assembly This is a bit of a DIY kit, as the component parts need assembling. This isn't a bad thing as it doesn't exactly require a PhD to assemble, so much so that Guarder didn't include any assembly instructions.

The three rails need to be fastened to the grip, which are attached to it with two Allen headed bolts each for the side rails, and three for the bottom rail (seven in total). This is where you come across another welcome attention to detail - Guarder have included the required Allen key (seen in the image to the right)!

There are three rails each with detailed engravings. One is engraved 'left', one 'right', and the other (the lower rail), which has an angled end to fit the curve of the lower side of the grip.

These rails are standard 20mm weaver style rails, that can fit a huge assortment of goodies. You get the vertical grip in the box to start with, but this grip is ideal for use with a tac light or laser unit.

It's here that again I was impressed with the detail and build quality of the handgrip, the threaded holes that the rails lock into are made of a nice anodised steel, and are very securely mounted into the grip (you can see them in the photos below)

So how secure are these rail fittings? Well I didn't have the heart to do it to one of our AEGs, and sadly I was also lacking a couple of spare fire extinguishers, but Richard (of IntruderShop) sent me some photos of one of theirs that they hung over 25kg from.

Not only did the grip support the weight, but it also survived to tell the tale. They would have hung more from it, but they could only find 2 fire extinguishers!

Now I think you'll probably agree this is a fairly nutty test to do, but if these grips can support this kind of stress then they're more than up to the job of Airsoft skirmishing.

The grip itself is made of the same material as the standard MP5 Tactical Handguard from Guarder, so the texturing of this grip is almost identical to that of the real-steel Surefire grip, this material is a decent high density plastic known as FRP (FRP stands for Fiber Reinforced Polymer. basically Guarder add some tough fibers into the polymer, meaning that the grip cannot be fractured at all easily - much like adding fiberglass to a concrete mix for anyone that's done building work).

Features As mentioned the grip can be fitted to the G3 MC51 and other similar variants (like the HK51).

The only small issue with fitting the LTH to the MC51 is that a slight modification is needed to fit the grip. (nothing that some simple, careful work with a Dremel can't fix)

Also because of the size of the MC51 receiver you can fit a 9.6V 1700mah twin-type battery at most. Having said this a 1700mAh battery is still better than a stock 700mAh.

(You can see the differences between the G/MP5 cocking tubes and upper receivers in the image to the right)

So what does the LTH look like with all the goodies attached to it? Checkout this image to the left from Guarder which perfectly shows the myriad of 'bits and bobs' you can now fit to your MP5 to light it up like Blackpool Lights.

Personally I'm not desperately keen on RIS kit, but that's just me, there are taclights, lasers and gas grenade launchers that you can fit, and plenty of masterkey odds and ends out there.

Looking for an easy way to fit an M203 (TM or SP) variant to your MP5, this is one of the simplest ways going.

Conclusion Several cheap copies of the Guarder LTH have sprung up recently, which to my mind is proof that Guarder's product is a real winner - I mean why copy something unless it's a good idea and worth making? Even though there are other version out there, we still highly recommend Guarder. You get your money's worth, and the complete package is second to none - accept no substitutes, buy the best.