Real Steel History:
The MP5K PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) is a variant of the MP5K introduced in 1991. It is equipped with a side-folding butt stock and a threaded three-lug barrel for attaching suppressors, and is typically fitted with the ambidextrous MP5N trigger group. The side-folding butt stock can be fitted onto any MP5K with no modification to the weapon itself. The PDW has seen only limited usage, mostly with special operations forces, aircraft crews, and tank crews. It is very popular with US special operations forces, who see it as a compromise between a pistol and a full sized submachine gun. (Taken from Wikipedia.com)


Ordering:
I ordered myGalaxy MP5K PDW ordered from www.nitroairsoft.com. They are highly recommended! Great customer service! The gun was out of stock in Hong Kong, but Jon called me and assured me that it would be rushed to me as soon as it was back in stock. Unlike most retailers, he actually delivered on that promise.
Price $125 Shipped, now $115 shipped!


First impressions:
The box that it came in is surprisingly good! I don't know who Galaxy is, but their translation skills are excellent! Everything was well packed in their Styrofoam partitions. It sounds cliché, but the first thing I said when I opened up the box was "wow!" After ogling it for a while, I decided to sift through the contents...


What's Included:
In this fantastic, glossy box came the gun, 8.4v 1400mah NiMh stick battery, charger, sling, magazine style speed loader, 2 magazines, one high cap-full length 200 round capacity, and one low cap-shorty, 28 round capacity, cheapo BBs. The usual stuff.


First Impressions:
Very high quality plastics. Metal is a bit iffy looking, but strength does not seem to be a problem. The gun itself is surprisingly heavy for its size. No creaks, wobbles, shimmies, anything. Very solidly built. Metal parts include: Stock hinge, 3 lug 14mm negative threaded barrel, Body pins, Selector switch, Front sight, Lower mag release, Both magazines, and Cocking handle. The rest of the gun is made of nicely textured, very strong plastic. The gun does not have standard H&K rear sights. It does not have the different sized holes, only 2 different sizes of rectangular slits cut into the drum, it works well for CQB, but long range accuracy suffers. Then again, it is an MP5K, so if you're going for long range accuracy, you're on the wrong boat! You also cannot easily change to different rear sights, as they normally have a spring that goes into the body. On this model, the battery is right below it.

Here is a pic with a High-mount Scope mount, and BSA Red dot sight, not included with gun.

Externals:
The gun has very nice externals. From the full metal cocking handle to the nicely textured stock, it feels great. The feel of the metal parts is great, the appearance is... iffy. The metal parts are shinier than the rest of the gun, but that can be remedied by some Krylon ultra flat black. The cocking handle is inoperable when a battery is in place. It simply has no room to go back. The magazine release feels very sturdy, and can be operated either by pushing the tab at the rear of the magwell forward, or by pushing the button on the right side of the receiver. Both are full metal. The plastic on the lower receiver, foregrip, and stock are nicely textured, and are a satin black color. The upper receiver is a smooth plastic, but feels sturdy, and is the same color as the lower plastic. It appears that Galaxy used a thick, high quality plastic on this gun. The pistol grip is comfortable, nicely textured, and easy to hold on to. I would have no problem going on a several hour patrol holding on to this gun. The stock folds by lifting the front upwards, at the hinge, and allowing it to fold in to the right. It locks firmly in place in either position. The foregrip feels sturdy, no wobbles, and nicely textured, like the rest of the lower receiver.


Trademarks:
Kal.9mmx19 on the left side of the mag well! Nicely molded into the body. Other than that, it has the Galaxy logo below the caliber markings. On the other side it says Made in China, Galaxy, G.5. The fire mode indicators are painted on, but they seem sturdy, won't scratch off easily.
NOTE: Some guns purchased from U.S. retailers are missing the Galaxy, G5, and Made in China trademarks, notably from Evike.com. It is unknown to me if there are any other differences.

Trademarks

Magazines:
The magazines are metal, and the hi-cap has 9x19 trademarks. The hicap feeds well, and holds approximately 200 rounds. The lo-cap feeds flawlessly, and holds 28 rounds.
Tokyo Marui, MAG, and all other Marui compatible magazines will work in this gun without modification.


Preparing the gun for firing:
To put the battery in, you need to first remove the two rear body pins. You do this by pushing the retaining loops into the pin, and pushing them through the other side. After you take the pins out, remove the rear stock. Then you need to take the front pin/sling mount using the same method. Slide the foregrip off after that step. The PDW Style flash hider must be taken off before you slide the foregrip off. Slide the battery from the back to the front, connector first, snaking the wires past the cocking handle and into the area that the foregrip covers. Connect the battery to the gun. After you do that, you can carefully slide the foregrip back on, avoiding the battery wires. Do the same thing with the stock. Replace all body pins, using the same technique as taking them out. After loading the low cap magazine with 28 rounds, or loading the hi-cap one with approx. 200, click it into the magazine well. Don't be scared to force it in the first few times. It has a strong spring that needs to wear down with time. Goggles on, weapon on safe, it's off to the range!

Pic of the battery connection in the front

Performance:
The selector switch moves smoothly between its settings, with a satisfying click at each stop. Click it from safe to semi and let out a few shots. Mildly firm trigger pull. I don't have a pull scale, but it isn't overly heavy or light. It is just right. You will be surprised with how loud and poppy this gun is! Trigger response is good, not great, but a better battery wouldn't hurt in this department. Shots are a little wild at first. Cleaning the barrel well will help substantially with this. The hop-up adjuster is located in the area accessible by removing the foregrip. It's a little white tab that moves back and forth. It is marked as to which way increases hop and which way decreases it. Seems like it won't move on its own, but only time will tell. On full auto, the ROF leaves a little to be desired. It's not particularly bad, especially when you consider that an 8.4v stick battery is pulling an M100 spring.
The gun chronod at 324-328fps with .20 gram matrix BBs consistently. Range, after tweaking the hop-up was 120' torso hit 9 out of 10 times. Past that, they go a little wild, but you're only working with a barrel that's about 4" long. Personally, I was impressed. For CQB purposes, this gun is, in my opinion, perfect. It snaps quickly on target, due to its short length and position of foregrip. It is a very comfortable gun, with no noticeable seam lines to irritate your hands. It is comfortable in my hands, which are pretty large. I don't foresee it as being uncomfortable for shooters with small hands.
50' accuracy test shown below: 3" group from bench rest using matrix .20 gram bb's

Internals:
I have not opened the gun yet, but it has been confirmed by several sources that the gun has a V3 gearbox, with Marui compatible parts, and metal bushings stock. The metal bushings are great for stock performance levels, even better if you decide to upgrade this little powerhouse.
It comes with a brass barrel, PDW length.


Modifications:
What's nice about this gun is that you can switch from a PDW stock, to a stockless K model by taking out 2 screws! First, you must take out the two body pins holding the stock on. When you pull the stock off, if you look on the inside of the mount, you will see two Phillips head screws. Remove them and you can take the folding stock off. Other than that, I have a sight mount from a Well R8, BSA RDS, Element 10" suppressor from www.nitroairsoft.com. Maybe an Intellect or a custom 9.6v wired into the stock down the line, but for now, the ROF is my ammo conserver! I may be switching to a low profile sight mount and a reflex sight. The Hi-mount kind of screws up the lines of the gun, in my opinion. Any claw mount for H&Ks will work on this gun.
The 10" Element mock silencer from www.nitroairsoft.com works great. It came with 14mm positive and negative threaded base caps, and is constructed of light weight aluminum. I feel that is balances out the gun well. It comes with 5.56mm trades which you should scrape off if you are putting it on this gun. 5.56mm in an MP5 doesn't make sense.

You can take off the threaded muzzle to make it a true MP5K, but the inner barrel is a bit too long and sticks out like this

Here are the 2 screws that you take out to take the stock off.

Here is the butt plate that you are left with.

Pros:
High stock FPS: 320s
Cost: $115
Build quality
Caliber trades
Compact size
2 Mags
Metal bushings
Full Marui compatibility
CQB accurate
Ability to convert it to a stockless K model


Cons:
Metal could be better
ROF is a little low with stock battery
Battery is a P.I.T.A. to get out! You pretty much have to charge it in the gun.
Non-standard H&K sights
No H&K slap here, battery is in the way
No other major problems noted yet



Overall:
I love this thing. It has replaced my AGM M14 as my favorite right now. Before, if you wanted a MP5K PDW, you either needed to buy a Marui, or a Maruzen MP5K and put a PDW stock on. This is a great alternative, and at a fantastic price. For the cost of one Marui, you can buy two of these powerhouses, and duel wield to your hearts content! With this much power in such a small package, people will think twice about making fun of your tiny gun! I am slowly brutalizing it to get some long term reliability reports. Expect updates soon! I give it 9 out of 10!
New info: For those that are looking for a normal MP5K, without the stock and flash hider, Galaxy has released one as well. Pricing looks to be about the same at this point in time.


Miscellaneous pics:

Discuss this review in the Forums.