Click Here to Purchase the Elite Force H&K UMP 45 Gas Blowback!
Heckler & Koch is world-renowned for its reliability and ability to make sexy guns. In English, Heckler & Koch (H&K) is pronounced Heckler & "Coke." With that out of the way, H&K is a German military defense manufacturer. What is a defense manufacturer? They specialize in making Militär waffen or military weapons. Their company motto is currently Keine Kompromisse! (No Compromise!) Depending on the era, you may also know that their catchphrase used to be "In a world of compromise, some don't."
Now let's talk about some of the other iconic offerings from H&K you may be familiar with, such as the G3, MP5, MP7, MK23, HK69, G11, HK 21, P7, VP70, USP, and the list goes on, but those were my personal favorites. Today, we will look at the UMP 45, produced in the 90s and designed to be a lighter and more cost-effective alternative to the MP5, which has been in production since the 1960s. The real UMP is offered in a few different flavors, such as 9x19mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP. The H&K UMP 45 has been a favorite of mine since 1998 when I used to play the computer game Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6—enough history.
Elite Force Airsoft is a division of Umarex, an Airgun & sporting goods conglomerate from Germany. Elite Force Airsoft division focuses on the Airsoft side of their business and is responsible for providing excellent products and customer service. Elite Force Airsoft (and Umarex) specializes in offering licensed replica airsoft guns and holds some of the best names in the real gun market. Thus, it can offer us some amazingly detailed licensed airsoft replicas. With that being said, we have the H&K UMP 45 Gas BlowBack Rifle (GBBR)
The H&K UMP 45 GBBR is a high-end, Taiwan-made, green gas-powered airsoft gun. The body construction is polymer, like the real one, and would still be considered a "metal body gun" in airsoft terminology. The polymer used is extremely impressive and feels much like a real USC (That is not a typo; the USC is the civilian version of the UMP.) I am not cool enough to have fondled or shot a UMP, just the USC variant.
The first thing that stands out to me is the magazine. THIS THING IS HUGE! <insert witty remark here> Why is it so big, you ask (don't even say it)? Because the real one is meant to hold 25 rounds of .45 AUTO and to do that effectively and not be a foot-and-a-half-long single-stack magazine, it is a girthy 25-round, double-stack magazine. However, this bad boy holds an entire can of green gas and 30 rounds of 6mm BBs for airsoft purposes. Oh, and the magazine doesn't hold an entire can. It just has A LOT of gas, which is a good thing. I'd much rather run out of BBs before gas, as with some select fire airsoft submachine guns.
You may also be wondering what all this writing on the side of the magazine means. Well, it all happened on a dreary September in 1994 when former President Bill Clinton (domestic partner of Hillary Clinton) signed the "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 into law." Which enacted the Federal Assault Weapon Ban, which specifically banned many SEMI-automatic weapons that had a detachable magazine and 2 or more features or characteristics of an assault weapon (Who gets to consider what features make a sporting pistol, rifle, or shotgun an evil assault weapon when the weapon has never assaulted anyone is beyond me.)
Besides banning a number of types of guns, the law also banned possession of newly manufactured magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition, and all magazines manufactured during this period had to be stamped "Restricted Law Enforcement / Government Use Only" and have the date stamped on the magazine. Fast forward 10 years, and the Assault Weapon Ban sunset in September 2004 is no longer in effect. Studies have shown no statistically significant evidence that either the assault weapons ban or the ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds had reduced gun violence.
The next thing that pops out is the side folding, skeletonized stock. H&K guns always have the coolest stocks, in my opinion, and this one is certainly no different. The stock has the perfect length of pull for use with or without body armor and, when deployed, provides a stable and robust platform. Everything about it screams German engineering, from the well-thought-out stock holes (what about the holes?? more on that next) to the intuitive stock release button, latch, and hinge mechanism.
Tada! It's to hold your pins while field stripping and cleaning your gun. They have been implementing a very well-thought-out design feature since the late 1950s. Could you imagine being in an active war zone in some outpost and needing to clean your rifle because you decided to fall into a big mud puddle while cleaning your disassembled rifle? Murphy decided to make your pin go full Chuck Norris on you and end up missing in action. The pins could be captured like an M16 or retained somehow, but due to the construction design, that would not be feasible, and a push pin would be the only option. I wish Airsofters would use this feature, especially on the G36 and MP5A4, while changing their batteries.
While we have the thing cracked open, let's look at the internals of this gun. Here, you can see the trigger pack, internal guts, and the ball-bearing roller hammer. Much like the real gun, its simplicity makes it beautiful.
Besides the trigger pack in the previous picture, this is the only other moving, mechanical part of the gun. The bolt houses the loading nozzle and all the gas blowback-related parts. Take a look at the burly recoil spring.
The recoil system is well thought out, and the recoil spring is as it should be. But, looking further to the left, we see a polymer recoil buffer that the bolt directly impacts (this reminds me of the recoil buffer used in the real USP Compact). The shock mitigation doesn't end at the buffer. Note the burly spring just to the left of the buffer, which is a burlier spring that absorbs any excess rearward movement of the bolt and protects the entire body of the gun, especially the lower receiver, from stress fractures over time. It also sends that bolt home with authority for a satisfying felt recoil and sound.
The gun is awesome and can be field-stripped into 3 basic components. Talk about only a few moving parts. This should be a very easily serviceable gun in the future.
While we are still looking at the aft end of the gun, let's look at the rear integrated sling loop and that burly stock latch we mentioned earlier. This mounting point would be perfect for mounting a Lancer Tactical Single Point Bungee Sling.
The rear sight is fully adjustable for elevation and requires no absurd tools like the MP5 or G3. It features two apertures, a ghost ring, and a notch sight. I do prefer a ghost ring sight. However, I feel for the close in use, and with having an electronic dot sight mounted co-witness to the irons, I prefer to use the notch rear aperture as it allows looking through the dot sight at unconventional cheek welds and takes advantage of the "parallax free" theory of red dot sights.
The above picture shows Lancer Tactical Mini Red/Green Dot Sight co-witnessed nicely with the irons. You may notice a trend of me using this sight, but it is my favorite. It is versatile and works great in many applications.
Here is a better view of the Lancer Tactical Mini Red/Green Dot Sight. It's so unobtrusive, and it's at home on the UMP.
Next to SEF, this is quite possibly the most iconic and recognizable selector markings of all time: BULLET PICTOGRAMS! H&K, on their MP5 Navy, H&K lowers, used pictograms to show you what the different selector positions would do. In the above picture, you will note 4 different pictures. This lower has Safe, Semi, 2-round Burst, and Full Auto. The gun has a fully functional 2 round burst! This is just too cool, especially with a Gas BlowBack Airsoft Gun with limited BBs and gas. You can conserve ammo but get higher hit / calling hit probability by automatically double-tapping people for you.
Another familiar feature for those old-school HK users is a paddle magazine release! You can love and hate the paddle magazine release. It is very intuitive and positive. However, it is just a hair slower on reloads versus drop-free magazine designs with a button you can press with your strong side index finger.
While we discuss notable H&K features, let's look at the forward cocking knob, an iconic sight of H&K guns. It is also a favorite of Airsofters who love to do the "HK Slap" over and over until their cocking knob breaks off and flies forward. It isn't an issue nowadays, but it was certainly with old-school Tokyo Marui MP5 variants. Luckily this is a gas blowback, and this is how you cock the gun, so it is certainly not decorative, so start slapping away and look like a boss on your next reload. Ooo, look at that sexy sight again.
Moving forward, there are two notable features we should look at in this picture. Let's look at the front ambidextrous sling loop, which is perfect for the H&K 3-Point sling with HK Hooks. Next, let's look at the bright orange muzzle device. Much like MP5s, they used a special base mount, which you could quickly attach to your desired muzzle device, such as a Navy Flash Hider or suppressor. They use a ring now instead of the HK 3 Prong Muzzle. However, the concept is similar, except the bearings' surface is 360 degrees.
In this picture, you can see the muzzle device I referenced above, but more notably, you can check out the rail interface system on the front of the gun and one of my favorite vertical fore grips, the ASG Hera Arms HFG. It has such a nice design and is so comfortable. It looks great on just about any gun with its modern styling.
I love using the Action Sport Games weapon light as it is low profile and has a short overall length, perfect for shorter guns. On M4 variants, I like to use a SureFire Scout light, but the 6V and the batteries in a line make the light's overall length very cumbersome. The ASG Weapon light is still 6V, meaning it has 2 CR123A batteries, but it is short in overall length and has built-in paddles to turn the light on and off, which are in a perfect position for manipulation with your thumb while using a vertical grip.
Overall, if you are an H&K Enthusiast/Collector or an airsoft player who loves gas blowback rifles, look no further and consider the Elite Force H&K UMP 45 GBBR! The recoil and cyclic rate is stout and satisfying, and is shooting at a respectable 380 FPS with a .20g BB in my testing. Click here to check out more on the Elite Force UMP 45 at Fox Airsoft.
