In 1990, Lewis Teague released the big budget blockbuster movie Navy SEALs. I was a newly-minted 2nd Lieutenant just starting out in the Army. A group of buddies and I took leave of our wives one Friday evening and hit the local cineplex to give it a watch. Featuring Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, and Bill Paxton, Navy SEALs was pure red meat for that bunch of hard-charging young fire eaters.

While the HALO jumps, submarine lockouts, and unfettered CQB chaos were all mesmerizing, the one aspect of this amazing film that just blew us all away was the hardware. The primary weapon for the Navy SEALs on the big screen was the uber-sexy HK MP5SD sound-suppressed submachine gun. Charlie Sheen and Michael Biehn charging about wasting terrorists with that unobtainable smoke pole was simply titillating. Now, Century Arms will let you land one of those epic close quarters hotrods without any extraneous NFA (National Firearms Act) baggage. Century Arms calls it the AP5SD, and it is freaking awesome.

TESTED: Century Arms AP5SD

Lots of folks have gotten close, but the vagaries of U.S. firearms law confounded us. For a gun to transfer as a rifle, it has to have a 16-inch barrel. You could find fake barrel shrouds that would fit over a standard semi-auto HK94, the Heckler & Koch castrated version of the MP5, to make it look sort of SD-ish. However, these shrouds were too long and subsequently looked lame. Additionally, original semi-auto 9mm HK94’s were both hard to find and cost more than a decent used car.

Century imports their extraordinary AP5 line of MP5 clones from Turkey. These guns are licensed copies of the original HK guns and are the best replicas of factory weapons on the market today. The fit and finish rival anything that ever flowed out of the HK factory in Oberndorf. Additionally, Century’s AP5’s include the double pushpin fire control groups of the GI weapons. Most other MP5 clones, to include those from HK, do not. That may seem a small thing. For true believers like me, however, that’s a big deal.

Taxation is Theft!

The AP5SD transfers as a handgun. That means the barrel can be as short as you want it to be. Adding a Magpul MP BSL sliding arm brace at the rear makes the gun markedly more stable. It also closely approximates the look of the original factory submachine gun without any ancillary registration requirements. Despite the fact that the AP5SD is semi-auto-only, the fire control unit is marked as a four-position pictogram burst unit just for the extra cool points.

The real magic happens up front. The AP5SD comes with a tubular aluminum barrel shroud that is the right diameter and length to approximate the sound suppressor on the original HK MP5SD. Unlike the factory gun, the far end is left open so as not to garner any undue attention from our BATF buddies. The AP5SD also includes a standard rubber MP5SD tubular heat shield/hand guard. The end result is a fantastic approximation of the sexy-cool gun used in Navy SEALs that transfers like any other pistol. In dim light, it will indeed pass for the real deal. The gun comes with two magazines, a top-quality sling, cleaning kit, detachable scope mount, and a buttcap.

Trigger Time

This thing is cool enough to make Chuck Schumer look like Steve McQueen. No kidding, it’s the most fun you can have without a tax stamp. Smooth, accurate, and functionally recoilless, the AP5SD is a precision instrument. You can see why the world’s special operations forces are so enamored with it. There are many lighter, cheaper, more efficient ways to throw 9mm Para rounds downrange. However, if you want to ring steel or ventilate a little paper and look absolutely fabulous doing it, this gun will get you there.

The manual of arms for the MP5 family of weapons is incrementally slower than that of an M4. You’ve got to lock the bolt to the rear, swap magazines, and then slap the charging handle down. Magazines rock in and out like those of the Kalashnikov. However, doing that swiftly and well will reliably bump your serum testosterone up by at least 20 points. Trust me, that is a feature, not a bug.

The pistol brace does exactly what pistol braces do—it makes this big-boned handgun markedly more stable in all modes of fire. You’d think that was something Uncle Sam could get behind. However, pistol braces will forever be contentious in today’s polarized America. Thankfully, the courts have taken our side, and PSB’s are good to go. This one from Magpul slides in and out with the press of a discreet lever. 

This Dawg Will Eat

Of course the AP5SD was reliable with everything we fed it. Unlike many traditional open-bolt submachine gun designs, the closed-bolt, roller-delayed, recoil-operated action of the AP5 doesn’t much care about bullet weights or geometries. Round ball, truncated cones, or hollow point social bullets–the AP5SD runs them all comparably well.

While the open-ended muzzle tube is certainly not a sound suppressor in the legal sense of the term, it does quite effectively project the noise of the gun forward. As a result, the shooting experience is more placid than that of a more traditional blowback pistol-caliber carbine. No kidding, it’s addictive. You’d best bring plenty of bullets.

Accessorizing

There are companies that make railed forends that will fit over the fake suppressor. However, do you really want to wreck this gun’s superlative aesthetics just to mount up some unsightly lights or lasers? Yeah, me, neither. You seek out the AP5SD because it looks so amazing. We’ll let the front end be.

The AP5SD comes with a handy claw mount that cinches down atop the receiver for your favorite red dot or optical sight. I used a Mepro M22. The M22 is nuclear-powered and will operate any place independent of batteries. Thusly equipped, the AP5SD runs like a sports car and prints groups like a surgical instrument. This pistol would be a simply superlative home defense or truck gun right out of the box.

The receiver tube up front apes that of the original MP5SD. That’s why the classic tubular rubber handguard is a drop-in fit. However, underneath, the barrel is the standard version from the MP5K PDW. That means it will accept either a 1/2×28 direct thread suppressor or an HK-style tri-lug mount. As a result, should you happen to have a real suppressor with an overall diameter of less than 1.57 inches, you can just slip that puppy in place and go. I used a Gemtech GM45 with a tri-lug mount and found it to be a perfect fit. 

So What’s the Century Arms AP5SD Actually Good For?

Well, I don’t know. How awesome are you? The AP5SD looks amazing just sitting in the gun safe. Limitations of the language preclude my adequately describing how much fun it is simply turning 9mm ball into noise with this beast. Due to an economy of scale, 9mm ammo is still pretty cheap. If purchased by the kiloround, your range outings are not unduly expensive. That means training is both cost-effective and fun. 

Whether you run the gun out of the box or fit up your favorite optic and suppressor, the AP5SD shoots as well as it looks. We grizzled gun guys really shouldn’t care so much about aesthetics, but we do. Dragging this rascal out of your go bag at the range immediately earns you the unbridled admiration of your peers. Celebrity endorsements and proposals of marriage from insane anorexic supermodels will invariably follow.

Ruminations

I have coveted this gun ever since that fateful day in the movie theater in Enterprise, Alabama, back in 1990. Reliable, effective, and just dripping with sex appeal, the AP5SD captures all of that Navy SEALs ballistic magic in a package that will not just crush your checking account or demand some execrable tax stamp. We should all drop Century a thankyou note for figuring out how to bring this remarkable gun across the pond. It is hands-down the sexiest smoke pole in the gun shop. 

The MSRP is $1699.99. Admittedly, that’s not cheap. However, it’s a great price for genuine Navy SEAL unobtainium.

Century Arms AP5SD Specs

• Type: Roller-Delayed Semiautomatic
• Caliber: 9mm Para
• Barrel: 5.51 inches
• Overall Length: 24.75 inches Retracted/ 29.75 inches Extended
• Weight: 6.7 pounds
• Finish: Manganese Phosphate with Black Lacquer Paint
• Sights: Rear Diopter/Front Post/Electro-Optic
• MSRP: $1,699.99

Century Arms AP5SD Performance