9mm M&P5 V. Beretta M9 Ammunition Compatibility?

No, they run on regular 9mm. The ported barrel of the MP5 SD was intended to take 115's super and bleed off pressure so they exit subsonic and they are one of the few guns that will not run on my 147gn "minor" loads (already subsonic) using small charges of fast powder. M9's and regular MP5's run like a top with them though.

Unlike most conventional silenced submachine guns, the MP5SD fires standard velocity ammunition types with the same effect. The use of special subsonic ammunition is not necessary.

So, it depends. Except anything can happen in a work of fiction.
 
The HK MP5s depicted in the original Die Hard movie were actually HK94s converted to look like MP5s. Not the MP5SD which has the integral suppressor, of which my understanding is 147 gr rounds are optimal.

All I know is that my last department, through the early 2020s, used +P 124 gr HSTs or Gold Dots... Was always told the gun was designed for 124 gr NATO loads.
 
Some bad assumptions and subsequently bad conclusions in the thread.

MP5 bolt weighs about 9.5oz. Glock 17 slide weighs 13oz.

No, MP5's do not require specialized ammunition to cycle.

The integrally suppressed HK preference for 147grn ammo is about MV, not power factor - 147's are subsonic and typically will remain truly hearing safe when suppressed, whereas supersonic 124 and lighter ammo will still be above the immediately damaging threshold.
 

Die Hard, Maclean takes 9mm ammunition from one of the terrorists' Machine guns and loads it into his M9.

I know nothing about M&P5s

I would assume that the M&P5 having a larger, heavier, bolt would require somewhat hotter ammunition to cycle the bolt.

Is this correct?

Is this simply movie Kuhscheiße?
I own a MP5K and a Beretta 92FS. The slide of a Beretta 92FS weighs in around 11.7oz. The MP5K bolt carrier group weighs in around 11.75oz.
 
The integrally suppressed HK preference for 147grn ammo is about MV, not power factor - 147's are subsonic and typically will remain truly hearing safe when suppressed, whereas supersonic 124 and lighter ammo will still be above the immediately damaging threshold.

I'd stick with slower powders if you want an SD to run with 147's. The ports are to bleed gas off of supers. 115 gn FMJ in a stock Glock 17 clocked at 1,232fps but 998fps out of the SD.

From the manual.
AE598EAB-2FC8-417F-A30C-9DA81B87E3D3.jpeg

Then on page 67 there is this.

D7683A3B-90E8-45FC-B36B-D3693B294967.jpeg

My 147's running ~920 fps with fast powders turn the SD into a single shot. I should have seen how fast they were going though.
There's always next time..
 
@The Night Rider

Indeed, the Mp5 series uses standard ammo. I put cases of Winchester white box 115 and 124 gr FMJ, and Ranger 115 gr JHP and 127 gr +P+ ammo through the Mp5 and Mp5k’s I was assigned on patrol as a Corporal and also on SWAT/SRT.

I do recall Israeli Military Industries (IMI) selling 9mm ammo under the Eagle, and then UZI brand, that was allegedly loaded hotter than standard for use in the UZI carbine, it had a 9mm CARB headstamp. (IMI ammo later became called Samson ammo, I don’t know if it’s a different name today or not.)

Images from Cartridge Collectors.org:

IMG_7898.jpeg IMG_7899.jpeg

IMG_7900.jpeg

When compared to standard issue 9mm NATO ammo the numbers were very similar, so the IMI carbine load could be called a +P load made before 9mm +P was as common as it is today. :)

Stay safe.
 
My Beretta ate everything equally....light target loads, hardball 9mm 124, defence hollow points...I think it was probably the only handgun I had that NEVER ...even once, failed to cycle. Darned if I know why I got rid of it...other than it is a big handgun, difficult to carry concealed...and I simply vastly prefer the 1911 single action /safety type.
 
Back in the day, like 30 years ago the agencies who ran MP5s seemed to prefer +p ammo.
I got ahold of some of this ammo a few years ago and chronographed it. It was nothing special.
My speer 13 manual form that time period already had hotter loads.
It appeared to be all marketing and suckering cops into buying special ammo. As it appeared to work at the time.
Sten guns liked hot ammo back in the day too.
The ideat that "sub guns need hotter ammo" goes wayyy back.
 
From my humble experience on the Beretta 90-two.

For target shooting at 15m I used

Blazer 9mm - the bullets go all over the place . Make sure that you shoot SW if you want to shot south!!


Remington - they shoot a little bit too low.

Best results are obtained by Fiocchi 114g. - POI. You may need to change your target after 20 as you would blow a big hole in the middle!!

just my 2 cents worth!!
 
From my humble experience on the Beretta 90-two.

For target shooting at 15m I used

Blazer 9mm - the bullets go all over the place . Make sure that you shoot SW if you want to shot south!!


Remington - they shoot a little bit too low.

Best results are obtained by Fiocchi 114g. - POI. You may need to change your target after 20 as you would blow a big hole in the middle!!

just my 2 cents worth!!
I normally like Fiocchi stuff. But, my results with Fiocchi 115 fmj are they are accurate, but feel/cycle like they’re a a bit underpowered in my CZ’s, Kimbers, Glocks, Beretta, SA 35, etc.

Worse, if used in a SA 1911 like my 4.25” Ronin, the Fiocchi 115 gr fmj rounds WILL have their bullets jam back into the case and tie up the gun. 😔 The neck tension must be weak, so when they impact the feed ramp in this gun they fail. It’s now happened on two occasions, with two different lots of 115 gr fmj ammo. (This may also be the reason they seem underpowered, due to an incomplete powder burn?)

These rounds sure do spit burning powder at times, this is a CZ 75 SP-01 shooting Fiocchi 115 gr fmj just this week:

IMG_7840.jpeg


The Fiocchi 124 gr fmj seems good to go, no issues have been noted with these rounds in any of my guns. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
I'm afraid you're in for an even bigger shock; 'Hans Gruber' wasn't even that guy's real name....
FB_IMG_1734631382283.jpg
FWIW Die Hard came from a book called Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. It was actually the sequel to a movie called The Detective starring Frank Sinatra (Really crappy movie, if you ever get a chance to see it don't).

In the book McClane's name was Joe Leland and he was a security consultant for an airline. That's why he was allowed to carry a gun (which was a BHP not an M9) on the airplane.

The Nakatomi Corporation was actually an American Oil Company who had toppled the government of an unnamed South American country in order to profit off their oil reserves.

Holly Genaro was named Stephanie Leland and she was Leland's daughter not his estranged wife. She was also in on the Oil company's crime and in the scene where McClane catches Ellis doing cocaine he caught his daughter doing cocaine.

Anyway, in the book Hans Gruber was Anton"Little Tony" Gruber and even though he wasn't necessarily the good guy his plan was to take over the building and steal $6 million dollars in cash and throw it off the top of the building so that people on the streets could pick it up and the Oil Corporation would lose the profits of their crime

SPOILER ALERT at the end of the book when Little Tony falls out the window he takes Stephanie with him. Leland, realizing the futility of pretty much everything at this point, ends up throwing the money off the building himself and escaping into the crowd. Because the LAPD intended to arrest him for interfering.

ETA this book is a wonderful example of an exception to the rule that the book is always better than the movie.
 
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Die Hard, Maclean takes 9mm ammunition from one of the terrorists' Machine guns and loads it into his M9.

I know nothing about M&P5s

I would assume that the M&P5 having a larger, heavier, bolt would require somewhat hotter ammunition to cycle the bolt.

Is this correct?

Is this simply movie Kuhscheiße?
If you are a Die Hard fan. If you have a chance see Yippee Ki-yah it was great.

 
Then again, "you aren't a Navy SEAL until you've eaten Italian steel". The story goes that the SEALs experienced some catastrophic failures with their M9's (which is why they ultimately went with the SIG 226 instead). Supposedly they ran a pretty extensive diet of heavier SMG loads (back when they ran the MP5) through the Berettas which led to those failures (note that it took A LOT of these rounds to manifest these issues). This isn't something most shooters would ever have to worry about.
 
I still have some WW2-vintage 9mm SMG rounds my dad brought back from the eastern front as a combat engineer lieutenant. They obviously have dried out for decades and they're loaded pretty hot for M31 Suomi SMG to start with so I wouldn't shoot them with a pistol. In a pinch, absolutely, but not by choice.

And yes, they do work. It's over 30 years since I've tried and even though the cases didn't bulge, back then they felt like they weren't far from breaking the HK P7M8. Otherwise I might try them with a M31 or UZI out of curiosity but they're collectible and I only have about a dozen anymore.
 
We used the same 9mm ammo from our Beretta M9s that we used in the MP5s (real ones) when we got to use them in the military. No different markings or boxes.
 
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