What’s up channel fans and family, and welcome to Slav Guns. Here’s a throwback from SHOT Show 2020 that honestly blew my mind: the Palmetto State Armory PSA5, a 9mm MP5-style gun that PSA wanted to put in reach of everyday gun owners.
Quick note before we start: this is a first look from the show floor with Derek, one of the guys building the gun for PSA. It is not a range test and evaluation. No groups, no chrono, no long-term review here, and at the time pricing hadn’t been set yet.
TL;DR
- MP5-style 9mm from PSA, shown at SHOT Show 2020 with a planned 2020 release.
- Tri-lug adapter that comes off to reveal 1/2×28 threads, so you can run a muzzle device, a direct-thread can, or a tri-lug can.
- Front sight elevation adjusts with a standard A2 front sight tool instead of the clumsy diopter tool.
- Rear sight is a pistol-style notch; windage is still adjusted with a locking screw.
- Welded-on Picatinny rail on top, and you can still see your irons through the bottom of it.
- Pistol version with an SB Tactical PDW-style brace, plus a classic A2-style version without the rail.
- Magpul handguard and grip, ambidextrous safety, and a paddle mag release from the get-go.
- CMC Triggers was working on an upgraded trigger; the original-style trigger pack can go back in.
The muzzle: options without buying an adapter
This was the first thing Derek showed me, and I think it’s a big deal. The gun comes with a tri-lug adapter, but take it off and you’ve got 1/2×28 threads. Most people with a 9mm can already have it set up for 1/2×28, but not everyone has a tri-lug adapter for their suppressor. With the PSA5 you don’t have to go spend hundreds of dollars on that adapter. Run the tri-lug, direct-thread a can, or throw on a muzzle device with a crush washer. Your call.
Sights that are easier to live with
On the PSA5 they changed how elevation works. Instead of the diopter tool, which is clumsy and a pain to use, you adjust the front post with any standard A2 front sight post tool (the full-size one, not the stubby backup-sight kind). That simplifies the rear: it’s now a pistol-style notch, since everybody shoots pistols and we’re all used to it, with four different windows to pick from. Windage works like before: loosen the locking screw, adjust, lock it back down.
Built-in Picatinny rail
To modernize it a bit while staying true to the roots of the gun, they put a Picatinny rail on top, and it’s welded on, so it’s there to stay. You can look through the bottom of the rail and see your iron sights, which was one of the first things I noticed. So you can have a red dot or whatever optic you choose and still keep your irons.
I like that a lot. You don’t have to go buy a claw mount, and you’re not clamping anything onto a receiver you care about. I’ve got my game guns where I don’t care about the “character marks,” and then I’ve got my pretty guns where I really do care about scratches. Having the rail as part of the gun takes care of that.
Configurations, controls and the trigger
The charging handle is the typical one, so yes, you can do the slap. The pistol version gets a PDW-style SB Tactical brace, so you don’t have to go buy one. There’s also a classic A2-style version that just doesn’t have the Picatinny rail. Derek didn’t love the word “value,” but if you’re happy with the pistol sights and want a more reasonably priced version, that’s the option.
It takes standard mags, so nothing to change there. You get a Magpul handguard, a Magpul grip, an ambidextrous safety right out of the box, and a paddle mag release. I asked if it was going to have a paddle mag release, because if not I didn’t want it. They decided for me: it’s already on there.
PSA was also working with CMC Triggers on a better trigger for it, and if you want to go back to the original-style trigger pack, you can retrofit it right back into the grip.
Price and availability
The big question. Derek told me they’d had the gun for about three months, were already machining parts, and that the gun at the booth was not the same one shown at other times and was getting close to final. They were targeting 2020 and planned a rigorous testing program before launch.
On price, they didn’t have a number yet. Not because they didn’t want to tell me, but because they were still machining parts and had to know the true cost first. His gut feel was that people would be really, really happy. Since the engineering and manufacturing sit in the same family of companies as PSA, they figured they could control the cost.
Bottom line
I’m not a huge MP5 cultist, but I have plenty of friends who are, and a PSA-built MP5-style gun with 1/2×28 threads, a welded rail, easier sights, and a paddle mag release had a lot of people excited. If it lived up to the expectations, I said I’d be adding one, two, or three.
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Would you pick up a PSA5, or are you holding out for the real HK? Let me know.
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