Tag Archives: Army Sub Compact Weapon

Like the HK MP5 SD, but smaller

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The integrally suppressed HK MP5 SD– the full-time suppressed variant of the MP5 submachine gun that even made full-house spicy ammo quiet– was probably the coolest SMG of the 1980s and 1990s. The thing is it isn’t small due to the large size of its efficient can. 

The shortest MP5SD, fitted with the A3 stock, is 26.4 inches long with the stock retracted, growing to 32 when it is fully extended. 

However, there is now something kinda cooler out there.

Based on the submission to the Army’s Sub Compact Weapon trials, B&T is releasing a small run of very cool little room brooms. 

The company said the release of 160 integrally suppressed APC9K SD2 models complete with its scalable suppressor system comes to satisfy “continual requests by those familiar with the project.”

The gun was originally submitted as part of B&T’s swing at the Army’s SCW contract in 2018. Guns proposed for the program had to be “highly concealable” and “capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal and accurate fires at close range with minimal collateral damage.”

The military originally courted a baker’s dozen gun makers to submit designs, including Angstadt, Colt, CMMG, CZ, Heckler & Koch, Lewis Machine & Tool, Noveske, PTR, SIG Sauer, Quarter Circle, and Zenith Firearms — the literal A-to-Z in compact gun makers. Ultimately, B&T beat out the field of big names for the tender.

The Army went with an unsuppressed model, opting for the B&T APC9K, sans can. The final $2.5 million award was for 350 SCWs, with an option for up to 1,000 of the weapons. The Air Force later piggybacked on that for some SCWs of their own, and the company released a semi-auto commercial APC9K PRO variant as well.

Spc. Michael Richardson, an Army Intelligence Analyst with the 733rd Military Police Battalion (CID), fires the APC9K submachine gun at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. (Photo/Caption: U.S. Army)

However, those who want something much more compact than the HK MP5SD (but, alas, not select fire due to the Hughes Amendment – thanks, Ronald Reagan!) can now grab an APC9K SD2 of their own, although it is a two-stamp gun (suppressor and SBR). 

The SD2 is an integrally suppressed variant of the APC9K that features a scalable suppressor system and M-LOK compatible SD handguard. In its shortest configuration, the APC9K SD2 features a 3-inch ported barrel combined with an advanced over-the-barrel suppressor that is fully contained within the handguard.

In this configuration, the platform measures only 15 inches overall. Weight is 5.9 pounds, and the platform is modular, able to use standard B&T, Glock, and SIG P320 magazines via a swappable non-serialized lower receiver replacement. (Photo: B&T)

Army’s New SMG spotted in the Wild

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B&T USA in 2018 was one of six companies that submitted designs to the Army for what the service termed “Sub Compact Weapons.” These guns, “capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal and accurate fires at close range with minimal collateral damage,” were to be used by the special teams tasked with protecting high-value officers and dignitaries such as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, as well as units like CID.

In the end, B&T’s APC9K won, giving it big time bragging rights, and the USAF doubled down on a shipment for their own specialized uses.

The B&T APC9K will almost fit in the palm of your hand– if you have really big hands. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The B&T APC9K will almost fit in the palm of your hand– if you have really big hands. (Photos: Chris Eger)

And, the APC9K has been spotted in use by CID types in New Jersey recently.

Spc. Michael Richardson, an Army Intelligence Analyst with the 733rd Military Police Battalion (CID), fires the APC9K submachine gun at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. (Photo/Caption: U.S. Army)

More in my column at Guns.com.

For those Special times, when you don’t want to Wake the neighbors

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The Swiss firm of Brugger & Thomet, today just known by the catchier B&T, has long specialized in fairly unique gear for Mil/LE use, primarily in Europe.

Well, as B&T is now a thing in the U.S, based in Tampa, Florida (within spitting distance of USSOCOM headquarters at MacDill AFB), they have been bringing lots of their designs to American shores with a bit of success. For instance, the Army recently chose B&T USA’s APC9K for its small-batch Sub Compact Weapon (SCW) program, which the USAF has doubled down on.

This brings us to the Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) 300, a compact SBR with a 10-inch barrel and integral suppressor that has a folding stock and can be stowed in a backpack.

Chambered in .300 Whisper, it has reportedly been a hit (see what I did there) with European counter-terror units.

Updated for the U.S. market, the new SPR300 PRO, in .300 Blackout, has a Timney trigger and, in true American fashion, now accepts AR mags.

More in my column at Guns.com.

USAF Goes B&T

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Last Spring, the U.S. Army announced they would be buying a small quantity (~350) of Sub Compact Weapons, ultra-compact 9mm SMGs for use by the special teams tasked with protecting high-value officers and dignitaries. The first decent sub-gun contract by the Pentagon this century, there were lots of bragging rights on the line and 10 different companies both foreign and domestic threw their hats in the ring, with Swiss-based B&T coming out the winner with their downright tiny APC9K.

Well, the USAF just jumped on the same train last month, ordering a smaller quantity, likely for similar uses.

After all, could you blame them?

More in my column at Guns.com.

SCW, anyone?

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Earlier this year, Brugger & Thomet won the Army’s Sub Compact Weapon contract to supply up to 1,000 very short SMGs to DOD for use by security details. The gun had to be ambidextrous, very compact — under 15-inches overall with some sort of provision for a stock — and light. For reference, the very short HK MP5K, with no allowance for a stock, is 12.9-inches.

The winner: B&T’s APC9K, which has a 13.6-inch overall length with the stock fully collapsed. Further, the receiver can be made in a variant that accepts Sig P320 pattern mags, and keep in mind the Army just adopted that pistol as the M17/M18.

The B&T APC9K will almost fit in the palm of your hand– if you have really big hands. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The B&T APC9K will almost fit in the palm of your hand– if you have really big hands. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

More in my column at Guns.com

What is an SCW and how is it changing the new guns on the market?

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Last June, the U.S. Army tapped first 10 and then a total of 13 companies for what it termed “Sub Compact Weapons.” These guns, “capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal and accurate fires at close range with minimal collateral damage,” were to be used by the military’s Personal Security Details, special teams tasked with protecting high-value officers and dignitaries such as the SACEUR and the commander of U.S. Forces Korea– each likely an endangered species in the hours prior to the balloon going up in those regions.

The Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Samuel Caines, assigned to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe Security Detachment, ejects a bullet casing at the Training Support Center Benelux 25-meter indoor range in Chièvres, Belgium, Oct. 22, 2015. (U.S. Army photo by Visual Information Specialist Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie/Released)

Well, that didn’t work out and the Army trimmed the field a bit in September with a tough series of requirements (a weapon shorter than 15-inches overall when stowed but still ready to fire in such a position, weight less than 5-pounds, etc) and just six companies were able to get in on that. While a small contract, likely to run 350 to 1,000 guns, the bragging rights to replace the long-standard HK MP5 would be huge.

While little details about what models were ultimately submitted for review by the Army, several new SCW-ish guns were in the aisles of the 41st annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas last week, and they are pretty swag.

More in my column at Guns.com.

 

Meet the Copperhead, Sig’s attempt at an NFA-compliant SMG

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An ultra-compact version of the MPX, Sig Sauer’s Copperhead variant is legally a pistol and is new for 2019.

Featuring a 3.5-inch barrel with an integrated muzzle brake, the 4.5-pound Copperhead comes from the factory with a two-position pivoting brace that Sig advertises as contouring and adapting to the movement of the shooter’s arm. Finished in FDE Cerakote E190, the pistol runs 14.5-inches overall with a top-mounted M1913 rail.

As Sig submitted a variant of their MPX series to the Army for the military’s request to field a new Sub Compact Weapon for use with personal security detachments last year, it is likely a safe bet that the Copperhead stemmed from the same train of thought, but as it is semi-auto and uses a brace, is primed for the commercial market.

More in my column at Guns.com.