Police Gun Question

[vixpy1]

British Police have carried H&K MP5's for as long as i can remember, which uses the 9mm round most Police forces use.

However, recently I have spotted Armed Offices with what i'm sure are H&K HK53's, which are the MP5 but with 5.56mm rifle rounds. You can tell by the bigger mag.

I thought it was discouraged to use Military ammo in a Civilian Situation? Due to the Injuries and the higher chance of Collatoral Injuries.

I'm expecting MI5 to be calling soon..

>>> Edited by vixpy1 on Thursday 17th March 23:35

[gone]

Health and safety issues with 9.mm rounds.

Most forces are changing over to 5.56 mm so there is not such a need to get as close to a target.

Effective range of MP5 .9mm is about 100 yards if you cater for wind resistance and a little bit of gravity when you aim it. Not such a problem with the HV round!

[jimmyjimjim]

Also, it depends on the ammunition used; It's now very easy to get a HV round that won't 'shoot through' an individual, (or a wall with a bystander behind it).
This, I think, was the main concern with using military weapons in civil scenarios, as standard NATO 5.56mm will penetrate quite a lot before stopping - the geneva convention prevents the miltary from using fragmenting or soft nosed rounds (which are ideal for the police).



edited for typo.

>> Edited by jimmyjimjim on Friday 18th March 08:16

[streaky]

gone - does it have the frangible ammunition adapter? (This provides the back pressure necessary to cycle the HK53 reliably when using the very light .223 caliber frangible ammunition in 'low penetration' requirements. These are soft-nosed bullets that, when fired at high velocity, demonstrate impressive frangibility (breaks-up or fragments) in ballistic gelatin (replicating human tissue) but fail to 'overpenetrate' multiple layers of standard building materials).

In terms of other visual differences, the HK53 is just under 3" longer than the MP5, with a fractionally shorter barrel.

Streaky