I'm interested in an MP5 clone...perhaps the Coharie Arms CA94.  I understand that these are hit-miss in terms of quality control.

What are the "normal" upgrades to get these up to par? I see that the cocking tube is plastic and that the finish is sometimes rough. Anything else?

Is this a roller locking system or delayed blow back? I see HK bolts for sale but can't find any info on the locking system of the CA94.

Finally, if I buy one I'll SBR it. Can the faux suppressor be removed without too much hassle or does the bbl have to be replaced? Will the folding stocks drop right in or is there a weld to contend with?

Thanks in advance and appreciate the help..

Paul

I have a coharie ca-89 that i registered as a sbr.  So far i havent had any issues except a few jams with lower powered ammo.  The trigger group comes with a .308 hammer spring so i swapped that out with a 9mm and havent had any problems since. Ive heard or people changing the ejectors and extractors but i havent seen a need for that yet. There are a couple places the paint doesnt look great on mine but it looks good enough for me and im pretty partiucular.    

The only other issues i see are that mine scars the tops of my magazines like its just nicking them but i am having trouble finding the source.  I think its the back of the barrel where ive inserted magazines and rocked them into place so it scraped there.  The other thing that could be operator error is my paddle mag release seems real loose like it will just flop forward and backward and i cant get a consistant release so i tend to use the button on the side and it works perfect. Ive heard you can bend the spring in there and it will tighten up.    

The bolt is just like a mp5 with a roller lock and unless your wanting to add a little weight up front i wouldnt bother with the plastic cocking rod.  

If you plan to sbr it then i would buy the ca-89 then once you get the paperwork back buy the stock.  Otherwise there is a pin in that fake suppressor that you will need to drill out if i remember right.  You may can just drill a little on both sides then punch it out though.  Your still left with a hole in one of the lugs on the 3 lug though.  Thats not the case with the ca-89. I do wish the 3 lug had threads and a thead protector too after the 3 lug though.    

There are no welds on the stock so you should be good to go there.  From my experience the stocks have been tight but i see that as a good thing.  I have the B&T side folder on mine and i think its a much better stock than the standard collapsable.  With the collapsable you lose a good cheekweld and the B&T is pretty close to the fixed stock in feel.  Its just a little thinner feeling.  I have a post with pictures at hkpro on the B&T stock if you want to see one.

The last thing i would recomend is sending the trigger group to Bill Springfield to have his trigger work done.  After doing that i think its a perfect trigger for this type firearm.  


Anyway its allot of fun to shoot and mine is very accurate.  Ive had the best accuracy with magtech ammo so far.
 
Hope that helps      

Major, thanks much for taking the time to write. Your info is very helpful. I have some time logged on various versions of the MP5 but these knock-offs have me wondering...The BL though is that the price of of the HKs are silly and I can't justify the expense so knock-off it is!

Your description certainly helps.  Where did you you pick your's up from ?

VR
Paul

I bought mine from coharie (aka Tactical Weapons) (480) 830-5652.  

Glad i was able to help.  Like you i too couldnt justify the 4k i think it is now for a hk.  

So, the best thing to do is to buy the "pistol" version and just add the stock after the SBR paperwork clears?  I'm thinking about getting one of these eventually and I would either be putting on a standard collapsable stock or a fixed stock in the end.  The bottom line is that it would be an SBR.  

So, if I understand this correctly, I would be able to add an Hk stock as a drop in part on my own?

Thats what i did with mine.  It seemed like the best way to go so i didnt have to mess with the barrel.  While i was waiting on the paperwork to come back i had the receiver being engraved at Orion Arms .  It came back maybe a week before my paperwork did.  

Edited to add:   The model i bought was the CA89 not the CA89k.  They are designed different so look out for that.  To get everything the standard size for an mp5 clone not a mp5k clone get the CA89.  The stock will just slide on after you pull the pin and remove the back plate.    

Quoted: Thats what i did with mine.  It seemed like the best way to go so i didnt have to mess with the barrel.  While i was waiting on the paperwork to come back i had the receiver being engraved at Orion Arms .  It came back maybe a week before my paperwork did.   Edited to add:   The model i bought was the CA89 not the CA89k.  They are designed different so look out for that.  To get everything the standard size for an mp5 clone not a mp5k clone get the CA89.  The stock will just slide on after you pull the pin and remove the back plate.

Cool, where, on the receiver did you have the engraving done?  Orion did my AR SBR engraving and I am very happy with the results.  Did you have to strip the receiver?  I am almost completely unfamiliar with MP-5's past field stripping.

Orion wanted me to just basically remove the internals.  I removed the trigger housing, back plate, front grip and the bolt group with spring.  It basically amouted to everything that will fall out once you pull off the grip and back plate (or stock in whatever case).  So the only real moving part was the charging handle ill call it but thats only one pin to remove.  The barrel stayed as its welded in place and i didnt want to attempt that .  

If you look under hk on the Orion site it shows where he engraves them.  Its on the round tube under the rear sight.  

On a side note when your having it engraved would be a good time to send off the trigger group if you going to have a trigger job done.  Bill Springfields turn around was a few days so thats not totally nessisary though.  Just be sure to send in the whole group including the grip assembly.  I only sent the pack with mine and had to send the rest once he noticed it was an ambi trigger pack.    

Major