Home-brew leg holster for Mp5

[HackD]

Hi All.. thought i'd post up what i'm doing - it's definitely on the "wtf is he doing now" scale of things.

As a preamble, the reasoning for doing this is pretty unique. I'm engaged in airsoft for pretty different reasons - physiotherapy (stationary bicycles are so f-in boring when you are on them for months at a time!) post-op, for two hip-replacements that are very slow in healing/normalizing due to health complications. As such, I have to concentrate on giving my legs as much of a workout as is possible, while protecting the hips themselves from excessive weight carried upon my upper body. Additionally, for the next year at least, i am sentenced to a cane to ambulate for anything beyond short distances, and so i need to be able to have my hands free when not actually holding onto the rifle in the heat of battle. On top of that - when not needed, i don't really want my main weapon banging around on the stuff on my vest at the end of a rifle sling, like the Can-soft framed cross-draw pistol.

I was aware of the UTG "MP5" holster that is available commercially, and is pretty damn cheap - but it is a soft holster - and i need something hardened to protect the MP5 and Aimpoint replica optic from contact against hard surfaces, and potentially, my falling onto it - which is a very real possibility. As such, i came up with this - this is stage 1 completed - 3/16" thermo-mold plastic that has been cut, heat-molded and stitched together with tiny machine screws. I still have to "finish" some of the roughness of the initial assembly, as well as sew up a kydex 'glove' covering to fit over a good portion of it for aesthetics, and generally keeping dirt out of where it don't belong when the Mp5 is stowed. However, as is, the Mp5 slips in and out like a hand into a glove - the plastic has enough grip to hold it in place, and yet is slippery enough to draw it out without a fight. This will be eventually mounted onto a molle panel leg-rig.

I might not need it after this coming year.. or even know at this point whether it will work in the field, instead of just in theory - but so far the cost is $0.00, and final cost will definitely be under $40.00, all-inclusive.

Necessity is definitely the mother of invention, in this case.

[Short Round]

Funky looking , however looks like it would work. Like how you designed a part of the holster for the holosight.

Nice work

[Cpt- Lovegrove]

i like it, what you could always do is make a soft holster for the outside to keep the crap out and give a little more protection

[coach]

That an ass ton of weight to throw on a drop leg

[HackD]

Originally Posted by Najohn

Funky looking , however looks like it would work. Like how you designed a part of the holster for the holosight.

Nice work

Danke!

Originally Posted by Cpt- Lovegrove

i like it, what you could always do is make a soft holster for the outside to keep the crap out and give a little more protection

That is the plan for the kydex 'glove' .. perhaps i worded it wrong. Once done, it should look pretty much like an oversized soft holster, but with an internal rigid skeleton.

Originally Posted by coachster

That an ass ton of weight to throw on a drop leg

I agree that the Mp5 is likely at the extreme range for being a 'sidearm', and being carried like such. I've got a dual connection to pistol belt type drop leg coming for it, to spread out the loading, and try to balance it off better. The holster itself weighs about 1/2 lb so far, so keeping it under 1 lb finished with the drop-leg, is definitely achievable. While it is needed for my particular use, i just don't see me moving rapidly enough to make it that much of a mobility handicap, beyond what i am dealing with already - and also, as said before, part of the aim of this thing is to also give my legs a good workout

[Deadpool]

What i'm asking myself is: How do you holster it with a mag?

From what I see, it's impossible and having to put in the mag every time you need to use it will get you shot real quick.

[HackD]

Originally Posted by Deadpool

What i'm asking myself is: How do you holster it with a mag?

From what I see, it's impossible and having to put in the mag every time you need to use it will get you shot real quick.

Sorry, the photo is misleading. For purposes of holding the rifle upright for the camera (and for working on as a project), the mag is inserted into the gun. When everything is said and done with the final project, that will no longer be possible to do so.

For my purposes - this holster is for transport while i'm walking to or from the field, or from point to point on the field, with hands otherwise occupied - not for actual 'combat' use, like a gun-slinger, on field.

Hopefully once my physical recovery is completed/maximized, this holster will get tossed onto a pile of things here that are associated with a physical disability, that are needed no longer.

[Cpt- Lovegrove]

you could probly run a U sape on the bottom so you can keep a mag in it it would take a little more to make it, but should be do able

[HackD]

So, after a solid week of hand-stitching, i have got the front end of the 'holster' form fitted with a kydex glove. I still have to finish the rear portion of the holster, for the (left) side that is facing the camera, as well as some velcro-attached panels for the exposed fore-stock portion and the mag-well. The upper right side of the holster is not required to be done as it will be the portion with fittings for the drop panel mounting, and needs to be rigid.

[HackD]

... and pretty much finished now, with the exception of the drop-leg panel mounting. I need to wait for the drop-leg panel that i've got on order, to finally get out of back-order, before i can fabricate that portion. After pretty much a full month of fitting and hand-sewing (recovering from major surgery gives you lot's of spare time..), it's fully covered by the kydex wrap, and looking very nicely done.

[Cliffradical]

This is awesome and you are awesome.

Your attitude and motivation towards your physio is exactly what's going to see you through the best possible recovery. I'm really inspired by how you've gone totally lemons-to-lemonade with this.

Are you going to rig this up with MOLLE straps?
I'm curious about the possibility of rigging this like a shotgun scabbard to a pack or a plate carrier. Maybe rear-hip on a belt system?
I like this idea better than a soft holster due to reduced potential for sagging and snagging.

You may come out of this with a marketable product! I'd probably buy one.

[HackD]

Thanks for the compliments, and encouragement.. my current physical situation is definitely a tough row to hoe, certainly, but getting all negative and self-limiting about it makes it about 10x worse to deal with - whatever the situation may be, or whatever life may toss your way.

I'm leaving the 'mount' options open, at this point - i haven't got a clue as to whether my original idea of mounting to a leg panel will work, and it certainly is compact enough that it would work similarly like a shotgun scabbard. It is indeed going to be a molle strap mounting, and it could even be multi-mountable depending on application, as the mounting that i have yet to fabricate, will be a totally separate and reconfigurable part from the holster/scabbard itself. There is certainly a lot of time available to experiment, before i am 'game-able' once again.

Time will tell as to whether it's use will be as sound in practice, as it is in (my) theory.. whatever mount system/setup is utilized.

Not sure about the marketability .. i can't see where i'd turn a profit on the dang thing, LOL..

Originally Posted by Cliffradical

This is awesome and you are awesome.

Your attitude and motivation towards your physio is exactly what's going to see you through the best possible recovery. I'm really inspired by how you've gone totally lemons-to-lemonade with this.

Are you going to rig this up with MOLLE straps?
I'm curious about the possibility of rigging this like a shotgun scabbard to a pack or a plate carrier. Maybe rear-hip on a belt system?
I like this idea better than a soft holster due to reduced potential for sagging and snagging.

You may come out of this with a marketable product! I'd probably buy one.

[HackD]

..And so, after about a month and a half of solid work.. the project is done.





I built up a shaped plastic molle-panel mount to attach directly and rigidly to the holster.. there is absolutely no give or slop between the Condor molle-panel and the holster. Couldn't have done it any better, in the first time of doing it.

However, theory did not translate well into a practical application. Coachster called it correctly in saying "that is an ass ton of weight to throw on a a drop leg".

I didn't think that the front end of the MP5 weighed all that much, but it weighs enough that it pendulums the front end portion of the holster all over the damn place, and exaggerates my already wobbly walk to the point of being hazardous. If the weight was more centralized, it might well have worked - IE for a UZI or similar machine pistol. For this machine pistol application however, it is a wash. Standing statically still, it looks great.. but that doesn't translate well to it's intended real-world use where looks are strictly secondary to purpose.

Total cost - $25.00 for the leg rig molle-panel. Everything else was recycled, reworked materials. I'll be able to un-stitch the molle-panel from the hard molle-panel mount and recycle it for a dump pouch mount, or something, if i so choose to do so. The holster itself is definitely reusable - I can easily re-purpose it to an over the shoulder scabbard via an adapted rifle sling, if i so choose to do so.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.. my hand sewing skills have definitely been improved, at least.

[Freeze]

I would buy one of those if you were selling it. And if I actually had a MP5 -.-"

It actually looks like something that could be really useful for something like a MP7 or an UZI because those have mags in the handle.