Gun Nuts Review: HK UMP45

hk ump45

HK has a reputation for producing legendary sub-machine guns. The MP5 is the most iconic sub-machine of all time; however I’ve always felt that the UMP, especially the UMP45 was an awesome gun that deserved a little bit more love than it got. Recently, I had the chance to spend a lot of range time with a UMP45. This is my first time reviewing a sub-machine gun, so needless to say I was pretty excited.

The UMP45 in action
The UMP45 in action

First things first, let’s talk about the specs. The UMP45 is a select fire sub-machine chambered in .45 ACP. It has two fire modes, semi-auto and full automatic. It comes with notch and post style sights, and a 25 round magazine. The barrel is 8 inches long, which does actually maximize the ballistic effect of the .45 ACP round, although at the end of the day you’re still firing a sub-sonic pistol bullet. On semi-auto, the gun is very accurate, and easy to place rounds on target at ranges that you may find surprising.

Where the UMP45 really shines however is in close engagements on full auto. A lot of testing has shown that 2-5 rounds bursts are easy to control due to the gun’s slow rate of fire, which means that keeping muzzle rise to a minimum is a simple task. My experiences with the UMP45 were focused entirely around simulated CQB environments, with a lot of rapid movement, shooting on the move, and dynamic targets.

Looking down the sights of the UMP45
Looking down the sights of the UMP45

One are where I think the UMP45 does need a little help are the sights. As you can see, the notch and post sights aren’t great for contrast, and in low light environments can be very difficult to pick up targets that are moving quickly, wearing dark clothes, or being camping bitches. However, it’s a simple fix to add a good optical sight to the gun, I tend to prefer the Aimpoint Micro for applications like this. It’s a proven optic, tested pretty much to death by special operations and warriors. The Micro is light, and really improves the fast handling characteristics of the UMP45.

To really test the UMP45, I ran it through a number of dynamic scenarios, including a simulated raid on a cash vault, vehicle operations, and even a few squad based search and destroy operations. It performed flawlessly in every single environment, delivering .45 ACP rounds on target when needed every time. It’s effective engagement range is only about 50 meters, although I pushed it out to 100 a couple of times with okay results. But as I mentioned above, the HK UMP45 really shines as a CQB weapon in the hands of an assaulter looking to get in, do a ton of damage, and get out quick. It’s definitely my favorite weapon in Battlefield Hardline.

7 Comments

  1. Not sure of the game mechanics of battlefield hardline, but I generally prefer the largest damage assault rifle with the quickest reload and a cuff to counter the recoil while ads. Makes quick work of close targets in cqb, but can still stop targets at long range with relatively few rounds. Being that over penetration is not an issue in “dynamic simulations” it’s hard to beat the battle rifle with vfg for me.

  2. The UMP was awesome in Bad Company 2, it was my go-to weapon when playing engineer.
    In your opinion, how close is Hardline to my favorite BF, Bad Company 2?

    1. Meh. DICE will never make anything remotely as great as BC2. Hardline is 4 and 4 is 3 which is to say they are all Call Of Duty clones now larger and better but it’s trying to be something it shouldn’t 🙁

  3. Back to reality, the assaulters on our tactical team used to carry these. Great guns and just sound badass on full auto mag dumps. A few years ago the team and/or the chief decided to put colt m4s in service instead. For some reason instead of packing the UMPs away in the armory for a rainy day, they decided to cut them up. Didn’t even trade them in to HK or a dealer. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is in charge around here.

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