The PCC market can be described as crowded. That’s a nice neutral way to say there are just tons and tons of them on the market. Most are 9mm, take Glock magazines, and use a straight blowback-operated system. Pretty simple and also very effective. Yet, JP Enterprises has released something a little different in the form of the JP5. The JP5 is a roller delayed PCC that makes both Stoner and HK proud.
JP Enterprises already has a rather big presence in the PCC World, specifically in the competitive shooting market. The GMR-15 is one of the most popular PCCs in the competition world. The JP5 should be seen as a follow-up to the GMR-15 in many ways. The main difference is going from a straight blowback system to a roller delayed system.
Why Roller Delayed?
Straight blowback works well. It’s reliable, simple, and easy to utilize in a PCC. The downsides are aplenty, though. Straight blowback guns often have excessive recoil, at least for a 9mm carbine. Straight blowback guns also have to use a heavy bolt or heavy buffer and buffer spring. It’s an unrefined system to operate firearms with.
Roller delayed blowback systems utilize a set of rollers to delay the retraction of the bolt head. This delay allows pressure to drop to a safe level before the weapon cycles. The rollers of the JP5 eliminate the need for a heavy bolt, buffer, buffer spring and help decimate recoil levels. That’s exactly why JP Enterprises went with a roller delayed setup in the JP5. This system is famously seen in the MP5 series submachine guns, where it’s proven very effective.
Ergonomics for Days
The JP5 is more than a pretty operating system and a novel design. It’s a fully outfitted PCC designed to not just compete but to win. From the factory, JP includes fully ambidextrous controls. We have an ambi safety, magazine release, and bolt release that culminates into a fantastically ergonomic weapon.
All of the controls are placed close together but still very easy to reach and use. It’s hard to miss these things when you start shooting fast and running hard. When it comes to reloads, we get a massive magazine release and a beveled magwell that makes it easy to keep the gun running with minimal interruptions.
Because the roller delayed system eliminates the need for a heavy buffer and buffer spring, the charging handle presents a light and sweet pull. The big ambidextrous Radian Raptor slides rearward with ease and without argument. Additionally, the JP5 is lighter than other similar PCCs. It weighs only 6.1 pounds in the PCC competition configuration.
Pewing Away
The first thing you’ll notice about the JP5 is how terrifically balanced the gun is. It’s super light, swings, and moves with ease, and feels shorter than it is. Once you pull the trigger, you’ll forget about all of that because the trigger, accuracy, and recoil impulse are all pristine. Let’s break those down one by one.
The roller delayed system does absolute wonders to reduce recoil and create an extremely smooth shooting gun. It feels almost like a lightweight 22 Magnum rifle. Sure, there is recoil, but not much. Helping that recoil mitigate is the JP Competition series compensator. This massive chunk of stainless steel offers three huge ports that keep the gun down and on target as you sling lead.
The trigger is the JP EZ Trigger. This single-stage AR 15 trigger results in a very smooth and very light trigger pull that’s consistently 4 pounds. It’s smooth, with barely any takeup before the bang. The reset is quick and noticeable, and it’s easy to fire rapid double taps with ease.
That trigger heps the JP5 remain accurate for sure, but the stainless steel 14.5-inch super match barrel also helps. It’s a light contour barrel, and the muzzle device is pinned and welded to bring the barrel length to 16 inches and avoid the NFA. Zeroing took no time at all, and I was excited to move from zeroing to more practical shooting.
Swinging Between Targets
I took the JP5 against a rack of gongs at 15 yards. The gongs ranged from 4 to 8 inches with a little IPSC fella in the middle. I mounted a simple red dot, and when you tack a red dot onto a gun like this, it’s all about speed. I did a simple drill where I ran through all four targets as fast as I could. Starting with the 4-inch gong, I ran the rack in about 3 seconds on the first try, but by the fifth, I dialed it down to 4 rounds on target in 2.8 seconds.
That huge compensator combined with the roller delayed system creates such a soft shooting gun that the red dot never moves. You can swing from target to target between shots with ease. The JP5 barely moves, and it’s easy to rapidly and accurately spit lead. I ran a similar drill using the gongs and some clay pigeons on the berm. I devastated the ten targets with ease and continually saw my time drop by fractions of a second between runs.
Fifteen yards is nothing, so I moved from 15 to 25, then to 50 and even 100. At 100, I was still dropping 9mm rounds into an IPSC target’s A and C zones once I got the hold over down. This was in an unsupported, standing position. The JP5 is just damn easy to shoot and is oh so accurate.
Splitting Targets and Spitting Lead
Between the accuracy, recoil, lack of muzzle rise, and downright amazing ergonomics, I can’t help but love the JP5. It’s so much fun to shoot and so fast and accurate to engage with. I’ve done a wide variety of drills, including the Sage Dynamics Eleanor, Failure to Stop Drills, modified El Presidente drills, and more.
I’ve taken it out with my kids and my wife, and it’s met universal acclaim among all who handle it. The JP5 takes the cake for new and smaller shooters more so than many of my other PCCs. It’s a super easy to shoot a firearm, and I can see why JP Enterprises captures so many professional shooters.
As you’d imagine, a gun packed with these features and a novel operating system makes it a pricey choice. This specific model costs about $3,200 bucks. It’s a high-end blaster that’s ready to compete with. Now I just gotta get myself to a steel challenge match.
