In the beginning of 2023, Vorsk made a surprising move and introduced an alien-looking, yet oddly familiar airsoft gun which managed to catch the attention of many players. This was the VMP-1 machine pistol, thanks to which Vorsk became the center of the attention – not only because their new model was seemingly an MP9 redesign, but also because it had a remarkably square and stylized shape, which divided the player base.

The looks of the VMP-1 can be best described as a hybrid, mixing the ergonomy and operation buttons of a B&T MP9 with the shape of an Ingram Mac-10. The influence of the iconic machine pistols is also reinforced with the giant suppressor imitation offered by Vorsk to accompany the VMP-1. Those who enjoy using replicas of real steel weapons, will not necessarily like this fantasy pistol. However, people who get over this issue, will receive a comfortable, compact and CQB-champion gun.

Before we proceed, I must give you a spoiler alert. It is not a coincidence that I used the MP9 as a reference multiple times by now – after disassembly, it becomes clear that the VMP-1 is a faithful clone of the decade old KSC/KWA MP9 platform, put into a unique external body. Thanks to this, it is unavoidable that I make comparisons with the „original” KSC MP9 model here and there.

The receiver of the replica is made of a properly solid, hard polymer. The pistol grip features a stippling effect which is supposed to give the user a slip-free grip. Unfortunately, it does not do this job really well in my opinion, because the stippling texture is too shallow and does barely anything to make it less slippery. On the other hand, the stippling effect adds a little extra girth to the size of the grip, so it is not as comfortable as the MP9 was.

The good news is, this stippling is the only negative point I can mention about the external body. Vorsk made visible efforts to think how their polymer receiver can be more practical and stronger. Multiple threaded steel inserts are molded into the body, mainly around the picatinny side rails which are now customisable. In total, there are 4 different positions to choose from where we can install rails, without the need to disassemble the gun. There is one more large steel thread inside the mold at the end of the lower receiver, this serves as a post to install GBB/ real steel compatible AR15 buffer tubes. If you purchased the regular VMP-1 model, this buffer tube thread is covered with the dedicated adapter that mounts the Vorsk folding stock.

Speaking of the stock, my opinion is that the Vorsk design is a huge improvement over the slim stock of the MP9 in every way. The folding hinge is a huge piece of metal, no threads drilled into the polymer lower receiver and no wobble either, unlike the MP9. It has a wider surface and this makes it easier, more comfortable to shoulder. The only not-so-good thing about the stock is the rotation – it was designed to rotate left and right about 20 degrees adjusting to the user’s stance. For me, this feature is more annoying than useful, it can start turning even with very small amount of force applied. Despite all of this, you can get used to it with time.

The charging handle resembles the solution of the AR-15 platform, and has been reinforced in a very serious level. The rod interacting with the bolt was made out of some aluminium aloy, to which, a side claw is attached. This side claw is made of steel, and its purpose is to get hooked into a notch in the upper receiver, and prevent the charging handle from sliding out during shooting. The fiber optic sights are looking fancy, but they are so low profile, that the user can not look through them while shouldering the weapon. It is only useful when using the gun with a folded/removed stock.

The outer barrel is made of an aluminium alloy and has been fitted with a regular 14 mm counter clockwise (CCW) thread. Together with the stock and the variable picatinny rails, this outer barrel is one of the parts that present a true mechanical/design improvement compared to the MP9. Thanks to the 14 mm thread, users can install any barrel attachment on their VMP-1 without a proprietary adapter. This includes tracer units, something that have become mandatory equipment in many CQB fields and night time skirmishes during the last years. Ironically, Vorsk standardised their barrel thread but still fit all VMP-1 replicas with a
proprietary quick-detach muzzle brake/ flash hider piece, which only has one purpose: to install Vorsk’s own QD mock suppressor. In my opinion, this flash hider part is rather lackluster and stick out both in terms of material quality and surface treatment, I quickly removed it and added my own standard threaded tracer suppressor.

It is time to open up the VMP-1 and see what’s inside. After removing a screw at the front and pushing the recoil spring guide rod inside, the upper receiver comes off easily and the internals become visible. The outer barrel is held in place by multiple parts in a clamp system and the bolt carrier is held in place by the outer barrel and a couple of guide rails. It is a rather complex and overengineered sytem, but then again, this is not the fault of Vorsk as the internals are a faithful copy of the KSC MP9. Many parts have exactly the same dimensions, material and also surface finish as the original MP9, which leads me to believethat at least some parts were sourced direclty from KSC. If this isn’t the case, then Vorsk made a very precise job cloning everything inside.

Moving on to the usage of materials – unfortunately, zinc-aluminium alloy (often referred to as ’pot metal’ in the airsoft community) dominates the internal parts, which is not only a huge concern for durability, but also hurts aesthetics/realism, which I personally do not like. The good news is that parts compatibility allows many MP9 aftermarket parts to be fitted into the VMP-1. At the time of writing the article, multiple users successfully installed bolt carriers, pistons, nozzles or trigger parts into their Vorsk replica.

Apart from pot metal, we can find quite a lot of steel parts as well. Steel parts include the bolt catch, the recoil spring guide rod, the the trigger box, the firing pin / certain parts of the impact hammer, the straight sear and many smaller unnamed parts. Plus all the screws, springs and pins.

Pretty much everything is made of the same design and material like its counterpart on the older MP9 model. This is a shame in my opinion, as Vorsk skipped a great opportunity to upgrade some of the parts that were known to cause trouble frequently. We are still stuck with a fragile, pot metal auto-sear (the infamous part no. 153) and also stuck with the troublesome small nozzle springs that sit at the deepest bottom of the bolt carrier, which needs frequent dissassembly for maintenance, damage inspection and/or change. I would have loved to see some design upgrades like a bolt carrier that can be easily disassembled with grub screws – as
opposed to the current method which includes multiple tension pins and is a pain in the butt to take apart.

Many people hoped for an upgrade to a VSR compatible hop up system – unfortunately, this did not happen. We have the same proprietary, weird, ball bearing loaded solution as the MP9 (and other KSC models). Good luck trying to upgrade or replace it as KSC-spec hop up options are very limited in online stores. Aftermarket hop up parts do not exist (yet) since the available MP9 conversion/retrofit kits rely on changing the whole outer
barrel assembly and are made with the MP9 muzzle in mind, meaning that even if Vorsk users found a fitting MP9 outer barrel, they would have to give up the convenient 14 mm thread from the Vorsk outer barrel. This is a little bit of a disappointment for me, having VSR compatibility would have meant an infinite amount of aftermarket options for inner barrels and buckings, in case the user wants to tinker with muzzle energy and effective range.

The inner barrel (which is ~130 mm long and surprisingly, has a threaded end) was machined at most sides to have multiple notches, so that it only goes into the outer barrel at the intended angle and does not wobble at all. Thanks to this, the inner barrel is fixedsecurely and has no chance to accidentally twist or tilt. Theoretically the hop up bucking and the chamber is perfectly centered and yet, the ball bearing/nub itself is not centered, it tilted to the left side every time, even after numerous assembly attempts. The system can perfectly hop even 0.36 gram BBs, its range and accuracy is perfectly adequate for its size, it shoots nice… except the nub tilting to the left means that it twists the BB to the left, which becomes noticeable over 40 meters (130 feet). Since this is a typical „room clearing” compact replica intended strictly for CQB, I think the (lack of) range is reasonable for its category and usage.

In 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature, using 130 PSI bottled green gas, fully filled gas tank and 0.32 gram BBs, muzzle energy remains just under 1.5 Joules (translation note: the general Hungarian CQB field limit is 1.5 Joules measured with the BB weight used by the player, so this test setup tried to inform local players about their CQB options). Shot-to-shot consistency is surprisingly good, between two consecutive shots there was no more than 2-3 FPS difference. Moreover, sometimes the cronograph would register less than one FPS difference for 4-5 shots straight. Gas consumption and gas efficiency is pretty good, in semi auto mode it can go through 2 entire magazines without issues and still continues to shoot.

Taken out of the box, the bolt carrier was a little dry while the trigger group was soaked with a thick lubricant grease, which does not help. Parallel to this, the trigger was a little too wide and was scratching against the lower receiver around it, which resulted in the trigger regularly being unable to return to the starting position. It had to be pushed forward manually to reset the sear and to be able to shoot again. I fixed this issue by disassembling the lower, removing the trigger bar and the trigger from the replica, and then sanding the sides of the trigger. This fixed the problem permanently and the trigger slid into place every time.

As for the magazines, there is nothing extraordinary about them. Their qu ality is adequate, their surface treatment is a little puritanic but they come with a stylish polymer case for added protection. They fit roughly 45-48 BBs (official sources state 48 BBs) which, in a CQB environment, can last for a while, provided the user is shooting in moderation. The gas tank is large and stores a lot of gas. According to my experience, it is a good idea to polish the BB feeding channel and remove the dirt/paint inside, otherwise the magazines start to have sloppy feeding.

Conclusion: if you like compact, CQB-oriented sub machine guns and you are one of the people who like the looks, then this is a mandatory buy. It is a good choice for both as a CQB workhorse or as a secondary/backup type weapon. Price-to-value ratio is good andspare parts are available through platform compatibility. It is not unbreakable, just like the „original” was not unbreakable either. It is a pity that Vorsk did not try to improve on the internals. Despite this, the Vorsk VMP-1 remains a likeable SMG.

Text: Yssomru
Photos: Yssomru