The Firearm Blog

Tanfo, a Norwegian soldier, reports at the ar15.com forum that they have been having problems with their new HK416 rifles.

Norwegian configured HK416 with suppressor.

One of the problems is that the piston system locks up if the gun is taken outdoors from a warm building when the humidity in the air freezes in the Norwegian arctic conditions. The C8 (Colt Canada full-auto AR-15) that is used by the Norwegian special forces also has this problem but can be fixed in a much more timely manner than the HK416.

Apparently the gas regulator, which that controls the amount of gas flowing into the gas piston system, often switches modes during firing. The gun will not function properly if set to the suppressor mode if a suppressor is not being used.

HK416 Gas regulator

I imagine the Norwegian will have these problems sorted out in the next few years. It does seem odd that they did not identify the problems before purchasing the rifles.

Many thanks to Jay for the link.

Earlier this year the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced they will be switching from the G3 7.62mm rifle to the HK416. The Turkish government owned arms and ordnance manufacturer MKEK will be producing the rifle under license from Heckler & Koch.

The H&K G3 battle rifle has been phased out in many countries and replaced with assault rifles chambered in intermediate cartridges. Along with the H&K G3, MKEK also produces the a variety of H&K MP5 models so the move to another H&K rifle is not surprising. Norway is also replacing the G3 with the HK416.

An important Turkish guy holding the Mehmetçik-1.Photo from worldaffairsboard.com

The pistol grip and stock look different to most of the HK416 photos on the internet. The wikipedia page has a photo with “HK416N” markings and the same configuration. The photo is marked for deletion from Wikipedia and there are few other references to the “HK416N” on google.

HK416N markings. Photo from Wikipedia.

Mehmetçik-1 markings

I cannot see any other differences between the Mehmetçik-1 and the HK416N other than the MKEK markings. The only different I have read about on a couple of forums is that MKEK are using different manufacturing techniques and different metals than H&K, which I take to mean a slightly different aluminum and steel alloys, which is not surprising.

The scope pictured above is the Elcan SpecterOS34x scope which well known for its use on the Canadian Diemaco C7/C8. The grenade launcher is the H&K AG416.

The Turkish Wikipedia page says the rifle will be manufactured in four different models. A Sub-carbine (10.5″ barrel), Carbine (14.5″ barrel), Rifle (16.5″ barrel) and “Distance” (Sniper/Marksmen, 20″ barrel).

Below is a video of a press conference with that important Turkish guy showing off the weapons and looking out of his depth:

By all accounts the HK416 is a great rifle combining the best of the AR-15 platform with the benefits of a gas piston system.

Turkey has also adopted a new sniper rifle that I cannot identify. Anyone know what it is? See the below photo.

UPDATE: Alcibiades, correctly identified it as the 7.62×51mm JNG 90, also made by MKEK.

Mehmetçik-1 and JNG 90 sniper rifle. Photo from worldaffairsboard.com

Hat Tip: GunPundit

The M16 has been in service for over 40 years and I did some research to see which governments now use it. I decided to create a map showing who uses the M16/M4, AR-15 (civilian version)and the C7/ C8 (Canadian version).

This is what I came up with (click the image to increase the size)

Some of the countries, such as the UK, only use M16/M4/AR-15/C7/C8 rifles for their special forces. Presumably because the AR-15 platform has no end of customizations available.

Here is a complete list of countries (from the Colt website. The above map is more detailed than the Colt map):

Argentina, Australia, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, East Timor, Estonia, Fiji, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq ,Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Maldives, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Laos, Nigeria, Netherlands, Oman,Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vietnam and Venezuela.

UPDATE

Added Georgia, who are adopting the M4, and Afghanistan, who have been given C7 rifles.