The Firearm Blog

Because Australians are not allowed semi-automatic guns, rifle manufacturers make some interesting bolt and pump action conversions of AR-15s, AKs and other rifles for the Australian market.

H&K produce a special version of their SL8, itself a consumer friendly version of the G36, for the Australian market called the R8. It functions as a bolt action. The rifle is not manufactured with a gas system, that is then blocked to make it single shot, as other single shot conversions have been.

H&K R8

Last year H&K Australia were informed that they could not longer import the R8 because it is duplicates a military rifle. They are pissed because as you can see below it barely resembles the G36. The R8 receivers and barrels were never capable of functioning as a semi-auto (or at least that is what they claim).

Earlier in the year H&K again entered into proceeding to get it reclassified.

Many thanks to Ben for sending me the documents relating to the story.

Gun Pundit has some good shots of the German Bundeswehr troops in Afghanistan sporting the G36 rifle.

Lots of photos here.

Murdoc found this photo from 2001

1st Infantry Division (ID) Soldiers, part of the USA Task Force (TF) Sabre force, fire a Heckler-Koch 5.56 mm G36 assault rifle on the live-fire range at Orahovac, Kosovo, Serbia

More here.