The Haenel MK556, despite having been rejected by the Bundeswehr following a patent infringement, has recently been seen put to use training Ukrainian special forces operators. The 5.56x45mm short-stroke piston carbines were once poised to replace the German [Read More…]
In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves is at EnforceTac 2023 to get a rundown of the Haenel CR Series of short stroke piston operated AR-type carbines made in Germany. Check today’s video for more details. ««« GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO »»» • Apparel: All TFBTV apparel is sponsored by [Read More…]
In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves visits Haenel at EnforceTac to discuss their RS8/RS9 line of sniper rifles, famously used by German special forces as the G29. According to Haenel’s webpage: With RS8 / RS9, C.G. Haenel from Suhl offers a sniper rifle system specially developed for police [Read More…]
German police departments who had previously selected Haenel’s CR223 won’t have to destroy their carbines following an earlier ruling by Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court in a patent infringement case. We initially reported on the court’s ruling late [Read More…]
The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court has ruled against C.G. Haenel’s appeal against the courts earlier decision that Haenel had infringed on Heckler & Koch’s patents. A statement was released by the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia that [Read More…]
The long-running dispute between Heckler & Koch and Haenel enters the courtroom this week with the patent dispute case currently being heard at the Düsseldorf Regional Court. We first reported on the problems Germany was having in their efforts to replace the HK [Read More…]
Germany’s rifle debacle continues with the German government looking set to award the Bundeswehr rifle contract to the only other contender – Heckler & Koch. With Haenel disqualified after infringements of Heckler and Koch’s patents (for the magazine [Read More…]
Yes, it’s true: B&T will be importing the Haenel CR-223 as the B&T-15. The CR-223 is a semi-automatic gas-operated 5.56×45mm NATO carbine designed by C.G. Haenel in Germany. It’s basically the semi-auto version of the MK556. The CR-223/MK-556 has been in use by law enforcement [Read More…]
The German government has withdrawn their order for 120,000 Haenel MK556 rifles. Last month C.G. Haenel were awarded a major contract to replace the Bundeswehr’s G36 service rifle. The Haenel MK556 was selected over the Heckler & Koch HK416 and HK433. Heckler [Read More…]
On 14th September it emerged that C.G. Haenel’s MK556 had been selected by the German Bundeswehr, beating the entries from Heckler & Koch to replace the G36 as the Bundeswehr’s service rifle. A day later the German Ministry of Defence confirmed that [Read More…]
The German Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg) have revealed further details on the tender as well as the future timeline for the procurement of the Bundeswehr’s next service rifle system. Almost a year ago, in November 2019, the benchmark testing between the [Read More…]
The Bundeswehr have narrowed their choice of rifles to replace the Heckler & Koch G36 down to two. The Heckler & Koch HK433 and the Haenel MK 556 are the final rifles competing for adoption. Previously, it had emerged that the Rheinmetall RS556, Heckler & [Read More…]
The Enforce TAC 2018 and IWA Outdoor Classics show 2018 is coming to Nurnberg as usual. At IWA, in hall 1, booth 331, you can discover C.G.Haenel’s product pallet. One of the news will be a new AR10 style rifle called the CR308. This is to complement the CR223 [Read More…]
I really want to Ceracote some of my rifles, but I lack the courage to commit and I keep changing my mind in terms of which rifle to start with and which pattern to paint it in. Too many choices, too difficult to back off the wrong choice and of course, the cost of the [Read More…]
The IEA Mil-Optics GmbH booth is always a delight to visit at the yearly IWA Show in Nurnberg. You can check our previous article for a few examples and see if you agree. According to Spartanat in Germany they have 115 reasons to celebrate, as the German KSK has ordered [Read More…]
Good news for SIG SAUER GmbH & Co. in Eckernförde, Germany. According to the Presseportal.de a large German State Police Force has ordered several hundred MCX rifles. The HK MP5 is getting old(er) and need replacing. 9 millimeters are also out, the 5,56 is in. [Read More…]
The following is an article that was originally written in Russian by TFB contributor Maxim Popenker, and Andrey Ulanov, and translated to English by Peter Samsonov. With their permission, I have replicated the text here, and edited it, for the enrichment of you, our [Read More…]
The G36’s replacement is now known to be one of five guns – or at least that’s the report coming from reputable defense outlet IHS Jane’s. Competing in Germany’s System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr Assault Rifle System) will be the [Read More…]
C.G. Haenel from Suhl in Germany have released a short video about the RS8 and RS9 sniper rifles, called “The Impact of Precision“. The Haenel RS8 is available in .308 Win. and the Haenel RS9 is available in .338 Lapua Magnum. My personal favorite remains [Read More…]
In November last year we reported that the Police in Hamburg (Germany) were getting Haenel CR223s (AR15) in 5,56 NATO as a response to the increased threat levels. You can find the background in this TFB article. The first rifles from the manufacturer Haenel (Suhl, [Read More…]
There are several independent rumors that LWRC International LLC (USA) has a contract with some of the Swedish Police Units called Reinforced Regional Task Force (Piketen), and most likely other military (SOG) and police units, to replace their aging and somewhat [Read More…]
According to several sources, the Police in Hamburg (Germany), are getting new body armor, helmets, armored cars and HK MP5s and Haenel CR223s. The real news here is the issuing of the Haenel CR223, which is a piston driven AR15 style rifle. Hamburger Mobile [Read More…]
Haenel is a name that should sound familiar to any of you firearm historians out there, as they were the original manufacturer of the famous STG44 rifle. However, these days they have diversified into making some very nice long range precision rifles! Thanks to Industry Day at the Range for hosting [Read More…]
In the early summer of this year, a car-full of gun nerds set out to capture the rare Pedersen rifle on camera for the first time. The passenger with the van Dyke mustache and ponytail had just mentioned how if he could own any machine gun, it would be an StG.44, the [Read More…]
What rifle influenced Kalashnikov’s famous carbine design more, the Garand M1, or the Haenel MP 43? This question was broached by blogger Jeff of TwistRate in a video posted to the Full30 gun video hosting website recently. Readers can follow the link to watch [Read More…]
The still below captures the use of a weapon that some of our readers will immediately recognize, but that might be new to others: The rifle is an MKb.42(H), Haenel’s prototype for what would later become the famous MP-44 Sturmgewehr. The Maschinenkarabiner [Read More…]
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