#Hk416

The US Army’s new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, or SDM-R, is set to be fielded at the brigade level starting in September 2018, according to the Program Executive Office Soldier.

It has been suggested that the US Marine Corps’ Weapons Training Battalion at the Quantico Marine Corps Base is currently evaluating accessories for the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. The reality, however, is that the M27s, recently ordered by the Corps, will be identical to their first batches of rifles ordered back in 2007.

Marine Corps Systems Command have confirmed the signing of a five year, ‘firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract’ worth $30 million. In a USMC press release Corps officials confirmed that “the additional M27 IARs will partially replace the current M4 carbine semi-automatic rifle.”

In recent months the Corps has been increasingly open about its intentions to adopt the M27 as its standard issue rifle. Back in August 2017, the USMC released a sole source notice for the acquisition of as many as 50,000 M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles. It now seems the Corps will be acquiring the new rifles in smaller numbers initially.

Maxim Defense has made their name known for their PDW stock and SB tactical collaboration PDW brace. At last Big 3 East they had some HK416 rifles with their PDW Stock. I did not think much about it at the time but now that Brownells is importing HK416 parts my attention has been tuned to HK416 related items. The Maxim Defense HK416 rifles are sporting some upgrades. Interestingly these upgrades are independent of the Brownells story.

During my trip to Germany last week, I took a special trip up to Hamburg, Germany to visit Zib Militaria. Zib is a surplus dealer in some rare gun parts. Heiko, the owner, has acquired some rare machine gun parts as well as stock piled a bunch of HK goodies. Among them are piles of HK 416 and 417 parts along with guns minus the barrels and bolts. This is due to the laws regarding firearm components in Germany. While I was there, I learned that Brownells has bought a majority these components and is planning to import them for sale in the US.

I saved these photos a while ago and considering recent events, I thought these would make a good photo of the day. This is how you destroy a gun.

Some absolutely great new photos of part of Heckler & Koch’s product range have emerged. Taken by German photographer Oliver Louven, a Bundeswehr veteran, the photos feature a plethora of Heckler & Koch’s current range of small arms.

Last time The Firearm Blog wrote about Heckler & Koch’s Gray Room we stated we cannot get enough.

Today’s Photo Of The Day is from Norway.

According to the website Augen Geradeaus (meaning Eyes Straight Ahead) the German-American company Sig Sauer is now out of the competition for the successor of the HK G36 rifle for the Germany Army.

There is a series of short videos made by the Marine’s. CW05 Gunner Wade covers topics pertinent to Marines. In this video he covers the simple decision to use semi auto fire versus full auto fire. They use an HKM27 for this demonstration.

DefenceWeb recently released a video overview of the new Steyr / Rheinmetall RS-556 assault rifle. The rifle, a sort of hybrid between an AR-15 and a Steyr AUG, was submitted to the Bundeswehr’s System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr trials, competing against both Heckler & Koch’s HK416 and the new HK433 assault rifles. The RS-556, mechanically, is substantially different from a basic AR-15, and therefore occupies an interesting spot in-between being an AR-15 variant and a completely different weapon. The upper receiver is a single piece forged unit, with an AUG-style fixed extension/trunnion and quick change barrel. An AUG-style short stroke tappet gas system and connecting operating rod replace the AR-15’s direct impingement system. In the upper, a steel insert, rather than the aluminum receiver itself, guides the bolt carrier group. This feature is supposed to increase upper receiver life, and improve its maintenance characteristics, although it does make the rifle significantly heavier.

The day before yesterday it was 40 years since the German Special Forces group GSG9 stormed the Lufthansa Flight 181 in Mogadishu, Somalia, and rescued all of the 86 passengers.

On the 11 October the  Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) announced the selection of Heckler & Koch’s KH416A7 for Germany’s Special Forces.