Tag Archives: G36

The HK SL8 Fever Dream is still Alive

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Much as the HK91 was a civilianized version of the G3, soon after the very sci-fi looking G36 hit the market in 1997 HK moved to give hungry fans what they wanted.

I mean, who wouldn’t want a G36, right?

First introduced in 2000, the .223 Rem caliber SL8 used a short-stroke piston actuated gas operating system with a 20.8-inch cold hammer forged heavy barrel. Semi-auto with a grey carbon fiber polymer thumbhole stock– it debuted during the Federal Assault Weapon ban– with an adjustable cheekpiece and buttstock, the initial version of the rifle included a removable Picatinny rail, an ambi charging handle that folded into the centerline of the gun, and adjustable sights.
So this is the “G36” consumers in the U.S. got stuck with:

The original SL8-1. Originally imported 2000-2003 and then again in 2007-2010, the first generation model now known as the SL8-1 included 10-round mags and a grey thumbhole stock.

In 2010, HK updated the design to the SL8-6 which ditched the space cadet grey for an all-black format and added an elevated Pic rail/carrying handle. It also had a vented handguard, closer to the G36 original. Unfortunately, this model was only imported for a year.
Now, the SL8-6 is back, and it is still kinda wonky but, if you call people like TBT, they can turn it into something great.

HK upgrades the MP-5 and the G36 scandal gets interesting…

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Everyone’s favorite SMG from the 1970s onward– the Heckler and Koch MP5– has gotten a face lift. The company unveiled it at AUSA and call it the MP-5 Mid-Life Improvement.

hk hekcler koch mp5a5 mp5 mp-5 mid life

From Soldier Systems: While they haven’t changed the weapon mechanically, they’ve upgrade to a new three position collapsible stock, the Modular Slim Line Handguard and Mounting Rail with STANAG 4694 Profile. All three of these items can be retrofitted to existing MP-5s.

Meanwhile, in other HK news, it seems the whole G36 bruhaha may have been overblown:

hk g36

From DW.com

Led by Green party politician Winfried Nachtwei, the commission questioned 200 soldiers to find out whether they had ever been put in danger, or indeed directly harmed, by the gun’s supposed lack of accuracy.

“The mission-experienced soldiers refuted the classification of the G36 as a glitch-rifle,” the commission said in Berlin on Wednesday. The report had already been leaked to Wednesday’s edition of the “Sächsische Zeitung,” in which one platoon commander who served in Afghanistan in 2009 offered nothing but glowing words about the gun’s accuracy. “We always felt in a superior position with the G36, particularly because we could have an impact on the target with relatively little ammunition,” he told the Nachtwei commission.

The commission was careful, however, not to question the scientific tests that had been conducted on the G36, confining itself only to the observation that they had tested “extreme cases” that were unlikely to occur on the battlefield…

Maybe it just needs a Mid Life Improvement…

 

Germans make early G36 retirement official

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HK G36

Plagued with issues (mainly exceptionally poor accuracy past 100m when operating in temperatures over 80 degrees), the German Bundeswehr is moving to scrap their entire 178,000 rifle stockpile of HK G36s– but are chalking it up to the age of the guns although they were acquired in 1996.

While a contender hasn’t been named, the ‘Heer picked up 1,200 AR-10-ish HK417s last month.

“The G36 was procured with a service life of 20 years in mind, which will be reached in 2016. Furthermore, the current forces’ requirements by far exceed the potential of modifications that could be made to the G36,” said Katrin Suder, German State Secretary for Defence Procurement, as noted by Janes.

Maybe the Germans can donate them to a country or three that doesn’t send a lot of people to the sandbox. Perhaps the Baltics. As long as the Russians don’t invade in August they should be good.

Germany taps in the HK417 to easy issues with the G36

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With the German military going to hell in a handbasket and the once-vaunted HK G36 having some serious teething issues, they are picking up some 1,200 HK417s to help ease the pain as noted by local media.

hk417
For those of you unclear on just what the ‘417 is, think of a short-stroke piston AR-10 with a few modern updates and capable of using the same 20-round mag used by the old-school G3 battle rifle if you run out of the groovy clear polymer ones it comes with.

Come to think of it, why did they get rid of the G3 anyway?