Tag Archives: HK417

Meet the Gewehr 210

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The Bundeswehr, or German federal military, has tapped the home team at Heckler & Koch to supply it with a new model of sniper rifle based on the company’s MR308.

The recently teased A6 Designated Marksman Rifle variant was shown off by HK at trade shows in Nuremberg earlier this year–we saw it at EnforceTac– and was formally announced (German) by the company as the Bundeswehr’s new G210 rifle on Aug. 27.

HK officials stated the semi-auto 7.62 NATO-chambered MR308A6, with a 16.75-inch barrel, abbreviated M-LOK handguard, and full-length top Picatinny rail, was developed specifically for the G210 tender.

Some 500 rifles will be delivered beginning in 2025.

The company is also supplying the Bundeswehr with the HK416A8 in 5.56 NATO as the G36 – the country’s standard infantry rifle – as well as the HK437 in .300 BLK as the G39 SD.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Guns of the Air Force at 75

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While Ben Franklin theorized using airships to deliver troops to battle behind enemy lines as early as 1783 and the Union Army fielded a balloon service in the Civil War, today’s Air Force traces its origin to the heavier-than-air machines of the U.S. Army’s Aeronautical Division, founded in 1907– just four years after the Wright brothers first flew. After service in Army green during both World Wars, the Air Force became an independent branch of the military in 1947 with the first Secretary of the Air Force named on Sept. 18 and its first Chief of Staff named on Sept. 26. 

To salute the 75th birthday of the USAF this week, I took a deep dive into the small arms of the organization over the years, including some rares.

Cold War-era Colt survival gun prototype
A Cold War-era Colt survival gun prototype on display at the USAF Armament Museum (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Remington XP-100 survival gun
The Remington XP-100 survival gun concept. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Bushmaster Arm Pistol in 5.56mm
The Bushmaster Arm Pistol in 5.56mm was another planned Air Force survival gun that made it about as high as a lead balloon. Bushmaster did, however, put it in limited commercial production. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

More in my column at Guns.com.

 

Army & Air Force Sniper Rifle Updates

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The Army’s Picatinny Arsenal earlier this month announced it has ordered an additional 485 of the service’s newest bolt-action sniper rifles, the MK22, from Barrett Firearms in Tennessee. Also known as the Advanced Sniper Rifle and the Precision Sniper Rifle, the MK22 is based on Barrett’s Multi-role Adaptive Design, or MRAD, platform. It is part of a program to replace the service’s existing Remington-made M2010 bolt guns, as well as the M107 .50 cal.

The MK22 is a version of Barrett’s popular MRAD bolt gun, which can be swapped between three different calibers on the fly, hence the “Multi Role Adaptive Rifle” abbreviation. The MK22 is part of the Army’s Precision Sniper Rifle Program, which also includes the Leupold Mark 5HD 5-25×56 optic – complete with a flat dark earth coating and the Army’s patented Mil-Grid reticle – on a Badger Ordnance mount, along with a suppressor and a sniper accessory kit. (Photo: U.S. Army)

Meanwhile, the Air Force is almost done fielding 1,500 new M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifles. The SDMR is a variant of HK’s 7.62 NATO G28/HK417 rifle that includes offset backup sights, a Geissele mount, OSS suppressor, Harris bipod, and Sig Sauer’s 1-6x24mm Tango6 optic.

A sergeant with the 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team fires the M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR) at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (Photo: Spc. Michael Schwenk/New Jersey National Guard)

Why does the Air Force need 1,500 SDMRs?

More in my column at Guns.com.

The SDMR isn’t vaporware afterall

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The Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR), a variant of Heckler & Koch’s 7.62 mm NATO G28/HK417, was selected in 2019 by the Army who will eventually receive between 5,000 and 6,000 systems, which will filter down to the squad-level when fully fielded.

The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, was the first in the Army to receive the M110A1, with Joes fielding their guns this month.

The rifle is intended to fill the gap between the standard 5.56 NATO M4 and a dedicated sniper platform, a mission formerly held by accurized M14s.

The SDMR includes off set backup sights, a Geissele mount, OSS suppressor, Harris bipod, and Sig Sauer’s 1-6x24mm Tango6 optic. (Photo: U.S. Army)

More in my column at Guns.com 

Army’s new SDMR rifles start shipping

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Heckler & Koch announced Thursday the first batch of Squad Designated Marksman Rifles left the HK-USA facility in Georgia, headed for the U.S. Army.

The platform, designated the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR) in military service, is a variant of HK’s 7.62 mm NATO G28/HK417. The base guns are produced at HK’s factory at Oberndorf, Germany then shipped to the States where HK-USA workers in Columbus, Georgia install optics and accessories drawn from a dozen U.S.-based manufacturers.

The SDMR in all its glory, complete with HK German roll marks, offset backup sights, a Geissele mount, suppressor and Sig Tango6 optic. (Photo: HK)

More in my column at Guns.com. 

 

Army moves ahead with buying upto $33M worth of HK G38 sniper/marksman rifles

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The U.S. Army Contracting Command on Wednesday announced a contract award to Hecker & Koch worth over $33 million.

The Ashburn, Virginia-based company was awarded a $33.5 modification to contracts for the Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System and the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle. In a nutshell, the CSASS is a more precision rifle with a 3-20 power optic and match/sniper ammo while the SDMR is for use at the platoon-level with ball ammo and a 1-6x24mm optic.

The CSASS, classified by the Army as the M110A1 rifle, is a variant of the company’s G28 (HK241) platform chambered in 7.62 NATO. The rifle, which itself is a development of the HK417 series, was first green-lighted by Uncle in 2016.

The HK G28 variant used as the Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System, or M110A1. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

As its name program name would imply, the rifle is light, weighing in at 8.48-pounds sans optics and accessories. Its primary day optic is the Schmidt & Bender scope on a Geissele mount with accessories to include a suppressor and bipod.

I’ve handled them at trade shows, and they are really nice.

What’s not to love about an HK417, especially when it is set up as a DMR? (Photo: Chris Eger)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, inbound

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What’s not to love about an HK417, especially when it is set up as a DMR? (Photo: Chris Eger)

Heckler & Koch announced last week they are preparing to deliver a shipment of new rifle weapon systems as part of the U.S. Army’s Squad Designated Marksman Rifle contract.

The SDMR is a variant of the company’s G28 (HK241) chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO. The platform, which itself is a development of the HK417 series. was evaluated at Fort Bliss by the Army’s PEO Soldier program earlier this year. Manufactured in HK’s Oberndorf, Germany plant, the rifle will soon begin arriving at the company’s Columbia, Georgia facility to marry up with optics, mounts, and accessories provided from a field of a dozen U.S. companies.

According to HK, there are some 6,000 such guns in the pipeline.

More in my column at Guns.com.

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?