Free Republic

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted details of a no bid contract with weapons manufacturer Sig Sauer, worth $4.5 million over the next five years. The contract is identical to the one DHS announced last week with Heckler & Koch. Both contracts are for $900,000 worth of "replacement parts" a year, for weapons used by DHS agents. ... DHS is purchasing 2,717 'Mine Resistant Protected' vehicles

Three months after the first five XM-25 grenade launchers arrived in Afghanistan, and after only 55 25mm rounds were fired in combat, the troops don't want to give these new weapons up. The XM-25s work as advertised, firing "smart rounds" that explode over the heads of Taliban hiding behind rocks or walls, or hiding in a cave or room. Enemy machine-guns have been quickly knocked out of action and ambushes quickly disrupted with a few 25mm shells. Encounters that might go on for 15 minutes or longer, as U.S. troops exchange fire with hidden Taliban, end in minutes after a...

Lt. Gen. George Flynn, who heads the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, told reporters at a Washington, D.C. breakfast that the service plans to finish outfitting five battalions with the new M-27 Infantry Automatic Rifle next month and then will observe how those Marines use it on deployment before changing the organization, training, and tactics of infantry units around the new weapon. But Flynn pushed back at critics of the M-27, saying the improved accuracy of the Heckler and Koch-made automatic rifle makes up for a lower rate of fire compared to the M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon it's...

The Marine Corps will field its new, lightweight auto rifle this fall to five combat battalions preparing for war-zone deployments. Commandant Gen. James T. Conway gave Corps officials the green light in April to issue approximately 450 M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles, enough to replace every M249 squad automatic weapon in four infantry battalions and one light armored reconnaissance battalion. The limited fielding is a final test to find out if the Heckler & Koch-made weapon performs as well in an operational environment as it has in testing, said Charles Clark III, who oversees infantry weapons requirements at the Corps' Combat...

The U.S. Army has finally addressed years of complaints about the M-4 and M-16 assault rifles. The M-4 is a short barrel M-16, and has become very popular with the troops. The army has asked the Department of Defense for permission to spend a few hundred million dollars on upgrades for its 400,000 M-4 assault rifles. The big change is replacing the main portion of the rifle with a new component that contains a short stroke piston gas system (to reduce buildup of carbon inside the rifle) and a heavier (by five ounces) barrel (which reduces barrel failure from too...

The HK-416 is a 5.56 x 45 millimeter caliber weapon that uses a Heckler & Koch propriety operating system originally developed for and used in other Heckler & Koch models such as the G-36. The Heckler & Koch propriety gas system does not introduce propellant gases and the associated carbon fouling back into the weapons interior (a fault in the M-16 rifle). HK-416 is available in four configurations including 10 inch, 14.5 inch, 16.5 inch and 20 barrel lengths. The system is similar to the Barrett M-468. It replaces the top of the M-16 rifle. A number of HK-416 carbines...

Initial reports favor Heckler & Koch, which is building local plant for rifle assembly George Thorogood's growling rock classic, "Bad to the Bone," set the mood Wednesday as two squads of soldiers leaped out of their Stryker armored vehicles at Fort Benning's Redcloud Range. As the music from the loudspeakers faded away, the 29th Infantry Regiment troops hit the ground in a prone position and proceeded to blast away at green targets on a hillside about 100 yards away. Dirt kicked up as one nine-man squad did their damage using the Colt M4 Carbine rifle that currently is the weapon...

CHARLESTON (AP) -- Hundreds of machine gun owners plan to meet at a remote, abandoned strip-mine site near Shinnston this weekend to shoot their weapons. ''We call it 'Thunder in the Hills,' '' said Frank Watson, the event's promoter. ''Basically, it's a chance for machine gun owners to spend three days shooting lead and shooting the bull.'' Billed as a ''shoot and show,'' the event is open to owners of all types of automatic firearms. Military buffs will get a chance to see everything from the British-made Lewis gun of World War I to the M-60 now used by the...

The U.S. Army has asked Congress for an extra $26 million to buy 7,000 XM-8 rifles next year. These weapons would be used to equip to infantry brigades and thus give the rifle a wide scale test. The money requested would also pay for the staff needed to monitor the testing. The rifle has already undergone thousands of hours of user testing and there have been some recommendations, all minor. The buttons on the sight are to be rearranged, to make the sight easier to use. There were also complaints about battery life for the sight, and a new battery...

Caliber: 5.56x45 mm NATO Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt Overall length: no data Barrel length: no data Weight: 2.67 kg empty Rate of fire: no data Magazine capacity: 30 rounds (STANAG) The development of the XM8 Lightweight Assault Rifle was initiated by US Army in the 2002, when contract was issued to the Alliant Techsystems Co of USA to study possibilities of development of kinetic energy part of the XM29 OICW weapon into separate lightweight assault rifle, which could, in the case of success, replace the aging M16A2 rifles and M4A1 carbines in US military service. According to the present...

PDWs Replacing Pistols January 5, 2004: Bye Bye Beretta, Hello PDW? The 9mm pistol cartridge has been in use for over 100 years by militaries and civilian law enforcement, but renewed efforts are underway both in the U.S. and European military establishments to field a replacement round, and a new type of weapon to fire it. The new weapon has been dubbed the Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) by NATO. This spring, the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab at Quantico, Virginia will be holding an evaluation between PDW contenders from FN Herstal and Hecker & Koch (H&K) in order to find a...

COLUMBUS, Ga. - German gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch will build a firearms plant here that will employ 200 people initially and eventually up to 500, officials said. "This has been an eight-year effort," Mike Gaymon, president of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, said Friday of the state's efforts to lure the plant. Heckler & Koch makes weapons such as submachine guns, assault rifles and handguns for both civilian and military markets, including armed forces in Germany and Spain. The company's U.S. headquarters are in Sterling, Va. Officials said the initial construction phase is to cost about $20 million...

Cyanide-Shooting Guns Found in Baghdad .c The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Soldiers searching homes in a Baath Party enclave on Sunday turned up weapons straight out of James Bond movies - among them suitcases that concealed submachine guns and air pistols that fired cyanide pellets. The men of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, found 21 briefcases specially designed to hold Heckler and Koch MP-5K 9 mm submachine guns. The guns could be fired by pulling a trigger on the handle of the case. There were also several silencers for 9 mm pistols and a gold-plated MP-5...

BAE Systems is poised to sell Heckler & Koch, its German handgun and rifle maker. The sale is awaiting formal approval from the US and UK defence ministries, both of which are Heckler & Koch customers. The purchaser is a German investor group headed by Umarex, which owns CarlWalther, maker of the legendary Walther PPK handgun favoured by James Bond. Heckler & Koch makes the G36 rifle used by the German, Spanish and British armies. It also supplies special forces such as the SAS and its German equivalent, GSG-9, with handguns and machine guns. The British army accounts for around...

Anybody have anything good or bad to say about the HK P7M8? It looks like a sweet gun, though expensive. Thanks.