Heckler & Koch

Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) (pronounced //) is a German weapons manufacturing company famous for various series of small firearms, notably the MP5 submachine gun, the MP7 personal defense weapon, USP series handguns, high-precision PSG1 sniper rifle, and the G3 and G36 assault rifles. Heckler & Koch are known for the precision, durability, reliability and accuracy of their firearms. All firearms made by H&K are named by a prefix and the official designation, with postfixes used for variants.

Heckler & Koch has a history of innovations in small arms, such as the use of polymers. Heckler & Koch also developed modern polygonal rifling, noted for its high accuracy and increased muzzle velocity and barrel life. Not all of its technologically ambitious designs have resulted in successful products (for instance, the advanced but now abandoned G11 assault rifle). HK produces the whole range of small arms, from pistols to grenades and machine guns. In its extensive product range, HK has used most of the operating systems for small arms: blowback, short-recoil, roller-delayed blowback, gas-delayed blowback, and gas-operated.

HK was founded by Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel in 1949 from the remnants of Mauser, and the company was registered in 1950. In the beginning, the company produced sewing machines and other fine mechanics, but this was changed in 1956 when the company constructed a rifle for the German Bundeswehr. In 1991, H&K was bought by British Aerospace/Royal Ordnance (now BAE Systems) who resold it to a German group (H&K Beteiligungs-GmbH) that was created for this purpose in 2002.

The company is located in Oberndorf in the state of Baden-Württemberg, but also has a subsidiary in the United States. The company slogan is: "In a world of compromise, some don't". The slogan emphasizes that HK aims to incorporate accuracy, reliability, and ergonomics into their designs without sacrificing one over the other. Because of this paradigm many fans feel that HK is the worlds premiere firearm manufacturer. This idea is supported by the fact that Heckler & Koch provides firearms for many of the world's elite military and paramilitary units, like the Special Air Service, U.S. Navy SEALs, FBI HRT, the German KSK and GSG 9 and countless other counter terrorist and hostage rescue teams.

HK has been contracted by the U.S. Army to produce the kinetic energy subsystem (see: kinetic projectiles or kinetic energy penetrator) of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, a planned replacement for the M16/M203 grenade launcher combination. OICW will fire both 5.56 mm bullets and 25 mm grenades. The kinetic component was also developed separately as the XM8, though both the OICW and XM8 are now indefinitely suspended.

HK is also contracted to refurbish the SA80 range of weapons for the British Army.

Selected/notable Heckler & Koch designs or families

Pistols: HK USP (variants:P8, P2000, Mark 23), HK UCP, HK P7, VP70
Personal Defense Weapons: MP7, MP5K
Submachine guns: MP5, UMP
Assault rifles: G3, G36, HK 53, HK 416, HK 417
Sniper rifles: HK MSG-90, HK PSG-1
Machine guns: HK 21E, HK MG4
Grenade launchers: AG36, HK GMG
Other:
- HK G11: experimental rifle
- HK P11: underwater pistol

Short List of Heckler & Koch abbreviations

(Format: Abbreviation = German Text (English Text))

UMP = Universal-Maschinenpistole (Universal Machine Pistol)
UCP = Ultimate Combat Pistol
USP = Universal-Selbstladepistole (Universal Self-loading Pistol)
GMG = Granatmaschinengewehr (Grenade machine gun)
GMW = Granatmaschinenwaffe (Grenade automatic weapon)
SD = Schalldämpfer (Sound dampened)
K = Kurz (Short)
A = Ausführung (Version) HKPro - definition of 'A' designation

External links

Heckler & Koch, official homepage (international).
Heckler & Koch USA, official homepage (U.S.).
HK Pro, comprehensive fan page.
Remtek, Heckler & Koch page of general firearms information site.

Defence companies of Germany | Firearms manufacturers | 1949 establishments | Surname pairs

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Selected/notable Heckler & Koch designs or families

Short List of Heckler & Koch abbreviations

See also

External links