According to the information provided by the official website of HK American Company, the development plan of HKM4 started in 2002. When HK Company improved the British SA80 (L85/L86) weapon system, it began to evaluate and improve the M16 series carbine in early 2002.
The technical feasibility of the research is to improve the reliability and service life of the M16 series weapons. HK Company expects to produce and sell complete HKM4 in the future, and can also provide services for the military or law enforcement agencies to convert existing weapons into HKM4.
Perhaps because Colt planned to sue HK Company for infringement of their rights in 2004, HK Company now gave up the name HKM4 and changed its name to HK416. "4" probably refers to M4, and "16" probably refers to M16. HK416 is
It was officially launched on the market in February 2005. At the same time, it adopted a new structure of Picatinny rail handguard, which made the HK416 more obviously different in appearance from the original M16/M4 carbine.
Features
HKM4 can be modified from the standard M16A2/A4 receiver. What HK Company has developed is only the gas guide, upper receiver assembly, barrel and magazine. Its gas system is an improved AR-18 gas guide, which has been
In the research work of G36 and improved SA80, HK Company’s engineers must be familiar with this gas guide system. Before G36, almost all of HK Company’s automatic weapons used roller locking. After G36, almost all of HK Company’s automatic weapons used roller locking.
Automatic weapons also use AR-18-style gas guides. HK company engineers will indeed use mature technology. But in any case, this new gas guide is more likely to be "dirty" than the M16 series gas guide.
It is more reliable and can greatly reduce the number of maintenance required by the user. In order to increase the service life, HK Company has used high-quality European steel to manufacture 5 cold-forged barrels of different lengths, including 9 (HK416C), 10 (10.4) (HK416D)
, 14.5 (16.5) (HK416N) and 20 (HK416S) inches, as well as the semi-automatic civilian LR556 (14.5 or 16.5 inch barrel), the cold forged barrel life is more than 20,000 rounds, and one maintenance can last 3,000 rounds.
There are currently 5 different lengths of barrels. In addition, a new buffer device is used to improve the reliability and safety of the weapon. In addition, a more reliable steel magazine (with an empty magazine for hanging) has been manufactured. From the picture above,
It can be seen that HK has also improved the new firing mechanism. The position of the speed machine (the standard speed machine is single-shot burst, fully automatic and locked in three gears, and can be operated by both left and right hands) is much more convenient than that of the M16 series.
performance
HKM4 reliability tests were conducted at the U.S. Army's Yuma Desert Ground Weapons Proving Ground in Arizona, under a variety of extreme environments, with different types of barrels, different types of ammunition, and with or without silencers installed.
The reliability is higher than that of the M16 series, and it can even be fired underwater. The same level of firearms in the US military, M4A1-CQBR, and M16A4, will explode as long as the bolt gets water. Its strong handle will become a hazard to soldiers at this time.
"Dagger", while the HK416 has no problem at all, and there is almost no heat and gunpowder gas (dirt) transmitted to the bolt when shooting. This is unmatched by AR gun series (M16, M4, etc.).
Sales
Since its launch, HK416 has been hard to sell. Although there are some small orders occasionally, most of them are orders from law enforcement or security agencies. I accidentally saw a US military using HK416 in Iraq, but it is probably a personal behavior. However, in 2007, finally
Good news came, first of all, in the report of the US Army Times on March 1, 2007, that the Delta Commando planned to purchase a batch of HK416 upper receivers, which will obviously be used to modify the existing M4A1. And on March 28
According to the Japanese Federal Procurement Announcement (No. FA5270-07-R0009), 84 sets of HK41610-inch upper receiver covers were purchased for use by the "DELTAFORCE" 1st Special Forces Battalion stationed in Ryukyu. On April 25, 2007
"Jane's" reported that Norway signed an order contract worth US$16.6 million with the German company HK, which will purchase 8,200 HK416 and related accessories. The spare parts will be used to replace the G3 rifles currently equipped by the Norwegian army. The first batch of HK416 will be
It was delivered in November this year. The selection of new guns in Norway also included the G36KV3 of the HK company and the C8 of the Canadian company Dimaco. However, I did not expect that the final contract was for the HK416 of the same HK company. Obviously, Norway
People think that the improvement of reliability is more important than the top-heavy human-machine efficiency. The technology of HKM4 is not the first. There have long been similar products with M16/M4 modified gas guide. In fact, Taiwan's T65 can also be regarded as a kind of M16+AR18
Similar to the gas guide product, the HK416 steel magazine is relatively heavy, but highly reliable. Therefore, the U.S. Department of Defense has ordered a batch of HK416 magazines to replace some of the M16 aluminum magazines.
record
During the "Geronimo" operation on May 1, 2011, local time, the United States suffered a thorn in its flesh. "Terror tycoon" Osama bin Laden was shot in the head and chest by HK416 and died.