Type Battle rifle In service 2005–present Wars See Conflicts | Place of origin Germany Used by See Users Designer Heckler & Koch | |
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The Heckler & Koch HK417 is a battle rifle designed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch in Germany. It is a gas-operated, selective fire rifle with a rotating bolt. It's chambered for the full-power 7.62×51mm NATO round, instead of the less powerful 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge. The HK417 is intended for use in roles where the greater penetrative power and range of the 7.62×51mm NATO round are required. It has been adopted for service by a number of armed forces, special forces, and police organizations.
Contents
Design details
The HK417 is similar in internal design to the HK416, but the receiver and working parts are enlarged to suit the larger 7.62×51mm NATO round. The bolt is a seven-lug rotating type, which sits in a bolt carrier and operates in a forged alloy receiver resembling those of the Stoner-designed AR-10, AR-15 and M16 rifle series weapons.
Like the HK416, the HK417 is a gas-operated, with a short-stroke piston design similar to that of the Heckler & Koch G36. The short-stroke piston is more reliable than the original direct impingement operation of the AR-15 design because, unlike these weapons, it does not vent propellant gases directly into the receiver, which deposits carbon fouling onto the bolt mechanism as well as heating it up.
The early prototype HK417 used 20-round magazines from the Heckler & Koch G3 rifle family, which did not feature a bolt hold-open device. Later prototypes, however, switched to a polymer magazine with bolt hold-open. The magazine resembles an enlarged version of the G36 series transparent magazine, except without the pins for holding more than one magazine together. In addition, a 50-round, low profile drum magazine developed by HK for the HK21E machine gun can be fitted to the HK417 for use in support and sustained fire applications.
Role
Purchasers of the HK417 have typically intended it to complement lighter assault rifles chambered for less powerful intermediate cartridges (often 5.56×45mm NATO), for the designated marksman's role. The HK417's greater accuracy, effective range, and penetration offset its greater expense, its lower rate of fire, and its smaller ammunition capacity both in magazine and carriage.
Military and law enforcement
The HK417 models chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO available to the military and law enforcement market are:
As of 2013, the HK417 A2 models chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO available to the military and law enforcement market are:
Accurized barrels provide 1 MOA accuracy (with match grade ammunition). A barrel can be changed in under two minutes with simple tools. All HK417 barrels are cold hammer forged and chrome-lined and use a conventional lands and grooves bore profile with a 279.4 mm (1 in 11 in) twist rate. They are designed to function reliably with bullet weights ranging from less than 9.3 to 11.34 g (147 to 175 grains) and are threaded for flash hider, muzzle compensator, and sound suppressor attachment.
The HK417 A2 is the improved version. The design of the receiver, barrel interface, gas port and the bore axis alignment of the rifle have been further optimised to increase its accuracy and reliability.
Small caliber
Civilian
Civilian variants of the HK416 and HK417 introduced in 2007 were known as MR223 and MR308. Both are semi-automatic rifles with several "sporterized" features. At the 2009 SHOT Show, the two firearms were introduced to the American civilian market renamed respectively MR556 and MR762. Since then both were replaced by the improved MR556A1 and MR762A1.
G28
The civilian MR308 was used to develop the G28, a designated marksman rifle for the German Bundeswehr (Federal Army) deployment to the Afghanistan war. The semi-automatic G28 designated marksman rifle is chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO and has a factory warranted accuracy of 45 mm dispersion at 100 meters (1.5 MOA) when fired with 10 rounds using OTM/HPBT/Sierra Match King ammunition. The G28 features STANAG 4694 NATO Accessory Rails that are backwards-compatible with the STANAG 2324 or MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rails. The upper receiver is made from steel instead of HK's aluminium alloy. Approximately 75% of the parts are interchangeable with the HK417. There are two different versions of the G28: G28 E2 (Standard) with Schmidt & Bender PMII 3–20×50 and the G28 E3 (Patrol) with Schmidt & Bender PMII 1–8×24.
In April 2016 the Heckler & Koch confirmed that a lighter version had won the United States Army's Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System contract to replace the Army's M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System.