Heckler & Koch

The name of the German armament company Heckler & Koch is a regular icon in small arms. Located at Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany, it was founded in 1949 by three key personnel from the former Mauser company - Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel. It is a safe bet than none of these three had the slightest idea of how popular their brainchild’s products would become one day – this is evident from the fact that Heckler & Koch’s pioneering products were sewing machines and related machines. However, with the acquisition of a contract to supply the Federal German Army with rifles in 1956, the company reoriented itself to arms and ammunition. It was acquired by the British Aerospaces Royal Ordnance division in 1991, but reestablished its German identity when a specially created company called H&K Beteiligungs-GmbH bought it back in 2002. The rest, of course, is pure armament history.

The company is most known for its polymer-based small arms and innovative product features such as polygonal barrel rifling, which it invented. The small arms product line is extremely diverse and the company has managed to turn out pistols to grenades and machine guns that have consistently impacted the gun market in the best possible manner. It manufactures weapons for both the military and civilian markets. The product range encompasses self-loading pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns and a 40 mm grenade machine gun. Among its most notable contributions to the armies of the world are the HK MP5 submachine gun, the HK PSG1 and HK MSG-90 sniper rifles and the HK G3 and HK G36 assault rifles. Other weapons meant for military use are the HK 53, HK 416 and HK 417 assault rifles and the AG36 and HK GMG grenade launchers. Among the highest sellers among civilian users have been the MP7 personal defense weapon and the USP series of handguns (which include variants such as the P8, P2000 and Mark 23).

Heckler & Koch weapons are famous for their precision engineering, high rate of accuracy and extreme durability. The fact that its products also feature extremely user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing ergonomic designs has only added to their popularity. The brand name the company has established over the years has a diehard fan following. In the mind of the public, the name Heckler & Koch is closely associated with some of the most dramatic and successful anti-terrorist operations ever to be enacted on the face of the globe.

Nor is this mere hype – H&K products are among the standard issue inventories of the world’s most elite and highly trained specialist forces. In the United States alone, these include the US Nay SEALs, the FBI and the Special Air Services. Heckler & Koch weaponry also figures prominently in the arsenals of other countries’ anti-terrorist and hostage extraction units, among them the German Grenzschutzgruppe 9 also known as the GSG 9. This is a special operations border security force that specializes in domestic counter-terrorism and law enforcement, and it numbers among the most effective of its kind in the world. Yet another German specialist unit that regularly orders Heckler & Koch products is the Kommando Spezialkräfte or KSK outfit.

Meanwhile, Heckler & Koch continues to cater to mainstream army and law enforcement requirements all over the world. Its global clients include security, police and special forces units and, of course, the German Armed Forces. The company prides itself in manufacturing weapon systems specifically tailored to its clients’ needs, which often include various degrees of component interchangeability and reduction of error margins. Heckler & Koch maintains a highly efficient international distribution network that ensures complete market penetration and high standards of after-sales service and customer support.

Call it German precision, or just stubborn perfectionism. Whatever way one prefers to see this company’s enviable degree of achievement, Heckler & Koch sums it up with a single sentence – success proves them right.