Heckler & Koch G36

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The G36 (company designation, Bundeswehr designation Gewehr G36) is an assault rifle designed (in the early 1990s) and manufactured in Germany by Heckler & Koch. It is the service rifle of the Bundeswehr. A family of variants exists many of which have been adopted by police or military forces.

Contents

1 History
2 Users
3 Design

3.1 Sights
3.2 Design criticisms

4 Variants

4.1 Trigger groups

5 Technical data
6 External links

History

Heckler & Koch started designing the G36 in 1990, when the Bundeswehr asked them to develop a new weapon system to replace the 1950s vintage 7.62 x 51 mm G3 rifle. Two earlier HK replacements were both rejected in the 1980s, the revolutionary G11 and the more conventional G41.

For their new HK50 (or Project 50), the company borrowed features from a variety of older designs and added a few novel innovations guided by experience with the previous HK36, VP70 and G11. The firing system is most similar to the Armalite AR-18 utilizing a gas-operated short-stroke piston and rotating Johnson/Stoner bolt. Where the AR-18 used a conventional pistol and dual guide rods, the G36 utilizes a piston with gas rings similar to the M16 and only a single guide rod.

The kinetic energy component of the US OICW was developed by H&K in the late 1990s, using the G36 as basis. Like many other US Army programs, the OICW was reworked in favor of developing the rifle and grenade launcher separately. The kinetic energy component was reborn as the XM8 rifle, which was eventually cancelled (as of 2005). The XM8 rifle program still exists at HK and will likely continue to compete for American contracts as they come up for bid, however now with competition from the recently adopted FN SCAR.

Users

The G36 has been the main infantry weapon of the Bundeswehr since 1995 and has been used by the Ejercito de Tierra (Spanish army) since 1999. It has also been used since the late 1990s by Norwegian coastal rangers. Another future user is the Mexican Army, which will be producing it under license as the FX-05 Xicóatl. In the late 1990’s a small number of G36s were procured by the British Army with a view to possibly adopting it as the standard infantry weapon of the British Army; however, no decision has been made to the successor of the L85A2. The G36 is also used by a number of European police forces, such as the British Police, French RAID and GIPN, Bundespolizei (German federal police), and Dutch police forces. Polish police has equipped it's counter-terrorist units with G36C and G36E. It is also used by a number of North American law enforcement agencies including, but not limited to, the United States Capitol Police, L.A.P.D. and S.W.A.T. A small batch of G36 rifles are currently used by Philippine Navy SWAG (Special Warfare Group) and LRB (Light Reaction Battalion) personnel.

Design

A German infantryman stands at the ready with his G36 during a practice exercise in 2004 (Photo: US Navy)

G36C

The rifle fires the NATO standard 5.56 x 45 mm round at a rate of approximately 750 round/min. Other modes include semi-automatic, bursts of two or three rounds (depending on the model) and fully automatic. The firing mechanism is gas-operated with a rotating bolt. The rifle uses a short-stroke gas system keeping the receiver relatively clean. The rifle is able to fire tens of thousands of rounds without cleaning. This is in contrast with the direct impingement system of the M16, which requires more frequent cleaning to cycle reliably. The bolt carrier hangs from the recoil spring guide rod and is restricted in side-to-side movement by steel plates imbedded in the receiver. The rifle can be fitted with the AG36 40 mm grenade launcher and an AK-74 bayonet (many of which are left over in Germany from stocks of the former East German army).

The full-size rifle is slightly under a meter long with a 480 mm barrel and weighs 3.4 kg (7.6 lb) empty. It is equipped with a folding skeleton stock that allows the gun to be fired when the stock is folded. Most of the rifle's receiver is constructed of carbon fiber reinforced polymer. It was the first production rifle to use such material for the receiver. The weapon can be stripped and re-assembled without tools through a system of cross-pins similar to that used on earlier HK designs. The distinctive translucent plastic magazine holds 30 rounds, weighs 400 g, and is fitted with studs to allow magazines to be clipped together easily. A 100 round drum magazine can also be fitted. The layout of the controls is ambidextrous and user friendly. Spent casings eject to the right and a brass deflector keeps cases from striking left-handed operators in the face.

Sights

A unique dual sighting system provides two optics. A small optical sight is standard with a magnification of 3.0x on the Bundeswehr weapon and 1.5x on export versions (the G36E). A second reflex sight projects a red dot onto a glass screen with no magnification. This sight is operated with both eyes open. When looking through the sight, the operator is provided a glowing red dot displaying the aiming point projected into the normal field of view. The sighting 'bridge' also functions as a carrying handle.

Design criticisms

The forearm could overheat in early versions, making the weapon uncomfortable to hold; this problem was corrected with a heat shield in newer models.
The integral sights of the export version are claimed to shift when the weapon is knocked heavily against the ground.
Red dot aiming device relies on ambient light at day and battery power in zero light environment, since tritium, which is often used to illuminate weapon sights, is restricted in Germany. (Third-party tritium sights are available.)

Variants

The weapon is manufactured in three main variants, G36, G36K (kurz/short) and G36C (compact/commando). A fourth variant was the SL8 designed strictly to cater to the US civilian market. While mechanically almost identical to the G36, it lacked fully-automatic capability. The weapon was altered to comply with US gun restriction laws. The magazine well features an indent that makes it impossible to load a high capacity 30-round magazine into the weapon. A thumbhole stock replaced the pistol grip and folding buttstock. Finally, the carrying handle/sight unit was replaced with a simple optics rail equipped with an open sight. A fifth version is the LMG36 which is the standard weapon equipped with a heavier barrel, bipod, and 100-round drum magazine. The LMG is not in the service in the Bundeswehr, only the bipod and the 100-round drum magazine.

Trigger groups

For the G36K/C/KE versions the standard safety/trigger group has three possible safety positions:

S: safe (Sicher), E: single shot (Einzelschuss), F: continuous (Feuerstoß)

For the G36/G36E there exist four different trigger groups:

S: safe, E: single shot, F: continuous (standard in the Bundeswehr version)
S: safe, F: single shot
S: safe, E: single shot, 2: two shots, F: continuous
0: safe, 1: single shot, 2: two shots
0: safe, 1: single shot, 2: two shots, 3: three shots

Technical data

3.0 x Optical sight topped with electronic red dot sight

Optical sight reticule pattern, G36 and G36K
(click for Description)

Caliber: 5.56 x 45 mm NATO
Muzzle velocity ([v_0]): 920 m/s
Rate of fire: 750 round/min
Maximum shooting distance: 2860 m
Range (reflex sight): 100 m
Range (telescopic sight): 800 m
Rifling: 6 grooves, spin right

Version	Length (mm)	Barrel length (mm)	Mass (kg)	Sights	Magazine

Length: Stock Extended (Stock Retracted)
Mass: Empty Magazine (Full Magazine)

External links

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