By Peter Nealen
The following is some of Heckler & Koch’s PR boilerplate about the company’s HK433 rifle. Of course, you have to expect some degree of self-importance from any manufacturer, maybe especially HK, and they don’t disappoint.
The new compact and modular assault rifle generation
Countless ideas, decades of know-how, and sophisticated solutions tested and proven under the most rigorous conditions worldwide are the foundation of Heckler & Koch’s pioneering weapon technologies. We leave nothing to chance.
The new HK433 is a modular, and compact assault rifle chambered for 5.56 mm x 45, which combines the strengths and outstanding features of the G36 and the HK 416 families of assault rifles – both proven worldwide. It doesn’t matter whether you are right or left-handed or have trained on a G36 / HK 416 weapon system or AR-15 platform: The HK433 is the solution for every scenario imaginable. Maximum functional reliability with intuitive handling combined with maximum modularity, accuracy, and weapon safety – Made in Germany.
Sensational marketing language aside, let’s delve into the gun.
Specifications
The HK433 is a short-stroke piston-operated 5.56mm rifle with a one-piece rigid upper receiver featuring Keymod-derived attachment points on either side of the handguard. The side-folding adjustable buttstock has five positions and an adjustable cheek riser. The controls are ambidextrous — including a non-reciprocating charging handle which can be switched between left and right-handed use without a tool — and it features a modular barrel system that can be swapped out between 11″, 12.5″, 14.5″, 16.5″, 18.9″, and 20″ barrels, without needing an armorer to do it.
Most of the controls appear to be derived from the G36, which the HK433 was designed to replace. It also seems to feed on standard 5.56 STANAG magazines, including HK’s own steel mags.
The trigger group has three settings, Safe, Semi, and Full Auto. The Full Auto rate of fire is 700 rounds per minute, slower than the HK416‘s 850 rounds per minute, making it somewhat more controllable. In addition, the recoil impulse is well-balanced, driving straight back to reduce muzzle rise.
With a short reset, the trigger pull is — reportedly — around 5.3lbs.
HK433 Background
The HK433 was first introduced to the public at Enforce Tac 2017 in Nürnberg, Bavaria. How it came to be developed, however, is a story that started in 2015.
That was when the German Defense Ministry announced they were seeking a replacement for the Bundeswehr’s G36s, primarily because of reports that the rifle lost accuracy after a high volume of fire.
While that was disputed by some, the story is that increased heat softened the polymer upper receiver, making the barrel “float” and altering the zero. The reports were concerning enough that the Bundeswehr decided to seek a replacement.
Heckler & Koch’s immediate go-to was be the HK416, a slightly altered, piston-driven version of the M4 platform. The 416 has seen extensive use throughout the world, including by American special operators. It has been adopted by the US Marine Corps as the M27 IAR in the move to replace the M249 SAW with a lighter automatic rifle. It has also been adopted as the replacement for the FAMAS in the French Armee de Terre and as the new Norwegian service rifle.
However, the Bundeswehr decided the HK416 was too expensive for their requirements, and so, when the competition opened, Heckler & Koch submitted the HK416 and the HK433, the 433 being a somewhat modernized and, more importantly, a cheaper alternative.
The complete list of contenders has never been revealed. Still, the initial bid process resulted in no winner since the Bundeswehr said that none of the contenders met their technical requirements, including a 7.62mm variant for specific units. They then gave the companies eight additional months to fix things.
Competition Controversy
The competition came down to HK433, the 416, and the Haenel Mk556. Haenel is an old German company based in Thuringia and is now owned by a state arms manufacturer in the UAE. The Mk556 is essentially a UAE-built Caracal CAR-816 carbine which, it has also been noted, is itself a low-cost HK416 clone.
The Bundeswehr chose the Haenel. And then all hell broke loose.
Heckler & Koch sued, mainly over the similarities between the Mk556 and the HK416, arguing that Haenel violated their patent. The result has been a cancellation of the contract and the entire replacement program went back to square one, with the G36 remaining in service, apparently indefinitely.
So, where does that leave the HK433?
No one really knows. Heckler & Koch put a significant investment into this weapon system, and they are still marketing it for military, police, and security use.
But will they have any takers? It’s hard to say. They seem to be a little late to the party regarding the HK433’s design.
It may be a fantastic rifle, but it doesn’t do anything that hasn’t already been done by the SCAR-L, which also features a rigid, one-piece upper receiver, or the BREN 2, which the Czechs and Hungarians have adopted. So far, there hasn’t shown a single primary taker for the HK433. Yet.
With the Haenel contract canceled, the Bundeswehr might well decide to adopt the HK433, though that remains to be seen. The political fallout of the contracting debacle is still going on. But if the Bundeswehr thought the HK416 was too expensive, and the much cheaper Mk556 is out, the HK433 might become much more attractive to the Bundeswehr, given its lower price point and, hopefully, better performance than the aging G36.
Attaining access to the HK433
Getting to shoot the HK433 is pretty iffy, given that HK is marketing it solely to the Bundeswehr and other military/police/security agencies now. That’s pretty much par for the Heckler & Koch course and, given their own policies and US import laws, a commercial version of the HK433 is currently nowhere on the horizon. Even if they eventually produce one, it will likely be costly, even without the modular barrel system.
That means that in the short term, the only real chance American civilian shooters will have to play with a 433 isn’t going to be an actual rifle, but either airsoft clones or video game reproductions, such as Call of Duty’s “Kilo 141.” (Strangely, nobody’s modded it for ARMA III yet.)
The Kilo 141 appears to be an HK433, but in keeping with Call of Duty’s deviation from reality, it’s marked in English with “Cal. 5.56mm,” is supposedly from Switzerland, and is built by the fictional “Singuard Arms.” It’s also an anachronism in the game. It appeared in 2019 and 2009, when it was still in the prototype phase during 2019, and still hasn’t been adopted by any military or other government agency.
Alternatives to the HK433
Video games can be fun, but they aren’t nearly the same as handling and shooting the real deal. Again, it’s unlikely that Heckler & Koch will produce this for the commercial market, but there’s still hope. After all, while certain gun snobs will insist that it’s not the same thing (and to some extent, they’re right), Zenith Firearms produces semi-auto MP5 clones, and Tommy Built Tactical has been building G36 clones of late. They’re not cheap, but if you really, really want to get your Teutonic Operator on, it is possible to do so, at least with a variant on the MP5 or G36.
In time, one or another of these companies might well produce a workable HK433 clone that will be close enough to get a feel for the real thing.
Is this the ultimate expression of German engineering?
It’s hard to say, given that the HK433 hasn’t seen service or any kind of widespread use at all. With an aluminum upper receiver, it might well avoid the reported problems of the G36, with a lower price point than the HK416.
Accuracy hasn’t been discussed much, and some of that will depend on the barrel in use. Those who have shot it and written about the experience appear to like it, and the trigger reportedly isn’t bad. Given that HK triggers, in general, aren’t great, that’s saying something.
In the end, though, the HK433 is ultimately a compromised version of the HK416, adding features that have been common for a long time now, between the FN SCAR, the Remington ACR, and the CZ BREN 2. There’s really nothing revolutionary here.
Heckler & Koch may have done it marginally better than FN or CZ (Remington is otherwise involved these days), but considering that the HK433 was designed to be less expensive than the HK416, expecting a new Magic Boomstick out of it is probably unlikely.
Short version: Given HK’s reputation, the HK433 probably a reliable, functional carbine. But only time will tell if it gets adopted by anyone. After all, some flat-range shooting and video game clones are a long way from widespread use in the hands of infantrymen.
Pete Nealen is a former Reconnaissance Marine, a veteran of Iraq* and Afghanistan**, and more than a bit of a Renaissance Man. In addition to a number of online articles for various publications, Nealen has written more than two dozen novels and a pair of non-fiction works. When he’s not penning action books or musing about the Triarii, he can be found…actually, that’s really all he does. Plus the occasional freelance article of course.
*1st Platoon, Bravo Co., 1 Recon Bn.
**4th Platoon, Force Reconnaissance Company, I MEF.
11 inch barrel and 3260 ft/sec…wow…
Still, they lost me at 5.56.
Here’s a crazy thought. What if H&K focused less on illegal and unethical arms sales, and more on the massive American market?
They’d rather sell to Mexican drug cartels then the civilians of any nation.
But then how could they show you that you suck and that they hate you?
“You suck. We hate you. Give us your money.”
The unofficial HK motto.
Basically HK has come up with something new that the Swiss have had since the mid-1970s in the form of the Sig 500 series of rifles albeit with modern accessory attachment points. I’ll take the Sig over any of the new HK stuff.
I watched a Bull snake catch and kill a Copperhead once.
Just killed my first copperhead of the season last week, about 30 inches long, inch and a quarter at the fattest.
Got him with my 30 year old fiberglass handled combat shovel.
Shovels get the job done. I pulled up to a house to deliver something once, and the man and woman living there were out in the driveway with a long gun. I assume it was a shotgun, but I knew nothing about guns at the time. He was pointing it at a snake, and he looked terrified. I said hang on a second. I got a spade shovel out of my truck and chopped it’s head off.
How could you kill that innocent creature!? You should’ve let him bite you can consume you. Your carbon footprint as a human far exceeds that snakes rights. You should be ashamed of yourself. The next time a life form of earth desires your existence you best submit and do your part for global warming and that creatures offspring.
I dont know where you live but that’s a big copperhead.
West Virginia mountains.
Not many rattlesnakes, but plenty of copperheads who just love the rock ledges.
I don’t mind the black snakes, they keep down mice and rats.
I’ve heard all the stories about black snakes eating copperheads and I believed them until… About two years ago I found a large black snake and a copperhead coiled up together next to my back porch freezer, cheek by jowl. If they weren’t loving, they sure was good friends.
Regarding terminating the copperhead, it does pain me somewhat. But I maintain hundreds of acres where the copperheads can run (slither) free, I just can’t tolerate venomous serpents at the kitchen door.
My son just graduated from Stonehill College, in Easton, MA. Also known as “Shoveltown, USA”.
There’s an entire section of a building there dedicated to the original Stonehill benefactors – who perfected the modern shovel. Isn’t that interesting?
Yep, that’s the Ames company.
They make a fine shovel, one of my favorites is their long handle Round point.
As a great man once said, “Give me a place to stand and rest my shovel, and I could move the Earth!”
Wasn’t this same exact rifle made by Remington/Bushmaster as the ACR like over a decade ago??? Then Sig as the 556xi, then later by CZ as the Bren and Bren 2, and Beretta ARX. Glad HK has put so many years of development into a product 12 years behind competitors. They will still ask for $3k+ for it. Compared to the new 277 cartridge rifles coming out this is a musket.
It does have a resemblance to the XM8.
I was gonna say it’s not heavy like an ACR then I looked at the weight. Oops.
Remington had time to make the product, propose it, have it fail then fold up shop by the time HK got here. :rofl:
” Bundeswehr decided ______ was too expensive” – the motto of neutered Germany for the over 30yrs
So true. For over 40 years actually.
The handgun trials after the Munich Olympics terrorist attack resulted in three handguns being accepted. The Walther P5, SIG Sauer P6, and Heckler and Koch P7.
The P6 was the least liked by the shooters brought in to evaluate the trio, yet it was the most purchased by the German agencies.
Why? It was the lowest price.
I bring the P5/P6/P7 trio out to the range at least once a year. Seems like nobody ever wants to run a 2nd mag of ammo thru the P6.
The Bundeswehr exists as a welfare agency for Heckler und Koch.
Of all the HKs the 433 interests me the most. That and the IWI CARMEL and the FB Grot.
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