HK-416: The Gun that Killed Bin Laden

On May 2, a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) of the United States discreetly intruded into the Pakistani airspace moving towards the designated compound at Abbottabad where the “Geronimo” of their purpose was placed. Comprising of men from DEVGRU’s Red Squadron aka the SEAL Team 6, they stormed the compound breaching walls and doors to push into what was the culmination of a decade-old manhunt.

On the third floor of the main building where the SEALs had stormed, they found a man “wearing the local loose-fitting tunic” who was none other than the Osama Bin Laden, a man convicted of multiple criminal and terror attacks including the 9/11 Attack which left more than 2000 people dead and 6000 injured. A Point Man, who is claimed to be Rob O’Neil pointed his HK-416 Carbine as he tapped his trigger bringing an end to the operation and the manhunt.

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The HK-416 Carbine is a level ahead of the standard AR-15 Family of Weapons, introduced by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s. HK-416 was introduced by German Defense Manufacturing Company, Heckler & Koch in 2004 and since then it has become a niche and a Top-Tier Military Equipment for many of the Tier-1 Special Operations Forces around the world with a renown for its reliability, accuracy and its compatibility which far outclasses the AR-15 and its derivatives like the military M16 and M4.

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HK-416 had its origins in the 1990s when the DELTA Force of US Army asked for the development of a new carbine to replace the older M4 Carbines in service. H&K took up the project and introduced many of the revolutionary features in the already existing AR-15 and M4 design to develop what is known today as the HK416. HK-416 inherited an upgraded short stroke gas system taken from AR-18 which doHK-416 acquired a redesigned short stroke gas framework taken from AR-18 which does not make carbon fouling inside the jolt transporter and doesn’t overheat in the wake of dumping magazines which severely reduces Type 1 and Type 2 Malfunctions in any Rifle.

The AR-15 and M4 design used a proprietary direct impingement gas system which was affected by reliability issues and was thus replaced off in HK-416 with a more reliable gas piston system. A free-floating barrel is also used thus increasing the accuracy of HK-416. Amid the tests, HK-416 shot approximately 10,000 rounds with no breakdown which says a lot about the capacity of this weapon. Due to its cold hammer-forged barrel, it shows a service life of almost 20,000 rounds.

HK-416 like other 21st Century Weapons includes a Full-Length MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny Rail to append different accessories like Optics, Flashlights, Designators and more to cling to any Special Operations Loadout.

HK-416 was adopted by DELTA Force in 2004 and was further adopted by many of the Tier 1 Special Operations Forces around the world as the French GIGN, German GSG-9, Polish GROM among others and was used during the Operation Neptune Spear when Osama Bin Laden was killed by SEAL Team 6 Operatives.

In 2007, HK-416 was evaluated by the US Army alongside FN SCAR, XM-8 and M4 Carbine where each weapon was made to fire some 60,000 rounds after a torture test which visualized HK-416 showing some 223 stoppages.

HK-416 has been presently formed into the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle Variant in an offer to supplant the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in administration with United States Marine Corps. It has additionally been produced into a new M38 assigned marksman rifle for marksmanship purposes.

HK-416 also features a larger calibre variant: HK-417 chambered for a 7.62 mm NATO round and has likewise been embraced by numerous Special Operations Forces far and wide as a Designated Marksman Rifle. HK-416 has now picked up a clique status among different powers the world over for everything it’s great at and this adoration would not promptly stop for this gem of H&K’s innovation and engineering.
 

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