Noticed it's Keymod on the sides of the rail, Pic top and bottom.
Noticed it's Keymod on the sides of the rail, Pic top and bottom.
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Not another dime.
This gun, the Haenal MK556 is a UAE copy of the HK416 manufactured in Germany by a UAE owned subsidiary. It is the same piston system but is supposedly improved. I believe some of the engineers who developed the HK416 later went to Sig where they designed the 516, and then then later went to the UAE company Caracal. The company who manufactures this gun in Germany, Haenal, is an old German gun company whose name Caracal/ Tawazun Holding (United Arab Emirates) bought. The Haenal guns are manufactured in Germany, while the Caracal guns are manufactured in the UAE. Haenal has sold a semi-auto version of this gun to some German police agency and I believe they sell a sporting semiauto version in Germany and perhaps elsewhere in Europe.
I believe the Haenal MK556 beat the HK416 on pricing. I remember reading somewhere that Germany considered the HK416 too expensive for a general issue firearm.
Last edited by Ed L; 09-15-2020 at 01:37 AM.
Needs some thread drift. Caracal also owns German shotgun and rifle maker Merkel. Talk about some gorgeous double rifles and shotguns. If I was not wedded to Holland & Holland (I have my father's 12-bore Royal O/U stocked to fit me; it comes out of its safe twice per year on his birthday and my parents' wedding anniversary), I would shoot a Merkel shotgun. The former is coming up next week with dove season in full swing.
Back to the thread, it appears Germany went to an HK-improved design much like the US sourced FN to build M4 carbines from Colt's design. Whether Germany wants to have a UAE-controlled entity makes its weapons is a good question. I wonder if this will force HK to cut prices on the rifles to be a second source. If not, the financial pressure on HK increased and the only hope is to sell more firearms to the USA while seeking other military contracts. The HK 433 program is probably dead.
So Caracal has been making in roads into government contracts. The Indian Army is trying to buy some carbines.
https://theprint.in/defence/indian-a...mation/461288/
A German rebrand of a UAE budget clone of a German redesign of an American rifle.
I am sure the rifles will work fine. I guess Le French can make fun of Ze Germans now for their rifle made for the poors.
What a god-awful arms program, considering they just bought a license to produce a modernized 7.62x39 AK variant as their new "standard" issue rifle.
So now they've got the SIG 716, INSAS, FAL, Caracal 816, and various 7.62x39 AKs in their general issue lineup. Given the current existential threat to India, I highly doubt they're going to actually ditch the Sterlings, either.
The whole situation; out of control incongruous arms program, threat of a bigger/badder neighbor pushing them around, etc is all eerily similar to France circa-1930s.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer