HAUS ARCHIVE

The Heckler & Koch HK433 is a modular assault rifle chambered for 5.56×45mm which combines features of the G36 and the HK416 families of assault rifles. The HK433 was designed by Heckler & Koch to be familiar to operators with experience using the Heckler & Koch G36 and HK416 platforms. All controls are ambidextrous, and major components are modular, allowing for rifles to be configured in the field as needed.

HISTORY

The HK433 was first introduced at EnforceTac 2017 which went on the 1st and 2 March in Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany, after the HK433 was shown to a select number of people at the earlier SHOT Show in January. Heckler & Koch offered the HK433 along with the HK416 as a candidate for the German Bundeswehr's competition to select a new assault rifle. The HK G36, the Bundeswehr's standard assault rifle since 1997, is to be phased out and a replacement is planned to be phased in from 2020.

DESIGN

The HK433 has multiple barrel lengths ranging from 11", 12.5", 14.5", 16.5", 18.9" or 20". All of the barrels are cold hammer forged, hard chrome lined with a 178 mm (1 in 7 inch) right-hand twist, six-groove rifling. It features a short-stroke gas piston driven system similar to the Heckler & Koch G36 and HK416, with a gas block regulator adjustment located above the barrel. The non-reciprocating charging handle can be changed to operate from either side of the upper receiver of the rifle, but does not have a locking recess like the Heckler & Koch G3 family of weapons. All other primary controls are ambidextrous. It has an interchangeable barrel system and a folding adjustable buttstock with a three position cheek riser and a paddle-style magazine release. Side-folding the buttstock shortens the HK433 by 266 to 297 mm (10.5 to 11.7 in). The monolithic upper receiver is made of aluminium alloy, and the lower receiver is made of polymer. The HK433 features a STANAG 4694 NATO Accessory Rail at 12 o'clock that is backwards-compatible with the STANAG 2324/MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. At 6 o'clock it features the STANAG 2324/MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. Handguards are available in Heckler & Koch's H-key or the more common M-lok configuration.

The empty weight of a HK433 Draft STANAG 4179 compliant box magazine is approximately 160 g (5.6 oz).

Above you can see some of the barrels available for the HK433.

From top to bottom: 11", 14.5", 16.5" and 18.9"

Heckler & Koch is looking into producing new versions of firearms across its catalog in Soviet-designed calibers, such as the 7.62x39mm round made famous by the AK-47 rifle. A major driving factor has been the ongoing war in Ukraine, where that country’s armed forces continue to make heavy use of Cold War-era firearms and derivatives thereof. At the same time, guns that fire Soviet ammunition types remain in widespread use around the world and the famed German gunmaker has had an on-again-off-again interest in trying to tap into those markets for decades.

German news outlet Welt published a story yesterday touching on Heckler & Koch’s (H&K) future product plans as part of a broader push by the company to increase sales.

“H&K is planning to expand its product range to include assault rifles and machine guns for Kalashnikov ammunition and other calibers from the former Warsaw Pact,” according to a machine translation of the German-language piece from Welt. “‘There are corresponding needs, so conceptual studies have already begun,’ said the [H&K] spokesman. There are development projects, but no production yet.”

Welt did not name the cartridges that H&K is now considering rechambering some of its existing guns to fire. The most prolific types developed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War for rifles and machine guns were the 7.62x39mm and 5.56x39mm rounds.

Welt did note that last December H&K had unveiled the HK132E, a 7.62x39mm version of its HK433 assault rifle, the baseline version of which is chambered to fire the NATO-standard 5.56x45mm round. From what has been seen of it to date, the HK132E looks largely unchanged from its parent gun except in barrel caliber, magazine well, and magazine. The 7.62x39mm cartridge has a tapered case that requires magazines with more pronounced curvatures to feed reliably compared to ones for 5.56x45mm ammunition.

* This article was published by Joseph Trevithick May 2024 for TWZ.

Heckler & Koch HK433

DESIGN

HK437

HK132

USERS