The G36 made headlines in Germany awhile back when it was anecdotally attacked for being inaccurate after it got hot.
Now, I was writing a SHOT show round up but then I got distracted by Ian, so now you all are too.
Quick recap. The video explains it pretty well too.
Reports start coming in that the German’s H&K G36 rifles can’t hit squat under “field” conditions. Hot, dirty, Afghanistan and Iraq type conditions. H&K says, “Nein! Gewehr is fine!” And it met the original contract requirements.
Speculation abounded about the source of the problem as independent small sample testing came back around the world that ‘their’ G36’s or near clones worked fine. Eventually the problem was blamed on ammunition, I believe, as the German variant of M855 was performing even worse than our Lake City batches which are not known for their accuracy to begin with.
But not before the German Military promised to get a new rifle to fix the ultimately non-existent problem, which gave us updated variants of the 416 and HK433. But, as Ian points out, the motives look increasingly political as a method to throw shade at H&K.
In short H&K, despite their dubious communication on the issue, was pretty much right. The rifles work exactly like the German Military originally wanted. If the German military requirements have shifted then a new rifle must be sought, the old one cannot be held accountable for requirements it never was given.
The same reasoning we keep updating the M4 is we adjust materials and parts to match requirements, sometimes in an assbackwards manner *looks at M855A1 and magazines*
But I digress.
Actually this whole post is a digression. Watch and enjoy. I’m clicking over to Tommy Built now for a ‘T’36… Because America.
