…even from the grave, after reading this report:
The German army’s accuracy has again been mired in controversy as it was revealed in a classified report the testing for their latest rifle was lowered.
The G95A1 rifle failed to pass trials with military-standard ammunition so the Bundeswehr – the German army – lowered the standards of the test, the report to stated.
The manufacturers of the rifle — Heckler and Koch — were allowed to test it with civilian ammunition and at room temperature rather than in extreme heat and cold.
Their 180,000-strong army is due to be receiving new weapons next year after it was reported that they only had enough ammunition to fight for two days.
On the bright side: they can’t invade Poland again. On the gloomy side… well, there’s Russia still on the Ostfront, also again.
One wonders how badly the Bundeswehr would fare by reaching into the back of the old gun closet for:
…and:
Of course, they’d have no ammo for anything other than the MP40 and P38, but hey, lookee here from our friends at PPU:
Bet they’d get a fat quantity discount, even though the Serbs might be a little reluctant to sell to them, for fairly obvious reasons.
Oh wait, what’s that you say, Lassie? After the Great Unpleasantness of the early 1940s, the Germans had to destroy all their old guns?
Never mind.
Yes, I too got a semi just from looking at the StG44, FG42 and MP40. Why do you ask?
I’m surprised NATO countries just don’t adopt the exact same rifle so that parts are readily available.
JQ
a lot of them use one variant of the M16 or another. But given that NATO countries are independent and not client states they (or at least the large ones like Germany) can’t be forced to.
Small ones like the Netherlands and Denmark ARE client states, or these days more like colonies, of the EU.
when the Russia v Ukraine war started there was a meme going around. The meme I refer to had Germany saying “just so we’re clear, you want us to arm up, march through Poland and attack Russia. And you’re okay with this as well Poland?”
JQ
Ironic: the German Ministry of Defense retroactively changed their requirements for the G36 (DECADES after they’d adopted the rifle!) in order to force the adoption of a new rifle, and now they had to change the requirements for the new rifle in order to be able to adopt it!
I’m reminded of the shenanigans that the British MoD pulled to get the SA80 to “pass” that particular set of trials way back when. They had to contract with H&K to fix that particular pile of canine fecal matter after Desert Storm. One wonders who the German MoD will have to contract to fix this particular boondoggle now that the EU has driven most of the European arms industry out of business.
Did my Army hitch in West Germany during the mid-70’s. Our unit had a sister unit in the Bundeswehr, and I was fortunate enough to be invited to join them at the range more than once, allowing me to qualify with the P-38 and MG-3. Immediately upon firing my first MG burst, I remember thinking “Jeebus, we won the War. Why didn’t we just adopt all the captured MG’s?”. Or at least adopt their quick change barrel.
Ian over at “Forgotten Weapons” with some history–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfJkU4Sah8I
You skipped the G3, that is a great rifle (and I have one).
All rather odd – the new rifle is pretty much just an M16/M4 with an AR180 style piston in place of direct impingement. They have been making the 416/417 for like 15 years and this is just a refinement of it – so WTF.
Random guess, they had to thin out the barrel to meet a weight requirement. This is easily fixed as long as they don’t paper it over. Of course, it could be the Bundeswehr decided to up the accuracy requirements unreasonably. Without more background, it is hard to make a judgment.
This should give better reliability
… hit post prematurely.
I was going to say, the piston is supposed to give better reliability but the pressure on the barrel can induce vertical stringing. Like anything else, there are no solutions, only trade offs.
G3 was replaced for the same reason the FAL and M14 were replaced: reduce the weight a soldier has to lug around the battlefield.
Verrrryyy Interressssting…..
I have an STG-44 (SEMI-ONLY) made by German Sport Guns (GSG) in .22lr.
It appears to be made from the old dies as it is all pressed/riveted/welded steel, and is said to be identical in all dimensions, and WEIGHT. I’ll say that the weight is great when shooting a line of plates, as recoil is minimal, and you can stay on target by just swiveling from the hips.