HK433 rumor

[Barn Owl Lover]

I was reading a thread on the HKPro forums talking about the prospects (or not) for a commercial MP7. The point of significance to the title of this thread is that one poster has a friend who is retired Army spec ops, and had been told by this friend that his former unit is getting HK433s, possibly for some kind of trials or T&E.

I'm not sure what to make of this suggestion, as the poster is hinting (or hoping) that the 433 may get made in HK's Georgia plant. I guess it makes some sense, given that HK and the German Army KSK tested the G95 version of the 416 at the US Army's Yuma proving grounds a couple of years back. But it seems that one, the German Army may not be looking that seriously at the 433 (everything that's come from various defense websites suggests that the 416 A8 is favored by the German Army for general issue), and two, I'm not sure that the US Army or any other branch of the US Armed Forces would be looking at the 433 for spec ops, given that they have, among other items, FN SCARs and 416s already.

IMO, this is an interesting thought and rumor I read, don't know what to make of it, though, since it doesn't IMO make a crapload of sense, as interesting as it may be if true. Granted, on HK"s end HK Germany's social media pages did post a photo of a 433 upper being checked by a QA tech a couple of weeks ago, so that may be something.

 

[AGG]

If an HK433 S is made here, it will not be for 10-15 years--- the MP7 S will probably never be made here.

Tony

 

[Barn Owl Lover]

I seriously have my doubts on the MP7. There's not even a market for it in Germany as German law currently doesn't allow centerfire pistols or PCCs below .25 caliber (6.35mm) As for the 433, well, HK probably wants to make something of that investment, but short term, they're far more likely to retire the G36 from their AF/LE line up and slot the 433 series in rather than pursue a commercial variant.

As to the content of the post I read, it sounds interesting if true that a US Army spec ops unit is testing or evaluating the 433. But I do question that, given the question of "why would they be testing the 433 given what they already have available to them?" and, IMO, it does feel pretty out of left field to me. Granted, I wouldn't put it above HK (US and or Germany) to give rifles to an Army unit to do some kind of peacetime eval on them, but why not the German Army (though they're leaning in favor of the 416 A8 it seems, not to mention that they already evaled the 433 during the new rifle tender), or, one of the countries in NATO that uses a lot of G36s already, such as Lithuania or Latvia who may be potential future customers, or even England (who'll likely be looking to start to replace the SA80 in a few years) or Sweden (who want to replace the FN FNC/AK5 soon)?

But then again, I've read and seen reports and rumors from a few places of 433s already being in the US for some type of T&E or evaluation prior to the post I read last night, too.

 

[Aeg15]

MP7 is a pipe dream for sure, no matter how bad we wish for it. It’s more likely that they‘ll update the MR556.

 

[ghoulardi]

yeah, here is the thing..........IF and I say IF this is true that the poster said his friend who is retired SF was told by his friend who is current SF that is still in said they will be getting a weapon of foreign manufacturer outside of normal supply/acquisition channels , then it could very well be.

SF are a military all their own, they can acquire/ purchase equipment and weapons in very small numbers that might not be of US manufacture and that are not issued to regular GIs

in any event, the old "I know a friend, who knows a friend, who knows a friend said" take that with a truck load of salt.......there is also another saying that goes well with the OP first post......."believe in nothing you hear, and only half of what you see"

 

[AGG]

MP7 is a pipe dream for sure, no matter how bad we wish for it. It’s more likely that they‘ll update the MR556.

To the A3.

Tony

 

[Barn Owl Lover]

Of course, I accept that these are rumors, and it's just as likely that there's nothing in them as there is of it being true.

But then again, this goes back to me being a bit annoyed that HK are treating the 433 like some kind of black project. I could understand it when the German Army were looking at it during their rifle tender. But now that that's done (and unlikely that the 433 will be adopted by the Germans, certainly not in significant numbers), why not open up a bit? Do they have some grand showing or presentation planned? Hell, the US Army and the organizations vying for the NGSW program (Sig, Lone Star Armaments/True Velocity and Textron) have been way more open about their weapons and such then HK have been with the 433. And it's not even like the 433 is breaking new ground. From what I can tell, it's basically an evolution of the G36/XM8 with some MP7 thrown in.

I just don't get the secretive attitude that HK have generally shown the 433, especially since we all know about it, it has shown up in photo shoots, and, like with most things, info and such will get out anyways.

Granted, this could also be that HK does have buyers line up or interested in the 433, but they don't want to say until they want to.