History
The Heckler & Koch G36 is a 5.56x45mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by Heckler & Koch (H&K) in Germany as a replacement for the 7.62mm G3 battle rifle. It was accepted into service with the Bundeswehr in 1997, replacing the G3. The G36 is gas-operated and feeds from a 30-round detachable box magazine or 100-round C-Mag drum magazine.
Work on a successor for the venerable G3 rifle had been ongoing in Germany since the second half of the 1970s. These efforts resulted in the innovative 4.73mm G11 assault rifle (developed jointly by a group of companies led by H&K), that used caseless ammunition (designed by the Dynamit Nobel company). It had been predicted that this weapon would eventually replace the G3, therefore further development of H&K's series of firearms chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge had been halted. Heckler & Koch had no incentive to pursue a new 5.56mm weapon system, content with the export-oriented HK33 and G41 rifles. However, the G11 program came to an abrupt end when the Bundeswehr canceled its procurement due to defense budget cuts after the unification of East and West Germany and H&K was acquired in 1991 by British Aerospace's Royal Ordnance division (known today as BAE Systems).
Increasing interest in Germany for a modern service rifle chambered for the NATO-standard 5.56mm cartridge led H&K to offer the German armed forces the G41 rifle, which, too, was rejected. Design work was then initiated from the ground up on a modern 5.56mm assault rifle designated "Project 50" or HK50. The prototype was then trialed, where it was rated higher than the rival Austrian Steyr AUG system.
The HK50 rifle was selected for service and an initial order was placed for 33,000 rifles under the Bundeswehr designation Gewehr G36. The order also involved an option for a further 17,000 rifles. Deliveries were first made to the Bundeswehr's NATO Quick Reaction Force during the third quarter of 1997.
In July 1998, it was announced that the G36 had been selected as the standard rifle for the Spanish Armed Forces, replacing the 5.56mm CETME Model L and LC rifles. Deliveries first took place at the end of 1999. These rifles are manufactured in Spain under license by General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas at the FACOR (Fábrica de Armas de la Coruña) facility, in A Coruña, Galicia.
German Bundeswehr land force soldiers deployed with G36s
A German infantryman stands at the ready with his G36 during a practice exercise with US troops
The G36 is a selective fire 5.56mm assault rifle, firing from a closed rotary bolt. The G36 has a conventional layout and a modular component design. Common to all variants of the G36 family are: the receiver and buttstock assembly, bolt carrier group with bolt and the return mechanism and guide rod. The receiver contains the barrel, carry handle with integrated sights, trigger group with pistol grip, handguard and magazine socket.
The G36 employs a free-floating barrel (the barrel does not contact the handguard). The barrel is fastened to the receiver with a special nut, which can be removed with a wrench. The barrel is produced using a cold hammer forging process and features a chrome-lined bore with 6 right-hand grooves and a 1 in 178 mm (1:7 in) rifling twist rate. The barrel assembly consists of the gas block, a collar with a bayonet lug that is also used to launch rifle grenades and a slotted flash suppressor.
The weapon can be stripped and re-assembled without tools through a system of cross-pins similar to that used on earlier HK designs. For cleaning purposes, the G36 disassembles into the following groups: receiver housing, return mechanism, bolt carrier group and trigger group.
The fire and safety selector is ambidextrous and has controls on both sides of the receiver; the selector settings are described with letters: “S” – safe ("Sicher"), “E” – semi-automatic fire ("Einzelfeuer") and “F” – continuous fire ("Feuerstoß").[2] The weapon safety disables the trigger when engaged. HK also offers several other trigger options, including the so-called “Navy” trigger group, with settings analogous to the standard trigger, but the selector positions have been illustrated with pictograms. A semi-automatic only trigger unit (lacks the “F” setting) is also available. An integrated, manual safety mechanism prevents accidental firing (this is an improved trigger group from the G3 rifle).
SIG 550 receiver and magazine: note the similarity to the G36 magazine.
The G36 feeds from proprietary 30-round curved magazines very similar to those of the Swiss SIG 550 with cartridges loaded in a staggered pattern. The magazines are molded from a high-strength translucent polymer and can be clipped together using built-in coupling studs into 2 or 3-magazine packs allowing up to five magazines to be carried side-by-side on the rifle ready for rapid magazine changes; Jungle style. The magazines are not compatible with NATO-standard STANAG magazines, as introduced in the M16. However, the G36 can be used with Beta C-Mag drum magazines (produced by Beta Company) that have a 100-round cartridge capacity and are intended to be used primarily with the MG36 light support weapon.
A standard German Bundeswehr G36 with bipod and a Beta C-Mag drum magazine
The MG36 variant is equipped with a side-folding skeletonized stock and a detachable folding bipod, which folds into recesses in the handguard. The G36 can be fired with the stock collapsed. Firing the weapon with the stock folded increases wear on the receiver, eventually sending the firing mechanism out of the back of the receiver. The underside of the butt-stock has holes into which assembly pins can be placed during weapon cleaning and maintenance.
The G36 employs a large number of lightweight, corrosion-resistant synthetic materials in its design; the receiver housing, stock, trigger group (including the fire control selector and firing mechanism parts), magazine well, handguard and carry handle are all made of a carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide. The receiver has an integrated steel barrel trunnion (with locking recesses) and the reciprocating parts move on steel rails molded into the receiver (this feature was issued a US patent, number 5513461, authored by Helmut Weldle).
Dual combat sighting system ZF 3x4° as used on German G36A1 assault rifles
Optical sight reticle pattern
The standard German Army versions of the G36 are equipped with a ZF 3x4° dual optical sight that combines a 3x magnified telescopic sight (with the main reticule designed for firing at 200 m and bullet drop compensation markings for: 200, 400, 600 and 800 m crosshairs and a range-finding scale) and an unmagnified reflex red-dot sight (calibrated for firing at 200 m) mounted on top of the telescopic sight. The red dot sight is activated by ambient light during the day and requires battery power in a zero light environment.
The export versions have a single optical sight with a 1.5x magnification and an aiming reticule fixed at 300 m. All rifles are adapted to use the Hensoldt NSA 80 third-generation night sight, which clamps into the G36 carry handle adapter in front of the optical sight housing and mates with the rifle's standard optical sight. The sighting bridge also functions as a carrying handle and features auxiliary open sights molded on top of the handle that consist of a forward blade and rear notch, but these can only be used with the red dot sight removed, as in the G36V. The optical sight system is produced by Hensoldt AG (a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG).
U.S. Army soldiers crosstrain with G36s in Kosovo
The G36 is a gas-operated weapon that uses burnt powder gases from the barrel, bled through a vent near the muzzle which transmits the gas thrust to the bolt carrier, providing automation to the moving assembly; it fires from a closed bolt position. The weapon uses a self-regulating spring-buffered short-stroke gas piston system (the rifle has no gas valve). The rotary bolt features 7 radial locking lugs and its rotation is controlled by a cam pin guided inside a camming guide cut-out in the bolt carrier. The bolt also houses a spring-loaded casing extractor and an ejector.
Albanian soldier with G36 as part of EUFOR Althea in BiH
The bolt is automatically locked to the rear when the last round is expended, but the bolt catch can be deactivated. The bolt catch button is located at the forward end of the trigger guard. The spring-loaded folding cocking handle extends forward in line with the barrel of the rifle (it is located on top of the receiver, under the carry handle). It can be swung to either side of the receiver, depending on whether the user is right or left-handed and is locked when pressed inward. When locked at a perpendicular angle to the receiver, the handle can be used as a forward assist to force the bolt into battery, or to extract a stuck cartridge casing (the cocking handle's design is protected in the US by patent number 5821445, by Manfred Guhring).
Spent cartridge casings are ejected through a port located on the right side of the receiver. A brass deflector keeps cases from striking left-handed operators in the face. There is no ejection port cover as the bolt closes the ejection port to particulates when it is forward. The weapon features a hammer-type striking mechanism.
The rifle can be fitted with a 40 mm AG36 (AG – Anbau-Granatwerfer) under-barrel grenade launcher, which is a breech-loaded break-action weapon with a side-tilting barrel.
Standard equipment supplied with the G36 includes: spare magazines, a cleaning and maintenance kit, sling, speed-loading device and an AK-74 blade bayonet (many of which are left over in Germany from stocks of the former National People's Army).
