Say bye-bye to your old good M16 !, page 1

The M-16 should have been replaced years ago not by the weaon being discussed here, but by the West German designed H&K G-11.

The first version of the G11 used a single 50-round magazine. The capacity and length of the magazine was reduced to 45 rounds in later models. The G11 had a non-detachable (1:1x) optical sight fitted within the carrying handle of the weapon. The sighting system was devised for realistic combat ranges up to 300 meters and used a simple "ring" reticle for fast and simple target engagement. Back-up iron sights were absent, as the designers were confident of the robust design and construction of the optics.

Throughout 1988 and 1989 the West German Army ran fifteen of these rifles through a gruelling series of tests, firing over 40,000 rounds of ammunition. Troops from infantry, armored, parachute, and reconnaissance units evaluated the G11 as a replacement for the G3 rifle while technicians at the German Ordnance Center at Aachen performed tests on both the weapon and the ammunition. Rifles were tested for accuracy, endurance, reliability, and safety. The rifles were fired after being frozen, baked, immersed in salt water, and buried in mud baths to determine their resistance to the most extreme environmental conditions imaginable. Ammunition was subjected to heat, solvents, moisture, and impact to ensure that it was robust enough for military use. In fact, the testing of the ammunition was taken to such extremes, a full box of cartridges was dropped from an aircraft in flight.

During almost two full years of both technical and troop tests a number of modifications were made both to the ammunition and the weapon. The result of this series of tests was the "G11 K2", or second configuration of the G11 Rifle. The K2 incorporates several additional features absent from the earlier"Troop Testing" G11 prototype. The G11 K2 includes improvements in the mechanical function and the exterior ergonomic design of the rifle, all based on the input from the German troop tests. Most importantly, the handguard and center part of the receiver were redesigned to allow a total of three 45-round magazines to be carried side by side on the rifle. This would mean for a total weight of less than ten pounds (about the same weight of an empty MI Garand rifle!), a soldier can carry 135 rounds already loaded in magazines right on the rifle. The center magazine presents rounds to the mechanism during firing and is easily and quickly exchanged with the two outside magazines during reloading.
G11 LINK

FOR MORE DIAGRAMS AND PICTURES CLICK HERE
Prototype caseless rounds (below) during ddevelopment

[Edited on 19-2-2003 by mad scientist]