HKPRO: HK-Blackwater Demo Day and Open House

It was on a perfect fall Monday that Heckler and Koch of Ashburn, VA invited several members of the gun press to the grounds of Blackwater USA, the largest privately owned firearms training facility in the United States. HK continues to undergo subtle changes in structure. Gone is the term "HK Defense" and it's now called HK Ashburn or HK Government Sales.

On prominent display were some of the products that have garnered much attention lately both on the internet, and in the gun press.

More specifically, these are the HK45 and the HK417. I was able to spend time on both platforms, and spent most of my day working out on these two firearms, since I have experience on other products that were represented.

If you have never been to Moyock, North Carolina, just over the line from southern Virginia, in the Norfolk area, it's about a 45 minute drive to the rural facility roughly four miles inland from the Atlantic.

To say that Blackwater is impressive would be to hugely understate who they are and what they do. But to proclaim what they do as the largest is a strong understatement. It was a natural fit for HK to team up with Blackwater, given the changing direction of HK's training program.

The new course catalog lists a basic menu of operator and instructor courses for pistols, rifles and submachine guns. It is from this basic list that HK hopes to use Blackwater expertise to grow and expand the training program. I say hats off to both and I wish them the best of luck.

The HK45 pistol was the first firearm that I spent time with, and I was anxious to not only get them in hand, but to fire them. I also had reservations about the new "Ergo Grip" that was loudly maligned on the HKPRO boards, but as of the time of this writing, appears to be a finalized decision for the full-size model. I was told that the P2000esque grips will remain for the HK45 C.

I put a couple of hundred rounds through the HK45 in both the full-size and the compact. I was very impressed by both of them. Recoil is definitely present, since we're talking about a relatively light polymer frame pistol. I used both the DA/SA version and the LEM version of the pistol. The bore is definitely lower on this pistol, and like the P2000 slides, there is an attempt to remove unnecessary metal, for a more streamlined appearance. The sights are excellent three dot with a light green paint that really makes the dots stand out nicely. I am sure that final production models will have night sights as well. Yes, and you're not seeing things, all models will have accuracy enhancing 0-ring barrels.

There are forward serrations on the HK45 slides, and I find this feature visually attractive, and of course helps nicely with press checking the chamber.

The magazine capacity of the full size model is only 10 rounds, for a total capacity of 11. The magazine is smaller to keep the grip circumference down, ostensibly a requirement from the original RFP that brought the HK45 into existence. There are removable backstraps just like the P2000, and for those that don't know yet, no, the side panels are not replaceable, nor soft, like the P30. The grip of the full size HK45 is decent, but I think I would prefer the look and feel of the original protoype P2000 grip.

The magazine release is ambidextrous and extended, or larger, than USP and P2000 variants.

Since the "flat Earth" requirement no longer exists as to frame color, the models produced for the civilian market will be black.

Oh, yes, the commercial market! The plan as of now is for the HK45 and HK45C to be brought in at the first quarter of next year with an initial order of 3000 units. (I did not ask about individual quantities of each pistol.)

The HK417 is now in "final development" prototype status, and I am happy to report here exclusively, the addition of a new feature on this firearm, that of a selector that will allow a variable gas setting that will allow the gun to be used with a wide variety of bullet weights and in conjunction with a sound suppressor. This feature is to prevent overfunctioning in the rifle when a heavy bullet/suppressor is used, much as the 80 degree locking piece is necessary in the MP5K when used with 147 grain ammunition and a suppressor.

There were four rifles there, three with 12 inch barrels and one with a 20 inch barrel. Two of the rifles were the earliest prototypes, that took G3 magazines. They were serial numbers 00002 and 00003. Two other variants which now use the plastic magazine and bolt hold open had serial numbers of 135 and 136.

Interestingly, according to HK personnel, there were a series of Norwegian tests conducted on the HK417 with 12 inch barrel and an unspecified Norwegian brand of ammunition that consistently yielded 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards, with some going as small as .17 inch!

The gun has a hefty recoil, make no mistake, but is much softer than a G3. They are to be available for agency sale, tentatively sometime early next year, and are to be somewhere in the $2500 to $3500 neighborhood. While it will be available in select fire, it does remind one of the reason that shoulder fired .308 rifles were abandoned years ago as relatively ineffective in full-auto mode beyond the shortest ranges.

I was able to keep both rounds of some two round bursts on a IDPA sized steel silhouette at 50 yards, but I was crawling all over it for the proper stance.

The collapsible buttstock is actually manufactured at HK Oberndorf and features a battery compartment under the removable buttplate and the three position release lever is more hidden so as not to be accidentally depressed when using a solid sniper cheekweld.

More photos to come soon!