HK Raided by Police

[InkEd]

The profit MARGIN on civilian sales is almost always SUBSTANTIALLY higher than that of government contracts. Just ask the people at Glock, S&W, Colt, FN, Beretta, Sig and any other firearm company with any type of LEO or government contract. The primary reasons for even trying to land those contracts is because of the guaranteed sheer volume (to make-up for the slim profit margin), to serve as an advertising/endorsement of the product for civilian sales and to sometimes receive favors of somekind from the government being supplied with the weapons. So, um... yeah? It's about making profit.

 

[Ben86]

I think people would be shocked if they knew what unscrupulous types most arms dealers sell to on a daily basis. I'm not surprised at all. I am offended if they sell to state sponsors of terrorism such as Libya or Iran.

HK makes cool guns, but even if they didn't hate civilians because we suck their guns would be comparatively overpriced compared to most others. I most likely would still not buy their teutonic wonder guns.

I doubt much will come of this, they have many friends in high places.

 

[Oxide]

The people that hate HK are usually the ones that can't afford their products. So, they
belittle the company to feel better about themselves. Also, the people that say their
guns are overpriced usually haven't shot them.

Similar to Taurus, HK is one firearms company that most people here speak about solely
out of sheer ignorance, never having owned, held, shot, or sometimes even looked at one.

 

[JustinJ]

The profit MARGIN on civilian sales is almost always SUBSTANTIALLY higher than that of government contracts. Just ask the people at Glock, S&W, Colt, FN, Beretta, Sig and any other firearm company with any type of LEO or government contract.

Who cares if they make more profit per unit if profit from total units to a large contract sold exceeds total profit to civilians?

The primary reasons for even trying to land those contracts is because of the guaranteed sheer volume (to make-up for the slim profit margin), to serve as an advertising/endorsement of the product for civilian sales and to sometimes receive favors of somekind from the government being supplied with the weapons. So, um... yeah? It's about making profit.

Are you really trying to claim that government weapons contractors seek such contracts purely for advertisting? Strange, but i havent seen any FN AR15s on the market.

HK sells guns to militiaries around the world and makes lots of money doing so. That is their first priority. The reason you can't get a G36 or UMP is because of our laws. Tooling up a plant in the US to make these weapons would most likely not be economically feasible for HK. The guns they can sell to civilians, Handguns, are readily available to us.

If their customer service is not as good as somebody elses it may be because they have little invested in that department given how infrequently it is needed.

 

[threefeathers]

i think I left Berlin a few days early. I did notice most cops were carrying H K's mostly P2K's.

 

[orionengnr]

It doesn't matter. They will still hate you.

And you will still suck

 

[stickhauler]

I thought bribery was a common practice for most everything in Mexico?

 

[Dunkelheit]

Hmm, wonder what the police were carrying when they raided the facility.

P30

 

[MachIVshooter]

This is one gun company I have a hard time having much sympathy for

+100

Maybe they wouldn't be so desperate for money if they sold more long guns in the US.

Maybe they'd sell more guns in the US if they weren't such arrogant pricks.

Who cares if they make more profit per unit if profit from total units to a large contract sold exceeds total profit to civilians?

Why are you defending them so staunchly?

They are the anti-gun gunmaker.

The fanboyism and cult following only makes matters worse.

And where the profit comes from isn't an either-or proposition. You can have your cake and eat it to. S&W figured it out. Glock figured it out. Beretta figured it out. FN figured it out. But HK is run by socialist dunderheads.

As an aside, I had a USP stainless .45. It was OK, but cost about twice what it should have. It was reliable and accurate, but the ergonomics sucked worse than a Glock. I sold it at a loss to buy a S&W 1006 and couldn't be happier with that decision.

 

[Oxide]

You must've been missing some fingers to think the USP's ergonomics sucks.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I used to hate HK but I've changed my view. After all, what makes SIG's handguns cost $500 more than a Beretta or a CZ that is just as good? Although they really should make long guns here in a format that people other than fanboys would want to buy.

I am a huge SIG fan by the way.

 

[NOLAEMT]

I'm curious if all the people who hate HK for one reason or another have actually had ANY interaction with the company ever? Since when does what one reads on the internet become fact? I'm not exactly an HK "fanboy" whatever that means, but I do own one HK firearm, and it a very good weapon. I had a question for HK customer service once, and it was answered promply and polietly.

They sell a product at what they belive it is worth. Clearly if they were not getting enough sales, they would lower their prices or go out of business. That is just basic economics. If they really didn't want to sell guns to civilians, they wouldn't, no one is making them. So I don't really understand how anyone can say that they are "anti-gun"

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

+100



Maybe they'd sell more guns in the US if they weren't such arrogant pricks.




Why are you defending them so staunchly?

They are the anti-gun gunmaker.

The fanboyism and cult following only makes matters worse.

And where the profit comes from isn't an either-or proposition. You can have your cake and eat it to. S&W figured it out. Glock figured it out. Beretta figured it out. FN figured it out. But HK is run by socialist dunderheads.

As an aside, I had a USP stainless .45. It was OK, but cost about twice what it should have. It was reliable and accurate, but the ergonomics sucked worse than a Glock. I sold it at a loss to buy a S&W 1006 and couldn't be happier with that decision.

HK doesn't not import rifles because they are "socialist dunderhead", they don't do it because of our ridiculous import laws.
Like someone said earlier, in order for HK to import guns to the US they need to be in a sporting configuration, MUCH LIKE the Russian Saiga rifles and shotguns. However, the Russians can pump those rifles out cheaply and fast and there is a huge market for them. HK does import sporting weapons into the US like the USC and the SL8 rifles, sporting versions of the UMP-45 and the G-36 respectively. Unfortunately, the market is much smaller for these and they cost more to produce, thus their price is significantly more expensive. It is also hard to render these guns in a sporting configuration, which means altering them in a way that does not allow them to be easily remade into their original configuration, unlike the Saiga rifles.

As for having a factory in the US, HK doesn't need that. Unlike companies like Sig, their rifles are in use ALL OVER the world. The US civilian market, compared to that, is small and insubstantial.

HK is a business, pure and simple. Their mission isn't to cater to civilian gun owners who want new toys.

EDIT: I know Ill get flamed for this, but I also think calling "HK" anti gun is very naive. They might be anti-civilian ownership of assault weapons, but I highly doubt you could call an arms manufacturing company that sells weapons all over the world is "anti-gun".

 

[Oxide]

I have had two interactions with HK customer service.

1. I called to get, straight from the horse's mouth, whether the HK91 is a .308 or a
7.62x51, and whether the HK93 is 5.56 or .223. They answered, and I was happy.

2. I had a slight bit of trigger creep in the match trigger of my USP elite. I sent it in,
they said that is within specs, and replaced my recoil springs to the new, modified springs, and sent it back, no charge.

Pretty damn good.

 

[Dunkelheit]

I recieve the impression that it is popular to hate HK, but i don´t get the point.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

EDIT: I know Ill get flamed for this, but I also think calling "HK" anti gun is very naive. They might be anti-civilian ownership of assault weapons, but I highly doubt you could call an arms manufacturing company that sells weapons all over the world is "anti-gun".

Anti-gun is a term applied to civilian gun ownership, not Governments buying contracts.

I recieve the impression that it is popular to hate HK, but i don´t get the point.

I get that too, I used to be an HK hater mostly because I read something by Larry Correia. Now I don't mind and actually want to get an HK45 at some point. The only thing I don't like about HK is the fact that we can't get semi auto G36s instead of some sporter gun based on the G36. They have the ability to start making those rifles here but they don't want to.

 

[Ben86]

They have the ability to start making those rifles here but they don't want to.

Because we suck and they hate us.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Sam Cade]

Although they really should make long guns here in a format that people other than fanboys would want to buy.

They have the ability to start making those rifles here but they don't want to.

H&K has a plant in the US. It is in Newington, New Hampshire and they make the MR-556 there.


http://www.hk-usa.com/military_products/mil_newsroom_01152009.asp

http://www.hk-usa.com/civilian_products/mr556_general.asp

 

[JustinJ]

H&K has a plant in the US. It is in Newington, New Hampshire and they make the MR-556 there.

Exactly, which makes one wonder why a "anti-gun" gun manufacturer would sell an AR platform to the public.

Could it be that tooling up and producing G36, MP5 and UMP variants would probably not be financially feasible for HK? Seems to make a just little more sense than they are anti-gun and hate american civilians.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I don't know where that plant is in Newington, Google searches show nothing and I haven't seen it despite going through Newington on a near daily basis. Anyone know where it is exactly?

Exactly, which makes one wonder why a "anti-gun" gun manufacturer would sell an AR platform to the public.

At 3 grand a pop, they probably think it's worth it. I've never even seen one in person but I have seen used SL8s. A nearby major sportsman shop, KTP, has two of them currently and they just sit there. I wonder if the previous owners found them to be pointless or something, they hardly look used.

 

[JustinJ]

At 3 grand a pop, they probably think it's worth it. I've never even seen one in person but I have seen used SL8s. A nearby major sportsman shop, KTP, has two of them currently and they just sit there. I wonder if the previous owners found them to be pointless or something, they hardly look used.

I would bet the 556 will eventually come down in price. HK knowns many will buy them at the current price so once those sells are made I expect price drops.

Was the SL8 introduced during the assault weapons ban? I can't see any reason to buy one today except to do a G36 conversion, which is generally more than the cost of the gun.

 

[Tinpig]

I don't know where that plant is in Newington...

27 Piscataqua Dr.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&s...code_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ8gEwAA

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_&_Koch_SL8

According to that, it is as I believed it was, it has to do with import restrictions but at the same time, what about the FNH F2000? Is that made in country now? It also is apparently discontinued.

27 Piscataqua Dr.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sa...ed=0CBwQ8gEwAA

I guess I'm taking a slight detour on the way home, Thats within 2 miles of where SIG Sauer is thinking about moving too.

 

[Jim K]

Meanwhile, Senor Chavez is shipping guns to Mexico by the boatload and our government looks the other way and blames the NRA. Could it be because Mr. Obama bowed to Chavez and called him "a great Latin American statesman"?

Jim

 

[JustinJ]

Meanwhile, Senor Chavez is shipping guns to Mexico by the boatload and our government looks the other way and blames the NRA. Could it be because Mr. Obama bowed to Chavez and called him "a great Latin American statesman"?

That statement has what to do with this post? Is it really that hard to leave your politics out of things they have nothing to do with?