Magazine System
In compliance with recently-imposed federal restrictions
on the importation of rifles that will accept available high
capacity magazines, HK was forced to modify the G36's
existing magazine system. That they would have to do
so was evident to many who anxiously awaited the SL8's
availability here in the U.S. What was uncertain was the
extent of the modification. SL8s that are sold outside of
the U.S. simply employ a 10 round, staggered, cropped
G36 magazine, and this would seem to comply with U.S.
laws considering the fact that there were no G36 magazines
here in the states prior to September 1994. NATO magazine
wells or G36 C-Mag towers would have remedied the
capacity problem under this most ideal scenario. It has
unfortunately ended that U.S.-bound SL8s are not as
modular as the G36 in this respect.
The SL8's magazine system differs from that of the G36
in three ways. First, its transparent, smoke grey magazine
has a maximum capacity of 10 rounds which are stacked
rather than staggered. This design prohibits loading
from any type of stripper clip, and rounds must be loaded
individually as with a Colt 1911 magazine, for example.
Secondly, the detachable magazine well is beveled on
the right side to accomodate this narrow magazine. This
offsets the magazine slightly leftward, and all rounds
consequently feed over the left ramp in the barrel
extension. The magazine well hinges from the front
on studs in the receiver and is secured at the rear by
the same push pin that helps to hold the
stock/grip/fire-control assembly in place. Finally, the
receiver is modified just above the magazine well with
a matching bevel that is narrow enough to preclude the
insertion of, say, an M16 magazine. Damn.
The magazine will accept all 10 rounds without any
loading difficulties, and it feeds flawlessly as long as
the ammo is loaded in the right direction. To assist
the dullards out there, HK felt compelled to mold a picture
of a cartridge into the side of the magazine indicating
the proper Schußrichtung. Spare mags are
available with a suggested retail price of $42.
The wide, serrated, polymer magazine release is located
aft of the magazine well and, like the flapper release
commonly retrofitted to older HK rifles and submachine
guns, it allows for single-handed magazine changes.
When the last shot is fired or when the SL8's cocking
handle is retracted with an empty magazine in place,
the magazine's follower engages a bolt catch that is
integral to the fire control housing. It can also be
engaged in the absence of a magazine by retracting
the cocking handle and pressing a button inside the
top, front portion of the trigger area. This button,
by the way, is actually the polymer-coated base of
the bolt catch. The bolt can only be released by
slightly retracting the cocking handle in the absence
loading is not advise. In the rifle's standard configuration,
access to the ambidextrous cocking handle is somewhat
restricted by a low-lying, one-piece sight rail. This
rail features two slight cutouts - one for when the bolt
is in battery and one for when it is retracted - that
allow just enough room for the user to grasp the cocking
handle with a finger and pivot it outwards. HK markets
several other devices that replace this rail, and they all
happen to allow greater access to the cocking handle.
Sighting Provisions
The SL8's Weaver-type scope/sight rail, which is
approximately 20 3/4 inches in length, extends to the
forward edge of the handguard. It will accept virtually
any type of optics, though the SL8 is shipped with a
set of iron (actually polymer) sights that offer a maximum
18-inch sight radius. The zypher-profiled front sight
is contoured to match the rearward slope of the rail
which in turn is contoured to match the rearward
slope of the handguard. The rail readily accepts
Leupold Mk IV rings, A.R.M.S. #22 throw-lever rings,
A.R.M.S. #19 throw-lever mounts, etc., so users should
have no difficutlies in outfitting their SL8s with choice
optics.
As an accessory, HK intends to offer an abbreviated,
13-inch picitinny rail - part of a broader lineup of
sighting arrangements that interchange between
the G36 and SL8. This rail does not extend beyond
its front mounting point, so it only offers a 10-inch
sight radius when using the factory-supplied sights.
Its merits are: 1) the rail, like any proper picitinny
rail, is jam packed with enough grooves to satisfy
any mount fiend and 2) it allows improved access
to the SL8's cocking handle.
For maximum cocking handle access with the added
benefit of integral optics, buy one of the G36 carry
handles. These mount perfectly on an SL8 in lieu of
its sight rail and are available with a 1.5x scope, a 3.5x
scope or a dual 3.5x scope/red dot sight arrangement.
These scopes all share the same
reticle pattern which features lead marks,
rangefinding gradiants and drop-compensated
aiming points. Windage and elevation adjustments
are made using the supplied HK tool's 2.5mm allen
wrench, with each click shifting the bullet's point
of impact by 1.0 inch at 100 meters. The Hensoldt-made
red dot sight is illuminated by both batteries and
fiber optics. From the rear, it is shaped roughly like
a club (as in the card suit) with the reticle on
top, the on/off switch on the lower left and the
battery compartment on the lower right. A hood
on top of the unit slides forward to reveal a fiber
optic plate that collects ambient light to illuminate
the dot.
While this red dot sight works as designed and is
probably robust enough for the military and law
enforcement applications for which it was conceived,
it still does not make the best use of existing optical
technology. Had someone like Trijicon been tasked
with making this, they would have charged the standard
scope's reticle with tritium and dispensed with the
battery-powered red dot sight altogether, producing
a more streamlined, versatile, ready and reliable combat
sight. Hensoldt sometimes employs tritium in scopes
that they refer to as "beta lighted", but they use it so
sparingly that after a decade it takes a Geiger counter
to detect it at all. In Hensoldt's defense though, the
German federal authorities are strict on the use of
tritium, and customs officials tend to frown upon anything
that is marked with that little radioactive symbol.
When the red dot is just not enough and when you
have more money than you know what to do with,
you can always buy Hensoldt's NSA 80 II passive night
vision device. This $8,000 jewel locks onto the G36
carry handle and projects its view of the target through
the regular optics via a periscope that thrusts downward
through a port in the carry handle. If the unlikely
opportunity to test one of these ever presents itself,
I will seize it and tell you all about the unit's pros
and cons.
Returning briefly to the sights that HK ships with
every SL8, prepare for disappointment. The fixed
front sight sports a rather course blade for target
use (though so does SIG's quite-accurate 550). At
least the front sight is shielded which is more than
can be said for the rear sight. This L-type flip unit
has 100 and 300 meter aperatures, either of which
stand exposed and ready for damage during use or
transit. The sight itself rests on a spring-loaded
platform that hinges on a roll pin at the rear of the
polymer sight housing. Elevation adjustments are
made by turning an allen-head screw in the center
of the platform, thereby raising or lowering the
ceiling of its spring-powered arc. Windage adjustments
are made by inserting the same 2mm hex wrench
through a small port in the sight housing and turning
a screw that runs in standard fashion through the
flip sight's axis. This spartan sight affair is functional
enough not to inhibit accurate shooting, but
my experience with it has generated a newfound
appreciation for the AR-15's superior E2 sight
assembly.
Target Adaptations
The SL8 is ostensibly a target rifle, and consumers
could therefore reasonably expect HK to have refined
certain aspects of the G36 to lend the sporter some
advantages over its military counterpart with respect
to precision shooting. For its purpose, the SL8 does
boast three advantages over the G36: a match-grade
barrel, a fully-adjustable stock and a lightened trigger
pull - features that cost hundreds of additional dollars
when HK offers them as accessories for their other
civilian and military rifles.
Its 20.80-inch long, match-contoured barrel slightly
tapers from ~0.835 inches at the chamber to
~0.785 inches at the muzzle with no step down
beyond its roll-pinned gas block - a heavier barrel
contour than that of the MG36, the light machine gun
variant of the G36. The cold hammer forged barrel
is conventionally-rifled with a right-hand twist of one
turn in seven inches which implies that it will achieve
optimum accuracy with heavier bullets such as Sierra's
69gr HPBT and suitable accuracy with 62gr SS109.
The SL8's gas-operated mechanism obviates the need
for the internal chamber flutes that are present in
the rifles and submachine guns patterened after HK's
recoil-operated G3. However, its chamber is fluted
externally for increased heat dissipation, a retention
of the measure employed on G36 barrels to reduce the
liklihood of cook-offs during sustained full-auto fire.
The barrel extension is molded into the receiver, and
the barrel is secured to it by means of a cylindrical
nut that is slotted at 90° angles. Barrel changes
are effected through the use of the very same tool
that is issued to Bundeswehr unit armorers for that
purpose. It should go without saying that this newest
system from HK employing a barrel nut that is torqued
to ~50 ft. lbs. is logistically superior to G3-patterened
systems, the barrels of which are pinned to the trunion
after their installation by a 10-ton press. Also,
the barrel is free-floated in the sense that it does not
touch the the one-piece, polymer forend which is
secured to the receiver by a push pin.
The forend is a simple affair: it does not have any
lateral bipod grooves or vent holes, so it rests comfortably
across the palm. It features a molded sling attachment
point on the bottom at the front. Just aft of this are
two molded-in, threaded steel studs that are spaced
3.5 inches apart and are intended for attaching the
very same picitinny accessory rail that HK markets for
use with their UMP45. Knight's Armament Company (KAC)
sells a Harris bipod adaptor for their Modular Weapon
System (MWS) which should work well in conjunction
with this simple rail.
For those who do not mind a motley rifle, HK also
sells their black, vented G36 forend. This readily
accepts the polymer G36 bipod which mates to it
by removing the front sling pin, sliding the bipod
over a lip at its front edge and reinserting the
sling pin through two holes in the bipod's fulcrum.
The sling pin is held under tension by a flat spring
that is accessible on the bottom of the forend.
If the idea of an SL8 bristling with lights, lasers and
CQB wall feelers appeals to you, then go all out and
acquire the KAC G36 MWS. This forend features picitinny
rails on all four sides and offers greater heat dissipation
than the SL8 or G36 forends made by HK which lack
any type of heat shields.
The standard forend, like the sight rail and gas piston
assembly, is relatively lightweight, but the barrel is
the SL8's single heaviest component. Thus, the rifle
is noticeably front heavy. Shooters should nonetheless
find the SL8 comfortable to shoulder and fire, and this
is due largely to the excellent ergonomics of the rifle's
stock.
The rear stock assembly is fully adjustable and includes
the grip and fire control mechanism. The buttplate
slides in and out of the hollow stock unit and is secured
by two allen head screws that are inserted through
opposite sides of the stock and tightend into any one
of the buttplate's six threaded, steel studs. Adjustments
can be made within a range of 1 5/8" and require the
use of the tool set's 5mm allen wrench. The SL8 is
shipped with one stock spacer which indexes the buttplate
to the second stud. HK sells extra stock spacers for
$6.00 each. A rubber butt pad and a polymer sling
attachment point are molded into this sliding assembly.
Two flush-fitting, threaded, steel inserts are molded into
the top of the stock and serve as mounting points for a
cheekpiece and, as necessary, a series of stackable spacers.
The cheekpiece and one spacer are supplied with the rifle
and provide a proper cheek weld when using the factory
sights. Extra spacers are available from HK for $7.00 each
and might be useful if, say, a scope with a large objective
bell were mounted on the rail using high rings. The stock
is perfectly comfortable with no cheekpiece - a necessary
arrangement when the rifle is outfitted with the G36 carry
handle and integral optics.
While the butt and cheek portions of the stock can be
adjusted to suit most shooters, the thumbhole is intended
to be a one-size-fits-all/one-shape-fits-the-rules
arrangement. HK crafted a fairly comfortable grip
considering the confines of ridiculous federal regulations
that they had to work within. Unlike many thumbhole
stocks on the market, this one is symmetrically-shaped
to accomodate both left- and right-handed shooters.
However, it does make operating the ambidextrous
selector lever difficult.
What finally distinguishes the SL8 from the G36 from
a target shooting perspective is its redesigned trigger
mechanism. This dispenses with the G36's AUG-style
auto sear - generally a useful component - but
features an additional "locking lever", the purpose
of which eludes me. What matters is that the trigger
breaks crisply at about 3 1/2 lbs.
The entire stock assembly is fastened to the receiver
using two allen head screws at the rear and a push
pin just behind the magazine well. The screws are
inserted through steel reinforced holes in the receiver
and tightened into a single threaded stud that is molded
into the stock. They must be loosened in order to
remove the bolt carrier assembly for cleaning; a push
pin would have been more convenient.
Receiver Internals
Internally, the SL8 is virtually identical to the G36,
the only difference being that the SL8's bolt carrier
lacks the lugs that would trip the G36's auto sear.
The carrier design, like the rifle's general method
of operation, is borrowed directly from the AR-18.
It houses a Stoner-style rotating bolt, cam piece,
firing pin and firing pin retaining pin.
The chrome-plated bolt is machined with six locking
lugs, while the extractor is machined with a contoured
lug that performs no locking function at all. Each lug
is thicker than its counterpart on an M16 or AUG bolt,
either of which sport seven machined lugs, so the SL8's
bolt is theoretically more robust. The extractor pivots
on a pin that protrudes slightly from both sides of the
bolt. It takes a hammer and a punch to remove this
stubborn little pin, and HK actually machined two slots
into the front surface of the carrier to accomodate it.
The extractor spring assembly consists of the spring
and bushing that are typical amongst Stoner bolts.
Anyone concerned with extraction problems might
consider obtaining and installing an
Armforte D-Fender which is designed to increase
extraction force fourfold in this type of bolt system.
As with the AUG bolt, the ejector and ejector spring
are inserted through the a hole in the rear of the bolt
and are contained by a roll pin. The bolt is held into
the carrier by the cam pin.
The cam pin is inserted along its slotted path in
the left side of the carrier and is retained by the
springless firing pin. The firing pin is in turn captured
by its own retaining pin that is inserted through
the left side of the carrier and held under tension
by a high-temperature rubber o-ring.
The recoil spring assembly, which is situated directly
above the bolt, is roughly 8-inches long and slides
into its own hole in the carrier from the rear. It consists
of a chrome-plated tube with a spring around it and
a polymer bushing at the front end. The spring and
bushing are secured by chrome-plated caps that
are crimped to both ends of tube. When the bolt
carrier is retracted, it compresses the spring between
the bushing and the rear cap, leaving the front
portion of the spring tube visable through a port
in the top of the receiver that is ordinarly obscured
by the bolt extension and the charging handle.
A rubber buffer that snaps into the stock's backplate
absorbs bolt's remaining momentum.
Receiver Externals
The bolt's recoil impulse is transmitted from the gas
piston via a spring-loaded piston rod that is about
8 1/2 inches long. During the firing cycle, gas is
vented upwards into the gas block through a port
in the barrel. Some of it is bled off into the atmosphere
through a tiny port in the front of the gas block,
while the rest forces the gas piston violently rearward
against the piston rod, delivering all of the energy
necessary to cycle the action.
The carbon that would ordinarily foul the components
inside of an M16 receiver simply bakes onto the SL8's
gas piston which is chrome-plated for ease of cleaning.
Like the gas piston in an AR-18 or AUG, it is fitted
with three split gas rings which must be disaligned
to generate enough resistance to the gas flow to
ensure proper functioning. This is without a doubt
the SL8's highest-maintenance component, and it
should be cleaned, not with a lubricant like BreakFree,
but with a polish like Brasso or Flitz. Of course, HK
claims that the SL8 can handle 15,000 rounds between
cleaning sessions, and their claim seems indirectly vindicated
by encounters that I have had with AUG owners who
shot their rifles for years without knowing how to
even remove their gas pistons. What is certain
is that this system keeps the receiver's internals
relatively clean and carbon-free. It is itself completely
shrouded by the forend.
The action's cleanliness, coupled with its unusually
smooth operation, seems to have obviated the need
for any type of forward-assist mechanism, though one
is subtly present. To utilize it, simply pivot the
cocking handle 90° in either direction and push
it inwards. It will lock into this position and provide
a 1.5-inch wide bearing surface that can be pushed
forward gently or pounded on depending on whether
you want to overcome or compound whatever problem
that initially prompted failure. The receiver also
features a molded-in case deflector for left-handed
firing, and this sends ejected casings almost directly
rightwards without damaging them. Finally - a
reloader-friendly HK rifle that neither dents nor
striates spent cartridges!
Other Standard Accessories
As already noted, each SL8 is shipped with its own
tool kit, this in a red, Swiss-Army-type arrangement
featuring 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5 and 8mm hex wrenches as
well as phillips and flat head scewdrivers. The 2mm
hex wrench is used to adjust the fixed sights, the
2.5mm hex wrench is used to adjust carry handle
optics, the 5mm hex wrench is used to adjust or
remove the stock, the phillips head screwdriver is
used remove the sights, sight rail or carry handle
and the remaining four tools are a bonus. HK obviously
bought someone else's tool kit and applied their
own logo, but that is fine. They deserve an ovation
for supplying this necessary item with the rifle rather
than charging extra for it - their standard operating
procedure.
The SL8 is also shipped with a black, nylon sling
that someone might actually use for a change. Most
HK rifle owners whom I ever met may have owned
the older green canvas or brown leather factory
slings as accessories, but they rarely used them
because they either could not decipher them or
were reluctant to allow the steel hardware to scratch
their pretty (and expensive) rifles. This new sling
is not problematic in either sense: its familiar steel
QD snaps attach to polymer sling points where they
can not really inflict much cosmetic damage, and
it is simple to operate. It allows the rifle to be
carried close to the chest in a ready mode and is
extended by releasing its fastex buckle. Those
who appreciate the finer things in life should be
pleased to hear that it sports a genuine ITW Nexus
buckle rather than some cheap, Chinese-pirated
clone.
Rounding off the accessory list with a sign of the
times, HK ships every SL8 with its own gun lock.
This is essentially a padlock with a long, rubber-coated
wire designed to keep the bolt out of battery
and prevent the insertion of a magazine. It may
safely confine a child's natural curiousity, but a
lock is not the ideal tool for dealing with people
who are emotionally imbalanced, dangerously
stupid or outright criminal.
Overall Impression
The SL8 is basically well-executed considering the
guidelines foisted upon HK by current, obtuse U.S.
regulations. Ironically, HK resolved the stock, barrel,
trigger mechanism and magazine issues in ways that
improved the system's target capabilities, while they
fumbled on the fixed sight design - an aspect over
which they had complete discretion. This is of little
concern though, as the rifle is probably better off with
a scope anyway. When testing one specimen that
was outfitted with a Leupold Mk IV M3, I found that
I could hit 1-inch squares at 100 yards on demand
which implies that the SL8 will perform as designed.
The SL8 carries a suggested retail price of $1,599 - an
arguable bargain when you compare its features and
functionality to those of other grey sporters like Steyr's
overrated Scout rifle. It incorporates HK's most current
materials and design technology and is every bit as
rugged and reliable as its military counterpart.
Still, there is one conceptual problem surrounding
the SL8 that should not be overlooked: other entities
are using your tax dollars to equip themselves
with the real deal while simultaneously dictating
to you that the SL8 is all that you can own - for now.
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