Heckler & Koch HK437 ‘Sneaker’ Piston-Driven .300 Blackout (.300BLK) Carbine/Short Barreled Rifle (SBR): Better than the HK416 for Covert Ops?

By David Crane
david (at) defensereview (dot) com

Images Credit: Heckler & Koch (HK), Concamo, TheFirearmBlog.com (TFL), All4Shooters.com, and Jan-Phillipp Weisswange.

December 6, 2022

DefenseReview (DR) just got reminded of an interesting Heckler & Koch (HK) .300 Blackout (.300BLK, or 7.62x35mm) weapons platform called the HK437 “Sneaker”, courtesy of The Firearm Blog (TFL). Basically, the HK437 is the .300BLK variant of the HK433, which the company bills as “the new compact and modular assault rifle generation”. The HK433’s always struck DR as HK’s take on the FN SCAR weapons platform, with very similar design aspects and aesthetics. Just like the SCAR (and HK416 AR-type carbine/SBR), the HK433/437-type weapons operate via short-stroke gas piston/op-rod (operating rod).

However, unlike the HK416, the HK437’s design allows for a folding stock for an even more compact package when the stock’s folded. In fact, as far as DR can tell, that’s the ONLY advantage the HK 437 enjoys over the HK 416, unless we’re missing something.

Question is, how do the HK433/437 and HK416 compare in terms of ergonomics/ease of use, shooting characteristics, reliability, accuracy, etc. Has any independent group ever done a high-round-count side-by-side comparison? We’d certainly be interested to see it.

Anyway, the HK437 Sneaker .300BLK carbine/SBR (Short Barreled Rifle) looks pretty good in the photos we’ve seen, including the one shown in the TFL piece. That photo shows the HK437 outfitted with a Rheinmetall VarioRay laser light module and an EOTech EXPS of some kind.

Editor’s Note: Defense Review would also like to get DR writer/contributor and chief new-product tester Jeff Gurwitch’s take on the HK437.

Company Contact Info:

HK USA Contacts:

Commercial and Law Enforcement Sales (USA)
HECKLER & KOCH
5675 Transport Boulevard
Columbus, Georgia 31907 USA
Tel: 706-568-1906
Fax: 706-568-9151
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hk-usa.com

Military and Federal Law Enforcement Sales (USA)
HECKLER & KOCH
19980 Highland Vista Drive, Suite 190
Ashburn, Virginia 20147 USA
Tel: 703-450-1900
Fax: 703-450-8160
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hk-usa.com

Global Corporate Headquarters & Primary Manufacturing Center
HECKLER & KOCH GmbH
Postfach 1329 D-78722
Oberndorf/Neckar Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 74 23 79 -0
Fax: +49 (0) 74 23 79 -23 50
Global Website: http://www.heckler-koch.com

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