Under The Bus

If I am reading a statement from Heckler & Koch correctly, they have thrown RECOIL Magazine under the bus.

From a post on Facebook by the HK Pro Shooting Team:

Some readers have misinterpreted a recent feature story in RECOIL magazine as a reflection of HK policy. Heckler & Koch has a long presence in the US civilian market and throughout that time has been an ardent and passionate supporter of the Second Amendment and the American civilian shooter. This will always be the case. The contents, opinions, and statements expressed in that feature story are t
hose of the writer, not Heckler and Koch’s. Additionally, the writer and RECOIL magazine have issued a clarification and apology for the ill-chosen words used in the story.

The HK MP7A1 4.6 mm Personal Defense Weapon mentioned in the story is a selective-fire product (capable of “full automatic” fire) and is currently restricted to military and law enforcement agencies by BATF. HK-USA has previously researched introducing similar commercial products, chambered in 4.6 mm, but it was determined that the final product would not have enough appeal or be legally feasible.

— Heckler & Koch USA

I've stayed out of this controversy because others have covered it so well.

I do not plan to buy/subscribe to RECOIL Magazine. The one copy I scanned at Barnes & Noble just wasn't to my tastes. I'm more of a Guns/American Handgunner/Rifle/Handloader kind of guy.

Moreover, they have done the gun rights community no  favors as this post by Miguel makes clear. You knew it was only a matter of time before the trolls at CSGV jumped on it.

RECOIL is as Grant Cunningham so aptly calls it a "dead magazine walking".

As I said on Monday, the new generation of shooters needs their own magazine. This one, bankrolled by someone whose political associations are highly suspect, may not be it. The shooting fraternity still needs a magazine like RECOIL, but it needs to be one which doesn't compromise on the Second Amendment. Could RECOIL become that magazine? I have my doubts, especially after their publisher dug in his heels to support the status quo, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt if they truly repent.

I agree with Grant that I have my doubts. When you have both the editor and publisher doubling down, it doesn't inspire confidence. It may not matter much as it looks like a number of major advertisers plan to take their money elsewhere.

I'll let Soldier Systems have the final word on RECOIL and its survival.

But, what is worse than some losing advertisers and readers is their relationship with the very industry that they are supposed to be covering. Rather than manning up and accepting Mr Tsai’s words, they are now blaming the words and associated anti-Second Amendment sentiment on Heckler & Koch. Well done. You’ve now alienated one gun maker and the others are probably rubbing their chins wondering if you’ll make them look bad as well. Who is going to provide samples for those cute little photo layouts? What gun company is going to take them to the range? Who will even talk to them? You can’t have a magazine without content. I supported ‘Recoil’ from the beginning and I would have stayed right behind them had they shown industry that they were willing to learn from this and move forward. Instead, they don’t get it at all. They’ve now taken an adversarial stance toward the firearms and tactical industries. I can’t abide by that.

I have heard various versions of this today so I’ll just paraphrase, “Recoil, you need industry. You’ve shown us we don’t need you.”

UPDATE: ToddG at pistol-training.com provides a very astute comment on the whole RECOIL controversy with regard to HK and why they haven't made a semi-auto version of the MP7A1. He points out that not only does HK have to comply with US import laws but they have to deal with draconian German export laws as well.

Someone at HK presumably sat down and ran the numbers. First, how neutered would a US-legal over the counter MP7A1 have to be? Fire control group would need to be designed not just to be semi automatic only but also meet ATF restrictions on being converted back to select fire. A new 16″ barrel would have to be developed… not only does a 16″ bbl MP7A1 pretty much ruin the point of the MP7A1 in the first place, but do you know what HK goes through to develop new barrels? It isn’t cheap. Then you’d need 5- and 10-round magazines for various states, a fixed stock for some states, etc., etc., etc.

Next, you have to figure out how many of these neutered MP7A1′s will actually sell. It’s easy for people on the internet to say “I’d buy me one of them!” but that doesn’t actually translate one-for-one into sales of what would likely be a $2,000 firearm that uses hard to find, expensive, proprietary ammunition.

Finally, you plug all that into H.A.L. and ask him if the cost to come to market is a reasonable investment of company funds. The answer, in this case, is almost certainly no.

You want a civy-legal MP7A1? Commit to buying 25,000 of them and I’ll put you in touch with a guy at HK who might be able to make that happen for you. In the meantime, don’t get blinded by the “blame the manufacturer” smoke screen from Jerry Tsai and the public relations chimpanzees at RECOIL Magazine.

This may piss off some readers but you have to remember that gun manufacturing is a business and we can't get all the shiny new toys just because we want them. If a manufacturer can't make a decent profit on a line of firearms they aren't going to stay in business long pushing money-losing products. That's the difference between private enterprise and the government.