C.G. Haenel

C.G. Haenel is a German weapon manufacturer located in Suhl, Germany.

C.G. Haenel
TypeGmbH
Founded1840
FounderCarl Gottlieb Haenel
Headquarters
Suhl
,
Germany
ProductsFirearms
Revenue€ 7.15 million (2018)
Number of employees
9 (2018)
ParentMerkel
Websitehttps://www.cg-haenel.de/

History
The original forge which stands at the gates of the Thuringian forest.

The Prussian commissioner for firearms manufacturing, Carl Gottlieb Haenel, began producing bicycles and weapons in 1840 — a combination which was not uncommon at the time as it required similar means of production and skills. In 1887, the Suhl-based weapons designer C. W. Aydt joined the company in order to produce his Aydt target rifle and later the Aydt target pistol for sporting.[1] In 1879, the German Army introduced the M1879 Reichsrevolver and a smaller derivative, the M1883. Haenel was awarded a share of the manufacturing for these firearms as part of a consortium, named the Suhl Konsortium, formed with the sporting arms manufacturer V. Ch. Schilling. The firearms they produced were marked with the signature "VCS CGH Suhl" in reference to their initials and Suhl origin. Haenel later produced hunting weapons, bayonets and, during World War I, produced vast quantities of the Mauser Model 98 for the German Army. These were marked with the year of manufacture and "C G Haenel Suhl" stamped above that on the receiver.

1920s

In 1921, Hugo Schmeisser joined the company which then began manufacturing pocket pistols based on his designs.[2] This period also marked the introduction of the automatic firearm and, despite a ban by the Treaty of Versailles, the company began developing automatic submachine guns to Schmeisser's designs. Schmessier drew upon experience and knowledge he had gained from his father, Louis Schmeisser, otherwise known as the "Father of the Automatic Carbine" due to his work on Bergmann machine guns.[3] In 1928, the company developed the MP28, a submachine gun derived from the MP18, and it was in use with the German police by 1928. Deliveries were also made to South Africa, Spain, Japan and the Republic of China through a license agreement with a Belgian company, named Baynard.

1930s and 1940s
MP40 submachine gun
The MKb 42(H), the precursor to the StG 44 assault rifle

Despite the success of Hugo Schmeisser, the company ran into bankruptcy several times between 1929 and 1934.[4] In 1933, the company formed an association with ten other Suhl and Zella-Mehlis arms companies to guarantee a share of armament contracts from the newly-arisen Nazi government. This association was named the United Suhl-Zella-Mehlisser Arms Factories (German: Vereinigte Suhl-Zella-Mehlisser Waffenfabriken) and had direct relations with the Wehrmacht administration. The company, along with its associates, established their own offices in Berlin.[4][5]

1935 saw a dramatic increase in arms production in the build up to World War II and a new automatic firearm with an intermediate cartridge was developed. The 7.92×33mm chambered MP43 (originally known as the Mkb 42(H)) assault rifle was devised to stand out from the Erma Werke MP38/MP40 submachine gun with its higher performance and economic design which was manufactured through a than innovative factory stamping technique. Over 10,000 units were produced as early as 1943 but, in the same year, production was halted by Adolf Hitler. Hitler later approved mass production following testing with troops. On entering service, the weapon was known as the Sturmgewehr 44 (StG 44).

1950s

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, U.S. forces briefly occupied the city of Suhl and imposed a production ban on all arms factories. Following the evacuation of American troops, the area became occupied by the Soviet Army in what would later become East Germany. Around 50 StG 44's were transferred to the Soviet Union for technical analysis, as well as 10,785 weapon blueprints which were considered war reparations.[4] The company was then consolidated as the VEB Vehicle and Hunting Weapons Factory "Ernst Thälmann" (German: VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk „Ernst Thälmann“) and later began producing air rifles and hunting carbines under the brand name Haenel Suhl.

Recent

In 2008, the company was reestablished and adopted its original name of C. G. Haenel.[6] It now belongs to Merkel, which is in turn part of Caracal International in the United Arab Emirates.[7] The company's first product in 2008 was the Haenel RS8 7.62×51mm NATO/.308 Winchester sniper rifle which, in 2009, lead to the development of a larger Haenel RS9 .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm) version. That same year saw the introduction of a new range of hunting rifles, named the Jaeger 8 series. This was followed by the single-shot Jaeger 9, the bolt action Jaeger 10, the semi-automatic SLB 2000+, which was originally developed by Heckler & Koch, and the Jaeger 11 shotgun.

In February 2016, the Bundeswehr ordered the Haenel RS9 as its new medium-range sniper rifle, designated the G29.[8] This was followed by an order from the Hamburg Police for the company's Haenel CR 223 semi-automatic rifle in November. These were reportedly withdrawn from use in 2017 due to persistent jamming.[9] These problems were attributed to the ammunition being used by the Hamburg Police and Haenel stated it would rectify the problem.[10]

In January 2019, the company's MK 556 assault rifle was shortlisted alongside the Heckler & Koch HK416 and HK433 as a potential replacement for the Bundeswehr's G36 service rifle. The competition was widely expected to be won by Heckler and Koch which has supplied previous service rifles to the German military, including the most recent two, the G3 and the G36.[11] However, despite expectations, the Bundeswehr selected the MK 556 on 15 September 2020. The contract, currently worth €245 million, is to deliver 120,000 rifles.[12] On 9 October 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Defence withdrew their intended award decision, seemingly leaving the potential remaining G36 replacements as either the HK416, HK433 or MK 556 after concluding a reentered evaluation phase.[13][14]

  • RS8 sniper rifle
  • RS9 sniper rifle
  • CR223 semi-automatic rifle
  • Jaeger 8.11 over under double hunting rifle
  • Jaeger.10 bolt action hunting rifle

Products

Products manufactured by C. G. Haenel include:

References
  1. "Bicycle and weapons factory CG HAENEL in Suhl". vestpockets.bauli.at (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. Archived 10 December 2003 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Archived 20 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Norbert Moczarski (1999). The era of the Schmeisser brothers in the C. G. Haenel Suhl weapons factory 1921–1948. A largely unknown chapter of Suhl's industrial history (in German). pp. 237–268.
  5. "K98k Mauser Page". mausershooters.org (in German). Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  6. "Bei Haenel hüllt man sich in Schweigen" (in German). Spiegel. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  7. Hegmann, Gerhard (20 January 2019). "Schlagabtausch im Kampf um Sturmgewehr-Auftrag der Bundeswehr" (in German). WELT. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  8. "HAENEL gewinnt Bundeswehr-Ausschreibung zum G29" (in German). All4Shooters.com. 2 March 2016.
  9. "Hamburg Police having issues with their new AR15s and ammunition". The Firearm Blog. 24 August 2017.
  10. "Polizei muss Gewehre wegen Ladehemmung zurückgeben" (in German). WELT. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  11. "Bundeswehr Narrows Rifle Choice: Heckler & Koch vs Haenel". The Firearm Blog. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  12. Newdick, Thomas (15 September 2020). "Here Is The Surprise Choice To Become Germany's Standard Assault Rifle". The Drive. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  13. "Sturmgewehrvergabe: Heckler & Koch erringt mit CBH Etappensieg". juve.de (in German). 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  14. Moss, Matthew (2020-10-10). "BREAKING: Bundeswehr Withdraw Order for Haenel MK556". The Firearm Blog. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.