Kraut Space Magic: the H&K G11

Kraut Space Magic: the H&K G11

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I have been waiting for a long time to have a chance to make this video – the Heckler & Koch G11! Specifically, a G11K2, the final version approved for use by the West German Bundeswehr, before being cancelled for political and economic reasons.

The G11 was a combined effort by H&K and Dynamit Nobel to produce a new rifle for the German military with truly new technology. The core of the system was the use of a caseless cartridge developed in the late 60s and early 70s by Dynamit Nobel, which then allowed H&K to design a magnificently complex action which could fire three rounds in a hyper-fast (~2000 rpm) burst and have all three bullets leave the barrel before the weapon moved in recoil.

Remarkably, the idea went through enough development to pass German trials and actually be accepted for service in the late 1980s (after a funding shutdown when it proved incapable of winning NATO cartridge selection trials a decade earlier). However, the reunification with East Germany presented a reduced strategic threat, a new surplus of East German combat rifles (AK74s), and a huge new economic burden to the combined nations and this led to the cancellation of the program. The US Advanced Combat Rifle program gave the G11 one last grasp at a future, but it was not deemed a sufficient improvement in practical use over the M16 platform to justify a replacement of all US weapons in service.

The G11 lives on, however, as an icon of German engineering prowess often referred to as “Kraut Space Magic” (in an entirely complimentary take on the old pejorative). That it could be so complex and yet still run reliably in legitimate military trials is a tremendous feat by H&K’s design engineers, and yet one must consider that the Bundeswehr may just have dodged a bullet when it ended up not actually adopting the rifle.

Many thanks to H&K USA for giving me access to the G11 rifles in their Grey Room for this video!

Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
PO Box 87647
Tucson, AZ 85754

50 Comments

  1. NuCLeArDrAgOn FTW on December 2, 2021 at 12:19 am

    One of the most interesting Guns I’ve ever seen.



  2. zark on December 2, 2021 at 12:21 am

    This gun looks like it came straight from 007 golden eye on N64



  3. Michael Sarazin on December 2, 2021 at 12:23 am

    This was my favourite gun in video games, from syphon filter 2



  4. Ouroboros612 on December 2, 2021 at 12:23 am

    Is this the same G11 from Fallout 2?



  5. YouTube's Hypocrisy on December 2, 2021 at 12:24 am

    That’s the ugliest gun I’ve ever seen in my life.



  6. Haramasch Abrasir on December 2, 2021 at 12:27 am

    This thing is the absolute opposite of ergonomic. I wonder how it got this far with the German military.



  7. TriggerZ on December 2, 2021 at 12:28 am

    All of the games had G11 that nobody animates that release mag button.



  8. Erik Nilsson on December 2, 2021 at 12:28 am

    This is probably my most rewatched YouTube-vid. A very interesting weapon, presented in an engaging and informative way.
    Apart from the M16-seeming auto-converted AR-15 with a fake M203 grenade launcher of Scarface and Predator fame and one of the hero-versions of the Colonial Marines pulse-rifles from the Aliens-movie this is probably my favorite weapon!



  9. Mac Carter on December 2, 2021 at 12:28 am

    Send this gun to demolition ranch



  10. EvilTim1911 on December 2, 2021 at 12:28 am

    This is like the anti-AK in terms of design complexity



  11. Ian_ _Szigs on December 2, 2021 at 12:29 am

    They done turned an air conditioner into a 3-shot burst railgun



  12. Esekiel Kleyer on December 2, 2021 at 12:31 am

    The G11
    You don’t need to be a better shot.
    You just need more firerate.



  13. Andrew on December 2, 2021 at 12:32 am

    Do you take this to a gunsmith or a watch repair shop?



  14. Tristan Sexton on December 2, 2021 at 12:33 am

    I often wonder if some of these requests for guns comes from fans of Fallout 2.



  15. James Spencer on December 2, 2021 at 12:35 am

    I love the look of this gun I know it from call of duty the video game this guy is gun Jesus still watching him now



  16. NobleKorhedron on December 2, 2021 at 12:37 am

    Wasn’t this in Demolition Man…? 🤔



  17. Rejan Rahman on December 2, 2021 at 12:39 am

    IGI 2 is the only game where this gun is introduced.



  18. ikki 76 on December 2, 2021 at 12:39 am

    I remember this gun from syphon filter heheh



  19. Biscuit on December 2, 2021 at 12:40 am

    It actually makes sense the Germans would like a gun where the action has more moving parts than a clock



  20. Theo on December 2, 2021 at 12:41 am

    "jim’s toy"



  21. Testosterone vs the woke on December 2, 2021 at 12:43 am

    Reminds me of Starship Troopers. It would look even cooler with a foregrip and a flashlight.



  22. TheGazza83 on December 2, 2021 at 12:44 am

    Magnetic accelerater gun from demolition man



  23. Grant Jackson on December 2, 2021 at 12:46 am

    he. makes cool videos but something about his voice and the way he talks I can’t fucking stand it lol



  24. lilith . . on December 2, 2021 at 12:46 am

    I love this gun



  25. mark broad on December 2, 2021 at 12:48 am

    My favorite gun of call of duty



  26. Katarina gamers Gal on December 2, 2021 at 12:49 am

    I was introduced to this interesting concept as a kid,thanks to the video game called Global Operations. Gorgeous futuristic failure weapon.



  27. MV Master on December 2, 2021 at 12:50 am

    such a cool gun that could revolutionize firearms if it was properly supported and modified. Like seriously do you know of any other weapon where you can carry 150 rounds of ammo on the gun itself and it’s the same weight as the modern standard infantry rifle with 30 rounds?



  28. Estong Yamot on December 2, 2021 at 12:57 am

    i thought Rob Liefeld rectangle guns are fictional … and here we are



  29. Jay Beam on December 2, 2021 at 12:57 am

    It looks like a microwave attachment. Of course, the US didn’t adopt it.



  30. 1MarvinHagler on December 2, 2021 at 12:58 am

    Looks like it required batteries.



  31. Patrick Kelley on December 2, 2021 at 12:58 am

    I used to play the Table Top RPG "Twilight: 2000". The number of fictional post-apocalyptic marauders that were mowed down with this gun is the stuff of legend…👉💨



  32. Dace Kirby on December 2, 2021 at 1:02 am

    oh the insides cant be to complic.. JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE HELL



  33. Evan Meadows on December 2, 2021 at 1:03 am

    that kinda looks like the g11 from bo1



  34. rr ww on December 2, 2021 at 1:03 am

    Dwayne tell me about the grenade launcher
    you started this, show me everything



  35. Anthony Atienza on December 2, 2021 at 1:04 am

    Does this mean muskets use caseless ammunition



  36. Cristian Delgado on December 2, 2021 at 1:04 am

    Anyone know the name of that gun to the guys “right hand side”? It kinda looks like a UMP from call of duty. Anyone help plz????



  37. jeryjohn on December 2, 2021 at 1:05 am

    Trust the germans to over engineer the shit out of a gun to the point its useless🤦‍♂️



  38. MrPrice2u on December 2, 2021 at 1:08 am

    Hahaha that title. I’m German and that made me chuckle.



  39. Digily Dave on December 2, 2021 at 1:10 am

    So Nice titeling a video with a racial slur. You are lucky that germans are just white people.



  40. Disabled Bear on December 2, 2021 at 1:10 am

    Let’s be honest we only know about this from BO1



  41. thang le on December 2, 2021 at 1:12 am

    Tưởng khẩu này chỉ có trong cf chứ



  42. 707 SaV on December 2, 2021 at 1:14 am

    I’ve shot this gun many times….

    On a video game 😄 🤣 😂 this gun is a beauty



  43. Сергей Бунаков on December 2, 2021 at 1:15 am

    Это оружие было в игре Syphon Filter 2



  44. Death on December 2, 2021 at 1:16 am

    That is a parts-buyer’s worst nightmare.



  45. David Price on December 2, 2021 at 1:16 am

    The gun that helped John Conner defeat Skynet.



  46. ItsFrostbyte on December 2, 2021 at 1:17 am

    Ah yes, the hidden BO1 “assault rifle”



  47. Christopher Hinds on December 2, 2021 at 1:17 am

    Carv on modern warfare stands for caseless asault rifle variant mind blown😂



  48. Michael Mouse on December 2, 2021 at 1:17 am

    … all it need is a cuckoo springing out of the barrel



  49. Nabo42 on December 2, 2021 at 1:18 am

    The inner workings are a thing of beauty. This rifle is a work of art.



  50. dagonofthedepths on December 2, 2021 at 1:18 am

    Weird guns like this are always cool.