CODE 04-041-978

NAME – XM262, 5.56 mm

COMMON NAMES – German SAWs Candidate (2)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Germany

DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1978

CALIBER – 5.56x45mm (.223 Remington)

OVERALL LENGTH – 103.4 cm (40.71 in)

BARREL LENGTH – 45 cm (17.72 in)

RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – 6 Groove polygonal, right hand twist, 1 turn in 30.5 cm (12 in)

LOAD – XM277 Ball Full metal jacket with lead core and steel penetrator tip

BULLET DIAMETER – 5.69 mm (0.224 in)

BULLET WEIGHT – 3.56 g (55 grains)

MUZZLE VELOCITY – 942 m/s (3,091 fps)

MUZZLE ENERGY – 1,582 j (1,167 ft/lb)

WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 7.82 kg (17 lb 4 oz)

WEIGHT (LOADED) – 11.20 kg (24 lb 11 oz) with ammunition box attached loaded with 200 rounds M27-type link belt loaded with XM777 Ball

WEIGHT (MOUNTED) – 12.08 kg (26 lb 10 oz) with bipod, sling, assault grip, and ammunition box attached loaded with 200 round M27-type link belt loaded with XM777 Ball

TYPE OF MOUNT – Removable folding bipod

WEIGHT OF MOUNT – 0.58 kg (1 lb 5 oz)

WEIGHT OF SPARE BARREL – 1.57 kg (3 lb 7 oz)

WEIGHT OF COMBAT SLING – 0.20 kg (7 oz)

WEIGHT OF ASSAULT GRIP – 0.10 kg (3.5 oz)

SIGHTS – Open, iron, adjustable, Front sight – Hooded post, Rear sight, aperture with rotating elevation drum, 100 meters click stops (109 yard click stops) graduated 200 to 1200 meters (219 to 1,312 yards)

OPTICAL SIGHT – ZF 4×24

OPTICAL SIGHT WEIGHT – 0.65 kg (1 lb 7 oz) with mount

OPTICAL SIGHT MAGNIFICATION – 4 Power

OPTICAL SIGHT FIELD OF VIEW – 5 degrees 40 minutes – 10 m @ 100 m (30 ft @100 yds)

OPTICAL SIGHT ADJUSTMENTS – Adjustable for windage and elevation, 6 adjustments from 100 to 600 m (109 to 656 yards)

EFFECTIVE RANGE – 650 m (711 yards)

OPERATION – Delayed blowback, roller-locked bolt, fires on closed bolt

TYPE OF FIRE – Selective, semiautomatic, and full automatic

RATE OF FIRE – 50 rpm semi, 100 rpm full automatic with barrel change

CYCLIC ROF – 800 rpm

FEED DEVICE – M27-type flexible disintegrating metallic link belt

FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.39 kg (14 oz) 200 M27-type links

200 ROUND MAGAZINE BOX WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.64 kg (1 lb 7 oz)

FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (LOADED) – 2.74 kg (6 lb 1 oz) 200 round M27-type link belt loaded with XM277 Ball (2.74 kg)

200 ROUND MAGAZINE BOX WEIGHT (LOADED) – 3.38 kg (7 lb 7 oz) with 200 round M27-type link belt loaded with XM277 Ball

BASIC AMMUNITION LOAD – Six 200-round ammunition boxes (1,200 rounds)

LOAD WEIGHT – 20.28 kg (44 lb 11 oz)

MANUFACTURER – Heckler & Koch GmbH, Oberndorf/Neckar, Germany

STATUS – Developmental

SERVICE – Evaluation

    This weapon, as the version before it (HK23A1) could be switched over from 5.56x45mm to 7.62x51mm by changing the barrel, bolt, mainspring, and belt feed assembly. The change in calibers takes less than a minute, which was of interest to the US Military, but was not a requirement for the SAWs trials. Additionally, the belt-fed 5.56 XM262 can be changed over to a magazine fed weapon (using HK 33 magazines) by changing the bolt assembly, mainspring, and magazine feed well.

     The optical sight was not used during the SAW program tests.