U.S. Marines Pick Heckler & Koch M27 Rifle – Is it Better?

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How good is it?

byMatthew Moss

Key point: A good weapon for engineers and fire-support teams as well as to Marine infantry.

The U.S. Marine Corps has picked the Heckler & Koch M27 as its new infantry rifle. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller confirmed the selection in an interview with Military.com.

The new rifle is part of a wider overhaul of the Marines’ infantry gear. They are also getting new communications equipment, body armor, suppressors and night-vision optics.

The Corps began running unit-level trials with the M27 in late 2016. In February 2017, the branch released a Request for Information asking various manufacturers about their capacity to produce 11,000 M27s. In August 2017 the Corps announced its interest in buying more than 50,000 of the new weapons from Heckler & Koch as part of a sole-source deal.