Heckler & Koch HK CAWS

History

It seems that the U.S. military has long tried to convince itself that it needs an automatic combat shotgun for more effective hand-to-hand combat. That's what HK CAWS is about, stemming from the Close Attack Weapon System (CAWS) program to find new lethal solutions in the narrowest theater of operations. The HK CAWS project is led by the legendary West German company Heckler & Koch, best known for its ubiquitous HK MP5 series of submachine guns, and the Winchester/Olin Corporation - the former known for its line of durable rifles, the latter with its ammunition products.

For the purposes of the CAWS entry, Heckler & Koch carried out the development of the actual weapon system, and Winchester and Olin jointly developed the special ammunition for the weapon.

The CAWS program was considered and tested by the US military in the 1980s before being scrapped.

The work culminated in the final product having a non-traditional "bullpup" configuration of the time, which included the trigger group and action setup behind the pistol grip. In this way, the full length barrel can be preserved while promoting a more compact overall length of the gun body itself.

The oversized receiver not only contains most of the inner workings, but also serves as a shoulder rest when firing. The weapon is designed as a two-handed weapon, it does not favor any particular shooter.

The receiver is roughly rectangular in shape and features no features, with a detachable straight magazine mounted on the front bottom of the shoulder rest. On top of the receiver is a carrying handle that contains the charging handle - which can be used with either of the operator's free hands.

The wide gap on this ring also ensures that gloved hands can reach the hilt to cock the weapon. The pistol grip is mounted near the center length of the design to ensure proper balance, and the integrated arc trigger assembly is rounded on both sides by a thin guard ring.

Fire selector switches have been added to either side of the weapon frame to officially complete the weapon's two-hand functionality. The front end is smooth and featureless, tapering towards the barrel, with only a small section jutting forward. The barrel assembly lacks any form of muzzle attachment and maintains a smooth, cylindrical, uninterrupted shape.

Like some other Hong Kong products of the late Cold War, the Hong Kong CAWS proved itself to be a futuristic weapon.

HK CAWS is fed from 10 rounds of 12 caliber (18.5x76mmR) belt magazine. The integrated ignition selector provides standard safety, semi-automatic and fully automatic ignition functions. The main effect (a Hong Kong patent) is the recoil effect, which is common in machine guns and enables a rate of fire of 200 to 300 rounds per minute. The effective range is about 150 meters - any target within the weapon's line of sight is sure to be completely destroyed by the weapon's bursting nature.

Optical range is optional to improve accuracy near mid range.

Entries as good as CAWS appeared on paper and in trials, but the system simply failed to convince the U.S. military establishment that they chose to stick with their current collection of hand pump-action and semi-automatic combat shotguns. This lack of support led to the eventual timely closure of the CAWS program.

The CAWS product was not revised after it received brief attention in the 1980s.

Specification

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