With the German firearms icon increasingly sowing its American oats in Georgia, HK USA has a trio of new A4 series guns headed to market in December. 

These updated MR556 A4 and MR762 A4 variants are commercial (two-position safe and semi) models of the HK 416 (5.56 NATO) and 417 (7.62 NATO). They sport new features such as an adjustable gas block for shooting suppressed or un-suppressed, a new fully ambidextrous lower receiver (bolt catch/release, magazine release, 45-degree selector levers), and a new slimline handguard and buttstock. 

At launch, the HK MR556 A4 will come in two barrel lengths: an 11.5-inch large format pistol sans any sort of factory-installed brace and a 16.5-inch rifle. The HK MR762 A4 will ship with a 16.5-inch, 1-in-11-inch twist, barrel.

HK says the heart and soul of these platforms are in the barrel quality. 

“Our testing has shown our proprietary cannon-grade steel barrels vastly outperform so-called mil-spec barrels in both accuracy and durability,” HK Director of Business Development Nathan Shueth said. “We’re so confident in our barrels that we now guarantee them for life. You shoot it out, we’ll replace it. Period.”

Schueth said HK tested the MR556 A4 head to head with a mil-spec chrome-lined barrel to compare accuracy and durability. After 12,000 rounds, the HK experienced no degradation in accuracy, while the mil-spec competitor was shooting groups 2.5X larger than its baseline.

Below, Team HK's Derek Giddings has a side-by-side comparison of these new A4s with legacy A3 platforms. 

And for a look at the gun from someone not actively with HK, James Reeves brings it home. 

Oh yeah, and these are going to push $4K.