A direct descendant of the world-famous HK416, the MR556A1 is the commercial carbine from the same DNA. It offers the battlefield-proven reliability, durability and precision you would expect from a rifle that bears the name Heckler And Koch. The MR556A1 is assembled in the USA using US and German-made components and uses many of the same parts and assemblies developed for the HK416. Like the HK416, the MR556A1 uses a proprietary HK short-stroke gas piston in place of the direct-gas-impingement system found on lesser AR15-style rifles that propels exhaust gas into the upper receiver to operate the action. In the "closed" HK piston system, exhaust gasses never enter the receiver, which means the HK runs cooler, cleaner and more reliably. When adverse conditions, like dust, sand and mud are introduced, the advantage of the HK system becomes even more drastic. That is why so many of the world's elite military and law-enforcement customers have absolute trust in their HKs. The MR556A1's barrel is cold hammer forged from the highest quality cannon-grade steel. It has a 1 in 7" twist and a taper-bore configuration, with a slightly smaller diameter at the muzzle for improved accuracy and velocity. And while the material and cold hammer forging process themselves greatly enhance durability, HK's processes include many additional steps not taken by other manufacturers to produce superior accuracy and service life, ensuring performance well beyond "mil-spec."