Blitz & Keckler

Blitz & Keckler

Type	Aktiengesellschaft
Traded as	BKAG
Industry	Firearms
Founded	1953
Founder	Eduard Keckler Gustav Alberg Jochen Weirich
Headquarters	Valfitz , Ostlichtor
Key people	CEO: Franz Gruber
Revenue	₰157 million (2019)
Operating income	₰11.1 million
Net income	₰11.9 million
Total assets	₰211 million
Total equity	₰121.3 million
Number of employees	2,750

Blitz & Keckler is a Ostlander defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers primarily for the Bodentruppen, the ground forces component of the Reichstreitkräfte. It was founded by Eduard Keckler, a firearms designer and engineer who worked for Reich Ausrüstung Gesellschaft before breaking from the company over design and creative differences. He founded Blitz & Keckler in 1949 along with Gustav Alberg and Jochen Weirich. The company is headquartered in Valfitz.

B+K has a history of innovation in firearms, being one of the first firearms firms to incorporate polymers in weapon designs, and also developed modern polygonal rifling, noted for its high accuracy, increased muzzle velocity and barrel life. In addition, it is the sole producer of roller-delayed blowback firesrms within Ostlichtor, a system of firearms operation actually conceptualized by Keckler while working for RAG, and first developed by Keckler as part of B+K. The system of operation was first introduced on the company's Blitz & Keckler Sturmgewehr 61 assault rifle, which was adopted by the Bodentruppen in 1964, and standaerized across the Reichstreitkräfte in 1967.

History

Initially, Gustav Alberg proposed the name "Blitz" for the entity he, Keckler and Weirich were creating. However, Keckler opposed the idea, preferring instead to include, at the very least, his own surname in the firm's title. In 1951, Keckler agreed to the name Blitz and Keckler, and that the company's logo would feature a prominent lightning bolt with a minimalized "H".

Designation system

BK developed a designation system for its firearms prior to its establishment in 1953. It is utilized for weapons sold on the Ostlander civilian market, and for any weapon that did not receive a designation from the Reichstreitkräfte. The system breaks down as follows:

• The first number indicates the weapons fire mode

Fire mode	Designator
Manual	1
Semiautomatic	2
Burst	3
Automatic	4

• The second number indicates the weapons caliber

Caliber	Designator
7×57 mm	1
7.65×21 mm	2
5.6×15 mm	3
6.35×16 mm	4
7.65×17 mm	5
9×17 mm	6
18.5 mm	7
6.5x49 mm	8
11.43×19 mm	9

• The third number is the last two digits of the year it entered production

Product list

Service weapons

Submachine guns

• Maschinenpistole 66

Shotgun

• Sturmjagdgewehr 98

Rifles

• Sturmgewehr 61 and Sturmkarabiner 61
• Präzisionsschützengewehr 72

Machine guns

• Maschinengewehr 60
• Maschinengewehr 63

Grenade launchers

• Granatmaschinenwaffe 96

Civilian weapons

Rifles

• BK 1164
• BK 1170
• BK 1190
• BK 1880
• BK 1885