The AAC Honey Badger PDW is a

personal defense weapon Personal defense weapons (PDWs) are a class of firearms intended for self-defense and security rather than warfare and infantry. Most PDWs fire a small-caliber (less than ), centerfire bottleneck cartridge resembling a scaled-down intermedia ...

, frequently used in a suppressed configuration and is based on the

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporatio ...

. It is chambered in

.300 AAC Blackout The .300 AAC Blackout (designated as the 300 BLK by the SAAMI and 300 AAC Blackout by the C.I.P. or 300 AAC Blackout'' C.I.P. TDCC sheet 300 ACC Blackout/ref>), also known as 7.62×35mm, is an intermediate cartridge developed in the United Sta ...

and was originally produced by

Advanced Armament Corporation Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) is an American company that develops and manufactures firearms, firearm suppressors, muzzle devices and related accessories. History Kevin Brittingham founded Advanced Armament Corporation in 1994 to manufactur ...

(AAC). The weapon is named after the

honey badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is liste ...

Design

Both the rifle and the cartridge used were developed in close co-operation with American Special Operations units to create a suitable and effective replacement for the

HK MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5 ...

and similar

close quarters combat Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a tactical situation that involves a physical fight with firearms involved between multiple combatants at short range. It can occur between military units, police/corrections officer ...

weapon systems. The rifle is designed to be very convenient for military use where M16s are issued and in common use, since many similarities would exist in the fire controls, weapon manipulation, and magazines. The weapon is suppressed and it can be made even quieter by using heavy subsonic .300 Blackout ammunition. The weapon is sometimes wrongly referred to as being "integrally suppressed" which it is not. It just has a short barrel and a big conventional suppressor. Kevin Brittingham, the founder of AAC, wanted to design a weapon which had the ease of use of an AR-15, but the portability of an MP5. The Honey Badger was developed with a standard M4 upper and lower receiver, a short barrel with a very short gas impingement system and fast rate of rifling twist, a large conventional detachable silencer, and a proprietary buffer tube and collapsible stock featuring two prongs. Whilst with the added silencer, it is 7.62-15.24 cm longer than the MP5SD, the mass is nearly identical unloaded.

Replacement

In 2013, AAC began focusing their efforts on the production of suppressors. “We made the decision that we are getting out of the rifle-making business,” stated Jeff Still, Director of Accessories and Silencers at Remington Outdoor Company. “We are going to focus all of our efforts on silencers and related accessories.” In 2017, Kevin Brittingham founded a new company named " Q, LLC". Along with suppressors and a bolt-action rifle of their own design, Q has also developed and marketed an improved Honey Badger.

Cease and desist

On October 6, 2020, the ATF sent Q a cease and desist letter, asserting that the Honey Badger pistol was a

short-barreled rifle Short-barreled rifle broadly refers to any rifle with an unusually short barrel. The term carbine describes a production rifle with a reduced barrel length for easier handling in confined spaces. Concern about concealment for illegal purposes ha ...

. Though Q tried to resist this claim, they ceased production of the weapon, and confirmed this in an official statement on the 14th. On October 15, the ATF gave their cease and desist a 60-day suspension, but Q chose not to resume production of the Honey Badger until the ATF made a definitive decision, as they believed "the ATF could arbitrarily withdraw the suspension at any time."

References

External links

*
Advanced Armament Corp.’s PDW in 300 BLK: the Honey Badger
' Guns.com *
Original product concept by Robert S. Silvers
' *
Honey Badger by Q
' {{Personal defense weapons .300 BLK firearms Proposed weapons of the United States Personal defense weapons Semi-automatic rifles Firearms articles needing expert attention ArmaLite AR-10 derivatives AR-15 style rifles

Design

Replacement

Cease and desist

See also

References

External links