Heckler & Koch was founded by engineers Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel in 1949 from the remnants of the Mauser company; the company was registered in 1950. Initially the company manufactured machine tools, sewing machine parts, gauges and other precision parts, but this changed in 1956 when the company proposed the G3 automatic rifle for the Bundeswehr (German Federal Army). Since then H&K has designed and manufactured more than one hundred different types of firearms and devices for the world's military and law enforcement organizations.

H&K has a history of innovation in firearms, such as the use of polymers in their weapon designs and polygonal rifling. H&K was the first company to use polymers in its weapons, started with the release of their VP70 burst pistol in 1970.  H&K produces a whole range of small arms, from pistols to grenade launchers and machine guns. All of their firearm models have achieved a reputation for excellent accuracy and reliability.