Based in Arlington, Virginia—a short drive away from the Pentagon—SACO had a close relationship with the German firm. SACO imported Heckler & Koch’s guns for years to sell to civilian shooters and police departments.

SACO president John Wood, Jr. wrote to Army Gen. John Guthrie, hoping to convince the general to include the HK21A1 in the SAW competition.

“As I understand it … the gun was a viable candidate, recommended it be included as SAW candidate and requested … an increase in SAW funding by $300,000 for the additional testing,” Wood wrote.

Guthrie was in charge the Army’s renamed Material Development and Readiness Command, which develops weapons for the ground combat branch. The general sympathized with Wood’s predicament.

But SACO and Heckler & Koch were late to the project. After having already spent six years whittling down their choices, the Army didn’t want to add a new gun into the mix.

Wood, using his personal connections, continued to push the Army to include Heckler & Koch’s gun in the tests. The SACO boss was a retired Army officer, a veteran of the Office of Strategic Services—the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency—and a former member of the Army’s Material Command.

“I regret that the H&K 21A1 will not be included as a SAW candidate, but the decision on its exclusion was not a surprise considering current funding constraints,” Guthrie explained.

After the end of the war in Vietnam, the Pentagon’s budget shrank dramatically. With limited resources, the fighting services had become wary about spending any more money.

But two months after the exchange, Heckler & Koch sent representatives to plead their case directly to the Army. The Germans came away from the meeting with assurances that they could get their gun into the project if they convinced senior Army officials to sign off on the idea.

So Wood quickly sent a letter straight to the Gen. Fredrick Kroesen, the Army’s vice chief of staff. The message made it clear that SACO wanted Kroesen to intercede on behalf of their offer.

“It appears to be a versatile weapon,” Kroesen wrote back. “You are correct in your observation about my decided interest in the SAW.”

The move apparently worked. Wood received a letter from the Army, telling him that funding concerns had evaporated, and that the branch accepted the machine gun into the SAW trials.