While the Heckler & Koch HK33 was considered, with a batch of 1,200 examples tested, it was ultimately turned down in favor of the SIG SG 540, built under licence by Manurhin (Manufacture de Machines du Haut Rhin) as a temporary resort, until enough domestically-built FAMAS rifles were produced to issue to French forces. In late 1978, the French military accepted the FAMAS as their standard-issue rifle, the FAMAS F1.
