Commercially the G41 was not as successful as the preceding Heckler & Koch service rifle designs with a similar operating mechanism.

[2] Assembly of the G41 has been discontinued by Heckler & Koch; however, production rights to the rifle were acquired by the Italian arms manufacturer Luigi Franchi.

[1] It is a selective fire automatic weapon that employs a roller-delayed blowback system of operation relying on geometrical transmission ratio relationships between parts.

After the rollers retract entirely behind the bolt head, the locking recesses of the barrel extension are cleared, and all parts continue moving rearward together, opening the breech and actuating the extraction and feeding cycles.

The reliable functioning of roller-delayed blowback mechanisms is limited by specific ammunition and arm parameters like bullet weight, propellant charge, barrel length and amount of wear.

For obtaining a proper and safe functioning parameters bandwidth Heckler & Koch offer a variety of locking pieces with different mass and shoulder angles.

The angles are critical and determine the unlock timing and pressure curve progression as the locking pieces act in unison with the bolt head carrier.

The spent cartridge casing extractor is installed inside the bolt head, while the tilting lever ejector is contained in the trigger housing.

The fire selector's positions are marked with bullet pictograms and it also serves as a manual safety against unintentional discharge.

The weapon incorporates a manual forward assist that can be used to positively close the bolt, similar to the one used on the American M16A1 rifle, and a side-folding heavy-gauge wire carrying handle near its point of balance which resembles that of the FN FAL.

The firearm is equipped with a relatively low iron sight line that consists of a Drehvisier rotary rear drum and hooded front post.

It also can mount the FERO Z24-G 4×24 optical sight on a proprietary detachable bracket on the receiver and a clip-on winter trigger.