HK416 - ArniesAirsoft - Review Archive

Author

Alex Schmalex

Registered: August 2006
Posts: 110

Review Date: 19/12/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Full Metal Body, Excellent Externals, Acceptable Internals
Cons:	Loose Stock, Front Heavy

I bought this gun today from Airsoft Extreme in Santa Clara. I must say, purchasing from them is always a delightful experiance. Every single question asked was answered, and the staff went above and beyond. Highly Recommended.

Anyways, onto the gun.

Specifications:

-Length 700-855mm
-Weight 3015g
-Muzzle Velocity 330-360FPS
-Barrel Length 368mm

When I first picked it up off the glass counter, I was amazed by the realistic aluminum RIS and body. The first con I noticed was the cheap-feeling and loose stock. I took it into the back and let loose a feel shots. Chronoed around 350FPS. The rate of fire with the battery at a 9.6V is truly awsome.

RIS / Body

Full metal, aluminum, no pot-metal found. Sturdy, no creaks (which is a major pet peeve of mine) Unfortunately, no HK trade marks, just VFC's which are still quite nice. Paint does not get scratched off easily, nice flat black color. Barrel extension does not match the color of the rest of the gun, therefore I have chosen to leave it off.

One of my favorite parts of this gun is the ability to do the "HK slap" Pulling the charging handle back opens, and locks the plate covering the hop-up. Extremely realistic feel and sound.

Magazine release button is a bit far, but I can barely reach it with my index finger. Fire selector switches flick into place easily.

Magazine

Full metal, no jamming problems yet. Interesting design, instead of being wound from the bottom, a small hole where a tool is fitted into is wound. Increases loading time, but it is possible to loose the small wrench.

I have tried several other brands.

MAG Midcaps
G&P Midcaps
CA HighCaps
Star Lowcaps

All magazines have a tight fit, which appeals to me but may not to others.

Internals

*Will be added once I take it apart*

Accessories

Basically anything, the RIS is a versitile component. I added a vertical foregrip, G36 flash hider, and a holo sight.

Conclusion

This gun is well worth its $430 pound price tag, much more cost effective than buying a hurrican kit. I don't know why people are complaining about the internals. From what I've expericanced so far, they are acceptable. Not the best, but not total rubbish either.

The only thing that really bugs me is the loose stock. It's really becomming an annoyance. But don't let that stop you from buying the 416. I'm planning on replacing it, but to do so, I believe you need to file or even cut a portion of the stock tube off.

-Alex

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WTS: VFC HK416 $400.00 USD

Pinkfloyd

Registered: April 2007
Posts: 1,647

Review Date: 1/5/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �385.00 | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Sorta cheap (comparative to the HurricanE kit and another gun), great weight, high FPS, accurate, exellent CQB gun.
Cons:	Stock sucks, extenral battery.

I bought this gun when Airsoft Extreme had their sale on it. I got a great deal from them- the gun for 385 (short version) with the barrel extention if I wanted it. Not one to pass up a deal, I pounched and got this gun, along with a GnG Sopmod stock, for I had heard reports of the crappy stock. I also got a Guarder Red Dot Aimpoint with it, an extra hicap (because I wasn't sure about the VFC ones, I'll elaborate later), and a sling for it. Fastforward a week...

A week later a large-ish package shows up on my front doorstep. Naturally, I nearly wet my pants with exitment, but managed to retain my bodily fluids as I brought the box inside. I carefully unwrapped the box, and was presented with a sleek black box with a silluhette (pardon spelling) of the 416. I open the box, and found my gun as well as all of my extras packed into the spare space, AEX's style as ussual.

The box was nice, but in all honesty...who cares? I read reviews of people's guns and they go off on how nice the box is, but when it comes down to it, its whats IN the box that counts. And what was in the box blew me away. I am used to a TM G36, which until recently, shot great and I was pleased with it, but somthing was missing. That something, that magical X factor, I found in the 416. Let me explain:

EXTERNALS:

Well, true to specs, the gun is full metal, save for the stock, grip, selector and trigger. The metal used is most likly aluminum, as the gun does not respond to magnets. The markings are very nice, but really I'm not too much of a purist. It is clear, however, that this gun was meant to be a cut above everything else on the market in this price range. VFC's plastic sucks, and the stock is very wobbly, but otherwis, the gun is great. Its very hard to NOT be impressed by this thing. Well, I have a new stock too for this thing so, intermission while I replace the stock...

One hour later, I have the GnG Sopmod stock fitted. This stock is cast aluminum, with a rubber butt-plate and a foam cheek rest. The new stock completes the externals, making this gun 95% metal. So after the stock change, the externals are nearly perfect.

10/10, the best I could ask for.

INTERNALS:

I havn't taken the gearbox apart on this gun yet, so I cannot properly review these. However, I can tell you that the gun shoots great. FPS is somewhere above 350 with .25G KSC BBs (my favourite BBs to use. Very nice ammo.) The gun's motor sounds a little high pitched, although not as high pitched as an ICS Mp5. The barrel is pretty short, but I am able to attain decent accuracy with it. The only problem I have with the internals is the fire selector. I have had this gun for about two months, and played some skirmishes with it, and now the fire selector is kinda...well...strange. On semi-auto, you have to pull the trigger pretty quick to actually shoot semi. This may be a bad selector design, or it may be the guns HIGH rate of fire kicking in. Regardless, this is the only thing keeping me from giving it a 10/10. As such...

9/10, only problem is the selector.

SHOOTING:

Ahhh....the true test of a gun. Well, I took this baby out to my range, and shot a few rounds off. I had tried out a few different kinds of sights with this gun, and have found that a 4X magnifacation scope or a good reddot with a little magnifacation works best for what I do, which is a kind of mix between CQB and sniping. At 30 feet, I can get reasonable accuracy, on par with other M4 varients, on semi auto. Full Auto posses a problem though, because the high ROF with a 9.6 external battery (Yes, sorry, you're gonna have to use one if you don't have a crane stock) causes some serious "kick" for an AEG, and throws off your aim a little. Still, for any kind of CQB gun, this gun exeeds all expectations in terms of accuracy. ROF is close to 900 RPM, I would guess, which is a monster for an AEG. Your enemies will always know which person shooting at them is you, because you will be the one that is flinging a solid wall of plastic at them. The gun is realitivly heavy, about 11 pounds fully loaded with a 4X scope and Sopmod stock, which makes it a pain to carry around all day if your not 6 foot one and 190 pounds like me. I would imagine this would be a difficult gun to use for someone comming from a SMG, but for all those of us used to handling larger Weapons like my old G36K or a larger SAW, it is not a problem at all. Still, this gun is a pleasure to shoot, and I wouldn't change a bit about it.

10/10 kicks supreme @$$ in short range, you may have difficulties past 100 FT but thats not waht you bought this for anyway so it doesn't matter.

CONCLUSION:

So, I am very pleased with my new weapon. I have neve rowned a full metal gun before, and this is my first forray into other-than-mauri brands, and I have to say, I'm impressed. The only things that I hate about this gun are the fire selector and the fact that you have to use an external ANPEQ battery. Otherwise, this thing is a great addition to any arsenal, and for the money you can't beat it.

9.66/10

UPDATE: 5/17/07

The fire selector has finally settled into place, and is no longer giving me trouble of any kind. Either that or the horrific amount of money I've spent on the beast has convinced VFC to push the magical *work properly* button that remotely tells the gun to be perfect.

10/10, now that the slector has started working properly.

EDIT: 5th of June, 2007

I've got my 416 working beautifully now, and the hop-up has settled in after a few games. I've got it tuned down into the short/compact variety. I've found that A&K 5000 rnd box mags and a good 9.6v battery can turn this gun into a great support weapon, and this gun is accurate enough to take a 4x scope and do light sniper duty. Again, this gun is o-so-adapatable, the likes of which only the G36 can beat. I've found that KSC .25g ammo works best in this gun; feeds perfectly and NEVER jams. I've put 10,000 rnds thru this thing, and have never ONCE had a jam. Hop-up also stays in place well.

NOTE:
If you're looking for good mags for this gun, try the new CA full metal 130rnd Mid-caps. They are absolutly perfect for these guns; feed well, metal, nice capacity for a midcap, and they are only 20 bucks each. That or you buy the deal of AEX like I did...;)

EDIT: January '08

I'm getting rid of my baby; it served me well for about a year, but I just can't get past one strange thing about it. It just doesn't feel right. Even though it's a great gun, it's just not for me, especially since I've come from an HK background. A word of advice to prospective buyers then: if you're used to HK guns, like an Mp5 or G36, and you think that because this is "HK" you'll be getting a similar gun, the operation and ergonomics are very different. If you're looking for a gun that looks, feels, and shoots like an M4, this is your bag of fish, but if you want somethign a little more like an HK in styling and ergonomics, look elsewhere. I'm going to be ditching mine merely because I'm sentemental about G36's and I'm switching back to those, so don't think this means it's a bad gun.

Grey_Fox

Registered: November 2005
Location: Greece
Posts: 118

Review Date: 11/9/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �330.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	metal, realistic, H&K
Cons:	loose stock, 330rd magazines only

I loved this gun from the first time I saw it. And I am more excited with the airsoft replica. I have to say that it is the best AEG in my arsenal. I am not going to write many things as the others above have already mentioned them.
I like the performance, it is not outstanding but in the same range as the others AEGs out there.
The whole gun is solid as a rock and the only cons are that the battery has to be in the PEQ2 box (but there is nowhere else to go, so not a serious problem that) and that the stock is loose. I dont understand why make such a sturdy AEG and make the stock loose. I will change it in the near future with a crane stock.
I recommend this gun in any HK or M4 fan.

***The electric safety tends to get of and I cannot shoot but I fixed it with some tape. It got crazy when it happened for the first time though. ***

mattmflok

Registered: February 2008
Posts: 22

Review Date: 3/2/08

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Quality of Marking and construction, Rate of fire, durability of internals
Cons:	hop up chamber leaking like hell, wobbly buttstock, magazine requiring a key to turn the chain

Having the 416 in my arsenal since November 2006, she went through all sorts of rather cruel tests i gave her including:

1)non stop firing until ammo runs out (see if the motor goes haywire and check the feed of mag);
2)running the stock box with all sorts of voltages (to see if the internals fry up easily);
3)loading her front with excessive weight (see if the front end would bend under excessive weight);
4)repeating the locking bolt till the bolt plate bends or snaps;
etc etc,

And yet she still passes them with flying colours, still gets me my target every time i pulll the trigger.

The marking and construction has been discussed by my fellow 416 owners so I won't say too much here except that I have the HK markings.

The stock box is good for around 22 rounds per second (about 1320 rpm) with a 9.6V 4200mah battery, and a similar yet slightly less figure can be achieved on a 11.1V Li-Po of around 1200mah and 15C. Do take caution to wear a glove when the 416 is being propelled by 11.1V LiPo's as the motor can get scorching hot when continuously fired, and the bottom of the motor grip is not ventilated.

Although she is very tough and reliable, there are a few things that needs improvement.

Firstly as my fellow 416 owners pointed out, the wobbly buttstock, so i won't say too much except that it is not as wobbly as one would expect.

Secondly, the plastic hop up chamber (i am not sure about later batches as mine was one of the first batch) leaks quite a lot apparently because of the way its molded, so i have changed mine to a systema M4 hop up chamber which fits perfectly into the upper receiver (the only other part i have changed is a 300mm 6.03mm barrel and T-plugs should that count). However, I must point out that it isn't the material that is the culprit (in fact the piston thats made from the same clear plastic material is extremely durable), it was in fact the way it was molded making it leak like hell.

Finally the mag can only be cranked with the key provided, which is a pain on the backside in the field when the need to crank the remaining bullets rise, although this can be solved with purchase of additional VFC mags (apparently nothing else will fit the magwell) and change them without cranking to minimize the time needed to reload.

Overall a great weapon in your arsenal, and I would recommend it for those like me who don't like US M4s but still need an M4 for convenience in terms of parts commonality.

Update March 2008

After almost 40-50K rounds the motor finally called it quits, and a Systema turbo took its place, trouble struck in the next game as the motor was placed too high and wrecked not only the pinion of the Systema Turbo, but also literally wiped out one gear that propells the spur gear.

A post mortum reveals that one of the plastic bushing has worn out so badly that the gear was out of place, and the excessively high pinion catalysed the wiping out of the gear itself.

Still my comment on her durability stands.

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