Vfc hk416 gbbr

[Ninja_En_Short]

[Photo to be uploaded later today]

Hello everyone,

Today I’m going to present you the last gun out of Heckler und Koch : the HK416 (also known as “fixed M4” or “AR that doesn’t blow up in your face”). This assault rifle is known to be used by spec ops around the world (such as Poland GROM) and some countries have decided to select it as the main battle rifle for regular troups as well like Norway.
The specific model is the full length assault rifle with a 14.5 barrel and GBBR (only one at this moment, HK416C should come in time).

As some of you might know VFC released some time ago to AR type guns : a standard Colt M4 and a MK18 (modded Navy SEAL M4). At the time the first came out I made a review of it (which can be find on WGC too : http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/..._From=category) and the least I can say is that the gun was an incredible disappointment given that, like most GBBR enthusiasts, I trusted VFC reputation of making quality guns.

Let’s see if this new one has fixed the issues of its model like the RS did…

Body
Nothing to say there the gun is a very precise model of the real one with extremely little/almost unnoticeable wobble between the two receiver and the usual one in the stock (which is absolutely not abnormal, got the same on my HK417, real one this time).
It seems to be made from either aluminium or a zinc alloy for a weight a little over 3kg (imperials : get metric or do the math yourself :P ). I feared it might be unbalanced with the big rail system on the front but in the end this stays a very well balanced rifle, nothing to say here.
Something that I would have liked for a gun this price : anodized body, here the body is just painted resulting in quickly appearing wear marks (just opening the gun is enough and resting the RAS on the lower receiver is enough to leave a mark), the price of the gun being most probably what people would call the “Official Umarex Price Scam” (or “OUPS”).
One thing that some people may have notice : the gun features some elements from both the military HK416 and the civilian version MR556 such as ambidextrous selector (stock HK416 has a regular AR15/M16 type selector)… this gun is actually a little bit of both given it has cosmetic features from the HK416 and can be put in safety even with uncocked hammer like an MR556.
I did found however a molding defect in the front of the magwell (nothing serious : just a little dent).

Stock and Tube
The stock is the one found on all HK4xx guns (HK416/417 and MR556/MR308) it has very little wobble and the comfy rubber plate actually helps gaining stability with this gun. When rotated 90° counter clockwise it can be removed, revealing space for storing stuff and things (batteries up to CR123). The stock can easily be retracted and because the button is what I call an “insider” (button is encased in the stock) it won’t get stuck in twigs or any environment elements.
The tube allows the shooter to choose between five positions (including fully extended and retracted) and uses standard WA GBBR sizes. One thing I hated on the VFC M4 and now fixed : the stock plate is now standard size, which means you will be able to change it if you don’t like to put your sling on the stock and, for example put an ASAP plate on the gun (like I did).
If you want to do so however I strongly advise to get a proper AR15 stock ring tool : VFC didn’t lose the bad habit of tightening screws way too much (even my RS HK417 isn’t as tight as that), on my old M4 they actually had damaged the threading).

Barrel
First thing to know : the HK4xx family does not use the same barrel nut as an M4, instead it uses a cylindrical lock a bit like the Knight Armament ones. I have the tool to remove such lock but sadly VFC first screw up is here : they didn’t respect the HK416 design here which means no one can change the inner barrel (a full length for 14.5 barrel, because I can’t get it out I simply cannot give more information) or hop up block without the tools VFC used to put it on… which is screwed on so tight I probably couldn’t remove it anyway.
The outer barrel is in two pieces with a 10.5 barrel (the inner one will stick out quite a lot) and a 4 inches extension, both featuring a 14mm counter clockwise threading plus an O-ring for locking the flash hider in place, which in the end does not work with the vibration caused by the cycle and there is no BTR screw to lock it properly, second screw up (literally).

Trigger system
The trigger here is a bit different from what we’re used to, understand that we find the same basic part of the AR15 but unlike stock WA which is very close to the original design (except of course for the valve knocker). Here most of the trigger assembly seems to be compatible with what is made elsewhere but the valve knocker is reset by an extra piece like on the M4 of the brand. My engineering skills tend to tell me “useless part” but sadly I did not make it.

Bolt and lever
Good news : VFC dropped the proprietary dimensions of the bolt (but still proprietary system so no NPAS with stock bolt) which means a normal one with NPAS may be installed. I say may but in fact it will require extra work because the piston rod continues inside the receiver and prevents a normal M4 bolt to fit, with means it needs to be removed before use (or sawing off a bit of the M4 bolt to make it fit.
The lever has also changed : WA user are used to have levers breaking and need to saw off grooves of real steel ones in order to put them in. Here the stock lever doesn’t seem more sturdy (and it’s an M4 one, not the HK416 one) but it has grooves which means another lever might be used without or with little modification.

Hop up
The hop up system is effective but it doesn’t work like on most WA because the barrel lock would prevent access. After a long search that was caused by a stupid manual that didn’t explained properly how to do it, I managed to tune it by opening the gun, removing the bolt and finally using the long alen screwdriver included in the box to tune the small BTR screw just below the chamber.
Easy to tune, effective but even less practical than the standard WA… and some month ago I thought they would think of something smarter than the original design...

Mag and bolt release
The mag and bolt release were my biggest complain on the VFC AR lineup was an extraordinarily stupid design any proper engineer could spot in less than a second : the bolt release was built in two part, the lever (or paddle) itself and some other metal part supposed to hold the bolt, part that worn off extremely fast and not catching the bolt most of the time anyway.
This time they corrected this issue by putting a complete bolt catch in one piece that catches the bolt every single time, something I didn’t saw on a VFC AR GBBR ever.
The magazine however is the same as the old ones in a black finish instead of grey but they’re still has bad as they used to be. Basically it is a tank with an adapter that allows VFC to use a regular AEG case for its GBBR, problem is : the adapter is so badly made that it is too wide for the magwell, which means you always have to force it in which sometimes makes go too high or don’t lock properly so sometimes the bolt is blocked by the adapter (looks to stay in locked position) and while firing the first shots will go properly before the gas is vented out of the ejection port and barrel no matter if I use the stock bolt or my G&P bolt.
Using a Prowin v2 mag fixed the issue and I strongly advise not to buy any VFC mags despite their price.

Shooting
The tests are conducted with stock bolt a Prowin V2 mag given how bad the stock mags are and this gun (at least mine) is ridiculously powerful at 20°C (Farenheiters, see imperial comment above :P) : first 3 shots at or above 450 FPS… after these it stabilize at an average of 410/420.
At 20°C this power is already hardly gameable between sane people (and for practical use, even the .30 is put into orbit easily) but in the summer with a temperature of 30°C or above this is easily going to give a stable 460/470 like every GBBR out there.
This is a major issue for any GBBR user wanting to use his toy as his main weapon, which is my intent. The use of a NPAS is absolutely required

Conclusion
Let’s be honest, this gun is a very good reproduction of the original model that I (and many other WE haters) waited for a good amount of time.
But no matter how good the gun looks the issues and bad conception choices encountered such as barrel lock uncompatible with OFFICIAL tools for the HK4xx series, crappy mags and a mere paint coating are making me very sad to say this gun is definitely not worth its price anywhere I’ve seen it (probably result of Umarex Licensing), especially after the G36 series which is nearly flawless.

+Quality of built
+Most important flaws from the M4 corrected
+Effective hop up

-Price for the features included
-Power
-Still not regular WA mechanics (not complete compatibility is to be expected)
-Bad mags
-Hop up tuning requires removing most important parts
-No anodizing, just painted

[alchan]

I have the same rifle but do not use it much cause I have no spare mag. Except for the Prowin V2 you mentioned, is there any other spare mags you would suggest too? I am thinking of four spares and the Prowin are kinda high priced. And let's say I go with the Prowin, do I need to change out the nozzle recoil spring, bolt lock spring and the bucking to make it work with my 416? Please advice and thank you.