My New Entry - HK 416 D

[Flieger]

For so long, the Ruger 10/22 has been my main go to 22. 

I stumbled upon this extremely detailed replica of a tricked out AR-15.  I ask the salesman to let me have a look and touch.  I have to admit, the price was a bit of a surprise.  I went for broke (no pun intended) and bought it.  After a few days of playing with my new toy, I took it out for a run.  With my mag loaded with my favorite round, the CCI Stinger, I went to funland.  I got to tell you, I was simply amazed at the accuracy of this rifle.  Now looking back at the hesitation I had over the price, I am darn glad I bought it.  Smooth as silk, fast firing and fantastic groups with iron sights, my 10/22 is weeping in the corner.  Only temporary, I’ve owned a half dozen 10/22’s over the years.  The one I have is one of the first.  A beautiful walnut pre-warning, but well-worn friend.

Back to the 416, I find the only problem is finding extra magazines.  After going to a dozen different websites and seeing the phrase “out of stockâ€, I went to the HK site and paid the ridiculous price of $50 for an extra 20 round magazine.  After looking over some of the posts on this forum, it appears they doubled the price overnight. 

Bottom line…. I love the gun and have already placed orders for a few Magpul extras.  Cheaper than shooting a .223 as long as you can find .22LR these days.

[chad59]

Sweet they are a blast, sad to see the prices. I bought every one I could in Yuma at $36 cannot find them any where now :confused:

[Flieger]

You would think that H&K would want to support the owner's of this 22 version.  Difficult to understand that they would take advantage of the situation.  If you want one, there is no shortage @ $50 a piece.

I've owned several H&K's over the years and once had a problem with my P9S .45 cal, and I found there service to be less than exceptable.

[Madhouse]

Great write-up dude, good stuff.

[jnsampson]

Just had my first opportunity to take my HK 416 for some range time. I put about 500 rounds through it, using three 30 round mags and the 20 round mag that came with the rifle. I fired, GASP, Remington Golden 22's, as well as CCI Stingers and AR Tactical through it Not a single malfunction, not a single failure to fire. I now have a holographic sight and Magpul MBUS pop up front and rear sights. The weapon performed flawlessly, and was extremely accurate out to 100 yards. Head shots, using a Transtar 1 target, put a group at less than an inch using a bipod for support. Same for center mass, less than an inch grouping. Wow.

Now the better part. Got home, field stripped it per the manual, used Hoppes 9 and cleaned it out. What I noticed was there wasn't a whole lot of powder in the chamber or anywhere else. The rifle cleaned up in less than 15 minutes, to include clearing the bore with a bore brush and solvent, wiping out the chamber, mag well, and the entire weapon, and running patches through it, plus lubrication. Ran one solvent soaked patch and two dry patches at first. The second dry patch was slightly dirty, so I ran a third and it came out clean. Lubricated all of the required parts with Hoppes Gun Oil reassembled the rifle, inserted the little "blue pill" (I call it the Viagra plug) and decocked the weapon. It now sits, next to my Smith and Wesson MP 15/22 in the gun locker with a satisfied look on it.

The Holographic sight is manufactured by TruGlo and works just fine, especially with the Magpul MBUS rear sight .

I cannot say enough positive things about this rifle. As for the magazines, yes, they went up in price due to the panic buying resulting from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Fortunately, I bought my three 30 round mags before the spike in price. The price doubled and then went down to the current $40 per mag up from the original $30 per mag.

People shooting with me at the range all came up and wanted a look and some actually asked if they could handle the weapon. Two young men, college kids, in their mid 20's, both said they wanted to purchase one. they both claimed to have .223 AR's but loved this weapon.

I have a bipod attached, a sling, the TruGlo Holographic sight, MBUS pop up front and rear sights, and dark earth rail covers. My thoughts are that using CCI Velocitor or Stinger would make this a reasonably, key word, formidable weapon. Not as formidable as a full .223 mind you, but still, an attention getter.

:grin:

[Microgunner]

Sounds like a great time was had by all, and I gotta agree, 30 rounds of Stingers or Velociters center mass is a hefty deterrent.

[Flieger]

I can see we both have the same opinion of our new beauties.  You mentioned $40 for magazines, please tell me where I can find them.

Today I received my new 20 rd mag from HK, but mine was $56 including shipping.

You know the funnny thing about this fine firearm?  If I'm just in the mood to hold an AR, I pick up the 416 even over my moe Sig M400.  There is something about the attention to  detail.

Interesting note on the magazine, the one that came with the rifle had the Walther banner on the base, while the new one simply has "made in germany".

[jnsampson]

Go to:  http://www.wholesalehunter.com/brand.asp?brand=7897

HKParts.net has 20 round mags for $49.95 and 30 round mags are on back order.

The ONLY complaint I have with the rifle, and it's a small one, is the bolt lock/release is cosmetic and not functional The Smith and Wesson MP 15/22, and yes, I have one of those too,  has a fully functional bolt lock/release. It doesn't have a bolt assist for the obvious reason of unwanted detonation of a .22 LR rimfire should a bolt assist be used. Other than that, the rifle is great. The HK 416 D in .223 was the prototype to develop the Infantry Automatic Rifle that the USMC is now using. The oohs and ahs I got at the range on this weapon were many. People couldn't believe it was a .22 LR, The holographic sight from TruGlo is very easy to use and has four reticle choices, two color options: Green and Red, and varying brightness options. When used with the Magpul MBUS folding rear sight, it's a charm.

They say that timing is everything and I guess I timed the purchase of the rifle and the magazines, as well as the ammo, just right. .22LR CCI Velocitor and AR Tactical ammo, as well as Stinger availability is nil here in the Denver, CO metro area. So is .223 and .308. Again, timing is critical. When the nonsense hit the fan as a result of Sandy Hook Elementary School, I bought 1,000 rounds of .223 tactical ammo from American Eagle in 100 round "economy" (yeah, right) boxes. Cost per round? .50 cents a round. At a recent gun show, the cheapest I saw .223 was 1,000 rounds for $750.00, or .75 cents a round.

Our state legislature, God help us, is going to introduce legislation to ban all assault weapons without a grandfather clause. Same for limiting magazine capacities to 10 rounds, sans a grandfather clause. The race is on.

but getting back on topic, the HK 416 D .22LR is by far one of the best, if not THE best, .22LR AR Tactical rifles out there. I'm sure there are some who would disagree, but that's fine.

Enjoy the rifle. And for those who think these weapons are "toys", they need to see one in action. I'm planning on field testing the rifle and ammo for ballistic performance and lethality this spring and summer. Keep you posted.

[Flieger]

Denver Colorado eh?  My wife and here entire family live in Colorado.  Parents in Lakewood and her brother works for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.  Family members live in Aurora and everyone loves going to the movies, so of course we called immediately when the madness happened.  my brother in law says it was too bad that there wasn't a CPL in the theatre.  I used to work in the state anfd that's how I found my bride.

The mountains are great, but I do love to live on the water.  Maybe someday a nice little house in Breckenridge.

When I first laid eyes on the the catagory of AR look a likes in 22, I thought it was just an overpriced marketing idea.  "No way could they be as good as a Ruger 10/22".  I ignored them.  Shortly after I bought my Sig, the saleman at the store called telling me that they got one in stock.  I almost dismissed it until I actually held it in my hand.  I've owned numerous Walther products over the years and have great respect for the brand and that's what closed the deal.  My wife thought I was nuts to pay $600 for a 22, but she's the best.  Never gives me a hard time over things like this (she has her own hobbies.  Have you ever heard of Pandora bracelets?

I could use some advice on sights though.  I bought a truglow red dot, but it's not doing the job.  I'm doing great with the iron peep sights, and I have to admit, it's much more accurate than any of my Rugers.

As far as the possible upcoming ban, I think mags are going down.  They might allow us to keep our rifles, but 10 round limited magazines are my best guess.  I may just have to buck up and pay the high dollar to HK for theirs.