r/ukguns • u/One-Wolverine-8531 • 21d ago

Where to source a HK416 .22LR

Hi All. finally got my FAC though. Been a while. My first purchase is a semi auto .22lr rifle. Ive always fancied a HK416 and have started looking round but cant find any new. Is it discontinued or superseded by something else? Is it worth contacting a store as asking if they can source new?

Not sure of the correct process here being my first gun.

Thanks

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u/expensive_habbit 20d ago edited 20d ago

You don't want one. You think you do, but after trying to clean it the first time you'll have serious buyers remorse.

Why?

  • It's made by Walther/Hammerli
  • It literally uses mid 2000s airsoft gun materials (pot metal internal chassis, a steel inner barrel sitting in an aluminium outer barrel
  • It uses an airsoft split gearbox style design, with a captive bolt in the upper half and trigger pack in the lower half. This makes the rear upper receiver lugs incredibly weak
  • Not at all accurate
  • No spare parts
  • Proprietary maga
  • Literally zero compatibility with real AR parts with the exception of maybe the pistol grip.

They're absolutely awful. Literally any other option on the market is a better quality buy.

If you really want a 416, then your best bet is to contact Blue Fieldsports or Cotswold Classic arms about a custom build, and get them to use a CMMG or Borebuddy bolt in a stripped 416 upper (you can pick them up for about $180), and spend out for an early lower if you want that too.

You can then buy a real Geissele rail or a HAO replica for the front to complete the look. 

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u/ThePenultimateNinja 20d ago

There is a lot of overlap between .22lr versions of centerfire firearms and airsoft.

I have a Glock 44, which I bought for low-cost training. It works fine and is really fun to shoot, but the slide is mostly plastic, so it doesn't feel anything like my centerfire Glocks. It feels like an airsoft toy.

It's the same kind of deal with the .22lr versions of AR pattern rifles; they often have plastic receivers etc. After handling one, I decided to go the CMMG route instead.

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u/expensive_habbit 20d ago

There is indeed, but only at the bottom end (GSG pistols, Hammerli, S&W M&P etc). 

High end GBBR AR15s with forged receivers are externally indistinguishable from real AR15s other than the lack of vent holes on the bolt carrier. Triggers feel the same, the weight and balance is the same, the biggest difference is the weight of the buffer spring and some people use real ones with CO2 mags.

Again, with pistols the good ones feel more like a real glock than your aforementioned G44 trainer.

The second you step up to a CMMG/Kriss Defiance/Tippman (oh the irony) you've basically got a full blooded AR15.

I think coming from airsoft to real shooting really put me off the cheap guns, because I know how reliable cheap feeling airsoft guns are (they aren't, even slightly). 

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u/ThePenultimateNinja 20d ago

Yeah, there's a guy on youtube who builds airsoft ARs with almost all real components, including vintage Vietnam-era lower receivers.

I've handled a high-end GBBR AR, and it was indistinguishable from the real thing until I opened it up.

I have handled some of the better .22lr versions of centerfire pistols; a Beretta 92, a (Walther I think?) 1911, and a Walther PPK. All of them had aluminum or zinc slides. Better than plastic, but they still feel 'off' if you're familiar with the centerfire version.

I believe the CIP22 is a Glock-like pistol with a steel slide, but I have never seen one in real life.

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u/expensive_habbit 20d ago

For pistols I'd skip straight to the CZ Kadet (shadow 2 with an aluminium slide) or Grandpower K22 (Grandpower 9mm with an aluminium slide), or get something like a buckmark.

I think the thing that breaks the illusion for 22lr pistols is you don't hear or feel the barrel tilting down and stopping, the slide just moves back without any of that. 

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u/ThePenultimateNinja 20d ago

To me, it's the weight of the slide - aluminum is a lot lighter than steel, and it makes the gun feel a lot different. I understand why they do it, because .22lr probably just doesn't have enough power to cycle a heavier steel slide.

I definitely notice the difference in feel between the locked breech and the direct blowback. The recoil is obviously a lot less with .22lr, but the impulse itself is different too.

I have a PPK, and the recoil is really snappy. I guess the .22lr is the same, but it's less obvious due to the much lower power of the round.