The VFC / Umarex HK416 Owners Thread

[CrackCommandoUnit1972]

Played on Sunday just gone. I had six mags on me, all leak free. That is until I topped one mag up, then I could hear it starting to leak!

Still I had a great day and was just about able to compete with the AEG guys with my five working mags.

I decided for the final game to give my CYMA AK47 AEG a run out as we usually finish off with a very quick capture the village style game. My AK is a good gun but it really felt like a toy compared to the 416 as the lack of recoil really stood out after a day on the GBB.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

My mags have come back from Land Warrior, and with a squirt of gas in each they seem good!   I have no hint as to what they did to fix 'em, so I'll give them a call on Monday because it might have been down to the grease / oil choice, or maybe they replaced a gasket or o-ring.   Whatever it was, it seems to be useful info!

 

[Davet]

Slight hijack, and appreciate this is the GBB forum, but…

AEG version owner here, just wondering if anyone’s done the ambi to single sided mag release catch conversion? Can’t seem to find anything easily with a Google search. Ambi safety is great but I find the body side mag catch constantly gets caught on kit, not lost any mags yet fortunately.

(As much as I would like to go for a bit more realism with GBB, I don’t play enough to justify the extra commitment. I do use low caps though so please forgive me… ?)

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

You're forgiven ?

I've not had any problems with my mag catch, hopefully someone else can help though

 

[Ajaxiasty]

I have spend the weekend fielding the HK.

Just to be clear , I was around 24h in total with no safe zone just some minor brakes for food and reloads in the forest.

So here's a couple of things that I want to share.

Grease don't oil .

Over the span of 3 days I got some dirt etc in the system. But as the grease did not run and stayed in place there where no jams ,bolt stops or any other issues. 

And it was a delight to clean.

Just wiped the old grease applied new lovely jobly.

Inconsisten accuracy.

Most of the time I think it is due to soiling the barrel with dust and oil.

Shot .3 as I don't see any improvement adding the weight.  Would say .4 are to heavy for this hop so would need a new bucking and a hot gun to fully utilise this ammo 

Need to change the hop bucking and test.

Also I will transfer to pure propane and see if this is the way forward .

Other then that no issues, miss feeds and leaks. 

6 mags in 6mags out . One one of the mags vented for no reason that's about it .

Slight hijack, and appreciate this is the GBB forum, but…

AEG version owner here, just wondering if anyone’s done the ambi to single sided mag release catch conversion? Can’t seem to find anything easily with a Google search. Ambi safety is great but I find the body side mag catch constantly gets caught on kit, not lost any mags yet fortunately.

(As much as I would like to go for a bit more realism with GBB, I don’t play enough to justify the extra commitment. I do use low caps though so please forgive me… ?)

I did not encounter this issue, maybe the mag realese is more loose on an AEG. 

I shot from all the stances and was running like a mad man constantly doing something not a single accidental mag realise.

View attachment 107845

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

I used mine for the whole skirmish on Saturday, I did use 0.40g because I had a bag of 3000 I've bought for it, and the leafy vegetation is coming in properly now.  It seemed sensible to have the extra weight so it could hit through a couple of leaves and twigs on the way, and indeed I did seem to get a get a couple of hits when I was intentionally shooting at people behind light cover.  Maybe I was just lucky and hit nothing but air on the way... But it gave the confidence to try it I suppose.

Range seemed excellent, though I can only judge in 'airsoft metres' ?.  I'd say 50-60.  The hop (which I've not replaced, so I assume is stock) can lift em fine.

Accuracy was good at 20-30m, but naturally enough a bit more inconsistent beyond that.  I run my gun with an LPVO and most of the time it's cranked to 5X so I was effectively sniping,  tracking my shots through the scope.  I was hitting heads and limbs showing out from cover, and main mass hits at long ranges.  I could probably have got more with my DE (and its higher volume of fire), but each hit was all the more satisfying for the small added difficulty.

Mine ran like a trooper too, I didn't bother using my Double Eagle AEG for the first since I bought it, a high recommendation!

I had two small issues:

1.  The hop seemed to unwind.  I realised part way through a game that my BB's had no apparent hop.  I wound on some, and all good, but maybe I was just about empty on gas and it was down to lack of oomph. I had to tweak the hop later, so that's possible, but I will keep an eye on it in future.  I might want to find a way to stop the adjuster from rotating (if that's what it's doing)

2.  Two embarrassing de-gasses, which both were my fault.  Both occurred the same way, when I realised I was about to double load a BB into the barrel to cock the gun.  I tried to drop the mag out one-handed, but the mag didn't drop properly (presumably one of the new ones), so when I released the bolt handle it 'did something' and vented the mag quite noisily ?

Purely down to me trying to do it one handed.  Embarrassing because I did the exact same thing again.   Both times during the pre-round brief ?

At some point I'm going to run out of 0.40s and return to using the big stock of 0.28s I've bought for my AEGs.  I'll try to do some comparitive long range shooting next time I'm at the site. 

I love this gun

 

[Ajaxiasty]

I did not have any issues with the hop . Stayed in place . Mine is rock solid at the moment. 

Tempted to run it on .32 

Changed the hop bucking for Maple Leaf Autobot 2021.

And I think I can see improvement.

There is the occasional stray shot but 8 out of 10 are in the beer Can at 40m.

Think of getting the inner Barrel changed for the Crazy jet . ? 

Any one has some experience with those ?

Question. Is your fake piston rod moving freely so it kind of rattles when you run ?.

I swer that there is something that I assembled wrong as I did not noticed that .

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Nope, not got an issue with anything rattling, just with two parts of my gun wanting to disassociate themselves from the rest of the gnu:

The stock nut, as previously mentioned. I've not yet stuck the gun in a vice to brutally torque that in to place, but I will as...

The outer barrel is also happy to unwind itself.. usually when I'm taking the suppressor off (it looks cool, but sometimes a short barrel is much more effective at using cover in close quarters)

I'm wary of using the Loctite thread lock glue, as it seems to need quite a bit of heat applied to get it to unlock, would a small amount of PTFE plumber's tape achieve the same thing?

 

[Ajaxiasty]

Mystery solved . There is a spring in the gas block wich I lost and found  ? 

Use blue loctide and just a small amount . It's going to be fine . Make sure you use good quality screwdrivers and you will be fine .

I totally disassembled mine with no issues and no damage .

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

I have a made a bit of a boo-boo.   Given this is some minor league tech'ing, it's amazing how easily I've managed to bugger it up - I now need some help, please!

I was intent on trying to tighten my stock nut, but I thought I'd also straighten the little spring under the sling plate at the same time.  So I loosened off the nut, and fixed the spring. Great stuff.

The problem is I've loosened off the buffer tube and it won't screw in.   It also won't unscrew completely off. 

I can't fully cock the gun, because the tube is almost off. 

And I can't pull the trigger to release the bolt from it's partial cocking.   

Most worryingly of all I now can't open the upper receiver because of the bolt / recoil buffer position, so my options to 'get to things' is now enormously limited.

I basically seem to have tied the thing into a Gordian knot of interlocking bits that are in the wrong position.  How do I sort it?

Edit: Well thankfully the buffer tube has unscrewed, it was very 'sticky' at certain points in the rotation, but a bit of extra force got it all the way undone.   So the recoil buffer and spring are now out, but the bolt carrier(?) won't go all the way in to let me open the upper receiver.   I think I can figure that bit out now, hopefully!

Edit2:   Now I've managed to get the buffer screwed back into place, but I've stupidly pushed the sprung pin from the receiver down, so the tube could screw in.  But should that still be up, to retain the buffer and spring?   The tube is now screwed in too far to close the receiver, and it won't budge either way beyond a few degrees of rotation.   I think the tip of the pin broke against the thread, and it's now wedging it 

(pic below was taken from a disassembly video I should've watched first - it shows the pin in its normal location)

View attachment 108690

I guess that particular part isn't crucial and I don't think I have much choice but to brute force the tube to unwind a couple of turns, so the whole thing will re-assemble.  Is there a better approach?

Edit3:   hew:    All back together and working again.   The pin that retains the recoil buffer wasn't broken.  I pushed the pin holder (which I could still get to) down a bit more and that allowed me to unscrew the tube.  I had a concern that the receiver still wouldn't close, but backing the tube out one more turn from its apparent natural / best location (where the pin fitted directly into a relief notch) did the trick.

I have learned how the springs, pins and tubes all work together, but I think I'll leave well alone for the moment.   And I'll leave this post as a testimony to how even a stock tube has enough components to trip up an idiot ;D

Here's a link to the video that I got the pic from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BautCSmpOmk

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Another day out at Spec Ops, running the '416 for most of the day.

I didn't seem to get many kills for much of the morning.  I'd tuned the hop at the start of the day, but it seems even with help of my LPVO I still can't spot when my BB's start to go awry... And awry they were - mostly over-hopping when I prefer a flat-flat-drop trajectory (as I find it easier to compensate when I'm running out of range for a long shot)

The hop adjuster doesn't seem to have crept around, so the problem is internal, I guess.   

Edit:  Problem may also be related to having silicone oil on the hop rubber, firstly from the Abbey Maintenance gas I used to try to cure the leaking mags, and secondly from the Ultrair I used, which I thought was 'dry'... but isn't!

Looks like it's time to try a new hop rubber, and check the hop unit and nub.  If that doesn't help (and it probably won't stop the creep) I might well spring for that fancy hop unit and barrel combo.

I also did an accuracy test and range test against my stalwart Double Eagle 906.  0.40g Geoff's BB's in the VFC, 0.28g War heads in the DE

Both were hitting a narrower than torso width tree trunk at 45 long paces (I'll measure my long paces with a tape tomorrow   edit: 1 long pace slightly longer than 1m) about 50-60% of the time once the hop was set correctly on the VFC. 

Looked like there was still a fair bit of range left in both guns past that target. 

Which was nice.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Changed the hop bucking for Maple Leaf Autobot 2021.

And I think I can see improvement.

There is the occasional stray shot but 8 out of 10 are in the beer Can at 40m.

Think of getting the inner Barrel changed for the Crazy jet . ?

@Ajaxiasty I just bought a 60 yellow Autobot off Amazon (country sports) for £11.  Did you change the nub too?

 

[Ajaxiasty]

There is no nub to my knowledge. 

I got the maple leaf omega one but there is no space for it. 

The way the Hop unit is designed it's just a lever with a little arm that pushes the hop down . Maybe I am wrong. If you take your one apart check it.

View attachment 108830

Edit:

Definitely no nub  

 

[CrackCommandoUnit1972]

I have a made a bit of a boo-boo.   Given this is some minor league tech'ing, it's amazing how easily I've managed to bugger it up - I now need some help, please!

I was intent on trying to tighten my stock nut, but I thought I'd also straighten the little spring under the sling plate at the same time.  So I loosened off the nut, and fixed the spring. Great stuff.

The problem is I've loosened off the buffer tube and it won't screw in.   It also won't unscrew completely off. 

I can't fully cock the gun, because the tube is almost off. 

And I can't pull the trigger to release the bolt from it's partial cocking.   

Most worryingly of all I now can't open the upper receiver because of the bolt / recoil buffer position, so my options to 'get to things' is now enormously limited.

I basically seem to have tied the thing into a Gordian knot of interlocking bits that are in the wrong position.  How do I sort it?

Edit: Well thankfully the buffer tube has unscrewed, it was very 'sticky' at certain points in the rotation, but a bit of extra force got it all the way undone.   So the recoil buffer and spring are now out, but the bolt carrier(?) won't go all the way in to let me open the upper receiver.   I think I can figure that bit out now, hopefully!

Edit2:   Now I've managed to get the buffer screwed back into place, but I've stupidly pushed the sprung pin from the receiver down, so the tube could screw in.  But should that still be up, to retain the buffer and spring?   The tube is now screwed in too far to close the receiver, and it won't budge either way beyond a few degrees of rotation.   I think the tip of the pin broke against the thread, and it's now wedging it 

(pic below was taken from a disassembly video I should've watched first - it shows the pin in its normal location)

View attachment 108690

I guess that particular part isn't crucial and I don't think I have much choice but to brute force the tube to unwind a couple of turns, so the whole thing will re-assemble.  Is there a better approach?

Edit3:   hew:    All back together and working again.   The pin that retains the recoil buffer wasn't broken.  I pushed the pin holder (which I could still get to) down a bit more and that allowed me to unscrew the tube.  I had a concern that the receiver still wouldn't close, but backing the tube out one more turn from its apparent natural / best location (where the pin fitted directly into a relief notch) did the trick.

I have learned how the springs, pins and tubes all work together, but I think I'll leave well alone for the moment.   And I'll leave this post as a testimony to how even a stock tube has enough components to trip up an idiot ;D

Here's a link to the video that I got the pic from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BautCSmpOmk

You need to stop touching stuff.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

You need to stop touching stuff.

When it comes to this gun, it's not so much 'touching' as 'fondling'  ?

On Friday my new hop rubber will arrive - I'm thinking I might take the chance, while the barrel / forward hand guard assembly is in bits, that I might address the small amount of vertical play in the outer barrel.   Not that it seems to make much difference to my grouping (it's as tight vertically as horizontally  (yub yub, wibble, fnarr etc))

1) Is it just mine that has that?

2) Is it intentional and I should therefore leave it alone?

3) Is there a good way to sort it if I need to?   (I'll find a way to pack it with tape and bits of plastic if there isn't an 'approved method')

 

[CheeseToastie]

Had a mishap at my last game.

My sling snapped (at the clasp) and my barrel went head first into some soft dirt. Luckily no damage was done.

I am now in need of a new sling. Any good suggestions.

1 point, 2 point? Want something strong and reliable.

View attachment 108864

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

@CheeseToastie I got one of these... Well it might be a cheap clone of this but it has been good so far...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254428811821

You can use it as a single point sling (doesn't really get in the way, but the gun tends to dangle in such a way as to hit you in the 'nads if you drop it in a hurry), or as a two point so you can carry it sort-of horizontally, or sling it over your back.

It has a quick release pull string to shorten or lengthen the sling really easily which I use often.

(On the 416 I use the sling plate on the back of the receiver, and a sling hook attached to the top rail forward of my scope) 

Recommended!

I also have a couple of cheap single point bungee slings that I attach to my alternate guns, which are fine, as long as I'm not dropping the gun in a hurry!

 

[Ajaxiasty]

You would need to make some spacers for the quad Rail . Wobble is negligible. 

 I don't know if you can have any tape as you would tape up the hop adjuster.

Don't put your sling on the barrel ,attached to the quad rail and you will be fine.

We both know what happend when you where trying to get the castle nut tighter ? 

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

My hop rubber arrived so I did the standard maintenance..  cleaned and re-lubed the bolt etc.  Cleaned the inside of the barrel. And then tried to replace the rubber.

Bugger.

The three screws holding the hop unit in place are thread-locked in place.  I know that because one went 'crack' and undid, and I can see the red goop on the thread.  But the other two wouldn't shift.  I applied heat from a windproof lighter, but it's obviously not got it hot enough, I've now managed to cheese the Phillips heads into oblivion.  Any easy ways to get them out or am I going to need to drill them out and get a new hop unit?

 

[Ajaxiasty]

My hop rubber arrived so I did the standard maintenance..  cleaned and re-lubed the bolt etc.  Cleaned the inside of the barrel. And then tried to replace the rubber.

Bugger.

The three screws holding the hop unit in place are thread-locked in place.  I know that because one went 'crack' and undid, and I can see the red goop on the thread.  But the other two wouldn't shift.  I applied heat from a windproof lighter, but it's obviously not got it hot enough, I've now managed to cheese the Phillips heads into oblivion.  Any easy ways to get them out or am I going to need to drill them out and get a new hop unit?

Yes they go trough. So technically its possible. Bit difficult as they are tiny and you would need a bench drill.

Weird that you did have red loctite on it as I have 2 Chambers and both of them where loctided but with factory gray and gave way with a bit of trying . My screwdriver set matches ideally the size of the Philips head  tho.

Like I mentioned before tools are key.

If you have a tech available I would give it to them .