Umarex HK416 A5 Low FPS

[JinxDuh]

Bought an Umarex HK416 A5 AEG from Partrol base yesterday, chrono’d it today and this was the results. It’s my first Umarex AEG, Is this normal for them?

Edited August 25, 2023 by JinxDuh
Fixed title to show issue

[Leo Greer]

Which one did you buy? Umarex doesn’t actually make those—they’re just a rebrander with an HK license—and there are different models from the extreme cheap crap to being made by VFC.

[JinxDuh]

44 minutes ago, Leo Greer said:

Which one did you buy? Umarex doesn’t actually make those—they’re just a rebrander with an HK license—and there are different models from the extreme cheap crap to being made by VFC.

It was this one: https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/umarex-h-and-k-hk416-a5-aeg-rifle I believe it’s VFC

 

The full metal version

[JinxDuh]

Despite the low FPS it’s firing at a decent distance and has some power behind the shots. I did notice that I need to pull the trigger twice on the first shot for the BB to feed, not sure if that’s also normal as it does have a mosfet.
 

I’ve emailed patrolbase when I found the low fps but no doubt it’ll take a while for a response 

[gavinkempsell]

The site shows 328 FPS +/- 10% is expected for the model you have. so no... it's not normal.

[JinxDuh]

1 hour ago, gavinkempsell said:

The site shows 328 FPS +/- 10% is expected for the model you have. so no... it's not normal.

Yeah, I saw that on their site. Wouldn't be the first time PB was wrong though.

[MrTea]

31 minutes ago, JinxDuh said:

Yeah, I saw that on their site. Wouldn't be the first time PB was wrong though.

 

Any stock AEG should be hitting 300fps consistently.  I'm assuming you're chrono-ing on 0.2g BBs? Look at the drops in velocity on some of those shots too, there's definitely something wrong and for the price, i'd expect it to be perfect OOTB.

 

Have you thought about returning it and going for a Specna Arms One Sa-H11? £180 less but doesn't have a mosfet or trademarks but for the £180 saved you could add a mosfet and have cash left over if you're not bothered about trademarks.

Edited August 25, 2023 by MrTea

[JinxDuh]

12 minutes ago, MrTea said:

 

Any stock AEG should be hitting 300fps consistently.  I'm assuming you're chrono-ing on 0.2g BBs? Look at the drops in velocity on some of those shots too, there's definitely something wrong and for the price, i'd expect it to be perfect OOTB.

 

Have you thought about returning it and going for a Specna Arms One Sa-H11? £180 less and doesn't have a mosfet or trademarks but for the £180 saved you could add one.

 

That's my main concern too, the fps variation is awful. I was chronoing on .20g bb's yes. I cleaned the barrel out earlier and it took 6 pieces of cloth to clean it, and the FPS was a little bit more consistent, but still low.

 

I actually have the "Specna Arms SA-H21 EDGE 2.0" and it's absolutely fantastic, but wanted to upgrade to something with full trades because I'm a sucker for authenticity. Sadly it seems I've got a lemon, because reviews I've seen all say how good the Umarex A5 is. Externally it's all I could ask for too.

 

I'm hoping PB will respond and allow me to send it back to them to have whatever issue(s) it has sorted out, but I put my optics etc onto the rifle so it has signs of use already, hopefully they won't refuse to touch it because of that. 🤞

[MrTea]

18 minutes ago, JinxDuh said:

I'm hoping PB will respond and allow me to send it back to them to have whatever issue(s) it has sorted out, but I put my optics etc onto the rifle so it has signs of use already, hopefully they won't refuse to touch it because of that. 

 

How long have you had it? I can't see them being able to refuse a return if you've only just got it.

[JinxDuh]

9 minutes ago, MrTea said:

 

How long have you had it? I can't see them being able to refuse a return if you've only just got it.

I literally got it yesterday morning so it’s well within the return period haha

[MrTea]

11 minutes ago, JinxDuh said:

I literally got it yesterday morning so it’s well within the return period haha

 

If you haven't already, try ringing them. You'll get an answer faster on the phone than over email. It's interesting that it's around the 260fps mark (with huge variance) and randomly drops to 150fps. I'm not terribly sure what could cause such inconsistency like that.

 

As for the MOSFET it has, I think it's a MOSFET as so far as it protects the trigger contacts from suffering when using 11.1v Lipo and has no programmability so I can't see it effecting or causing any feeding issues.

[JinxDuh]

7 minutes ago, MrTea said:

 

If you haven't already, try ringing them. You'll get an answer faster on the phone than over email. It's interesting that it's around the 260fps mark (with huge variance) and randomly drops to 150fps. I'm not terribly sure what could cause such inconsistency like that.

 

As for the MOSFET it has, I think it's a MOSFET as so far as it protects the trigger contacts from suffering when using 11.1v Lipo and has no programmability so I can't see it effecting or causing any feeding issues.

Yeah I’m gonna give them a few days with it being the weekend & bank holiday, then give them a ring Tuesday. It’s definitely a first for me too, I’ve never had an issue with any pistol or rifle like this where the fps has major inconsistency. You’d think at £500 almost it might have some good QC lol

 

Hopefully it’s something simple and they can get it sorted for me or replace it 🤞🏻

[Tinker.]

Midcap syndrome perhaps? Suffice to say though, whatever the issue is, PB should just replace it for you.

[JinxDuh]

22 hours ago, Tinker. said:

Midcap syndrome perhaps? Suffice to say though, whatever the issue is, PB should just replace it for you.

I used the supplied high cap, my own PTS midcap, and also a nuprol mid cap. Same issue regardless.

 

I called them today and they're accepting a return to have the issue fixed, which I'm fine with. Due to the scuffs from having optics mounted they can't refund me, which is fair enough. If I got a refund I'd only end up ordering another one anyway 😂

[Markyt001]

To the OP, did you ever get this sorted? I have the same issue with inconsistent FPS and lower than expected !!!

[JinxDuh]

9 hours ago, Markyt001 said:

To the OP, did you ever get this sorted? I have the same issue with inconsistent FPS and lower than expected !!!

 

I did, yeah. I returned it to patrol base who fixed it, iirc they replaced the nozzle and hop up unit. It's been firing around 330 - 332 ever since.