HK MR556 (HK416) mud test

[Podmonkey]

Last time I posted a mud test from this channel a lot of delicate heinies got hurt so I'm posting another one! It didn't do all that bad, just not as good as a standard AR15.
And I welcome the opportunity to throw a little shade on the overhyped, overpriced and overweight 416. Did you know the quad rail versions weigh over 8.5lbs? These days there is no reason for a 16" AR carbine to weigh over 7lbs and they ought to weigh less than 6.5lbs. And you would also be spending AR10 money on it too.

 

[Blimey]

Did it suck as much as an ak with mud?

 

[Edwardteach72]

I sent this video to my buddy who once he bought a VP9 "hk is life"

He was at work so he said he was going to save it for later to watch and he was so pumped.

I cant wait for him to see it fail (miserably may be an over statement) considerably compared to many other guns they muddied up

 

[Edwardteach72]

Did it suck as much as an ak with mud?

IIRC the different ak variants did alright, not magically perfect like lore will lead people to believe, but I think the standard AR pattern rifle did better

 

[Podmonkey]

It did better than any AK they tested and it did better than average overall. The FAL choked terribly when they tested it, the M1 and M14s did the worst of any they tested. Only the AR15s have passed their mud tests without stoppages.
The whole point of these tests is just to show that the more sealed up an action is the better it will do in a muddy environment. They also did a dust test with an AK-74 and an M4 and both did fine.
Actually even in these mud tests the AKs did okay, none required much in the way of remediation beyond clearing them repeatedly, maybe a bit of water dump. The G3 also did alright with initial stoppages but came back to function after the mud dried out.

 

[BDinPutnam]

8.5 lbs?

Please tell me that includes an optic.

 

[Podmonkey]

8.5 lbs?

Please tell me that includes an optic.

Naked. According to HK's website.

 

[BDinPutnam]

Naked. According to HK's website.

Ouch.

 

[Edwardteach72]

Piston guns are heavy

 

[Marine Cpl]

Come to think of it, my first AR was a Bushmaster. It ran pretty well when I first got it. Then I modified it with a piston kit and it ran like shit with Wolf. I blamed the laquer cased Wolf but perhaps it was the piston itself that caused issues because prior to the piston, it ran fine.

 

[Podmonkey]

I have never liked piston ARs. If you want a piston gun, get a piston gun. Don't bastardize Stoner's elegant design into one. The HK offering is offensively expensive and way overweight.

 

[Podmonkey]

Come to think of it, my first AR was a Bushmaster. It ran pretty well when I first got it. Then I modified it with a piston kit and it ran like shit with Wolf. I blamed the laquer cased Wolf but perhaps it was the piston itself that caused issues because prior to the piston, it ran fine.

My first AR15 was the classic Colt 6920. Just days after the AWB sunset I walked into...... Guns Galore I think it was, not far from the east gate of Ft Hood in Texas (I was in the last year of my enlistment) and bought it. It had the "LE use only" script on it. I ran the ever loving snot out of that thing, just cans upon cans of M855. In one year prolly shot close to 10k rounds through it. Ammo was still somewhat cheap back then. And I had little else to spend my money on.

 

[ECU Pirates]

But it killed bin laden.

 

[Podmonkey]

But it killed bin laden.

I thought that was an mp7?

 

[ECU Pirates]

I thought that was an mp7?

416 for the win. Has to be the best rifle ever.

 

[Upstate43]

8.5 lbs?

Please tell me that includes an optic.

Piston guns are heavy

Piston rifles are heavier in general compared to DI, but the HK 416 is especially heavy because it was designed to serve as a SAW 'lite' at the small unit level. It wasn't necessarily designed to replace the general issue M4/M16.

 

[Podmonkey]

Piston rifles are heavier in general compared to DI, but the HK 416 is especially heavy because it was designed to serve as a SAW 'lite' at the small unit level. It wasn't necessarily designed to replace the general issue M4/M16.

It was developed to participate in one of the M4 replacement trials. One of the ones after the XM8 trials.

 

[Upstate43]

It was developed to participate in one of the M4 replacement trials. One of the ones after the XM8 trials.

I'm not disputing that; I'm simply noting that its functional role sits somewhere between a DI M4/M16 (which is lighter) and a M249 SAW (which is a lot heavier).