About to place order for HK417....opinions??
 

I searched and didn't find anything for this or the 416. Just wondered if there are any first hand field experience of this rifle. I'm meeting with some HK guru's this Friday and may very well be placing my order for one. Supposedly they won't be stateside until June/July.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. ;)

PM Sent

Must be nice to be rich.

Last ones I saw cost the government (no FET) ~$15,000 each.

Being a cop must pay a lot better than it used to.

TR

$15,000.00 Rifle. I have to know. Besides Rare Collector Rifles. WTF can a Gun have to make it cost that much. Notice I said cost not worth. It cant be quality, if thats the case then we have been shooting pieces of garbage our whole life. Cant be reliability. It would have to be guaranteed for 10,000,000,000 rounds before breaks and malfunctions, thats impossible. Do's it have a Bitching Flash Hider and look cool?

My .02
 

First, I didn't think H&K were producing a "civi" model of the 416 or 417 in semi-auto. If they are, then it's foolish to spend that kind of money on a rifle with that kind of gas operating system.

The Sig 556 has a similar gas operating system and can be had for $1400, not $15,000. Remember, you cant suppress that operating system either, so a can is out of the question.

This isn't a civi model...it's an LE model.

As far as purchase price, try 10% of that 15k and you'll be much closer to it. I'm definately not stupid enough to pay 15k for any shooting platform.

As far as the operating system, I just wanted a piston system to replace my AR15. And then I started getting a hard-on for the AR style .308's.

I also have an H&K US facility less than 15 minutes from my residence. Which definately makes it more appealing from a tech support aspect.

Please post as soon as you get one for $1500, I am sure that others would like to know that.

Proximity to the factory is no indication that they will service it there for you.

HK builds good guns, by and large, but has a less than sterling reputation for delivering products in a timely manner and then not liking to support and maintain those weapons. I own a few, parts and service are a nightmare.

BTW, the $15,000 was a government price for a military model. Maybe thay have reduced it, I seriously hope they have.

If you could not find any mention of the HK 416 here, you did not look very hard. I got 16 hits.

82nd, if you cannot suppress a piston driven weapon, some of the weapons I have used with suppressors are going to be seriously shocked.

TR

M 4 "Upgrade"
 

a U.S. Special Forces battalion based in Okinawa announced that it is buying 84 upper receiver assemblies for the HK416 to modify their M4 carbines

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/...ESRC=army-a.nl

Suppressed
 

What barrel length ? Impingement systems obviously suppress easily, but not without a larger charging handle (PRI Gasbuster).

Our local dept purchased the Sig 552 with a similar type gas system and then wanted suppressors. All the manufacturers that had been contacted, AAC, SWR, and Knights all explained that the system would create too much blow back therefore resulting in failures and operator exposure to excessive hot gasses.

Perhaps this is restricted to the type of gas system that Sig employs in the 552 5.56 ?

It's definetley a nice rifle from every thing that I have read, and a video of Larry Vickers rocking and rolling two 30 round mags out of it and immediatley pulling the bolt and carrier out without gloves. There was virtually not heat on the bolt assembly and it had little if any fouling due to this type of gas system. Pretty impresive, but I'm not sure it's beats any standard impingement system with semi auto fire in an LEO capacity. Just a guess, because I cant see why LEO's would rock n roll two 30 round mags out of a patrol rifle. The caveat being that it's merely an AR rifle with a better gas system. I shoot one round at a time, so there's no need for me to upgrade to this gas system. I dont plan on shooting FA anytime soon with an AR style platform.

Now I'm more curious about this gas system.

I understand your disbelief since you've been led to believe that price. But simply put, I don't know where such an exagerated price could have come from. Since it's practically an M4 with a better operating system. Even a fully optioned out system I couldn't see going for more than 4-5k.

Also, I'm not the type person that just jumps on a website(especially one of this caliber) and starts lying about anything just to get a response. As referenced by my post count. Unless I feel I have something relevant to add or a serious inquiry, then I don't speak. Maybe it's a downfall, but I'm dead-nuts honest all the time. Even in situations when it's not exactly best to be.

All I can tell you is the President of this local facility advised me that with a Department letterhead, that would be the price sans any optics. And if I do go through with the purchase, I have no problem posting up pics of me with the weapon and a trout on my head doing the jig or whatever you want to prove it's really me. :D

As far as tech, I don't necessarily expect it to be a wonderful relationship. But it adds a little more validity to me having them close. And the fact that they have always been very accepting of LE and always allow us to visit and pick their brains. They used the local PD's SWAT team for their LE national brochure photos for this year.

As far as the search, I used the search tab at the top of the page. I used HK416, HK417, H&K416 and H&K417 and each one said no results found.

I've been hearing about swapping the uppers to the 416. I will check into that option also when I talk to them tomorrow. ;)

A google of HK 416 brings up a lot of pages! I didn't search it here though. Here is a link.:

http://www.hkpro.com/hk416.htm

Yeah, I meant here. I didn't want to get flamed for not searching for discussions that might have happened here about the same thing.

Yeah, I've googled it and read numerous pages of info. But I wanted to see if there was any real life operator experience of this rifle. Thanks for the link. ;)

H&K Pro.com
 

I've never registered there as a member, but I sometimes look at the front page to see what H&K firearms are being tested or introduced. That was were I saw most of the 416 and 17 write ups. And some other internet searches.

TR also brings up the point about after sale purchase customer service. I love their stuff, but they are a bit arragant with their civi customers. LEO and military seem to perk up their ears a bit more.


As I said in my previous post, it's H&K's AR/15 with a better gas system. Kinda like the XM8 was merely an G36 with "Outer Space" furniture and 40 Mike launcher on the bottom.

It would be my belief that the 416 gas system is necessary for soldiers in hostile envirenments where dust, dirt, sand and mud are unfriendly to the M4, but not as much so with the 416. Personally I dont shoot in mud, sand, or dirt, so my needs to upgrade to the piston system are a mute point.

Here's one with that funky looking 40 Mike thrower attached to the rail.

The main thing I like is the lack of carbon build-up that the ar15 system seems to puke over everything with only a few rounds expended. I like the idea of a much quicker clean-up time after an excercise.