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If you are into rimfire guns, .22s, then you should definitely take a look at this one. There â I said it. I have always liked .22s, preferably of the handgun persuasion. Sure, Iâve got the obligatory Ruger 10/22, and an accurate thing it is. I even painted mine camo for the squirrel woods. With its scope, itâs a tack driver. But, I tend to shoot more short guns than long ones. One of my favorite, long-ago-traded-for-some-stupid-reason rimfires was a 4 5/8â-barreled Ruger Single Six. With its adjustable rear sight, it could adapt to whatever brand of ammo I fed it. I took a squirrel out of the fork of a tree, standing, at about 35 yards with it. My brother, with me at the time, could not believe it. He had his Winchester 9422 lever rifle and could literally take the whiskers off a gnat at 50 yards with the thing. He was impressed, as was I. I am not known for stellar marksmanship â read most any of my reviews for proof of that â but that one shot just worked. I have since gone through a few other rimfires like a Ruger Mk. II .22/45, a Charter Arms Pathfinder revolver among others and am really looking forward to getting a S&W Victory .22 to test. I just like the caliber â its cost, availability and lack of noise are all factors that help contribute to its popularity for me. The accuracy of some brands of ammo is just a plus. So it was with great anticipation that I accepted the offer from a friend to try out his wifeâs HK 416. I was certainly eager to shoot it, and disappointed, I was not.
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The HK 416
This gun looks like the front half of an AR-15, as you can see from the photos. I am not usually too kicked in the head about such pistols, as I have a tough time getting them lined up properly when I shoot them. This gun was different. Part of the difference had to do with the weight â being a .22 LR, it doesnât weigh much at all. Another factor that allowed me to shoot this thing a little better than other AR pistols is the way itâs built â no buffer tube sticking out to have to deal with. It just sat on the bag and was easily aimed.
Based on the famous HK 416 assault rifle, this rimfire version allows the shooter to at least experience a bit of what it might feel like to hold one of the âreal deals.â From the non-functional forward assist to the muzzleâs flash hider, this gun resembles its more-powerful cousin a good deal. In addition to the forward assist, there is another 5.56-related feature on this gun that doesnât function, the bolt release. Adding a couple of features to the âfunctionalâ column, we have the dust cover, magazine release and safety â they all work as they do on the centerfire version. Obviously, no rimfire is going to replicate a centerfire semi-auto to any real extent, but it is one fun gun to shoot â there is something to be said for that. Also available in rifle guise with buttstock, the 416 pistol proved to be one accurate gun as the targets will show later.
Hereâs a quick look at some specs…
Height: | 10.7 in. |
Width: | 2.5 in. |
Barrel Length: | 8.5 in. |
Weight: | 4.5 lbs. |
Sights: | flip-up |
Rear Sight Aperture Height: | 1.3 in. |
Rear Sight Aperture Width: | 2.1 in. |
Front Sight Width: | 0.7 in. |
Receiver: | Aluminum |
Rail Interface System: | M-LOK® / Mil STD. 1913 |
Other: | Pistol grip storage compartment, last-round bolt hold-open |
MSRP: | $469 |
Real-World Price: | ~$370 |
H&K â The Company
In order to understand a bit about the gun, we need to have a bit of background on the company itself. Heckler & Koch is a company known for its military and law enforcement firearms and related products. From submachine guns and grenade launchers to everyday concealed-carry pistols, H&K products tend to be of very high quality and last a long time. I reviewed their excellent P30L pistol earlier and wrote a bit about the companyâs history in that review â you can read that history here. I really liked the P30L, especially the European-style magazine release paddle at the rear base of the trigger guard. Being left-handed, I appreciated the ability to drop the mag easily with my left hand and not have to move the mag release button to the other side of the frame or to have to break my grip to drop it with my shooting hand.
Not that a pistol made by H&K has much to do with our âAR pistolâ, but the company is the same. But is it… as we notice on the side of the gun, we see this:
Made by Umarex? Huh? Who is Umarex? Umarex (Umarex Sportwaffen GmbH & Co. KG) is a German manufacturer of famous-firearm-branded airguns, paintball and airsoft guns made under license. The company also makes firearms. In 1993, Umarex acquired Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen, otherwise known to us as Walther. Both Umarex and Waltherâs American headquarters are in Fort Smith, Arkansas. (In case you are wondering, GmbH is essentially the German equivalent of our limited liability corporation, LLC. It drove me crazy until I looked it up…). So we have a gun that has two manufacturersâ names on it…HK and Umarex. The main point is that, no matter what is branded into the plastic, the gun is a shooter and is built well.
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Photos
Letâs look at some photos. This is one photogenic gun, if there is such a thing â clean lines and quality construction.
The magazine that comes with the 416 is proprietary. It looks, from the outside (at least from one side) like a .223 magazine â until you pop it out and look at it up close. There is, also, the slot in the sides of the magazine with the pull-down loading buttons. You can see how HK designed the .22 LR âintoâ it. Pretty clever, really. You can buy extras for about $28 from various online sources.
Shooting The 416
The 416 was a dream to shoot. After I figured out how to place it on a shooting bag, it was all go. The distance was about 20 yards. I mounted a red dot sight Iâd gotten from Amazon to really test accuracy…my eyes have a tough time lining up the rear and front sights on the target any more so I just bought an inexpensive red dot to use in testing guns. At least this gunâs sights are fairly easy to acquire â it uses the tried & true rear aperture and front post. But, even so, it was easier for me to put one bright green dot on the target center rather than framing the post in the rear âpeep.â Before we look at individual targets, letâs look at the item that helped me be a bit more accurate â the red dot sight.
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A Quick Look At This Sight
As for this sight, it is an inexpensive, $25-or-so âgenericâ red and green dot sight. The one I bought is branded âPintyâ but there are several companies that import this sight and put their name on it. It came with a year warranty and five batteries, which is a good thing. It also included a rubber glass cover for when it is in storage, two Allen keys and a cleaning cloth. It has either a red or green output, with 5 intensity settings for each. The CR2032 battery compartment is on the top so you donât have to remove the sight in order to replace it.
There are five different reticles available via a switch located on the rear of the unit…
You just move the selector to the one you want. I simply used the dot, on intensity level 3 â that was plenty good enough for the bright daylight I shot in. The red is equally bright. This sight is not bad â the dot doesnât have much âshadowâ at all so you donât have to try to figure out which dot to aim with. Another thing I liked was zeroing this thing â I popped the âironâ (plastic) sights up and, using the included Allen key, moved the dot to where it was just sitting on the front post. I believe the term is âco-witnessed.â I quickly figured out that the direction arrows were backwards but that was no big deal. Once I put the dot there, it stayed. That was all it took â I shot four different types and brands of .22 ammo and each one was centered, to point of aim on the target. I donât EVER recall having that happen before, with any .22 gun and any ammo…I was truly impressed! I usually have to haul my ammo out, put up several targets and bang away until I find âtheâ brand that shoots to the point of aim. Not this time…this gun was at least fairly accurate with all four of my test brands. Letâs look at the targets.
As you can see, the CCI shot the best of the four, but barely. I was truly impressed, given my propensity to shoot patterns, not groups… I would not hesitate to take this gun behind the house into the woods in search of bushytails. You would need some sort of a rest, though, whether natural (tree limb) or artificial (shooting sticks). With a little more experimentation and practice, this thing could be a squirrelâs worst nightmare. Attach a shoulder brace and your odds of connecting just went up.
I must admit that I had more fun than should be allowed, shooting the HK. My friend said his wife just likes to take it out, load it and just blast away from the hip â I can definitely see that, knowing both the gun and his wife. You had better load up on your preferred brand of .22 if you go out for an afternoon with this thing â it’s addictive. This is definitely the most fun âAR pistolâ Iâve ever shot.
Weâve seen that the gun is accurate, and that it might make a decent squirrel or small game gun…how else could you use it? Well, how about in .22 Steels competition? Iâve shot that course with the above-mentioned Ruger Mk. II…I think it would be even more fun with this one, especially if you could use the red dot. Another use is pest reduction. Keeping this thing handy around the homestead would sure help cut down on the raccoon/rat/possum/whatever else you define as varmints population. Of course, thereâs always the old standby, plinking… probably more cans, bottles (never a good idea), dirt clods, static clay pigeons, old laundry detergent containers, etc. have been âdone inâ by the lowly .22 than by all other rifle and handgun calibers combined. Thereâs no end of possible plinking targets. Just take enough ammo.
Summing Up
If you are looking for a new range toy or something to keep behind the ranchâs kitchen door, you might want to give this gun a look. When gun supplies start returning to more-normal levels, this gun should be towards the top of your list if you want to invest in an AR-style plinker. Although some of the controls are not functional, that shouldnât stop you from having a ton of fun with it at the range or plinking field. Whether you add a shoulder brace or not, this gun should serve you well. I was well and truly impressed with its accuracy â that eight-and-a-half inch barrel does a great job and the sights are good all on their own. Add a red dot and you just extended your range a bit. Put some hollow points in it and take to the woods… switch to target loads for a real eye-opening experience at the range. Even if you already own a dozen rimfire guns, it never hurts to have one more. As always, keep âem in the black and stay safe!
Great info Mike
dm, thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it – thanks for writing!
C’mon Mike,finish the review.You said nothing in regards to the magazine.Is it proprietary?Did you have any feeding issues?What is the capacity?How many ship with the gun?
William, yeah, the mag is proprietary. I thought photos of it would be enough but I should’ve captioned them to reflect what I learned. And, no, no feeding issues. You get one 10-round mag with the gun. I corrected the text to reflect some magazine details. Glad you called me on it-thanks for writing.
Thanks- I trust your column
Appreciate that!
I had one of these. Fun to shoot, but atrocious accuracy. With CCI Mini-Mags, I could reliably get good groups and have fun shooting, but with Remington Thunderbolt, or with Aguila Super Extra 22 (also lead round nose) I would see groups of 60+ MOA.
That’s not a typo. 60 MOA. I fired it from a rest because it made me question me very sanity, much less my marksmanship.
Called H&K support and they were very clear that they do not make the gun, merely provide support, and any accuracy claims using ammo other than the recommended Mini-Mags is not valid for warranty work. So while I don’t warn people away from this gun on principle, do beware that if you buy this, you’re getting an adequate rifle that is incredibly picky about the ammo it will fire.
Jason, even though the gun is for fun, it helps if it shoots at least most of the time where it’s aimed…too bad on your 60 MOA. That’s really bad. I guess I got lucky with the one I shot. Mine was certainly fun to shoot. I appreciate your comments-thanks for writing!
loved it. Did you do a vs Kel Tec PLR-22
Jeff, no, I’ve tried to reach out to Kel Tec but so far, no success. That gun does look interesting. Thanks for writing!
Mike, Nice review on the HK. 416. HK in my opinion is one of the best manufacturers for AR the platform. Awesome way to shoot without a lot of Expense in rounds! Keep the article’s coming Thanks again .
John, yup, they make good stuff. Just remember that this .22 is made by Umarex but supported by HK. Thanks for writing!
I bought the hk416 22lr a couple years ago sure would love to get a drum magazine but can’t find one compatible. Any suggestions?
Joseph, I did a quick net search and found 2 companies that sold single-drum magazines for the 416. This company sells double-drum mags for about $60 (according to their website–I know nothing about them): https://www.commandelitehobbies.com/products/hk416-gen8-double-drum-magazine.
Check them out and let us know which way you go. Thanks for writing!