Holret Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Last year the German government learned about the short comings of the G36 rifle. Shortly after an Investigation the Bundeswehr (Federal Armed Forces of Germany) decided to find a replacement for the G36 line of weapons and find it fast. They found what they needed, instead of going for the obvious HK416, they decided to go back to the 7.62mm platform once again with the HK417 and as of now they have incorporated 1,200 of these into service and more on the way! The news hit me hard, I was a long time G36 fan (of sorts) and coincidentally, my Elite Force G36 was also having problems. After several RMA's later.. I have decided to settle with the HK417. Yes, just like the german military. But enough of the history what about the gun? Despite all the rage and hype for Krytac and Polarstar I find my New HK417D to be delightfully adequate for the airsoft Field. Its bulky fairly modular (rails) and very very sturdy! Everything I needed, an improvement of quality from the plastic and toy like G36 rifle. The range is satisfactory and performs the way it looks. I can hit objects (people) at over 200 ft. This rifle is somewhat of a DMR and does it fairly well out of the box. Its accurate and the Feet Per second if also consistent at about 430-440.The ergonomics are what we are used to from an AR15, except a little larger. The magazines are definitely interesting. They are somewhat translucent plastic with visible fake bullets inside. The amount of detail on the gun and magazines are second to none. Anyone could confuse it for a real rifle even after a close inspection. Another feature is the functioning bolt catch release which when pressed, allow the mock bolt to slide forward. Its a satisfying effect. I inspected the feature after opening the rifle and discovered how easily can be broken. Yeah I f*cked it up. No matter, the bolt still opens to reveal the hop up. I have owned several airsoft guns in the past to include the Echo 1 ER25K, Cymas AK's, King Arms P90, G39 GBBR, KWA G36 and Elite Force G36, and im happy to announce that it surpasses all of my expectations with superb performance. I haven't found a need to find after market upgrade aside from maybe a better inner barrel. This AEG is a champ from the start. Personally I have not found any real isssues with it and I have already had some playtime with it and so far it doesn't disappoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avalanche Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I love the VFC internals and their hopup since i have the 416 but I really hope that they would just give us a tightbore in the package instead of us having to buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanback Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 I love the VFC internals and their hopup since i have the 416 but I really hope that they would just give us a tightbore in the package instead of us having to buy it. The first release of the 417 back in the day not only came with metal bushings instead of bearings, but a stronger spring, better hop-up bucking, and a 6.04 barrel. Although not tight-bore and only brass, it performed much better than most stock guns hands down. Also, VFC internals are great outside of their gears. The gears are no stronger or weaker than your typical GE or XYT gears found in literally every low end gun, but that isn't the problem. The inherant issue with VFC is the self shimming springs on the gears. Cool idea in theory, terrible ideal in practice. It pushes the gears together so that they make surface contact as well as tooth contact. This is detrimental to performance and creates a good deal of noise and increases stress. Also, the springs mean that the gears are not permanently held in place, which can allow slipping of the gears in certain cases, which is probably the worst thing ever for a gearbox. Over the years I have seen some last really well, but I have seen even more fail explosively, taking with them most other internal components. If left in complete stock form, the self-shimming gears should be ok. But as soon as upgrades begin to be added they need swapped out immediately to prevent damage as increasing the rof and loads with a stronger spring will cause gear slippage and the shearing of teeth due to it. The ultimate positioning of gears is such that they are not touching the gearbox shell nor any other gears. Only the teeth of the gears should ever meet, and there should be a nice little small space between gear surfaces meaning that they don't touch. The large issue with the airsoft 417 is the gearbox shell too. There is very little material on the front of the shell, meaning that is it even more prone to failure that a typical Version 2 shell. Replacement shells are around though, and decently priced. This is coming from an original 417 owner and probably the first in the states to own it, having gun number 99 ever produced. It is a stunningly beautiful gun though, and out of the box works better than any gun I have ever witnessed. I do give it credit there. I sometimes do miss my old girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comrade S_Z Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 I second what Hanback says about the VFC "self shimming" gears, it's a bad idea. It allows the gears to walk and rub against each other under stress. I've made a handful of stainless steel solid shims for guys that remove the springs, that way you can shim the gears as normal. I have a first gen VFC AK104, and the gears are pretty decent in it, I'd rate them on par with Guarder. Compared to gears from Pablo's VFC 416, you can see the difference in quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avalanche Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 The first release of the 417 back in the day not only came with metal bushings instead of bearings, but a stronger spring, better hop-up bucking, and a 6.04 barrel. Although not tight-bore and only brass, it performed much better than most stock guns hands down. Also, VFC internals are great outside of their gears. The gears are no stronger or weaker than your typical GE or XYT gears found in literally every low end gun, but that isn't the problem. The inherant issue with VFC is the self shimming springs on the gears. Cool idea in theory, terrible ideal in practice. It pushes the gears together so that they make surface contact as well as tooth contact. This is detrimental to performance and creates a good deal of noise and increases stress. Also, the springs mean that the gears are not permanently held in place, which can allow slipping of the gears in certain cases, which is probably the worst thing ever for a gearbox. Over the years I have seen some last really well, but I have seen even more fail explosively, taking with them most other internal components. If left in complete stock form, the self-shimming gears should be ok. But as soon as upgrades begin to be added they need swapped out immediately to prevent damage as increasing the rof and loads with a stronger spring will cause gear slippage and the shearing of teeth due to it. The ultimate positioning of gears is such that they are not touching the gearbox shell nor any other gears. Only the teeth of the gears should ever meet, and there should be a nice little small space between gear surfaces meaning that they don't touch. The large issue with the airsoft 417 is the gearbox shell too. There is very little material on the front of the shell, meaning that is it even more prone to failure that a typical Version 2 shell. Replacement shells are around though, and decently priced. This is coming from an original 417 owner and probably the first in the states to own it, having gun number 99 ever produced. It is a stunningly beautiful gun though, and out of the box works better than any gun I have ever witnessed. I do give it credit there. I sometimes do miss my old girl.Thanks for informing me about the flaws, someday if anything gives out I'll probably upgrade some stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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