Home Reviews Hk51 H&K HK51 Review

H&K HK51 Review

by Arnie

Tokyo
Marui H&K51 Carbine Review

images
and review submitted by Jimmy
, edited by
Arnie

 

Stock
Specifications
FPS
280fps
(stock fps may vary)
Length: 956
mm
Weight: 5.5
kg

Ammo
capacity:

 

500 rounds
(Hi-Cap)

70 Round (Standard
Mag)

HK51 Review#1 page
| HK51 Review#2 page
|
HK51
Images page


Introduction:
First of all I’ll say a bit about the background of the real steel HK51 (if
it actually exists). As you might be able to tell, this gun is based on the
Heckler and Koch G3 series of rifles, of which there are quite a few official
variants and even more unofficial ones, designed and made in other countries
and by other companies than HK, out of HK components.

The HK Model 51 is one of
these guns, originally made in America by Bill Flemming. However, if you put
the actual real steel HK Model 51 next to the TM HK51 you would notice a lot
of differences. The TM MC51 is actually far more similar to the real HK51, with
its retractable stock and short barrel. The closest I could find on the Internet
to the Tokyo Marui HK51 was an HK 51 Semi-Auto Vollmer conversion, made from
an HK 91 or 94. It still didn’t have the solid stock, but the rest was very
close.

HK51

If you haven’t been
airsofting for very long, or you always go to the same skirmish site then
its altogether possible you might never have seen an HK51. The reason
for this is that it was one of Marui’s limited edition AEGs, with only
5000 made in the whole world (or so I’ve heard).

This makes it a pretty
sought-after gun, and I bought mine second hand for the same amount as
most new AEGs. It is obviously based heavily upon the MC51, with the same
receiver and cocking tube etc., however it has a nice big solid stock
to put a big battery in, a smart looking vented foregrip and a big
long barrel. It also has the EG1000 motor installed as standard and comes
with a G3 Hi-capacity magazine.

As with all of Marui’s
HK AEGs there are lots of upgrades and accessories available for it. I
have 2 Hi-Cap mags ( a total of 1000 rounds), a TM scope mount, red dot
scope, maglite and holder, 3 point sling and the Classic Army metal receiver
and cocking tube. The only internal upgrade I have installed is a TN FAMAS
barrel.

The Red Dot sight
simply projects a little dot of red light onto a lens inside it, allowing
quick target acquisition with both eyes open and higher accuracy. However
the TM scope mount does not fit either the CA Metal body or the normal
plastic TM one very well at all, meaning that I have had to use Duck Tape
and superglue (on the mount itself, not the gun) to keep mine in place.

In the future I will buy
a Cyrus or B Square mount, as it apparently fits far more reliably. The Maglite
and mount would be useful for FIBUA (“fighting in built up areas”.
Ed)
, but with a gun as big
as the HK51, which cant be used effectively in such a situation, it is just
there for looks. I will talk about the other accessories later on.

 

Looks:
Well I won’t say much
about the actual styling of the gun, as you can see that for yourself from
any picture. Some people like it, some don’t. I didn’t particularly like
the looks when I first saw this gun, but I bought it anyway, and it has
grown on me since then. The finish of the actual weapon is rather nice,
with all the same weld marks you’d see on any MP5 and a lovely semi-rough
finish. Lovely to look at, that is.

Holding the gun is a different
matter altogether. It feels “plasticy”, is FAR too light and
creaks a hell of a lot, especially the foregrip. When my brother first held
the gun he said to me “What a piece of #@*, you could get that kind of
quality from a toy gun from “Toys R Us”.” I agreed with
him to some extent, and so I invested in the CA metal body. It was a bugger
to fit, as I had to drill all the screw holes, and I also had to take it apart
about 5 times when I forgot to put things back inside.

It was well worth
the effort, the only plastic left on the gun is the foregrip, pistol grip
and stock, just like on the real thing. The creaks and squeaks are no
more, and my HK51 now weighs about 5.5kg without the scope or maglite.

The trigger group
now reads S E F, rather than 0 1 20 as on the original body, and I had
to paint in the letters with model paint, as they were black when the
body arrived. One bad thing about the metal body is that the trigger group
is the same colour as the rest of the receiver, unlike the original body,
which had a slightly lighter grey trigger group. I don’t know whether
the real gun has this feature but I thought it looked pretty cool.

 

General Stuff:
The HK51, like all TM G3 series, takes a 500 round Hi-Cap mag, which I’ve
found to be as much as I’ll normally need in any one game. I bought another
one just in case, and have only used it once, when the bottom fell off
my other mag (this happens quite a lot with G3 mags, so tape the bottom
on before going into the field).

Because it has a big
stock you can put a nice large battery in it, the 8.4v it comes with will
last you all day skirmishing and there’ll still be enough left over to
keep you plinking ’til the next event. To get the battery in and out you
slide off the rubber butt-plate, slide the battery in and hook it up to
the connector at the top, easy enough to do in the field if you ever need
to.

Another bonus is that
the stock won’t wobble or squeak like the full stock MP5s will, as its
secured with a nice long metal thingumy which in turn is fixed
to the body with 4 big long bolts.

The cocking handle
works just like the real thing, and you can lock it back then slap it
forward without fear of it snapping right off, as happens on the MP5s,
and it sounds nice with the metal body fitted.

Another thing you
might want to look out for is the rear sling pin, as mine fell out, and
I have had to glue a nail in its place which doesn’t look quite so classy.

(This
is my SG1’s stock- note the gaffer-tape keeping the pin secure, Arnie)

 

Performance:
With the stock barrel in the range and accuracy of the HK51 are somewhere between
the MC51 and the SG-1, hardly surprising seeing as the barrel is somewhere between
the MC51 and SG-1. However you can stick in an SG-1 barrel or even a FAMAS barrel
easily and cheaply and you’ll suddenly have a far more effective long-range
weapon. OK, you’re not going to be able to snipe people like you would with
an APS2, but you will definitely out-range almost all other AEGs by a noticeable
distance. The rate of fire is phenomenal with the EG1000 motor, and its also
a very quiet gun compared to others with the same ROF (– Rate of fire.
Ed).

The power is probably about
300 fps now with the TN barrel installed, although I’ve never had a chance to
chrono it, but a stock HK51 would have much the same power as any other TM AEG,
between 280 and 290 fps. There are plenty of other internal upgrades you can
stick into this gun; springs, gears, reinforced boxes, pistons and all the other
gubbins, but be careful, as if you put anything above an M100 spring in you’ll
most likely have to at least upgrade the gears as well.

Another word of warning
is that you might not want to put a sling on your HK51 unless it has a
metal body, as the plastic receiver will eventually bend and crack.

The sling I have on
mine is a British army sling, designed for use on the SA80, and so I’ve
had to put the connecty bit from a sports bag strap on the front
end, in order to attach it to the front sling mount.

This sling allows
you to adjust it from carry length to shouldering length instantly, via
a quick release buckle at the front.

 

Summary:
Right, it’s a classy gun with a high ROF, good range and accuracy, theres loads
of accessories and upgrades available and, being a limited edition, it’ll make
you stand out from the thousands of “M4a1 wielding goons”.

The only bad things I could
think of about this gun are the creaky receiver and its size, only 5 or 6 cm
shorter than an SG-1, which means fighting in buildings is a virtual impossibility.
However, if you have a backup gun for use in those situations and you want a
nice gun which you can turn into the BEST gun with a few minor upgrades then
the HK51 is your man.

Conclusion

Appearance

3/5

Build
Quality

3/5
(stock)

5/5

(with metal body kit)

Performance

 

3/5
(stock)

5/5
(upgraded)

Value
for Money

3/5

Overall
Potential

5/5

External
Links:

AirsoftZone
– a review of the HK51 by Skyfire

Dolphin
website
– Another fine review of the Hk51, by
Dolphin#1

BUFU
Custom Gun Works

a review of the custom HK51 Sniper Version

BlackRain7
– a rather nice review fo the HK51 Carbine

AirsoftPlayers
– A great comparative review of the oringinal TM HK51 and the custom version

Comment
on this review in the forums


copyright 2001
ArniesAirsoft.

This page
last edited: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 7:49 PM




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