toasty297 Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Sorry to necro post, but I recently bought 2x HK416 from RSOV, and things turned out a bit different for me. Before I made the purchase, I read through the Dboys HK416 news thread and this review, and thus I ordered parts in anticipation of the following issues, - The hop-up unit and rubber sucks. - Mag-catch issues. - Typical ACM 8.4V battery. - Spring that exceeds 350FPS. - Plastic bushing. So just for the initial phase of durability/performance upgrades, I ordered the following parts, - Prometheus NEO hop-up unit - Madbull Hop bucking - Prometheus 363mm Tight-bore barrel - 7mm metal bearings - Prometheus MS100 spring So when they arrived, I unboxed and found that my Dboys HK416 came with a few differences to what I expected. Firstly, both my HK416s came a 9.6V battery. The silver plate that works as the bolt doesn't have the HK logo engraved on it. The outer barrel doesn't have any markings on it like the ones in Ranger_Captain's pictures. I then proceeded to test the gun, I tried to insert the clone VFC HK416 magazine that came with in the box, and found that it wouldn't go all the way in. I tried a Marui and some random ACM mags I had lying around and they all worked with bit of force. I then noticed that it was the actual hop-up unit that was blocking the clone VFC mag. However, compared to the problem that Darklite talked about the mag-catch being dodgy and hop-unit moving side to side causing this problem, mine was relatively simple to fix. I found that if I unscrewed the flash hider and pulled the barrel out a bit, effectively pulling the hop-unit forward, I was able to use any mag (including the HK416 mag) without any problems. I then did some test firing, using the HK416 mag. The trigger response was good and snappy, and results from the chrono was reallllllly impressive, with a very consistant average of 380FPS and deviation of ±5FPS. And this was all out of the box. This was very different from what I heard from the other reviews. Shame it was over the UK site limits. I eventually changed out the bushing, re-shimmed the gears and put in a the MS100 spring. I then used a 2mm spacer to push the hop-unit away from the gearbox, this fixed the magazine problem. More performance upgrade parts are planned, but need to wait a bit. So has anyone else gotten a different version of the Dboys HK416? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mental Medic Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Hmmmmm, I've been contemplating on getting this for some time. But I had no idea it had plastic bushings. But dude, when you pull the hop up unit forward, you're increasing the gap between the nozzle and bucking, the end result of which being an inconsistent air seal and decreased FPS. Do take note of this. How's the receiver finish by the way? My guess is that the upper is really rough and the lower is a little less rough, but confirmation is nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toasty297 Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Yeh, I am a bit worried about the nozzle not fully seating into the the hop-unit, so kinda looking into getting around that. Cos if I don't pull it forward a bit, the mags won't even load in. And it's not even the just the stock Dboys hop-up unit, it happens even with the Prometheus one I got as well. It actually seems like the gearbox just that 2mm too deep into the the receiver. I have been looking into the different lengths of nozzles but no luck at the moment. As for getting this as a platform for upgrading is great, but it seems if you leave it stock, they all have random issues to address depending on which batch you receive. Both the upper and lower receiver is coloured the same, both feel slightly rough to the touch. As stated in the review here, almost like how newly machined aluminium would feel, I guess they used less layers of paint? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Abelius Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 (edited) Mine had the magazine problem too. A G&P unit remedied the problem completely. I got a non-HK faux bolt too. The dissapointment in my version was that I got one of the black gearboxed ones, with non-reinforced cylinder window frames. I left only the nice blue piston head, cylinder and gears be and replaced everything else with stuff I already had. I also replaced the awful thin wires with 18awg stuff, reshimmed and relubed the thing and downgraded it with a Systema M100 spring. I'm running a Systema hop rubber and getting very nice performance at consistent 310fps (lost the typical 20 or so fps to piston aoe mod). All in all, I'm pretty happy with my gun. The externals have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and being an internal-hoe, tuning it didn't bother me either. I wouldn't recommend this or any Dboys armalite to anyone to use in stock form though, their shimming for instance is always so downright awful. Currently it looks like this, sorry for the quality as I had nothing but my Sony-Ericsson at the hand: Edited September 6, 2009 by Abelius Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deksu Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 (edited) I guess this can go here, as I've run into a problem with the Dboys HK416. So, I was about to clean up the stock greases inside the mechbox (gun belongs to a friend of mine) but I hassled a bit with the gun and came up with a problem concerning the bolt catch and its moving parts. While moving the black part on the right side of the GB, a spring popped out (the piece is marked with a red ring, first photo) and I have no idea how to get the spring back in place. Only advice I got from Finnish airsoft-forums was to get rid of the whole bolt catch because it's easy to break in use. Here's a few photos to enlighten the problem (don't mind about the texts, typed in Finnish): The part which should have the spring attached to it The spring All of the parts (expect the bolt catch) And some more info concerning the gun: The original hopup rubber is awful, I recommend changing it to a Systema or a Guarder clear one. Add some shims (or a small spring) under the screw which holds the hop-up units biggest "gear" in place to minimize the excess movement with the units' gears (helps to keep the hop-up settings). Haven't opened the gearbox yet, but it seems to have very poor air compression, I'll change to piston head O-ring and chrono it (now shoots about 90m/s, shop promised that it would shoot atleast 110 m/s). But all in all, the gun seems well build and only the hop-up unit has caused some minor problems. Edited September 8, 2009 by Deksu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toasty297 Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 I guess this can go here, as I've run into a problem with the Dboys HK416. So, I was about to clean up the stock greases inside the mechbox (gun belongs to a friend of mine) but I hassled a bit with the gun and came up with a problem concerning the bolt catch and its moving parts. While moving the black part on the right side of the GB, a spring popped out (the piece is marked with a red ring, first photo) and I have no idea how to get the spring back in place. Only advice I got from Finnish airsoft-forums was to get rid of the whole bolt catch because it's easy to break in use. Here's a few photos to enlighten the problem (don't mind about the texts, typed in Finnish): The part which should have the spring attached to it The spring All of the parts (expect the bolt catch) And some more info concerning the gun: The original hopup rubber is awful, I recommend changing it to a Systema or a Guarder clear one. Add some shims (or a small spring) under the screw which holds the hop-up units biggest "gear" in place to minimize the excess movement with the units' gears (helps to keep the hop-up settings). Haven't opened the gearbox yet, but it seems to have very poor air compression, I'll change to piston head O-ring and chrono it (now shoots about 90m/s, shop promised that it would shoot atleast 110 m/s). But all in all, the gun seems well build and only the hop-up unit has caused some minor problems. Yo, here's some pic regarding the bolt release mech. The spring looks a bit off compared to the one I have. Well here's the pics and hope they help. How it should look with the whole unit intact The spring Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deksu Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 (edited) Thanks alot toasty, those pics really helped. Yeah, the spring has come very loose and lost its form (keeps popping out of the hole), so I just might have to leave it alone or try an create a similar spring. But those pics helped ALOT, thank you! Edited September 10, 2009 by Deksu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jingernut Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Has anyone managed to buy one of these and not have to do anything to it out of the box to get it to work? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toasty297 Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 Has anyone managed to buy one of these and not have to do anything to it out of the box to get it to work? That's a tad unfair really, since out of the box it does work. The only real problem I encountered with the two HK416s that I received was the magazine itself is slightly to far forward, so it has trouble aligning to the hop-up unit. When I used a regular airsoft M4 mag, it worked fine. Also, a problem with most china made guns, is that it's firing hot, both of them were firing consistently around 380FPS. Another than these minor problems, out of the box and with the 9.6V battery that it came with. It performs ok, a nice trigger response on semi, ROF isn't great but not too slow. A tough and robust body, with next to no wobble of creaks. All in all, a China Made AEG that's not too shabby, sure it could it be better, but for the price compared to other DBoys rifles, it's worth it. Comparably, I currently have two other Dboys rifles in my care, a SCAR and an AKS-74, both were doing over 410FPS with a rough deviation of ±15FPS which does horrors for accuracy, the ROF was also terrible. So it's not so bad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jingernut Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 That's a tad unfair really, since out of the box it does work. Sorry, wasn't having a go or anything, was just wondering how bad it really was. Thanks for the info, really helpful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LordOfTheFinns Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 Mine worked perfectly straight out of the box. Hop was fine, gearbox ran smoothly, original mag fed flawlessly. The only real problem came a few weeks after buying it, when the magazine managed to tear through the wires running inside the magwell. But even that was only due to bad placement of the wires. I replaced the motor 'cause it seemed a bit slow. Systema Magnum broke, now back to using the original. After these it's gone through ~5000 BB's without problems and the only thing that's not original inside the gun are the wirings. Can't really say a bad word about Dboys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toasty297 Posted September 14, 2009 Report Share Posted September 14, 2009 Now if only they could have better QC and create a consistantly good batch........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KalasknikovMan Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Mine needed a new hop-up and I replaced the bushings just for good measure. Before I replaced my hop up I could hardly get the included mag into the gun. But now that I've replaced it, the mag goes in just fine. Mine came shooting 410-ish fps, but the spring is shorter than a normal spring. Other than that it's a pretty good gun imo. KM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Frontiers Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Now if only they could have better QC and create a consistantly good batch........ there is no Chinese manufacturer like that even most loved Jing Gong have Lemons so many that you can lost count when you calculate...based on my friends i know at many retailers. I guess is what you pay for and cannot expect this price to have same level of consistency as many times more expensive models have. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Abelius Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Following not aimed at you Frontiers. Dboys guns are generally much shoddier than JG guns for instance. People seem to have really different opinions on what's ready out of the box. For me "ready out of the box" means that the gun has a healthy non-screechy sound, good trigger response and consistent hop up effect with fps representing the actual power of the spring. Dboys fails that criteria in my eyes and I regard them as project guns and as that don't recommend them for regular use as they are. CYMA and JG guns work pretty much always in a way I don't feel like opening them as my first task. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DarkLite Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Following not aimed at you Frontiers. Dboys guns are generally much shoddier than JG guns for instance. People seem to have really different opinions on what's ready out of the box. For me "ready out of the box" means that the gun has a healthy non-screechy sound, good trigger response and consistent hop up effect with fps representing the actual power of the spring. Dboys fails that criteria in my eyes and I regard them as project guns and as that don't recommend them for regular use as they are. CYMA and JG guns work pretty much always in a way I don't feel like opening them as my first task. THIS. DBOYS/KALASH guns are not great out of the box - some get lucky, the great majority don't. JG are good, but I'd still err on the side of caution with them. CYMA are the ONLY chinese brand that I'd trust to use out of the box. They have by far and away the best QC of any of the chinese manufacturers I have used. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Frontiers Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Following not aimed at you Frontiers. Dboys guns are generally much shoddier than JG guns for instance. People seem to have really different opinions on what's ready out of the box. For me "ready out of the box" means that the gun has a healthy non-screechy sound, good trigger response and consistent hop up effect with fps representing the actual power of the spring. Dboys fails that criteria in my eyes and I regard them as project guns and as that don't recommend them for regular use as they are. CYMA and JG guns work pretty much always in a way I don't feel like opening them as my first task. i admit lately what ive heard DBoys been slipping again on QC, but my meaning was on that you really cannot expect for this price range no matter which factory stuff it is to perform like any $300-$500 USD gun (even many of them have some issues what ive read from here) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Abelius Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Yea, I know. That's why I said it wasn't aimed at you (it would have looked like it because your post was above mine), because you were correct. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Habakure Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Can anyone else confirm if the spring is shorter as Kalashnikovman said it was, need to replace the spring in mine as it is hot (And I don't want to open up the gearbox unnecessarily). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Abelius Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 It's a few centimeters shorter than a Guarder spring and 400 fps'ish. Quite a poor spring to be honest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Habakure Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) Would a normal spring be fine (to use a replacement like a gaurder one or even marui), or would I have to shorten it? Sorry for derailing the thread a little, but it is a review and other UK users will have to down grade it also(So thought it might be useful to get the answers in here). Edited September 21, 2009 by Habakure Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Abelius Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 They will fit. A longer spring is better, since it is less likely to bounce and create a "SPROING" noise. I'm using a Systema spring in mine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Apex Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Are they still selling these with both the 10" and 14" outer barrels ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Frontiers Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Are they still selling these with both the 10" and 14" outer barrels ? should be unless somebody steal those Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Apex Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Heres hoping then..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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