I broke out the studio lighting to get this video offering a detailed look at the HK 556. Below the video are some of my thoughts at this point about the HK 556.
[video=youtube_share;kfTHNEP8gQs]http://youtu.be/kfTHNEP8gQs[/video]
Is there a noticeable difference between a piston driven system and a gas direct impingement system?
I guess it all depends on how you measure “noticeable.” I do notice a diference, but it is subtle. It is rather hard to articulate the subtlety of the difference, but there is something that feels a bit more “solid” about the HK when shooting it. Again, nothing too terribly different, but a difference, to be sure. Not sure it would push you one way or the other in terms of making a buying decision. The price point of the HK MR556 is to astronomically higher than any other “regular” AR, I don’t think one could argue that the “feel” alone would be the tipping factor.
Fit, finish, quality of the HK MR556.
As one would expect from an HK product, this thing is, as I mention on the video, built like a tank. It is extremely solid feeling, and heavy duty. The weight alone is a clue to its build quality. A heavier barrel and rail system, contribute to a rifle that, in comparison to other ARs, would certainly never be referred to as “light weight.” The fit and finish is superb. For the price, it better be.
Negative features.
The fact that you have to use tools to take the rifle apart will be, for many people, a major negative on this rifle. Then again, given the fact that with a gas piston system, a field strip is arguably not required as frequently may offset this. I have seen a video on YouTube showing a guy pushing the retention pins out with a standard 5.56 NATO round, using the bullet. I’ve not tried that. In order to get to the gas piston to clean it, you have to unscrew the entire rail assembly and take it off. No biggie, but again, given how the M1 Garand can be completely field stripped, even detailed stripped, without a tool, it would have been nice for this to have been a feature on the HK 416 / MR556 platform. Another thing about the MR556 that may be a turn off is the weight. It is not a light-weight AR. No two ways about it. Throw optics and other doo-dads on it and you are talking about a noticeably heavier carbine system.
Positive Features
The HK MR556 has a very solid bolt carrier group, heavier buffer, perhaps a stiffer buffer tube spring, but it lends the MR556 a very solid feeling and very positive round chambering quality. One of the first thing that everyone notices when they look it over is how strongly the bolt action operates. The iron sights on the HK are something you either love, or hate. I’m getting used to them. The trigger, out of the box, on the HK MR556 is very, very good. I really do not see a practical point in replacing the trigger with something else.
Just some thoughts…