I got this HKMR556 a couple of years ago, and had just never loved it, as I found it too heavy overall, and in particular quite front heavy. Don't get me wrong, I WANTED to like it, given the obvious quality and dead reliability, but was considering selling it.
Then, HKparts made their "416" barrel available. I figured I'd try it. Got it switched out, and realized the entire barrelled upper weighed less than the original 16" HK barrel! That's gotta make a difference, right??
Well, yes and no. The gun no longer felt front heavy, but still just heavy overall. Sure, I could take the rail covers, BUIS, light, and vertical grip off, but I LIKE all of that crap!
Finally (with a deep sigh) after it had sat in the safe for months with the new barrel, I decided to sell it. With this in mind I removed one of my favorite optics, the SpecterDR, from it (and put it on my lightest AR, a CC MRR)
BUT then, without an optic, I hefted the HK and found that, for the first time, I was in love! With just backup sights, it was well-balanced and pointable! It was just the combination of heavy gun and heavy optic that was, well, a bit much. Adding a red dot and riser still left it light enough to be reasonable.
So here we are, with the minimalist HK "416". Super happy with it. May buy a higher-quality red dot for it, but have definitely concluded that a red dot of some sort is the way to go! Last touch was swapping out the birdcage for an AGW flash hider. She's now, finally, a keeper.
The ####:
Then, HKparts made their "416" barrel available. I figured I'd try it. Got it switched out, and realized the entire barrelled upper weighed less than the original 16" HK barrel! That's gotta make a difference, right??
Well, yes and no. The gun no longer felt front heavy, but still just heavy overall. Sure, I could take the rail covers, BUIS, light, and vertical grip off, but I LIKE all of that crap!
Finally (with a deep sigh) after it had sat in the safe for months with the new barrel, I decided to sell it. With this in mind I removed one of my favorite optics, the SpecterDR, from it (and put it on my lightest AR, a CC MRR)
BUT then, without an optic, I hefted the HK and found that, for the first time, I was in love! With just backup sights, it was well-balanced and pointable! It was just the combination of heavy gun and heavy optic that was, well, a bit much. Adding a red dot and riser still left it light enough to be reasonable.
So here we are, with the minimalist HK "416". Super happy with it. May buy a higher-quality red dot for it, but have definitely concluded that a red dot of some sort is the way to go! Last touch was swapping out the birdcage for an AGW flash hider. She's now, finally, a keeper.
The ####:
