WE 4168 (HK416) Review

My initial thoughts:
The box itself, like the scar is nothing to write home about.
Contents:
Carbine replica, Manual, Magazine (green gas), and loader.

The cardboard left some dust on the gun, it just needs to be wiped down with a rag.
The zip ties were cut, so I'm assuming that Blowback Armory tested the gun before shipping it out- Good QC.

EXTERNALS:

When I picked the gun up I noticed the RIS was VERY loose and has quite a bit of play- I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but I guess the barrel really is 'free-floating'. The rail clamp bolt is some type of cross I've never seen before, since I dont have the tool, I'll have to try to use a large flathead to tighten it down. KAC style grips, and [pistol] tac-lights fit VERY snug on the rail with absolutely no play at all (niiice).

The external finish is amazing. I believe that it is anodized aluminum. Similar or better than the SCAR (black) as I remember it. The gun feels solid and cold to the touch, both everything that should be metal is, and the furniture is fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) . The grip is nice and textured, slimmer than your standard AEG's grip- as it should be. The 4-position stock has some play, but that is to be expected.

The carbine length barrel front can be twisted off, exposing the 360+/- mm length barrel (CCW thread) so you can attach your H&K silencers or w/e.

The Rear sight is adjustable between 4 different apertures and clicks into place nicely.

INTERNALS:

As I inspected the 'BCG' and other internal components, I noticed plenty of grease on the charging handle and the top of the bolt carrier, there is also a bearing/roller on top.

I tightened some of the phillips screws above the firing pin housing and any other screws I could find.
This is my first GBB 'rifle' replica, so I'm not familiar with what all needs to be tightened, but I have read that everything should be inspected, lubed and tightened before firing if it's fresh from the factory.
(If anyone could share tips on maintenance with me- that'd be awesome.) Before putting the BCG and charging handle back in, i sprayed some silicon lube into the trigger group, firing pin housing, and selector area.

The hop-up is kind of hard to access for adjustment. I guess you M4/M16 owners already knew that.
The brass loading chamber does appear to have some rough edges, as do SCARs which may lead to the left/ right hooking of the trajectory.
The inner barrel was filthy, so be sure to clean those out upon purchasing your HK416's.

PERFORMANCE:

First mag: 30 rounds
Propellant: C3H8 (propane)
Ammunition: 0.20g crossman bbs (i know i know, it was just for testing since the hop-up hasnt been broken in)
Ambient temperature: 52F ~ 11.1C
Humidity: 100%
Altitude: Austin, TX (500 ft ~ 230m)

Results: They had a tendency to hook to the left. (this is BEFORE i cleaned the barrel and factory hop-up settings) The bolt did NOT lock back upon last round fired.
Firing pattern: 10 Single with 4 seconds intermittent, 3 round burst, 10 single, 3 round burst, then single until empty. Although the bolt did not lock back, I dry fired 2-3 rounds before reloading the mag.

Verdict: the BB's went everywhere.

Second mag: Variables remain constant.

Results: Same. Very sporadic trajectories, though the range is noticeably further than my M16 (350fps) AEG. The Bolt locked back upon last round discharged.

Third mag: 30 rounds
Ammunition: Matrix 0.25g bb's
All other variables held constant.

Results: Still very sporadic trajectories. Only improvement was that I actually hit a can sized target at 50 feet (for the first time). Still heavy left hooking tendency.

Fourth mag: 30 rounds
Ammunition: Matrix 0.25g bb's
Propellant: CO2
Barrel cleaned, hop-up adjusted.
All other variables held constant

Results: Excellent range. Over 150 feet - could even be 200 feet, I cannot accurately gauge distance with given test facility (my back yard). The bolt cycles MUCH faster, therefore increasing recoil. Increased consistency for burst fire. The bb's no longer hooked in any direction, except up- unfortunately I only had about 30 0.25g bb's left, so i could not finish calibrating the hop-up settings. Regardless, after cleaning the barrel and turning the hop way up the bb's flew straight. Decreasing hop after every round, the last shot looked correct. The bolt locked back.

I was able to fire about 20 more dry shots with the remaining co2 (on full auto). So that's around 50 shots per 12g cartridge.

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