Umarex USA began with the acquisition of Ruag Ammotec USA (Dynamit Nobel), North American marketers of the famous RWS brand of premium adult airguns. Combined with the world class products from German based Umarex, the parent company of Walther Firearms, Umarex USA has quickly become one of the premier providers of airguns and airgun accessories to North America. Along with being a premier airgun company they now have branched out into the rimfire firearms market with the addition of two high visibility, company licensed .22 long rifle lines. Last year Umarex introduced a Colt licensed .22 rimfire replica of the M16/M4 rifle called the Colt Tactical Rimfire. This year they have announced a series of Heckler & Koch licensed .22 long rifle replicas beginning with a .22 copy of the highly sought after HK 416D rifle. Three other guns will eventually be available and will also carry the H&K stamp of approval. These include two models of the HK MP-5 (an A-5 version as well as an SD model) and also an HK 416 SD pistol. As the HK416D rifle replica was the first model available it is the subject of our test and evaluation.

All of the Umarex .22’s are engineered and manufactured in Germany by Carl Walther. Like the Colt Tactical Rimfires, the new HK replicas are a dedicated .22 long rifle platform, are blowback operated and feature match grade precision barrels. This author has owned one of Umarex’s M4 .22 carbines for about a year now and it has had several thousand rounds put through it. The only time that is has quit working is when it gets so dirty that it just can’t go anymore. It is the first .22 that I grab when I get the urge to go rimfire plinking. That said, I was expecting high marks from the Umarex HK 416D rifle. As it turns out I wasn’t disappointed.

Upon first examination of the new rifle a couple of things are immediately noticeable. The first is the overall look of the gun. It is really a good looking firearm. The fit and finish is great. The upper and lower receivers mate up with no wiggle whatsoever. It is finished in a very nice matte black color and all parts match. There are not several different blacks and definitely no “purple” color anywhere on the gun. Next is the attention to detail. The left side of the lower carries the HK logo, model designation, caliber and serial number. The engraving is white color filled and is very sharp and clear. The right side of the lower has the trademark, manufacturer and importer information. This engraving is also color filled and is the only disappointment on the whole gun. With that much information in white letters the lower looks cluttered. Selector markings are in pictogram form and have safe and fire spelled out below each. The gun’s upper and lower receivers are held together with HK style push pins.

Like the original H&K rifle, the Umarex 416 has a free floating barrel housed inside a Rail Interface System (RIS) forearm. This RIS features rails at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The top rail aligns perfectly with the railed flat top upper receiver. This top rail also has a set of adjustable iron sights that look and work just like the H&K sights that they were copied from. The pistol grip is the same hand filling design that is used on the centerfire HK and a removable plate on the bottom of the grip covers a storage area. The 6-position telescoping stock mimics the stock on the original gun and even carries the “HK” logo. The buttstock has a removable soft rubber butt pad which exposes more storage compartments.

The barrel of the Umarex HK 416 looks like it has an M4 configuration but in reality is a .22 caliber barrel liner covered by shroud that makes it look like an M4 barrel. The barrel is threaded but Walther chose to use the same thread that they used on their P-22 pistol and their Colt rimfire rifles which is metric 8x.75. This is unfortunate as most US manufactured .22 suppressors are threaded 1/2×28. Not to fear, Gemtech has come to the rescue with their Umarex Barrel Thread Adapter. To install the adapter you simply remove the original Walther A-2 style flash hider which exposed the barrel threads. Screw on the Gemtech adapter and then screw on an original 1/2×28 flash hider or suppressor. This adapter is the finest quality, the finish matches perfectly and when installed is not even noticeable.

The magazine that came with the test rifle is a proprietary design and holds 20 rounds. The magazine’s follower has thumb pads on either side that enables sliding the follower down to make loading a breeze. These pads travel in slots on either side of the magazine that give a visual indication of the number of rounds left. Magazines of 10 and 30 rounds will also be available. Hopefully, Black Dog Machine will come out with a tower for their 50-round drums to fit this gun.

Testing of the Umarex HK 416D rifle was done using several types of high velocity .22 long rifle as well as some subsonic ammunition. These included Remington High Velocity Hollow Points, CCI Mini-Mag in both hollow point and round nose styles, CCI Stingers and Remington Subsonic lead hollow points. As Umarex USA is the U.S. distributor for RWS rimfire ammunition, the test also included RWS High Velocity HP ammo. All testing was done from a rest at 50 yards.

To get the best accuracy from the gun a Leupold Tactical Prismatic Riflescope was mounted on the receiver’s flat top rail. This compact scope is a true 1X optic that comes with a removable illumination module that lights the reticle up in red. The reticle is called a Circle Plex and consists of a crosshair with a 2 MOA center dot surrounded by a ranging outer circle. The reticle is etched glass making it visible, at all times, even without batteries. It features 1/2- MOA click windage and elevation adjustments and comes with a quick detach base that includes different height mounting spacers to work with any type of firearm platform. This scope is also compatible with the A.R.M.S. #22 throw lever base. This compact scope is not cheap but it is one of the best compacts that this author has used.

As long as the shooter does his part this .22 rifle performs very well. Groups with the CCI Mini-Mags were right around 1.5 inches as were groups from the other high velocity ammunition. The exception here was the RWS High Velocity Hollow Points. This ammo consistently grouped at 1 inch or slightly better. This is some very consistent ammunition. Accuracy was then checked with the Remington Subsonic hollow point ammunition. The author installed his Gemtech Outback suppressor coupled with their Umarex Barrel Thread Adapter. Though not unusual, the rifle produced its best groups with this combination. At 50 yards 10-shot groups were less than 1 inch.

The manual for the Umarex .22 guns recommends using only high velocity ammunition but the test rifle ran with any kind of quality .22 shells that were stuffed into it. The rifle utilizes a user adjustable bolt recoil spring tension that can be adjusted for most ammo but no adjustment was needed in our tests. Overall, the Umarex HK 416D rifle leaves very little to be desired in this type gun, as it has it all. It offers good looks, very reliable functioning, outstanding accuracy and, with the forearm rail system, can be equipped with all the bells and whistles that you would ever want to hang on a rifle.

By Al Paulson

I love the intrinsic beauty, the exceptional accuracy, the user-friendly balance, the compact and easily holsterable envelope, and the satisfying sound signature of a state-of-the-art, integrally silenced Ruger Mark II pistol. That said, if I only had one sound suppressor, it would be a .22 caliber muzzle can. Why? The reasons are manifest. The muzzle can is cheaper, easier to clean, and kicks less crud back out of the barrel and into the action. Therefore, the parent firearm needs to be cleaned less frequently. The sight radius of a pistol with muzzle can is less than that of an integrally silenced pistol, which is an advantage if you have tired old eyes and wear progressive multifocal glasses like me. A big advantage of the muzzle can is that the parent firearm need not be dedicated to suppressed use, so the muzzle can may be removed from the firearm for hunting in those states where hunting with a sound suppressor is illegal. A corollary is that a single silencer may be switched among any number of rifles and pistols, adding to the muzzle can’s versatility and cost-effectiveness. Last, but by no means least, the muzzle can has a greater service life than an integral can. This latter consideration is important to very large volume shooters such as animal-control professionals. The Scarab sound suppressor from Advanced Armament Corp. is an excellent example of a relatively small and efficient muzzle can that works combustion gases hard, but not so hard as to degrade accuracy. In fact, accuracy with high velocity and standard velocity target ammo is significantly better with the Scarab than the same pistol without the Scarab.

The Scarab sound suppressor features a tube and end caps fabricated from 304 stainless steel. The baffle stack is machined from aluminum alloy to minimize weight, which is a consideration when the can is mounted on a pistol. The can is available in a polished stainless or a matte black finish. The matte black is worth discussing briefly. This is baked-on milspec molybdenum resin produced by John Norrell Manufacturing (Dept. SAR, 2608 Grist Mill Road, Little Rock, AR 72207; fax 501-225-7864;e-mail smg1022@aol.com) that adds lubricity and sheds grime readily. This Moly Resin Professional Firearms Finish is an outstanding product that is used by government contractors for USSOCOM. This is a specially formulated thermally reactive phenolic resin dissolved in a proprietary solvent that becomes impervious to an amazingly wide variety of solvents after proper heat curing. Moly Resin ™ stands up to a number of cleaning products with which I’ve killed other finishes. Carburetor cleaner, for example, dissolved some other moly resins and painted finishes. Castrol Degreaser killed a factory pistol finish. Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) killed another baked-on finish. Not only do these products have no effect on the Scarab, Norrell’s Moly Resin even stands up to nitric acid, which attacks unprotected steel, foaming vigorously, spewing corrosive byproducts, and producing volumes of colorful noxious gases. If you want a black finish rather than bright stainless, Norrell’s Moly Resin™ is a dandy way to go.

AAC’s Scarab silencer has a length of 5.7 inches, a diameter of 1.0 inch, and a weight of 6.3 ounces. Thus a stainless steel Ruger Mark II with 5.5 inch target-weight barrel, which is commonly known as the Model KMK512 pistol, weighs 47.2 ounces with the Scarab. The can evaluated in this study is threaded with the industry standard 1/2×28 TPI. AAC also offers the Scarab with two other mounting options for smaller pistols than the Ruger Mark II: 3/8×24 TPI (Scarab LOA 5.4 inches); and 7/16×28 TPI (Scarab LOA 5.25 inches). If you have your pistol threaded by AAC gunsmith, Dan Dansberry, you are in for a treat. This guy is more than a master gunsmith. He is an artiste. The thread protector he provides has the same diameter as the target-weight barrel, and the front of the protector is radiused to give the pistol a very finished and unmodified appearance when the thread protector is installed. The seam between the barrel and thread protector is so tight as to be almost invisible.

One of the few things I don’t like about muzzle cans is that the suppressed pistol is longer and heavier than an integrally suppressed pistol with a similar baffle stack (such as AAC’s Phoenix pistol). This has two principal consequences. (1) The pistol with muzzle can has a more muzzle heavy balance than the integrally silenced pistol. This slows the speed of target acquisition and accelerates shooter fatigue. And (2) the extra length of the pistol with muzzle can makes it very difficult to find a holster to accommodate the system. This makes carrying a pistol with muzzle can into the field rather impractical.

Advanced Armament offers two alternative solutions to this latter problem. (1) AAC issues a ballistic nylon belt pouch as standard equipment with every muzzle can they sell. With the Scarab, this enables end-users to carry their pistols in a conventional holster and the dismounted suppressor in its own pouch. (2) I discovered an even handier solution quite by accident. The holster designed for carrying AAC’s integrally silenced Phoenix pistol will also accommodate a KMK512 pistol with Scarab muzzle can mounted on the gun. Therefore, the silenced pistol is ready to shoot as fast as it can be drawn from the holster. While the Phoenix Holster completely protects the integrally silenced Phoenix pistol, the Scarab muzzle can does stick out from the bottom of the holster. This minor liability is outweighed considerably by the sheer convenience of being able to carry the Scarab mounted on the KMK512 when afield. It is worth noting that the holster completely encloses the Scarab if the KMK512 is shortened to a barrel length of 4.25 inches. AAC will shorten the barrel at no charge if requested when AAC threads the barrel.

As far as I know, this is the first holster expressly designed from the ground up for an integrally silenced .22 pistol. The Phoenix Holster is made exclusively for AAC by the London Bridge Trading Company, which has been quietly supplying the armed professional with top-quality nylon gear for more than 15 years. The holster features a full flap that protects the pistol and is secured by a quick-release fastener. An elastic loop (rubber coated bungee), which is an innovation peculiar to London Bridge holsters, can be slipped around the butt of the pistol as an added measure of security for rappelling or amphibious operations. The holster also incorporates a twin magazine pouch.

In the first generation Phoenix holster, the magazine pouch flap incorporated a pouch for a Clip Loader Mfg. magazine-loading tool. In the second-generation Phoenix holster, the pistol flap was made a bit smaller so the twin magazine pouch could be moved up to make room for a separate pouch for the larger and handier HKS Model 22-R Magazine Speed Loader. The flaps for the twin magazine pouch and the loading-tool are secured by both hook/pile and a snap. Both the first- and second-generation holsters provide two modes of attachment: a wide belt loop and Alice clips. The latest variant also includes a Kydex channel for the front sight. This improves both durability and the ease of presentation from the holster. The quality of materials and construction are outstanding, as is the thought that went into the holster’s design. I particularly like the “repetitious redundancy” of holster subsystems: both quick-release faster and elastic loop to secure the pistol, both hook/pile and snap to secure the flaps for the magazine and Speed Loader pouches, and two modes for mounting to a belt. Available in olive drab, woodland camouflage, desert camouflage and black, the Phoenix Holster is as good as it gets. It should come as no surprise that another London Bridge holster is reportedly used by U.S. Navy special warfare units. London Bridge makes a diverse array of holsters, backpacks, web gear, vests and bags worthy of the most demanding end-user (London Bridge Trading Company, Ltd., Dept. GW/LE, 3509 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23452; phone 757-498-0207; fax757-498-0059URL www.londonbridgetrading.com; e-mail lbtcl@pinn.net).

Performance

I tested the performance of AAC’s Scarab silencer on a Ruger KMK512 pistol, and compared that performance with the same KMK512 without the silencer, as well as with AAC’s integrally silenced Phoenix pistol. Sound testing was conducted using the specific equipment and testing protocol advocated at the end of Chapter 5 in the book Silencer History and Performance, Volume 1 (Wideworld, Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 1827, Conway, AR 72033; $50 plus $5 s&h, check or MO). Four kinds of .22 LR ammunition were used for the testing: Remington 40 grain high velocity (HV), Remington 40 grain standard velocity target (SVT), Remington 38 grain hollowpoint subsonic (SS), and RWS 40 grain hollowpoint subsonic (SS). Sound and velocity testing were conducted at an atmospheric temperature of 84 °F, while accuracy testing was conducted several days later at 88 °F. Ammunition was kept at ambient temperature in a cooler in the shade until needed. Unsuppressed peak sound pressure levels (SPLs) were measured 1 meter to the left of the muzzle, while suppressed levels were measured 1 meter to the left of the suppressor. Reported decibel levels represent the mean (average) of 10 shots.

Velocities were measured using a P.A.C.T. MKIII timer/chronograph with MKV skyscreens set 24.0 inches apart and the start screen 8.0 feet from the muzzle (P.A.C.T., Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 531525, Grand Prairie, TX 75053; phone: 214-641-0049). Velocity data represent a mean value of at least ten shots. The speed of sound was 1,143 fps at 84 °F and 1,157 fps at 88 °F. Accuracy testing was conducted at a range of 25 yards using a Ransom Rest, with three rounds per group. Reported accuracy data represent the average of three groups. Group sizes represent the center to center distance between the two most widely spaced shots, using custom caliber-specific calipers made by Hunt’s Bullets (Dept. SAR, 6210 Lake Lugano, Jacksonville, FL 32256; phone 904-645-3140).

The peak sound pressure levels (SPLs) of suppressed and unsuppressed pistols are reported in Table 1. Net sound reductions appear in Table 2. It is worth noting that the same pistol was used for both the unsuppressed benchmarks and the Scarab benchmarks. This pistol has a barrel length of 5.5 inches. If the Scarab were tested on a pistol with a significantly shorted barrel, such as a Walther TPH or PPK-S, the unsuppressed sound signatures would be louder and the net sound reductions would likely be 3-4 dB better. I used a KMK512 with original barrel length because this is the most popular pistol configuration for most end-users. Muzzle velocities appear in Table 3. Accuracy data appear in Table 4.

Several of the conclusions to be drawn from these data were something of a surprise. (1) The Scarab really “likes” standard velocity target ammunition in terms of accuracy. I expected a preference for SVT ammo, but not to the extent seen here. The pistol with Scarab suppressor delivered maximum accuracy with this round, accuracy that was twice as good as the accuracy produced by same pistol without a can, and three to five times as good as the pistol with or without the silencer using subsonic and high velocity ammo. (2) I was also surprised that the Scarab “likes” standard velocity fodder so well in terms of sound suppression. The Scarab was just 1 decibel quieter with RWS subsonic and was actually 1 dB louder with Remington subsonic. Even first-round pop was significantly greater with subsonic ammo than it was with standard velocity fodder.

It is also important to note that the pistol with Scarab silencer produced a ballistic crack with high velocity ammo, while the Phoenix did not. Score one for the integrally silenced pistol. The pistol with Scarab silencer must be used with standard velocity or subsonic ammunition to avoid objectionable bullet flight noise. With RWS subsonic ammunition, the Scarab muzzle can was as quiet as the integrally silenced Phoenix pistol using high velocity fodder. That’s pretty darned good performance for a muzzle can.

Conclusions

AAC’s Scarab muzzle can delivers excellent performance in a relatively small and light package. Using high velocity ammunition, the pistol delivers significantly better accuracy than an unmodified pistol, although the system does produce a ballistic crack. Using standard velocity target ammunition eliminates the ballistic crack and produces a very stealthy sound signature and very tight groups. The muzzle can is easier to clean than an integral silencer, and it keeps the pistol action cleaner too. The Scarab can be removed for hunting or swapped between diverse firearms. And it is very cost effective. The Scarab silencer retails for just $395.

I also like the fact that Advanced Armament Corp. has a master gunsmith on staff. This enables AAC to offer custom options such as an outstanding trigger job for $100, including Volquartsen parts. Since about 50 percent of Ruger Mark II pistols come from the factory with poor triggers, this could be a very attractive option. Anyone using the pistol for animal control would benefit from the addition of IWI bar-dot tritium night sights for just $100. Barrel threading (including thread protector) is $75. Finally, a mandatory accessory in my opinion is the superbly designed, user-friendly Phoenix Holster, which retails for $70. I like the many options and one-stop shopping available from AAC. For more information, contact the Advanced Armament Corp., Dept. SAR, 221 West Crogan Street, Lawrenceville, GA 30045 (phone 770-277-4946; fax 770-277-4841; URL www.advanced-armament.com).