Talk about attention to detail…or lack thereof.
While I was attaching BUIS to the Suzutomo 416 upper, I noticed that the ejector port dust cover was polymer.
Polymer?! Seriously? Surely this could not be correct? Corners had been cut! Authenticity was in question! Polymer is for toys and this is not a mere toy…it’s an obscenely expensive toy!
Well, no. I consulted http://www.hkpro.com and to my surprise, I learned that Heckler & Koch started shipping polymer dust covers with the 2007 version of the 416.
This move coincided with the adoption of the slim profile barrel, also reproduced by Suzutomo for its 416 upper. Now, I also found out something interesting about this from the same source.
The original thick/bull barrel, which was shipped with the 416 to SOCOM customers pre-2007, was disliked. This was because the weight it added to the front end of the gun was seen as excessive. From 2007 onwards, 416s shipped to SOCOM customers have been equipped with the slim profile barrel. In addition, some pre-2007 416s have been retrofitted with this barrel.
A pic from http://www.hkpro.com of the slim profile barrel:
Incidentally, the term ‘SOCOM barrel’ is used for the original, discontinued barrel…even though SOCOM customers now use the slim profile barrel.
So, ten out of ten for Suzutomo for attention to detail and a “…must try harder” for me, for missing the polymer dust cover first time around.
The Reptile House 