Words: Rich Norman

Pics: HAO & Tackleberry

Yesterday I shared some pics I received from PTW guru Tackleberry, of a very special customer build based on a HAO HK416N kit.

The HK416N is the Norway-specific version of the 416.

In the wild, the N is a very different beast to the 416D – or any other 416 variant for that matter.

However, the versions airsoft manufacturers put out are normally bog standard 416Ds re-badged to look like the N – fresh engravings, barrel extension; maybe a bayonet lug.

So what’s so different about the HAO version? It’s not the first airsoft 416N – it isn’t even the first PTW version…

With this in mind, I wanted to dig a bit deeper. Why did HAO bother unless there was a unique selling point?

Sure, they are the only company out there which credibly delivers 7075 T6 receiver sets and yes, their barrels are gundrilled rather than extruded.

But how is this 416N different to their 416D?

So, I asked Bismarck – HAO’s boss man:

The HK416N’s quad rail is different. For a start, it is longer than the original 416D quad rail (11″ vs. 10.5″); so we made ours the same – 11″.

We took our measurements and other details from an RS HK416N. You can’t just find those anywhere and we do not guess. We also do not re-brand our own stuff – or worse, ‘borrow’ parts from manufacturers like VFC and pretend they are our own.

We also made the correct 16″ barrel as a one piece unit – not a string of connecting pieces.

And yes – it is gundrilled steel, which is one of our selling points, like our true 7075 T6 receiver sets.

The 416N gas block is also significantly different to the 416D – and it isn’t the slim version you can easily buy on HKparts. Oh no. Again, we took careful measurments and produced our own.

So, I think our HK416N PTW set is the only correct 416N airsoft kit in the world.

Is that unique enough? 🙂