VFC 416 Breakdown Part 4

That is pretty much it as far as the basic tear down and assessment of the gun. All the parts in this gun are very high in quality and it is great to know that this thing looks and feels just as good on the inside as it does on the outside. After tearing down this gun completely and building it back together, you get to feel the quality of the materials you are dealing with. The body is made of CNC machined aluminum which is anodized black and all the polycarbonate parts seem to be made of high quality polymer. The only gripe I have about this gun, which is heard often from VFC416 owners, is that the OEM stock is cheap and very out of place on this gun. The stock pictured on this gun is actually one pulled from an old DBoys I have parts from laying around. My first plan for this gun was a crane stock, anyways. so the cheap stock wasn’t a big deal to me. Plus, I had the DBoys one to tide me over for a week while the crane stock was on its way. The gun included a 300 rd. high cap mag with a 1-wind function. Instead of a wheel, the mag simply comes with a wrench that is inserted into the side of the mag and cranked for a few seconds. This puts enough tension in the spring to nearly shoot all 300 rounds. The gun also includes a PEQ2 unit which is capable of being mounted on the rail system and this box houses your battery to power the gun. I was able to fit a 9.6v mini in there so if you have some of those around, you do have options rather than buying a battery for the PEQ2 unit. The gun does not include a battery. The gun comes with a manual as well and it actually is the best one I have seen so far. It is quite long and goes into details of the gun, has the history of the real steel H&K 416 along with the history and comparison info on this gun. I ordered from www.Evike.com and they threw in a 5000 round bag of matrix .2s. The guys at Evike took good care of me and I recommend doing business with them.

VFC 416 D10RS: Crane Stock Installation and Gearbox rewire

Okay, now I am going to go into the installation of a crane stock on the VFC 416. The crane stock I am using is the G&P crane stock which was purchased from Redwolf.com along with both a 10.8v and 9.6v G&P 2200mah Ni-Mh crane stock battery. Please note that with a 10.8v battery, the stock will not fully collapse.

The first thing we need to do in order for the crane stock to serve its purpose is rewire the gearbox from the front to the back. In short, we do this by routing the black wire from the motor straight out the back and rout the red wire (already routed from the motor to the contact) from the contact to the back. In order to do this, you need to take apart the trigger assembly. The two components you need to take off are the ones boxed in the picture below. Explaining how to do this could be somewhat complicated and, in return, confusing so you should be able to see how to do it by looking at it.

You then need to cut the heat shrink off of the two wires so you can just take the black wire away as needed. I recommend using an exacto knife. After the wires are separated you should be able to pull the black wire completely away from the rest of the unit.

You now need to pull the black plug off that is on top of the black wire on the left side of the case. Now, rout the red wire from the contact back to the area of the motor with the wire coming from the contact being underneath the wire going to the contact (see picture below). The wire coming from the contact is then going to go from the right channel to the left channel where the black wire is. Make sure that you rout the red wire underneath the black wire. The wire being underneath the other wires on both sides will keep it from coming up and getting caught up in the motor. When you are finished, your gearbox should look similar if not identical to the one pictured below.

Now you need to make some modifications to the body of the gun. Because of the way the crane stock is designed to fit the battery, the stock post coming off the body of the gun needs to be cut to 30mm (3cm). I recommend making guide marks all around the post to ensure a more even cut. I used a piece of duct tape to go along the guide marks to help with an even cut as well. I used a table saw to score the marks, used a hack saw to make the cut and then a bench grinder along with sandpaper to smoothen it up afterwards.

You now need to put your gearbox back into the body and run the wire out underneath the stock as shown below. I am converting my gun to use deans connectors that came with the G&P stock and battery, if you are doing this then you are going to need to cut off your wires an inch or so out of the body. Make sure you leave enough room for error and prep the wires to be soldered to the wires with the connectors at the end of it. Make sure to put your heat shrink around the wires before you solder so you can make a nice wrap around the soldered part afterwards.

Now, you need to assemble the stock. Grab your new stock tube and slide it onto the body along with a spacer if you are using one or you see a 1 point sling attachment on mine. When doing this you need to feed the wires through the channel in the bottom of the tube as seen in the picture below. It will be a tight fit but they will fit none the less.

Now with your tube on, go ahead and bolt it back to the body. You then need to create a coil or spring with the wires coming through the stock tube. An easy way to do this is by wrapping them around a small object as seen pictured below. Note that in the picture it was done before feeding it through the tube. Don’t do that, it just makes for a better picture. This coil you create is what allows the wires to stretch and contract without bunching up and creating a pinch and in return, a short.

You now need to place the battery in the stock with the connection end going in last.

Now, simply connect the battery and slide the stock onto the tube. Note: remember that, as seen here, a 10.8v battery will not allow the stock to fully collapse. If you try to force it to its last position, you will run the risk of ruining your wires and connections. Now, enjoy your even more beautiful 416.