Well, as promised, here is my review of the complete FCC 416D that I received from Double Tap Tactical about 2 weeks ago or so for $2920. Now that I have had some time, I have put together a review of this product. Some are going to like it, and some are not. Too bad. I didn't build the gun, FCC did that, and good or bad, this is the result.
Now, I do not have a picture of the gun as it arrived, as I have gamed it a couple of times, it has had to have some functional and performance enhancements to make it usable. Here is as close to factory as it looks, excepting the ASAP and trigger guard, and the two trigger faux pins that were missing have been replaced:
Now, when I first received the gun, it came without sights. The sights on it now are FCC as they supplied them. You will noticed how much of the screw sticks out past the sight block. It is nearly 1/4", and needs to be cut and the end painted black to prevent it catching on your skin and gear. Or, you can just not install them and go with something else:
Next up was the immediate noise it made. It was a "Cha-Chunk" everytime the gun was moved past the horizontal. This was from the gas piston rod, which although invisible with the rail system on the gun, it is nonetheless necessary to retain the realistic replication of the 416. The spring designed to operate this rod in the real gun was too loose for the job in the FCC version, and the rod slammed forward and back. It required me to remove the RIS and stretch this spring to give it the required tension. The kit that I assembled immediately after work on the complete gun required this as well. There are no pictures of this, it was remedied within minutes of openning the box. Sorry.
Next up was putting the upper receiver onto the gun. Immediately I noticed that the buffer cap was different, and it had 8 shims on it. Now, I have assembled and worked on hundreds of Systema PTWs and done every modification possible, and never have I had to use so many shims. Maybe with a real buffer tube or some aftermaket DYTAC for example I might have to use 4 or maybe 5, but never 8. I removed the factory buffer cap and installed their parts buffer cap instead after I threaded the buffer tube in one more turn.
The factory cap is on the right, and their aftermaket parts cap is on the left.
If you will notice, the factory cap has simply an indent into the material rather that a through-and-through hole. This was problematic as it did not allow for a proper fit of the cylinder lock bearing. In order to accomplish closure of the receivers, the tension on the bearing was reduced to near zero, you could push it in with your finger and it would sometimes spring back. This has two problems. First, it renders that 416 cylinder unsuable in any other PTW as you now do not have a positive lock between receivers and the play that allows you to open and close receivers is now translated into movement forward-back of the cylinder. This introduces and airseal leak at the chamber, and can vary FPS wildly. The second problem with this cap is that it is impossible to install another cylinder, in my case factory 2011 Systema cylinders. The tension on the lock bearing is too great to allow closure. The only solution is to replace the buffer cap, remove the spring guide from the cylinder and retension it properly to allow compatibilty between guns and cylinders. Part of the reason we buy this platform is to have modularity of components and compatibility. I got out of AEGs because shimming this or that is a pain in the butt, but acceptable for a $299 gun. It is not acceptable in a $2900 gun.
This photo shows how much of the buffer cap sticks out into the receivers. In any other PTW, this is no good, you would not even be able to close the receivers. This is required for the 416, and should be a good indication that these receivers would not be compatible with other lowers. Not that this is a problem, but it is something to be mindful of when assembling the kit, changing buffer tubes, etc.
Next up is the motor. Now, the FCC 2.5 motor has been out for some time, nearly a year now. The first one I installed was last summer. I noted then that it had some QC problems, namely that the brush hoods are too large and that they stick out past the endbell on both sides. This makes installation of your grip a son-of-a-bitch, and makes removal even worse. The hoods catch on the grip and scrape all the way down and dig in during removal. I was worried that I was going to snap the hood screw and brush spring post. But, seeing as how FCC uses metal screws, this is less likely.
FCC 2.5 motor. Note the extra brush hood material extending past the endbell:
Systema 490 motor. Note the flush finish of the endbells:
In no way am I making any assessment of the longevity or durability of the FCC 2.5 motor. We all are well aware of the failings that Systema has had with their 490 series and now their 7511 series of motors. The entire problem Systema has relates solely to the armature and in particular the windings. Their motors are machine wound, and often you get tension changes at the bends on the armature core. This results it damage to the Litz coating on the winding, and will lead to a short across winding points and result in the inability of that winding pole to generate a magnetic field. In other words, a dead winding and a dead spot on the motor at that pole. The only solution is to buy another motor and risk the same problem, or get the armature rewound. This has been the solution I have chosen.
Now, FCC may have solved this issue, and time will tell. However, their motor has other issues. First off, the brushes. They are carbon brushes with little appreciable silver content. This has one advantage in that the brushes will wear and not the commutator. However, it has one main disadvantage, and this is excessive wear and the risk of breaking. In a properly balanced armature with a true commutator, this is not an issue, and brush longevity and durability are more desirable traits. Increase the brush silver content to 30% and those things will last years and they are unlikely to break.
Next up is the brush lead wiring. FCC has installed the brushes outside the brush hood for entry via the back of the brush. This is the least desirable method as there is now a bend over sharp metal that results in poor movement of the brush as they wear. First thing I did when openning up the grip was to reroute this wiring into the spring channel so it moves with the spring. Easy fix, but it should have been done at the factory.
Next up was the metal screws holding the brush hoods down. After seeing the flash on the hoods, I fully understand why metal screws are used. They are a solution to snapping the screws while fighting the grip on and off. However, this was not the solution. The solution was to have brush hoods of the correct size installed, and use nylon or similar material for the screws. As it sits now, only small fibre washers prevent contact bewteen the screw and the endbell of the motor, and as such, the entire motor. This whole system is contingent on these washers being installed correctly and staying that way. If one is not, you will energize the motor with one pole of the DC from the battery upon firing. The only thing keeping you from a blown fuse or a dead FET board is keeping the other washers in place and keeping conductive debris out of a highly magnetic motor. That is another issue I have:
This is the FCC MOE grip that came on a 416. What is a Magpul grip doing on a 416 anyways? At any rate, they used a copy of the MOE grip cover to hold the grip in place. As you can clearly see, it now leaves one whole side of the motor open to the elements, be they water, metal, dirt, anything. This is utterly unnacceptable. The motor in a TW platform has very strong magnets, is finely tuned (if it is intended to last) and has upstream electronics depending on smooth and continued operation. This is a very easy fix, use a different grip or use a proper cover, like this:
Next up was the hopup. Well, I took the gun out for a day with the factory hopup. It became clear pretty quickly that I could not use my 0.30G Green Devil BBs. The factory hopup simply could not apply enough pressure to the BB give it any effective hop. This was a problem on two fronts. One, the factory adjuster was garbage. The pin was not glued in place, so applying tension to the adjuster screw forced the open end of the adjuster cage to open up and induced wobble around the inner barrel. It also meant that the roller would turn, effectively negating any pressure that did exist. Second was the adjuster spring. It is not as strong as the Systema adjuster cushions, but a steel spring is going to be less affected by temperature changes from summer to winter play for example. Anyone who has taken their Systema out in the cold knows this. However, this is an issue of pure performance, and considering most game play in Canada occurs in summer weather, the spring is simply too weak.
I replaced the spring with Systema adjuster cushions:
And I got rid of the factory adjuster and installed a modified adjuster. No milling of the inner barrel required:
Now, these are the improvements and oversights that I have had to correct on a $2920 gun. Some of them have needed to be done to a factory Systema gun as well, but my last Systema purchased 1 year ago cost me $1750.
There is, however, another issue that I will not be able to correct. The takedown pin holes are too large. There is an excessive amount of play of the takedown pin that, over time and with wear, will lead to poor operation of the takedown pin. FCC has obviously realized this as they install a nice steel detent pin that is a tad longer than even a real one to prevent the inevitable enlargement of that hole and loss of the detent pin. This issue exists in both the complete gun and the kit I received.
Systema takedown pin. Note how precise the hole is in relation to the pin:
Play in the FCC pin:
Play in the Systema:
Next up, the cylinder. The surface finish on the Velocity-branded cylinder is poor. It wears very easily from only a few insertions/removals:
Inside the cylinder, I noticed that FCC had used silicone-based grease for the lubricant. Now, silicone is great for cold weather performance, as it has superior viscosity to the the lithium grease Systema uses in their cylinders. However, in Canada, play is primarily in the summer when temperatures are above freezing, so I will disregard any cold weather advantages of silicone in favour of the tried and true lithium grease. Now, the design of the TW is such that the piston head o-ring needs to retract upon the decompression stroke and quickly expand upon the compression to preserve the cylinder air volume. This results in better shot-to-shot consistancy in velocity, which means your BBs end up in the same place, or pretty darn close to it. A thicker grease allows the piston head o-ring to seat itself quicker, thus preserving that volume. Years ago, when getting a little tub of the Systema cylinder grease was expensive and time consuming, I experimented with silicone greases as an alternative. The results were poor, with wild variations in velocity and inconsistant hopup as grease tended to exit the cylinder and travel down to the adjuster, fouling the rubber. The TW hopup performs best when kept bone dry, so this would not do. The factory cylinder with factory hopup with an M115 FCC spring installed gave me a nominal velocity of 355 FPS with a deviation window of 20-30 FPS using Bastard 0.20g. After removal of the factory grease and installation of Systema cylinder grease and a modified hopup the velocity is now 370 FPS with a deviation window of 7-10 FPS. A remarkable improvement just from a change in lubricant a better hopup. Now, the range of this gun is closer to that of my 2011 Systema PTW, but still a little short and not quite as consistant, but the new hopup needs some bed in time and I am confident it will be on-par soon.
The buffer tube on this gun is not milspec, it is slightly oversized. I have this same buffer on another FCC/real hybrid and over the course of a few weeks has worn enough that the stock is now moveable and can be installed and removed by one person.
The fit and finish of the body is fine, and barring the items I have noted here, I find no other issues or problems to date.
Now, this review to date has been solely on the technical merits of the construction of this 416D. I am going to update this with a gearbox teardown soon as well as an overall performance review. However, the gun in its factory form was ungamable and required a modified hopup, so the performance is going to be much better than the factory. As well, the cylinder grease was removed and substituted with Systema grease to keep the consistancy between shots within an acceptable tolerance. Longevity of the motor and wear on the gear train will come later, as needed.