H&R M16A1 in 2026
Picked up this H&R M16A1 earlier this week. It is a blem but I am very pleased to see I didn’t receive one of the super light grey/silver rifles I’ve been seeing posted lately.
I believe my blem was a scuff on the stock, however I have swapped all the furniture for surplus so right off the rip the blem is gone and replaced with more scuffs haha.
The flash hider was basically off when I got it, so I had to put it on with my hand and then I got a extra partial turn in with a wrench. To my understanding theres not really a reason to clock an A1 birdcage as it is symmetrical, but let me know if that is wrong.
The anodizing does not match upper and lower, however I like both shades and I don’t mind them not matching. On the 5th image you can see this rifle compared to a BLEM 723 I got about a year ago for comparison in color. The M16A1 is lighter and mismatched, but not light to where the color looks bad.
I made a separate post complaining that the finish on the Magazine that came with this rifle was hideous. The magazine it was being compared to is actually the one that came with the 723. Overall, I just rattlecanned. It so the mag looks way better now. Functionally I have no reason to expect bad performance (not that H&R mags are known for their high quality)
I was originally waiting for a original forward assist to throw on this bad boy as I hate modern repro tear drop FA’s, but I figured I’d post it now as it still represents a H&R rifle in the big 26’. The fact that airsoft guns have a better recreation of the tear drop forward assist is crazy. Not to mention the boomers that over charge for them. Some guy on another post was trying to say that making them properly wouldn’t sell well because they’d cost $50-75. If the shitty ones can be sold for $12, and a proper one only needs a little extra machining, and uses less materials in the end result. I see no reason someone can’t properly make them and sell them for about $30. They’d easily outsell the crappier ones just on looking proper alone. Anyways thats the end of that rant.
I haven’t shot her yet, but I look forward to getting out to the range and seeing how she shoots. Overall, I’m happy with it, the only concern I’d have was the muzzle device, but that seemed to be a quick fix.