ARMOURY: DOUBLE BELL 812S

SOMETIMES A NEW AEG JUST SEEMS TO COME OUT OF NOWHERE AND WOWS YOU WITH ITS EXTERNALS AND OVERALL LOOK, AND THIS MONTH JIMMY TAKES A LOOK AT A RECENT ADDITION TO HIS PERSONAL ARMOURY THAT LOOKS SUSPICIOUSLY LIKE A 416, BUT IS ACTUALLY CATEGORISED AS AN “812S”… JIMMY TELLS ALL!

Iknow you’ve looked at the picture and said to yourself “Oh no! Not another 416”! Yes you would be right, it is another 416 but a 416 from an unexpected manufacturer - and it has nothing on it externally to suggest its origins!

Go on have a guess! Okay, I’ll not keep you in suspense, this lovely little number is from a company I initially would not have even dreamed could make something this pretty, a company that has never really cropped up in conversation, and a name that quite frankly sits quite low on the list.

That name is Double Bell!

Gasp all you want, but please don’t tune out as I’d love for you to hear my thoughts. The fact is Double Bell is the new name for Dboys who have been around for a few years now, so I’d say they know a few things.

But first let’s have a little history on the 416 shall we? Heckler & Koch’s 416 has been the holy cow of the special ops community for some considerable time, an improved version of the M4 carbine with many changes, most notably a short-stroke gas piston system originally dreamed up for G36 (in truth it dated back to the AR-18 rifle designed in 1963, but hey, who’s counting amongst friends and major arms manufacturers!). It’s said that Operational Detachment–Delta collaborated directly with H&K to develop the new carbine, and allegedly Delta Force replaced its M4s with the HK416 in 2004 after tests revealed that the piston operating system significantly reduced malfunctions while increasing the life of parts. The project was originally called the HK M4, but this was changed in response to a trademark infringement suit from Colt Defense!

The HK416 has subsequently been picked up by numerous law enforcement agencies and special operations units, and perhaps equally importantly was adopted as the standard service rifle of the Norwegian Armed Forces and, more recently, the French Armed Forces, replacing the aging FAMAS in 2016, so it’s no high-falutin’ onetrick pony! However, there’s one place that in my mind the 416 shines brighter than ever, and that’s in the hands of the USN SEALs.

Bill tells me that I could mention “Geronimo” here, but that’s an old (yet historically important, much like Bill!) story now, but the fact is that the HK416 has become interwoven in SEAL lore due to that piece of history; that 416 was reported to be “a 10-inch barrel with a typical Special Operations loadout for this rifle including an AAC Suppressor, a Geissele trigger, Remington RAHG handguard, a Surefire Scout weapon light attached with an S&S Precision light mount, an EOTech optic with an EOTech 2x magnifier, and an Advanced Target Pointer Illuminator Aiming Laser (ATPIAL)”, but as with many things SEAL we’ll probably never know for sure.

The fact is though that the HK416 is seen in SEAL hands pretty regularly, and of course has become “de riguer” for fans of “SIX” and “SEAL Team”; therefore, for players with an “NSW bent” the 416 is a pretty obvious choice in airsoft form!

PRICED TO ENTICE!

So now we have the history out of the way let’s have a look and focus on the rifle itself. I know there’s going to be plenty of you out there reading this that will turn their noses up because it’s a Double Bell and not Marui, nor is it a VFC but the fact remains Double Bell have actually created something which is aesthetically pleasing and the quality externals have been finished to a nice standard. Remember, Double Bell aren’t out there producing high-end RIFs, they are a manufacturer of the more budget end, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to see that it doesn’t actually look budget.

I’ve got a fair bit of testing with this and I haven’t been kind to it. From the point of receiving it up to date, oh I have shot around three and a half thousand BBs through it, and over half of that was just pure Full-Auto mag- dumping!

I wanted to see if I could make this thing fail and so far so good, no adverse operation, it didn’t miss a beat it didn’t drop a shot it works incredibly well! Okay we’re not talking the most responsive of trigger pulls, and we’re not talking a devastating rate of fire as it’s a standard, budget out of the box platform with a price tag which is at the maximum range of around UK£250.

Out of the no-frills brown cardboard box you get one hi cap magazine and a small z-shaped key which at first I couldn’t fathom it’s intended use. It took me a while but then the penny dropped, the hi cap mag had no way of winding externally and the key is needed to wind it; not being a massive fan of this I just threw it in the bin, I have plenty of other mags and the rifle isn’t too fussy with what mags are used.

Getting to the aesthetics of it I’m pleased to say it looks rather nice! Double Bell have made a great job of ensuring it looks the part and the fact all the

“THE FACT IS THOUGH THAT THE HK416 IS SEEN IN SEAL HANDS PRETTY REGULARLY, AND OF COURSE HAS BECOME “DE RIGUER” FOR FANS OF “SIX” AND “SEAL TEAM”; THEREFORE, FOR PLAYERS WITH AN “NSW BENT” THE 416 IS A PRETTY OBVIOUS CHOICE IN AIRSOFT FORM!”

new 416 platforms are crafted in full metal gets the thumbs up from me and a few of the other guys and the only plastic parts being the grip, stock and (correctly) the ejection port cover. I opted for the 12” version in a lovely bronze and tan colour scheme which is becoming increasingly popular.

Starting at the front it comes with a standard birdcage-style flash hider which protrudes slightly from the handguard allowing you to fit all manner of suppressors on to the 14mm

to fit a CCW threaded outer barrel. The outer barrel is actually a two piece barrel, so should you want suppressor

and wish

to bring it in closer you can easily fit a 32mm or even a 35mm suppressor inside the handguard, bringing down the length and covering up the inner barrel.

The handguard for me is my favourite part, being a Geiselle SMR repro! Sadly it doesn’t sport any markings but the finish of the bronze is great and it offers a whole 12” of real estate for the adornment of accessories along with a full-length monolithic top rail. Another nice touch is the fact you get three separate metal rail sections included which are removable so you can place them wherever your heart desires, and once fitted they are a very solid fit. The receivers are nicely finished and have no wobble between the upper and the lower which for me is something I look for in receivers; if they wobble or move I get put off very easily. The one flaw in the receivers is the lack of markings, and I would have liked to see some H&K trademarks but I can live with that as it’s not a licenced product after all.

There are the correct ambi selectors, bolt release and mag release which all seem to work flawlessly, and when the charging handle is pulled this locks open the mock bolt giving access to the hop unit for easy adjustments. I like what has been done with the mag release button, a 3mm hex key is needed to undo it rather than the anaemic 1mm hex head which 9/10 times strips the first time you attempt to undo it. The grip is a standard AR style grip and it’s quite shiny; it would have been nicer with a grip similar to that on the VFC 416 but it’s functional and the glossy finish may dull with use. Moving onto the stock it has a tan CRANE-style model which I’m not a fan of; while it is functional it has a little wobble to it but nothing that a bit of adhesive/velcro can’t solve. Personally I believe it would look great with a 416A5 slim stock on it.

SURPRISING INSIDE!

Moving on to the internals and I must say there are a lot of parts I was surprised to see inside; some thought put in to this and it definitely hasn’t just been thrown together. Certain parts are just unremarkable bog standard parts which you will find in a lot of airsoft platforms, even on items with a much higher price bracket like the barrel and hop rubber. The 385mm inner barrel is made from brass and DB claim it to be 6.03mm but sadly I can’t confirm this so we’ll just agree that it is. They have used a standard black hop rubber which isn’t all that exciting but it does the job (upgrades are easily fitted). The hop unit itself while it is a plastic rotary style the adjustment isn’t all that great and you do need to adjust it quite a bit before anything happens which caused it to struggle lifting a 0.28g. My diagnosis is that the nub is way too soft for the degree of hardness on the hop rubber.

Moving on to the gearbox it is a standard cast V2 box which has been stamped with the word BELL

and sports a quick change spring guide with a thrust bearing (two thumbs up from me!) and 7mm caged bearings. The first thing that caught my attention was the fact it has an anodized red nozzle clearly marked 21mm and seems to be pretty good quality.

Once inside the gearbox I discovered it does in fact have an o-ring in place helping with the airseal. It would have been nice tosee some radius to the gearbox but due to the fact this came out of the box at around 295fps I don’t really see a problem with stress.

Going further into the belly of the beast and this is where I have to say I am impressed with certain components. Upon opening the box I found it to be greased but not heavily, and the grease used wasn’t the typical thick honey-like grease; it was a nice clean, and what appeared to be silicone grease. The gears are the typical cast/pressed affairs which meshed flawlessly. When spinning the gears freely they were silent and were actually shimmed incredibly well using very few shims which is either by coincidence or they manufactured the shell with precision.

A standard contact and shuttle system had been fitted while it served its purpose for me this technology needs to be binned; I’m not a fan of

a mechanical trigger and cutoff. The compression parts impressed me, as these are parts I usually swap out but this time round I don’t feel these would need to be changed. The piston is a 14t lightweight piston housing a full metal rack; the piston head is a nice anodized red 8 vent double o-ring type with lazer etching stating (high performance piston) and marked BELL. There is also a thrust bearing, steel ¾ cylinder, and double o-ring polymer cylinder head. All these parts combined give an amazing airseal so I was confused as to why the velocity was low, but it turns out DB have fitted a short soft spring. That said over the chrono it was superbly consistent firing between 0.8 Joule/295-297fps. After reassembling the complete rifle I decided to fit a stronger spring, using a Gearparts M100 and I predicted it would be hitting around the 330fps mark; to my utter amazement it went way past that and hit 398fps going to prove the air seal on this thing is VERY good. I opted for an M95 spring which saw the velocity drop to 1.23 Joule/365fps so I shall need to adjust that spring a coil or two further. On the range it worked but it is lacking some response; I can operate faster than the mechanics and the ROF is relatively low. I tested it with an 11.1v li-ion but it didn’t like it on semi-auto as it was seriously overspinning and giving a two BB burst; it did see an increase on full-auto but nothing to write home about. Ranging at approximately 45m you’re going to need to get fairly close to your target, but if you are wanting to reach out and create a bit of distance it’s nothing some choice upgrades won’t fix. My conclusion is that Double Bell have produced something rather good which doesn’t cost an awful lot; it’s available as a longer model (the one I have) or a shorter CQB-length variant; both look great and you certainly will stand out if you’re carrying one, and it’s perfect for a beginner, especially the price! This would also be a great base to throw some money at and make it something special both inside and out, and as this is my own personal rifle now there will be a plethora of upgrades being installed internally soon! My thanks go to the Marcus at All Ages Airsoft and the guys at iWholesales; do check in with them to see the latest models from Double Bell and much, much more! AA “THIS WOULD ALSO BE A GREAT BASE TO THROW SOME MONEY AT AND MAKE IT SOMETHING SPECIAL BOTH INSIDE AND OUT, AND AS THIS IS MY OWN PERSONAL RIFLE NOW THERE WILL BE A PLETHORA OF UPGRADES BEING INSTALLED INTERNALLY SOON!”