The HK 416 platform is already part of pop culture and its implantation has been highly successful worldwide. But, 20 years later, is the HK 416 really "an improved AR-15"? Does it come with drawbacks and pitfalls? Will we have another decade of HK hegemony?   The recent adoption by UKSF of a direct impingement weapon with a flow-through suppressor suggests that HK, and piston weapons in general, do not necessarily hold the monopoly on hard-use, duty-grade weapons.

The proliferation of different weapons with different Picatinny heights and optics mounts heights has a great potential for mismatches, causing unpleasant surprises in how the optical axis interfaces with the bullet trajectory.