Description
The GSG-16 Carbine is the rimfire that most people who buy one end up shooting more than everything else in the safe combined. It weighs under five pounds, holds 22 rounds, costs almost nothing per round to feed, and has enough rail and M-LOK real estate to hang whatever you want on it. This is the flat dark earth configuration with a 16.25 inch barrel, a faux suppressor shroud and a ten inch M-LOK style handguard.
What You Actually Get for the Money
Blowback 22 carbines are a crowded category, and the GSG-16 earns its place on hardware rather than novelty. The receiver carries roughly thirteen inches of continuous Picatinny rail, the handguard takes M-LOK accessories through removable panels, and the stock is a four-position telescoping unit with a length of pull that runs from about 8.25 to 14.5 inches. That range matters: the same rifle fits a small child learning to shoot and an adult in a winter coat.
The buttplate includes a magazine storage compartment, which is a small thing that turns out to be surprisingly useful on a rifle you take to the range with three magazines and no bag. Sights are a hooded polymer front and an adjustable peep rear, both removable if you would rather mount glass.
Specifications
- Model: GSG-16 Carbine
- Caliber: 22 LR
- Barrel: 16.25 in, pencil profile
- Action: blowback semi-automatic
- Capacity: 22+1
- Weight: approximately 4 lbs 14 oz unloaded
- Overall length: 28.5 in collapsed, 34.25 in extended
- Length of pull: 8.25 to 14.5 in, four-position telescoping stock
- Sights: hooded front, adjustable peep rear, both removable
- Rails: approximately 13 in of integrated Picatinny, plus M-LOK on the handguard
- Handguard: ventilated M-LOK style, 10 in
- Included: faux suppressor shroud, 22-round magazine
- Finish: flat dark earth
Magazine options go well beyond the supplied 22-rounder: 10-round magazines are available where capacity is restricted, and a 110-round drum exists for anyone who genuinely wants one. As with every rimfire semi-automatic, the GSG-16 prefers high velocity 40-grain ammunition and will be less reliable on subsonic or match loads built for bolt guns. It is also worth cleaning more often than you would a centerfire, because rimfire ammunition is dirty.
Why it is worth considering
- 22+1 capacity with 10-round and 110-round magazines also available
- Under five pounds unloaded, so anyone can hold it steady
- Four-position stock spanning an 8.25 to 14.5 inch length of pull
- Roughly 13 inches of Picatinny rail plus M-LOK on the handguard
- Removable faux suppressor shroud that is purely cosmetic and requires no paperwork
- Ammunition costs a small fraction of any centerfire carbine
Who it suits
The GSG-16 Carbine suits the household that wants one rifle everybody can shoot. The adjustable stock covers the whole family, the recoil is nil, the capacity means less time loading and more time shooting, and the running cost is low enough that nobody has to ration ammunition. It is also a legitimate training rifle for anyone who runs a centerfire carbine and wants the same controls and accessory layout at rimfire prices.
Accuracy, Ammunition and Transfer
Independent testing of the GSG-16 Carbine has produced 50 yard groups in the 1.4 to 2.3 inch range across a spread of ammunition, which is entirely reasonable for a blowback rimfire with a pencil-profile barrel and iron sights. Put a small optic on the rail and feed it ammunition it likes and it will do better than that. High velocity 40 grain copper-plated round nose is the sensible default; subsonic and match loads intended for bolt-action rifles will often fail to cycle the action.
The same rifle is offered in black, grey and OD green if flat dark earth is not your preference. Importer specifications are published by American Tactical, which brings German Sport Guns into the United States. Compare it against the GSG FireFly pistol, browse our German Sport Guns range, or look through the wider firearms selection.
All firearm orders ship to a licensed FFL dealer for transfer, and MAG5 Firearms will coordinate the paperwork with the dealer of your choice.
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