So whats the advantage?  Anyone have both to compare?  after tax your total to SBR a bobcat is around 1600$ including the guns cost.

The DOJ HK94 is going to be 3400-3700$ after SBR work is complete!!!

bp

IMO, you are gambling with teh Bobcat.    Chances are it'll be just fine, but chances are MUCH better that the HK94 will be fine.

I have a SW5 and a HK94... both have been SBRd.

My Sw5 took some tweaking to get to run 100% with my sear, while the HK94 SBR has just worked... period.

I think the Bobcats are a good deal, but you may need to be patient to get it to work... you may be lucky and have it be 100% right from the beginning.

My BW has a few FTE issues, but it has only had about 200 rounds through it.  I have been told they like hotter ammo.

The lifetime warranty is nice (in theory), too.

Last Bobcat I saw (2 years ago) couldnt get more than a few rounds off before it went tits up.

I have shot about 1000 rounds through a BW-89, no failures of any kind. Shooting Win white box 115 gr

Also have an HK-94, (currently at RDTS, WOO-HOO!).

The BW-89 fit and finish is not as nice as the HK. The finish is good and serviceable, but the
parts fit is a bit wack in places, the finish on the bolt head is a bit rough, etc.

So, if you want a good shooter, with the possibility that the gun needs some tweaking to work the Bobcat I think is an ok choice.

If you want a rifle that has superior fit and finish, more or less guaranteed to function and guaranteed to appreciate in value (even with you shooting it frequently) the HK is the way to go.

So, you've got to ask yourself one question... is it worth 2K for the above factors ?

Save yourself the sorrow and just buy HK.

Ok, I have owned 94's, DOJ 94's, SW's and BW's..

For the money Bobcat is Great!!

My bobcat never failed!!  IT ran just great!!

This ws the one I owned, I can't say that ALL their guns are perfect, I have indeed heard of some problems, and some didn't run at all!!

On the HK side, all the HK94's I've owned had never ever failed!!

Your choice, the Bobcat lifetime warranty is not bad at all.

Y

My bw-89 only had one issue. I called BW and they figured it out in only a few minutes. I had FTE every 2 or 3 rounds. It ended up being the extractor spring. I returned it for work and now it works great. My only complaint is the owner. He is a complete dick. I got his product DOA from the box and he would not even help out with the shipping costs. He then got angry with me and started yelling. Like I said, the dude is a dick but the gun imo is decent. It is very accurate, which did surprise me.

Cpt_Kirks: call bw and tell them about your fte. They will have you check the extractor spring. If my memory serves me correct, gold colored springs are the good ones. Remove the magazine and make sure the chamber is empty. Pull the cocking tube about half way and look in the ejector port. There is a looping spring on the side of the bolt. If it is gold you are good, if it is metallic colored it is bad. The bw tech I spoke to said they got a bad batch of springs that were not processed right from the spring manufacture.  Hope this helps.

If memory server, I think it is gold.  But I will check when I get home tonight.

Thanks for the tip.

I own both BW and HK94s.  I've never had trouble with either of them.

Just my $.02.

ARCAPTN

I own both the BW-5 and a DOJ HK-94.  When I first purchased the BW-5 brand new from Atlantic Firearms about a year ago, I was disappointed to find that it was having failure to eject problems about once every thirty rounds.  I checked and it did have the newest gold extractor spring so I knew it had to be something else.  I could have called Atlantic Firearms or Bobcat but I had already filed for an SBR on this gun so I figured I would wait until I had it in an SBR configuration before I worried about it any more.

After the SBR was approved I cut off the fake suppressor, stuck in a complete german bolt carrier group,  and installed a german trigger pack and took it to the range.  The gun worked flawlessly and I've never had a single problem from it since then.  I didn't take the time to find out what fixed the problems I was having ... it might have been related to the bolt carrier, or it might have been the trigger pack, I have no idea.

I only shoot it semi-auto, btw, I know it's easier to get things to work semi-auto than it is with full-auto.  My HK-94 has never had an issue, but again, I haven't been using it in full-auto, but I am sure it will work fine.

One advantage of the Bobcat guns is that they are much easier to convert to an SBR since you can just remove the fake suppressor, and they come with the paddle mag release already installed.  A german gun will have to be sent to a gunsmith to have the barrel either removed or modified and a paddle mag release installed and then the gun will probably need to be refinished.

Financially, here is how it worked out for me:  I paid about $1500 for the Bobcat plus $485 for a german FBI trigger pack, plus about $400 for german internals.  Total this is almost $2400 which is about what a DOJ HK-94 goes for today, although the DOJ gun will probably need to be refinished and they don't come with the sweet FBI trigger packs.  The conversion of a HK-94 to an SBR will cost a few hundred dollars depending on whether you want a new barrel or just want to cut down the 16" barrel.  Converting the Bobcat to an SBR is as easy as 20 minutes with a dremmel, cutting off the fake suppressor.

In the end I guess I would say the HK-94 is probably a better deal at $2400 because the value will probably go up in the future and the best you can hope for with the Bobcat is that it holds its current value.  HK-94's are very popular and you can expect that they will only go up in value in the future.

When you cut off the fake can, did you have to finish the barrel and lugs on the BW?  If so, what did that take?

The barrels under the fake can are not covered in the black finish that Bobcat puts on the gun, but the barrels are stainless steel.  I sprayed some Aluma Hyde II on the barrel to keep the barrel end from looking out of place but that's all I did.  You wouldn't have to finish the barrel if you didn't want to go through the effort, it won't rust or anything like that.