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Hammerli Force B1 Review: a Sweet Shooting Straight-Pull Rimfire

The new Hammerli Arms Force B1 straight-pull .22 is a rimfire that can do it all.

Hammerli Force B1 Review: a Sweet Shooting Straight-Pull Rimfire
(Photo courtesy of Keith Wood)

The new Force B1 from Hammerli Arms is a high-quality, legal-in-50-states takedown .22 Long Rifle built to be the ultimate in versatility. Whether you call it a prepper rifle, a truck gun or just a good, solid .22, it’s definitely a useful and practical rifle.

If you are familiar with the Hammerli Arms name, it is likely due to the company’s history as a maker of target pistols for Olympics-style competitions. Founded in 1863 to manufacture barrels for military use, this Swiss gun making firm has established a long tradition of quality. In 2006 Hammerli Arms was acquired by Carl Walther GmbH and it is now part of the PW Group. U.S. operations are located in Fort Smith, Arkansas, alongside those of Walther USA and Umarex.

The Hammerli Arms Force B1 is a toggle-style, straight-pull repeating rimfire rifle made in Germany. Although the Force B1 is not a Ruger 10/22 clone, it is designed to share many of that rifle’s components—therefore a wide variety of aftermarket accessories are available.

Why the straight-pull rather than a semiautomatic? There are a couple of reasons. The first is reliability. The Force B1 was designed to function with the full variety of .22 loads available. Additionally, the rifle was engineered to be multi-caliber so, for example, you could install a .22 WMR barrel when one becomes an option. Due to differences in chamber pressure and bolt velocity, making a semi-auto action cycle both cartridges would be nearly impossible.

Straight-Pullin'

straight pull action
The Force B1 features a straight-pull action that uses a toggle to operate the locking mechanism, but the basic footprint is the Ruger 10/22, and the Force B1 takes some of the same accessories in case you want to customize. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood)

With the straight-pull system, we get the utmost in versatility and flexibility but with a speed that rivals that of a semiauto. Finally, there are places in the world where semiautos are not legal to own, and the Force B1 avoids that trap altogether.

The Force B1’s receiver is machined from a block of 7075 aluminum with an integral Picatinny rail. There is a toggle assembly on the right side of the bolt that actuates the movement of the bolt/breechblock. From the user’s perspective, this is facilitated with an oversize polymer lever that is simply moved rearward and forward. The action is easily cycled using the right hand and just one finger.

There is a red dot on the top of the toggle lever that indicates whether or not the bolt is fully in battery. If you can see the dot, the bolt is not fully closed. Despite my lack of familiarity with the system, running the bolt became second nature almost immediately, and I found I could do this without losing the target in the scope.

Like other elements of the design, the bolt cycle is long enough to allow for future compatibility with cartridges including the .22 WMR. The ejection port is also sufficiently large to allow for the longer cases to eject properly. The bolt is fitted with a spring-loaded extractor, and a fixed ejector projects through a slot cut in the underside of the bolt body.

Unique Elements

birds eye view of rifle
The Force B1’s quick-change barrel system is unique. Retracting the spring-loaded collar at the receiver releases the barrel, which then slides forward. Swapping barrels takes only seconds, and more rimfire chamberings such as .22 WMR are anticipated. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood)

If there is one truly unique element of the Force B1’s design, it is the method by which the barrel attaches. Instead of using threads or fasteners, the barrel is held in place by the same style of spring-loaded coupler used to attach air hose accessories.

There is a knurled collar on the front of the receiver. Retracting that collar, which can be accomplished with mere thumb pressure, releases the barrel. Removing and replacing the barrel takes roughly five seconds to accomplish. The barrel is held in place with eight spherical bushings, aka ball bearings.

The system is lightning fast, secure and repeatable. The company doesn’t promise that the system will return precisely to zero when the barrel is removed and replaced, but in my experience it will be very close. A notch cut into the barrel’s six o’clock position ensures the barrel will not lock into place unless it is properly positioned, so there’s no risk of installing it incorrectly.

The quick-change barrel removal feature provides three tangible benefits. The first is it makes the rifle easy to clean from the chamber end, something that is impossible with many non-turnbolt rimfires on the market. Second, it allows the rifle to be stored or transported in a smaller container, reducing the overall length by 6.5 inches in the case of the standard 16.1-inch barrel. Finally, the system will allow for a rapid cartridge conversion once a .22 WMR or other barrel becomes available.

Recommended


Small Complaints

side angle of rifle and magazine
The Force B1 ships with a 10-round Ruger 10/22 rotary magazine that has a snap-on spacer, allowing the mag to fit in the .22 WMR-size magazine well. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood)

The 16.1-inch barrel has six-groove rifling and a twist rate of 1:16.5. The muzzle is threaded 1/2x28 and covered with a knurled thread protector. I mounted a rimfire suppressor to the rifle, but found that it shifted the point of impact outside of the scope’s adjustment range, so I removed it. I’m not sure if the issue was with this particular suppressor or if there was something else going on.

If there was one thing that I didn’t love about the Force B1, it was the trigger. It wasn’t the pull weight, although at nearly six pounds it wasn’t light; it was the safety lever embedded into the trigger’s face. After a few magazines, it hurt my finger. Perhaps I’m a sissy, but I had a rough and tough former Marine on the range with me, and he had the same complaint.

The good news is that the trigger unit is compatible with those intended for the 10/22, so there are plenty of aftermarket options available. The crossbolt manual safety is inset into the trigger guard and can be disengaged using the trigger finger.

Like the trigger assembly, the magazine is compatible with the 10/22. As a matter of fact, my Force B1 shipped with a Ruger-branded 10-round rotary magazine. Because the magazine well is sized to accept .22 WMR magazines, Hammerli Arms includes a removable polymer adapter that snaps onto a .22 Long Rifle mag to ensure it locks into the rifle properly. The magazine release is an ambidextrous lever contoured along the leading edge of the trigger guard.

Stock and Hardware

stock modularity
With the push of a button on the buttpad, shooters can adjust the stock’s length of pull to six different positions. The soft rubber comb can also be reversed, raising the height by 0.75 inch. (Photo courtesy of Keith Wood)

The stock on the Force B1 is molded polymer and is somewhat ingenious. The stock has modern lines with a vertical pistol grip that positions the hand so the toggle is easily within reach. The stock is also user-adaptable without tools. Length of pull can be adjusted to six different positions by pressing a button inset into the recoil pad at the rear of the stock. The overall length-of-pull adjustment is from 14.63 to 16.63 inches. Additionally, the soft rubber comb can be removed and flipped upside down to add 0.75 inch of height.

There is a rigid metal plate screwed into the underside of the stock’s fore-end that provides four M-Lok attachment points. This system allows for the easy installation of a bipod, sling swivel stud or other accessories. There is a single female QD sling attachment point at the toe of the stock.

There are no iron sights, but the integral rail makes securing an optic a straightforward task.

I mounted an SWFA fixed 16X scope of known reliability in a set of Nightforce lightweight rings and headed to the range. I tested the Force B1 with three loads ranging from a high velocity small game load to slower match ammo.

Accuracy

accuracy results
(Accuracy results provided by the author)

Since this is a rimfire, my groups were fired at 50 rather than 100 yards. As with most .22 rifles, the standard velocity ammunition produced better groups, but the beauty of the toggle system was that all three fed, fired, extracted and ejected with 100 percent reliability. Accuracy was very impressive, particularly with CCI’s Standard Velocity load. Experience tells me that, with a better trigger, this could have been a one-ragged-hole rifle with the CCI ammunition.

At this point, the Force B1 is available only in .22 LR, but clearly the Hammerli Arms engineering team has its eye on expanding that lineup. Hopefully we will see barrels available in additional chamberings soon. The .22 WMR is certainly in the cards, and I don’t see why a .17 HMR would not be an option.

I envision the Force B1 in a nylon takedown case with multiple barrels and magazines available for different uses. Plinking? Grab the .22 LR barrel. Coyote in the chicken coop? Get the .22 WMR. Prairie dogs? Hand me the .17 HMR. The possibilities aren’t endless, but they are many.

To be honest I didn’t “get” the Force B1 at first glance. But since I’ve learned about the rifle’s versatility, the multi-cartridge capability and the various unique features, my opinion has changed dramatically.

Final Impressions

This is a well-thought-out rifle that is truly one of a kind in many ways. Its cross-compatibility with the 10/22 opens up myriad accessories for shooters to choose from. The quality of the construction is evident throughout the rifle and is indicative of its German origin.

Any rifle of this type begs for comparison with the Ruger 10/22. With dozens of available models, it is tough to compare apples to apples, but a few points bear consideration. The Ruger can’t touch the Force B1 when it comes to multi-cartridge capability; the realities of a blowback semiauto system simply don’t allow for that level of flexibility. The takedown Ruger versions win in terms of portability since their stock fore-ends separate with the barrel, creating a shorter overall length when disassembled.

But the Hammerli gets the nod when it comes to the number of innovative features packed within. Price is really a wash since the takedown 10/22s ($559 to $799) hover around the same $649 suggested retail price as the Force B1.

The Force B1 is a fun gun to spend time on the range with. The deeper I read into the owner’s manual, the more hidden features I realize are included. It is my belief that this rifle will be the first in a very successful series. Hammerli has not been a household name in the United States but, with the introduction of such an innovative rifle, I believe it will be soon.

SHTF

The company’s marketing materials for the Force B1 revolve around a fictional post-apocalyptic landscape. While I don’t consider myself a hardcore prepper, I can definitely see the utility of a rimfire rifle in a scenario where supplies are limited. For such a rifle to be capable of digesting multiple cartridges with the swap of a magazine and a barrel takes that versatility to another level. The accuracy, reliability and ability to accessorize the Force B1 only add to its attractiveness.

Hammerli Force B1 Specs

  • Type: straight-pull rimfire
  • Caliber: .22 Long Rifle
  • Capacity: 10+1 10/22 detachable rotary magazine
  • Barrel: 16.1 in., 1:16.5 twist, threaded 1/2x28
  • Overall Length: 35.5–37.5 in.
  • Weight: 5 lb., 12 oz.
  • Finish: hard-coat anodized, black oxide
  • Stock: adjustable composite
  • Trigger: single-stage, 5.9 lb. pull (measured)
  • Sights: none; integral Picatinny rail
  • Safeties: two-position crossbolt, trigger lever
  • MSRP: $649
  • Manufacturer: Hammerli Arms, hammerliarms.com



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