Well it's here. An AK varient i've always wanted. I've got some big plans for this rifle.
Initial Unboxing/Packaging
The box arrived in my doorstep in record time
The artwork on the box is very nice.
Contents are well packed
The first thing I noticed when taking the gun out of the packaging is this:
Rust! on the selector switch. A little bit of a bizzare place to find such an item
Also the top reciever cover seems to be made of either a cheap material or it came off a real AK at one point.
Nothing that a little sandpaper and paint can take care of.
Overall this AK looks pretty nice
Internals (Non Gearbox)
This AK has the ability to be stripped like the real deal. The foregrip retainer pins work as promised which makes stripping it down not a problem.
I'm not sure why G&G decided to do this but the top bolt has a full gas return system installed. It's a nice step for them to add to the realism i'll give them that.
With that you can rack the bolt all the way back like a real steel AK, unlike the half rack of the Mauri AK. It also gives a satisfying metal clack. And theres no worry of breaking it like an Mp5 slap I can tell you that
The hop up is of similar design to the Mauri AK (Why mess with a good design)
They have however given you a larger knob for adjusting.
Stock / Battery
The stock is solid plastic. It has a bit of a rough texture to it but is quite solid. Overall the plastic of the rifle is nice.
The size of the stock however is Massive! It seems to be modeled after a Nato length stock. I am able to easily fit a large 9.6V battery in the stock.
The buttplate is held on by screws. While cumbersome if you ever need to change in the field with the size of battery you can cram into it I doubt you'll ever need to.
Front End
@#$*@#%&@#$@&#!!!!!
I was going to model this rifle after a real steel picture. Imagine an AK104 with a PBS-1 Silencer, Kobra Red Dot and Znich Tactical light. Ok? Well to my huge suprise the flash hider is NOT 14mm. It's upwards of 20+mm is size making my PBS silencer useless on this rifle. I'll have to find a machine shop to rethread it.
Shooting / HiCap
This Ak comes with a 550 round hi cap magazine. The mag itself is a little on the light and cheap side and I can see it breaking in the near future. Unlike other mags the front lip of this Magazine is made of plastic and not metal. I can see that bit breaking.
The catch on the mag is pretty good. One thing though is that G&G decided to add a bit of rubber to the magazine area, this is to prevent wobble of the magazines, however at the moment it is causing feed issues with the rifle. I can see with a bit of shaving or some wear in that this issue will go away.
I do not have a crono here at home but it's been reported the rifle is clocked around 330-340Fps. Next field chance I get I will verify that. Basement blinking it can easily go through two solid layers of cardboard.
So far a bit of plinking here in the basement it shoots very nicely. It has a bit of a louder clack vs a Mauri gearbox. With the 9.6v I have it has a very high rate of fire. I shall be downgrading to a 8.4 in the near future.
Overall I am very pleased with this rifle. hopefully I can get the sidemount plate and accessories on this AK in the near future and give it some field time to see how it performs. When I do I shall update this post.
Pros:
-Good solid feel to the rifle
-Full metal design
-Proper markings and dimples
-Field strips like the real deal
-Performance is quite good
-Bolt is satisfying
-Large stock for battery.
Cons:
-Rust? weird reciever metal.
-Barrel threading is NOT 14mm (grr)
-Stock is a little long
-Included hi cap may break in the near future
At the moment I rate the gun at a good solid 9.5/10
Hopefully the mechbox is up to standards and it shall be checked in the near future.