help picking an AKS74u
 

This will be my first and most likely only purchase for the next for seen future, so I'm trying to pick the most effective option given my needs.

My main requirements are that this gun lasts and shoots straight, things like realism accuracy or build quality are secondary.

Doing online research has me going slightly mad.. esp that they are all in a somewhat similar price range

I'll also mention that I'm handy capable so if a cheaper gun with mods will shoot better than a pricier gun out of the box I can go that route

So I'm looking at Cyma,g&g, LCT, and ICS

Currently leaning towards the ICS as there's on on sale locally (so I save on shipping and get to inspect it)

There's also a GBB version from WE that isn't that much more expensive th I'm entertaining... (I understand that gas is costly over time but having kickback is intriguing)

I'd love to.hear people's insights

If you want something that will last, go with an LCT. You will get great externals and very decent internals until you eventually decide you want to tinker with it.

Also wanted to add that i'll probably be using this indoors quite a bit, some of these are advertised as 400+ fps, is that correct or are they actually modified for less power as per Canada's requirements

You may have to get the velocity reduced. Not all guns come out shooting exactly at 400 as there are multiple factors that affect FPS.

Springs eventually settle and your FPS could sit around 375-380 which is good to go for the Siege field.

I second the lct

If you want gas go ghk (lct externals)

E&L is another option that is on the market. They are a little easier to get, and from what a lot of people tell me, are great out of the box as well. But for all intents and purposes, I prefer LCT. I find them easy to work on, easy to take apart, and there are a plethora of after market accessories that were designed to mate well with an LCT (Asura Dynamics, TWI, etc..).

And if it at all matters, out of the box, LCT performs very well for what they are. When it comes to upgrading, there are very few parts you'd really need to replace.

If you have to choose between E&L Gen2 and LCT AKs, take the cheapest of the two, both are truly excellent rifles.

if you are conserving funds, cyma.

If you are not conserving and throwing caution to the wind

lct or e&l.

There is nothing to consider in between.


cymas if they are the 4 screw on the bottom to detatch the front end, they're awesome. If they're that fat single pin, I hate them. lol. Same guts though.

I have not worked on an lct. I have worked on 3 E&Ls... .getting the front end off to access the barrel/hopup is a pain in the ass, it's steel. After taking them apart, make sure you oil it up with something that will push water away to prevent corrosion. I anticipate hammering seized gun parts in the future to disassemble. lol.

Does Cyma make Marui-style AKs with steel bodies? As far as I know, all their Marui-style AKs are pot metal.

CYMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Seriously, sure externals aren't as gucci as LCT/E&L, but it can go through so much ab00se.

#realoper8rrrerererer

local field used a fleet of cyma 74u as rental guns for about 3-4 years, they were dropped, abused, bumped into stuff, and I don't recall one ever snapping in half. There was 1 burned out motor, 1 stripped piston, a broken hopup unit, several broken nozzles and that was it. Probably 30-40 guns over that time period. I know because I was the one that serviced them when they actually needed it. They were actually all sold off or given away still functional. I would say that's pretty impressive.

The Cymas are without a doubt good value for a penny pincher. With a standard clean/ shim/ lube/ teflon for compression they'll run pretty damn good even on stock parts... if you have realistic expectations.

There's a huge amount of variation between model numbers though, so be careful. Generally avoid folding stock models, and don't even look at a blowback model.
For a while the wire stocks on the sub-soviet models were fucking awesome, but the 74Us were hit and miss.
The EBB functions on anything are just a nightmare with few exceptions.

Some TM-based models I worked on years ago at least passed a 'magnet test', others were pure crap. Generally well-made crap, but crap. Rigid, pretty good tolerances all told, but "don't you dare drop it" kind of crap.
I have no idea what's out there these days, but an early model wood stock or tube stock Cyma AK is probably a pretty damn decent platform for skirmishing.

Edit: Get somebody to rebuild the gearbox and at least replace the hopup rubber ASAP. Sometimes you'll get super lucky with a decent gun out of the box (like my old M14), but regardless those gears will surprisingly chug along for years if they're lubed and aligned properly. That godawful green gunk they squirt in there is very seldom touching any moving parts.

I guess I'm the odd one out

Dboys/Kalash RK-01 Steel Model

Good old VFC clone

Or actual VFC if you can find one, I use one for years, nothing beats that.

Yessir, but my Taiwanese sources tell me that the AK line is long discontinued.
Shame too because they had the most accurate AK74M Replica.