Best AK: TM, CYMA, CA, JG, Kalash, VFC, etc.?

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Best AK: TM, CYMA, CA, JG, Kalash, VFC, etc.?

Post by Moondog »

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Best AK: TM, CYMA, CA, JG, Kalash, RS, VFC, etc.?
by Moondog

Some players have a bias against AK's because they're the weapons of the 'bad guys'. True, most of the world's 'bad guys' use them but so do most of the world's military. There are two main reasons for that.

1. They are mass produced by the two largest countries in the world: China and the Soviet Union (now Russia, Ukraine, etc.) so they are plentiful and cheap. Not only did they produce them for their own armies, but most of the world.

2. They are super reliable and easy to maintain so they are perfect weapons for untrained troops.

It's this 2nd reason that you may associate AK's with unprofessional armies. But that ignores the fact that the Russian's and Chinese train some of the most elite special forces units, who's training is tougher than the SEAL's and SAS.

http://play.killerfrog.com/p9a6l0k10o/W ... rt-1-.html

The Real Steel AK47, AK74 and modern variants
The AK47 stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1947 goda or "Kalashnikov's automatic rifle model of year 1947". In WWII Standard battle rifles of the day were designed for long-range engagements of 500m-800m (ie. M1 Garand, Mauser Kar98, Lee Enfield). Experience during the war showed that most firefights occurred at ranges 300m.

After WWII the Soviets sponsored a competition to design a more compact automatic rifle optimized for an effective range of 300m-500m: an Assault Rifle. The wining design was put forth by a design team lead by Mikhail Kalashnikov. Like the German Sturmgewehr 44, the AK47 utilized a shortened rifle cartridge (7.62x39mm M1943), unlike the US's M1 Carbine which utilized an elongated pistol round, or the M16 which utilizes a reduced sized rifle round (5.56x45mm).

The AK47 was rugged, simple and easy to produce and reliable enough to function in the muddy, wet, and frozen conditions of the Soviet frontline. It and the later AK74 (an AK47 chambered for the smaller 5.45x39mm round) has been produced in more variants, in greater quantities, and by more countries than any other combat rifle in the world.

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK74

I own a CYMA AK47 and a Kalash AK74M and often play OPFOR, because I prefer playing the underdog in games. I've dressed as a VC in VN themed games and as rebels in contemporary MilSim games. Some of our team mates and buddies are Russian and Ukrainian and they have full Russian/Soviet loadouts.

AK fans fall into two often opposing schools of thought: Traditionalists and Tacticool. Traditionalists tend to favor classic AK47's, AK74's, AK74U's with real wood furniture and no accessories or only realistic military accessories. Tacticool AK fans prefer newer tactical AK74M's, AK101, AK102, AK104, AK105, etc. Like M4 tweekers, they love accessorizing their AK's.


What I like about AK AEG's

1. Largest stock hi-cap magazine capacity (600rnds).
2. ChiCom vests (for AK magazines) are easy to get and cheap ($15) and very, very comfortable.
3. V3 gearbox (very reliable and parts are easy to get)
4. Stock AK47/74 barrel is longer than an M4 and IMHO is the optimum length for assault rifles in wood fields.


What I don't like about AK AEG's

1. Iron sight is too small and not really useful for airsoft. But since 90% of airsofters walk their BB's to the target, this may be moot.

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2. Many AK models are inaccurate to the real steel versions. For starters, the AK Beta doesn't exist in real steel form. Tokyo Marui designed it loosely based on the AK74SU but the barrel and dust cover is shorter than the AK74SU.

3. Too many screws. TM and CYMA receiver bodies require too many screws to disassemble. What I like about the simplicity of the real steel AK's is turned out its head with the overly complicated body construction of airsoft AK's.

4. Selector Switch. This is the biggest complaint of any AK owner. The selector assembly is a series of gears outside of the gearbox case which can be tricky to realign properly when reassembling an AK. And the main body screw which tightens the selector arm into place, often loosens through the vibrations of the AEG, causing the selector to become lose or fall off. 'Blue lock compound' is helpful as it is not permanent like real locktight.

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5. Buttplate. In full stock versions of the AK, this can fall off in the field causing you to lose the battery as well. Most AK users use duct tape to keep it from slipping off. I use zip-ties and wire to connect the buttplate to the AEG wiring. So even if it does slip off, I don't lose it.

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There are a growing number of AEG brands making AK's now and rather than have various threads debating one brand versus another, let's keep them all in here. If you want to know which AK to buy or which brand, ask it here. If you have opinions or input on various AK's post it here. I'll start with the AK's I own.


DE/UTG AK Beta
Inexpensive AK Beta. Not 100% TM compatible with some unique design changes. The body and selector is modeled after a Romanian folding stock AK with the selector going from Safe-Semi-Auto unlike all other AK's which go from Safe-Auto-Semi. Stock power under 300fps with good quality hop-up. The UTG version comes with a dust-cover mounted RIS tri-rail.

Pro: Great for CQB with a good ROF, decent range with hop-up, Type-0 cylinder.
Con: Cheap hi-cap mags with tiny BB loading doors, mediocre internals for upgrading.

CYMA Tactical AK47 CM0.28A
CYMA was one of the first AK clone makers and while their early AEG's were barely better than LPEGs, they currently make some of the better quality AK47's and AK74's. Plastic body with metal dust cover and barrel. Shooting 380fps out of the box. TM compatible and I've replaced it with mock wood furniture for VN mil-sim games.

Pro: Great field AK out of the box, good value for the price, decent internals, metal mags.
Con: Plastic body
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