Unicorn ASK74U Review

[Crimson]

This is my opinion, everything said here is my personal opinion

 

A couple years ago I played metal gear solid 2 and was blown away by the game, since then I have been looking for an affordable AKS74U to complete my Gurlukovich's private army loadout, On Saturday the 8th o f September i literally jumped and did a back flip and ordered the unicorn AKS74U to my delight, the suspense was killing me, on Wednesday gunner finally sent the AEG, Monday morning it arrived (yes I paid for 2 to 5 day EMS delivery which was so pointless because gunner did not ship it to me till Wednesday).

 

I woke up at 2pm its now 2.15pm and I have decided to write my review.

 

This is is a poorly built AEG . Everything is ###### and needs work done to it. Not one part of the external steel body is: solid, does not creek, or is wobble free.

 

Where should I start I was completely disappointed in the build quality of this AEG i know AKs are supposed to be gritty and be able to stand anything but this is seriously a poor excuse of an AK (having felt and fired a real AK ).

 

Some pictures:

Edited September 17, 2007 by Crimson

[Crimson]

Review:

 

Here I shall start the review from the front of the rifle to the rear.

 

Front end:

 

The flash hider- This wobbles like its been stuck on with an elastic band. The thread is both positive and negative! The flash hider screws on positively however it does not lock when it gets to the bottom it starts to unscrew! So because it does not lock when it gets to the last thread it wobbles. Unicorn must have spoted this problem so they decided to put in a retractable bolt which locks the flash hider in place, however because the flash hider cannot screw close enough to the front site the bolt does not even function properly, so now you get a flash hider that does not screw on properly and looks like It can fall off any minute .

 

Here we can see the flash hider without pressure it looks like its bent :

This is the locking bolt i was talking about:

Applying a small mount of pressure makes this bend and wobble :

[Crimson]

The front site- This is probably the most solid bit of the AEG, nothing much really but it’s ok. The needle that sits in the front site is missing! I searched around the box and found it and had to screw it in, Saying that there is no locking mechanism to stop the needle from falling out, nevertheless it looks like it won’t fall out again.

[Crimson]

Wood grips- The most disappointing thing about this gun, it looks like a chimpanzee made this. The lower grip fits but wobbles. There are parts of the grip that have not been varnished properly, and the grips have square cuts where someone has not been bothered to sand it down! I cant even begin to talk about the poor workmanship here, you will need to see the photos.

 

 

The Upper grip wobbles turns twists and there is a huge gap between the two wood grips.

[Crimson]

Lower receiver- This is satisfactory nothing wrong nothing good, in fact it feels like a real AKs lower receiver. The one comment I have to make is that all the corners of the Mag well are super sharp and already has damaged the plastic mag that has come with it.

 

Damage:

[Crimson]

Steel side rail- Again is satisfactory nothing bad nothing good though I am actually quite surprised it does not wobble

[Crimson]

Upper receiver- this is what lets the gun down I think, the gas bolt is complete poo!

When you pull back the bolt it wobbles up and down this is because there is no rail for it to run along, if only they made a small hole in the gas block all would be well! The upper receiver does not fit the lower receiver. The Gas bolt should run along the channel on the top of the version 3 gearbox but does not because of poor folding/moulding of the channel runners (they look like they can be bent to fit the gun)

 

Not fitting:

[Crimson]

Bent Channel:

Just falls off:

[Crimson]

Stock- when the stock is locked it only takes a timid tap with the finger to break the locking mechanism. The lower bit of the frame moves because it has not been fixed properly to the butt stock, this results in the stock creaking badly and contributes to its unsteadiness.

applying a little pressure does this:

[Crimson]

Pistol grip- this plastic thing is so wobbly it makes holding the gun wrong, the sturdiness and reliability of the AK goes right out the door on this. It feels like it’s about to fall off. This is to do with the poor workmanship on the rifle, I took out my screwdriver and screwed it on this vastly improved my opinion on the AK it now feels sturdy and reliable.

 

Everything externally i have commented on is the result of poor workmanship

 

The gun can be made into a thing of beauty by:

 

1. Screwing on the front site properly

2. Screwing on the pistol grip properly

3. Fixing the poor excuse of a wood grip (sand down the notches and re varnish it )

4. Fixing the upper wood grip (properly folding the metal channels so it grips the wood and stops it from moving)

5. Folding the metal channels of the gas bolt so it fits and does not wobble

6. Weld the folded steel stock together at the joints instead of relying on folds

7. Somehow fix the weak stock.

8. Somehow fix the wobbly flash hider

 

If you could fix the above the AEG would be great, I have already started work on this and it has already started to transform into the reliable AK we all know.

 

Pictures will be put up soon and the battery is charging so I will get to shoot and review the internals though its Cyma internals.

[snorkelman]

The flash hider screws on positively however it does not lock when it gets to the bottom it starts to unscrew! So because it does not lock when it gets to the last thread it wobbles. Unicorn must have spoted this problem so they decided to put in a retractable bolt which locks the flash hider in place

 

nopes the spring loaded pin that standard method of locking the muzzle brake whats missing on yours is the screw that goes thru the threaded section. ie the outer barrel has a M14 cc/w thread onto that you screw the adapter On the adapter theres a small threaded hole Once the adapter is tightened down on its left hand thread you tighten a grub screw to stop it coming undone once thats in place you then screw the c/w threaded muzzle break on. But.. without the grub screw to hold the adapter you'll end up unscrewing the adapter as you screw the muzzle brake on If you give me till tomorrow I should be able to post details of the size and source for the grub screw

 

Handguards supplied definately need a bit more varnish They arent quite as 'dry' as the ones found on early VFC AKSUs but they do need a couple more coats. About best can be said of them is that they are a reasonably decent shape (size of the spring tensioner cuts aside) and with a revarnish job should look OK.

 

On real AKSU theres enough of a gap between upper and lower to see fresh air between them On later models of the real one they went further still and cut venting slots along each side where the upper meets the lower to aid ventilation even further

 

Lower handguard uses same method of attachment as guarder use (another grub screw) best thing to do with that is remove the muzzle brake, undo the grub screw under the front sight and remove that too

 

remove the upper handguard and you'll see the grub screw at front of the lower handguard loosen that and slide the lower guard off. With the lower guard off you'll see that the leaf spring that tensions the handuard is actually a little taller than the slots.

 

Carefully reduce the height of the leaf spring tangs so they are just short enough for the slots.

 

With the leaf spring off the handguard, reposition the handguard on the receiver and see how far back you can get it to slide. The block at bottom of the rear of it might be binding in the front of the lower receiver (mine wasnt but worth checking) If its a good fit and goes fully back you're sorted if its catching on the front of the receiver sand the block down a little so it does go further back

 

Once thats checked (sorted if neccessary) remove the lower handgrip again and fit the leaf spring back in place. You might want to run a little black paint around the edge of the outer barrel where it exists the receiver before going any further if its bright and shiny metal at that point as it was on mine (judging by photos since I originaly replied looks like yours could do with a bit of paint there).

 

Fit the handguard back onto the rifle and make sure the stock is folded. Point the gun so the barrel is pointing straight up and rear of the receiver is resting on the floor push the handguard as far back as possible (compressign the leaf spring tensioners) and tighten up the grub screw that holds the handguard in place while keeping the handguard pushed back as you do so.

 

That should get the handguard as far back as its going to go and keep it there once screw is tightened.

 

refit the front sight block, refit the thread adapter, refit the muzzle brake and that end of things should be done

 

Upper receiver cover. If you find its having difficulty closing down at the rear try the following undo the single grub screw thats visible just above the lower handguard (theres two more further inside the front trunnion but those hold theouter barrel dont loosen those). That'll allow the pivot point at front of the upper receiver to loosen off

 

You can then close the upper receiver down so its a good fit in its notch at rear of the lower receiver and once thats lined up tighten the grub screw back down.

 

That'll ensure the rear edge of upper cover lands where its meant to when closing the upper rather than the rear edge being too far forward or back.

 

Upper handguard by sounds of it you've sorted that already heres what I did took the upper handguard off The front of it is a reasonably good fit in the end of the gas block on the front sight so I left that part alone.

 

The rear of it was narrower than the gap in the trunnion its supposed to sit in by a couple of mill I took a pair of long nosed pliers and bent the end of it outwards slightly so the leading edges were a much tighter fit in the trunnion. That should stp any side to side play while the spring detente in front of the trunnion that covers the rear of the upper handguard when top cover is closed should take care of any up and down play.

 

To be honest on a real AKSU the upper handguard can be a little loose (the fact the gas piston runs along the inside of there on real one helps keep it a litte more solid)

 

 

You've two choices as far as side to side wobble in the stock goes

 

1 cut and fit a small piece of sheet metal (about 1mm thick max) between rear of the receiver (the flat bit you can see inside stock mechanism just beloee where rear of gearbox is visible) and the hook that laches the stock. That way when stock is unfolded theres no play between the stock and the latch andit all forms a tight sandwich

 

2nd method involves stripping gearbox etc out of the receiver, removing the actuating lever for the stock (that the hook forms part of) get a fair amount of heat on it and pinch it up in avice so that the hinge hook bends in ever so slightly Its cast steel so go easy on it and dont try that method without heat. If you arent familiar with an AK hinged stock mechanism and how it goes back together (tiny captive spring) then option 1 is a better bet (less risky and whole lot less work)

 

 

up and down stock play you can sort by removing the stock hinge pin (it'll pushout) and finding a small washer to shim the gap between the outer hinge pieces (on the receiver) and the inner hinge pieces (on the stock) Make sure the washer you use isnt any wider diameter than the hinge pieces and has a central hole same size as the hinge pin

 

having found filed adjusted a washer to do the job line up stock hinge pieces as though you were going to slide the hinge pin back into place start pushing the hinge pin in and then slip the small shim washer you've choosen into the gap between the various hinge pieces so the hinge pin goes thru it too. That'll take care of any up and down play.

 

Nasty looking bolt, the wobbly stock and the undervarnished grips aside most of the issues on these are sort of thing you'll find on an inokatus style kit that someones rushed together without tightening things properly or checking alignments before tigthening. Although gunner is selling them as a complete AEG they really are best though of as a kit thats been preassembled to show you roughly where everything goes.

 

However your stock most definately shouldnt be loose at its bottom strut looks lik a weld hasnt been done there best bet woudl be to remove the stock and take it to someone with welding gear to do a small tack weld inside to hold it in its proper place If you've got someone with spot welding gear all the better.

Edited September 17, 2007 by snorkelman

[Crimson]

nopes the spring loaded pin that standard method of locking the muzzle brake whats missing on yours is the screw that goes thru the threaded section. ie the outer barrel has a M14 cc/w thread onto that you screw the adapter On the adapter theres a small threaded hole Once the adapter is tightened down on its left hand thread you tighten a grub screw to stop it coming undone once thats in place you then screw the c/w threaded muzzle break on. But.. without the grub screw to hold the adapter you'll end up unscrewing the adapter as you screw the muzzle brake on If you give me till tomorrow I should be able to post details of the size and source for the grub screw

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Your right but there is no grub screw ?

 

On the upper there is nothing to secure it:

 

 

it rotates ?

 

Lower handguard uses same method of attachment as guarder use (another grub screw) best thing to do with that is remove the muzzle brake, undo the grub screw under the front sight and remove that too

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There is no grub screw or a hole for a grub screw to attach to ?

 

 

remove the upper handguard and you'll see the grub screw at front of the lower handguard loosen that and slide the lower guard off. witht the lower guard off you'll see that the leaf spring that tensions the handuard is actually a little taller than the slots

 

Carefully reduce the height of the leaf spring tangs so they are just short enough for the slots.

 

With the leaf spring off the handguard reposition it on the receiver and see how far back you can get it to slide The block at bottom of the rear of it might be binding in the front of the lower receiver (mine wasnt but worth checking) If tis a good fit and goes fully back you're sorted if its catching on the front of the receiver sand the block down a little so it does go further back

 

Once thas check (sorted if neccessary) remove the lower handgrip again and fit the leaf spring back in place you might want to run a little black paint around the edge of the outer barrel where it exists the receiver before going any further if its bright and shiny metal at that point as it was on mine.

 

Fit the handguard back onto the rifle and make sure the stock is folded. Point the gun so the barrel is pointing straight up and rear of the receiver is resting on the floor push the handguard as far back as possible compressign the leaf spring tenstioners and tighten up the grub screw that holds the handguard in place while keeping the handguard pushed back as you do so. That should get the handguard as far back as its going to go and keep it there once screw is tightened.

 

refit the front sight block refit the thread adapter refit the muzzle brake that end of things should be done

 

upper receiver cover. If you find its having difficulty closing down at the rear try the following undo the single grub screw thats visible just above the lower handguard. that'll allow the pivot point at front of the upper receiver to loosen off You can then close the upper receiver down so its a good fit in its notch at rear of the lower receiver and once thats lined up tighten the grub screw back down. That'll ensure the rear edge of upper cover lands where its meant to when closing the upper

 

Uper handguard by sounds of it you've sorted that already heres what I did took the upper handguard off The front of it is a reasonably godo fit in the end of the gas block on the front sight so I eft that part alone the rear of it was narrower than the gap in the trunnion its supposed to sit in by a couple of mill I took a pair of long nosed pliers and bent the end of it outwards slightly so the leading edges were a much tighter fit in the trunnion that should stp any side to side play while the spring detente in front of the trunnion that covers the rear of the upper handguard when rtop cover is closed should take care of any up and down play. To be honest on a real AKSU the upper handguard can be a little loose (the fact the gas piston runs along the inside of there on real one helps keep it a litte more solid)

having found filed adjusted a washer to do the job line up stock hinge pieces as though you were going to slide the hinge pin back into place start pushing the hinge pin in and then slip the small shim washer you've choosen into the gap between the various hinge pieces so the hinge pin goes thru it too. That'll take care of any up and down play.

 

Nasty looking bolt, the wobbly stock and the undervarnished grips aside most of the issues on these are sort of thing you'll find on an inokatus style kit that someones rushed together without tightening things properly or checking alignments before tigthening. Although gunner is selling them as a complete AEG they really are best though of as a kit thats been preassembled to show you roughly where everything goes

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

You have lost me there ?

[snorkelman]

The Upper grip wobbles turns twists and there is a huge gap between the two wood grips.

 

by looks of it the spring detente on the hinger upper receiver at rear of the upper handguard is pushing against the rear of the upper handuard, it should sit above the upper handguard and extend a few mm over the top of the upper guard. If its pushing agaisnt the rear of it the handguard will be sitting higher than it should and the upper cover will have a hard time colosing down properly

[BakaBox]

I will definitely wait for a Dboys comparison...

[Crimson]

Ah i see now the front end does not wobble but the back of the upper reciever does not fit ?

 

Edit*

 

If the upper is fixed the lower hand grip does not match, if you fix the lower the upper wobbles. If you dont get either right the upper reciever does not fold down correctly

Edited September 17, 2007 by Crimson

[snorkelman]

 

On the upper there is nothing to secure it:

 

it locks in at front onto the front sight block its held at rear by combination of its width in the barrel trunnion (the metal surrounding the wood at that end should be wide enough to be a decent fit inside the trunnion without any side to side play - widen the lower edges of that metal part a little if neccessary) Its then prevented from lifting upwards by the spring detente pin that moves forward to cover the top of the upper handguard when the upper receiver cover is closed

 

it rotates ?

 

aye should do that show it fits on real one (though the metal tube it rotates on is complete rather than just a half circle

 

 

There is no grub screw or a hole for a grub screw to attach to ?

 

there is its in the front metal ring of the lower handguard (the bit just behind the front sight block), you've somehow managed to get the lower handguard off without removing the site and front lower handguard ring, so Im guessing it was really loose indeed. Remove the sight then unloosen the grub screw in the ring and allow the ring to slide forward

 

If the leaf springs are short engough not to clash on the rear of the handguard then pushing the ring and handguard back towards rear of the gun will squeeze the leafsprings in a little and allow the whole lower handguard to fit slightly further back closer to the receiver (naroing the gap you currently have in your photos), you then tighten the grub screw in the ring so that the ring is held in place tightly against front of the lower handguard preventing the lower handguard from moving forward again. refit the front sigth block and that should be it sorted.

 

 

you can see in this photo that the spring tangs are just a little too long so when the lower handguard is pushed back its snagging on top tips of the tangs, if you file the tips of the tangs down a little you should be able to push the lower handguard back a lttle more

 

Edited September 17, 2007 by snorkelman

[snorkelman]

 

grub screw that loosens lower handguard ring and allows ring to slide along outer barrel as per above message

 

 

 

this other grub screw allows you to loosen the top cover Loosen it then remove the bolt from the gun. Close the top cover almost down and slide it along till it lines up with the notch in lower receiver that the rear of the cover is supposed to rest in (in your photo below you can see that rear of top cover isnt in line with its notch so wont go fully down)

 

 

Once it is lined up to with the notch and sitting snuggly in there, tighten the grub screw back down to maintain that alignment

Edited September 17, 2007 by snorkelman

[Crimson]

Ah i found it there is a point just bewteen each where they can fit ! finally after so much messing !

 

Lower reviever wobble fixed

Barrel wobble fixed

[Crimson]

Upper reciever fixed

Grove Fixed

Stock welded / Fixed !

 

just put the battery in .......

 

This AK Rocks !

 

The range on this is just as good as my M4 (has a 6.04 too) The ROF is great not as slow as the D boy but simular to TM !

7 out of 10 (after all the work has been done)

AK47 For Everybody!

 

The fps:

 

Shot 1: 348

Shot 2: 347

Shot 3: 346

 

After 2 hi caps ( 1,000 rounds)

 

Shot 1: 346

Shot 2: 345

Shot 3:347

Edited September 17, 2007 by Crimson

[snorkelman]

good to hear you got it sorted

[happy.al]

Sounds like a bit of work to get it working correctly, is it worth it? Is it now solid, feel good and heavy, etc?

[rolling-thunder]

I agree with Crimsons review having had a few hours to play with my AKS74U this afternoon.I was going to post pix but i think i'll stick to a couple.The flash hider can be sorted by putting plummers tape on the threads & that stops the wobble.I'm going to make a metal rail the cocking bolt can slide on,the looseness of the cocking lever assembly has allowed the wiring to become damged on my gun

& in the mag well there's another risk of wiring damage if i'm not careful

I found the selector lever to be fitted loose & the nut that's holding it to the gun keep coming undone making fire selection difficult.The screw in the pistol grip worked loose & is in real need of thread lock

There's at least one thing i want to do to disguise the fact that this is an airsoft gun,paint the gear box where it shows when the stock is folded

As previously mentioned i want to stop the cocking bolt assembly slopping all over the place so i'm going to make a new guide rail.

Here's my gun

& with a Cyma AK47 mag attached

& for comparision,an Cyma AK47{metal reciever & wood kit}with my AKS74U

I took this AKS74U out in my garden & loosed off a few rounds,probably near to a 1000,what a fun gun to shoot.If i can stop the selector lever from moving around & not engaging full auto when i want i can see this rapidly becoming a favourite gun!

Would i buy it again if i had the money,yes i would because it feels right,smells rights & "tastes right" only kidding

[Crimson]

good to hear you got it sorted

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Thanks man its all down to you

 

If you were not here to help me fix this i would have slated this and threw it in the bin

 

Now its fixed i totaly love it !

 

Bad thing is the fps i will need to downgrade it now

 

MOSFET, Systema: Tappet plate, Spring guide, Piston head, metal bushings, turbo motor, TM piston will now be ordered and i will have a god like AK

[Crimson]

Sounds like a bit of work to get it working correctly, is it worth it? Is it now solid, feel good and heavy, etc?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

i got it at 2pm its now 5.16 i have been playing with it and fixing it for over 3 hours its now worth it !

 

When you first get the gun its not been assembled properly so after a few hours of messing with it you can finally get it to work.

 

I do think if snorkelman writes up a complete guide on how to fix it then the time it takes to fix can be reduced and some anger can be avoided.

 

The feel is sexy , its solid and heavy ! This is a very very close to real ak i have seen. It shoots well.

 

The only problem is the gay bolt, if you fix the channel and get it to sit right its a dream, it took me an hour to bend it correctly

 

If you dont fix it it will eat the wire like rolling thunders AK

 

Expect pictures of my MGS2 Loadout soon !

Edited September 17, 2007 by Crimson

[snorkelman]

if I can get a tripod round to the flat tomorrow evening I'll do a full strip on mine and rebuild it from scratch for photos etc cameras are here but hate taking photos hand held.

 

I'll add details on griub screw needed for the flash hider too (PTFE tape on the threads will cut down the muzzle break wobble but thread lock or the missing grub screw is best way of attaching the thread adapter to outer barrel to ensure the whole lot stays where it should long term)