DM AIMS REVIEW

[mrblah]

I've been wanting to complete a AIMS for the longest time, even to the extend of collecting a bunch of real parts to convert my AK to one. Well, Inokatsu's kits were out of my price range, and I wasn't looking for another AK, so I wasn't interested in VFC's offering. About a year ago, DM announced that they were going to make ak kits, and there was a big hubbub about it for a while, and then they disappeared. A month or go, their kits began appearing around the internet. So browsing some HK shops, I found a DM AIMS KIT for about 230 dollars, which is reasonable in my book. A few weeks later, I received it in the mail along with a pbs-1 silencer that I wanted (silencer not included in kit).

 

 

PACKAGING:

All the parts come wrapped in plastic with grease to prevent rust. So much grease that you will get it all over the place, and your house will smell like a garage, so assemble it in the garage. Packaging itself is decent, so you won't get any dents or anything. No instructions included, but you really don't need it. The only thing you need to complete the kit is a donor gearbox, hopup, inner barrel. You will have to reuse the selector gear on the outside of the gearbox as well. Everything else is included, and all metal parts are indeed steel, and what is wood is wood. However, there were some minor issues I have with this kit.

 

Notice the greasy bags, but other than that, its just plain cardboard. Notice crappy front wood set, and black pistol grip.

 

APPEARANCE; PROS AND CONS.

Receiver, rear sight, selector switch, top cover, and barrel has a blue'd like finish similar to inokatsu, which is nice. Its not authentic, but its definitely nice. Parts look abit weathered already, but that probably has to do with uneven bluing or just bad QC (i don't think it detracts from the look). However, the gas tube, charging handle, front site, and rear sight block has a horrible finish to it. Those pieces were cast, extremely rough, and they merely choose to paint over it, so the parts don't match the receiver. Again, not a big deal, especially for the price of the kit. The romy stock had the same texture as the real one that I have, so it also has a rough finish, but its suppose to be that way. Lever works differently than the romy version, but someone said its "east german" or something. Not sure. Not the greatest solution, because if you aren't careful, the latch doesn't always catch, so the stock can swing out and hit you in the face. All in all, i'm kind of knitpicking, i'm extremely happy with this kit.

 

.

 

ASSEMBLY PROS:

1. pretty straight forward assembly

2. the steel body is thick, thicker than a inokatsu body

3. most of the large body parts are already pre-assembled

4. holes lined up (well most of them did).

5. everything is a tight fit, from the hopup, to mag opening. I like it. Some parts were too tight, see below.

6. gas block and receiver is one piece. Makes installation a breeze, but its also a con in terms of battery placement.

 

 

ASSEMBLY CONS:

 

1. outerbarrel didn't fit the front sight. I had to cut 1 mm off the barrel in order for the grub screw to align. I couldn't drill a new hole, because the predrilled hole was too close. You couldn't turn the barrel around, because the barrel end closest to the receiver also housed the hopup unit. Now cutting steel barrels is a PITA without a dremel, so make sure you have a dremel handy, just in case.

 

2. wood front AIM grip. It's a joke. I'm not sure who they based the pics off of, but its bad. Finish is bad. Lower handguard didn't even fit over the barrel, and the top and bottom handguards don't match. Its also too fat and out of proportion. So bad, I ditched it.

 

3. pistol grip is wrong color, but it fit perfectly, its just the wrong color. Has a major seam running down the back, but its ok, and it is nicely textured.

 

4. the charging handle, is made of heavy gauged steel. I'm not sure what it is, but it makes the inokatsu handles look like tin foil. Problem is, that it was so thick, that it kept getting caught on the hopup. So you can either sand down the hopup cover, or sand the back of the charging handle. I choose to sand down the lever.

 

5. selector switch is bad. The selector itself is stamped steel, but the part that connects to the gearbox is casted and welded to the selector handle, so it didn't even fit into the grooves to engage the selector. Basically, they left too much material in the back, and they cast then welded the screw washer into it (as its one piece)...which means if you want to fix this, you will need a dremel, and even then, you have to be extremely careful that you don't take out to much material. For me, I reused a inokatsu lever.

 

6. finish is a bit thick on the barrel, so thick, that i had to sand down the barrel to insert into the body. Good note is that once its in, it aint going anywhere. Bad new's is, if you ever have to remove your hopup or barrel.....its going to be difficult. So when I did a dry installation, this became a huge problem for me...I needed two people to get that barrel out, to do the actual install.

 

7. Barrel is held in place by gravity and 3 grub screws. Not exactly the greatest way to install things. You have the option of using locktight or leave it be. I choose to leave it be, because i figure that it will rust til it won't move.

 

8. RUST..................................... the threads of the front sight had rust on it. So basically the flashhider was seized on the threads, that is a royal pain in the butt to remove (i.e. you need a vice). There were some evidence of rust in the nooks and crannys, but nothing i was worried about, nor did i remove it.

 

9. rear sight/gas block is one piece, and you can't fit a monster stick battery in there without major dremeling. Also because the receiver is attached (welded), you run the risk of damaging the body also.

 

10. cleaning rod is made out of steel, but the cap at the end is supposedly welded on, but when i got the kit, the weld broke inside the cap. Its ok, i superglued it on, and noone can tell the difference. I couldn't reuse the inokatsu one for some reason or the other, it was too short and narrow.

 

TIME TO ASSEMBLE:

about 3 hours without dremel ( i had to handsaw and file parts down), so approximately 1 hour with a dremel, and this includes disassembly of donor aeg, dry build then the real assembly.

 

Conclusion

Its definitely worth it. Its not as easy to assemble as a guarder/inokatsu kit, nor does it have the greatest fit and finish, but everything is fixable if you have a dremel and donor parts lying around (which most people will have). Keep in mind, this is the cheapest STEEL kit at the moment, so there are some issues you will have to contend with.

 

notice how unproportional the bottom grip. Its so thick, its hard to wrap your hands around it. This is mainly due to the bulge they left in it.

 

scuff marks where i tried to install it.... notice i didn't get really far, so minor dremeling and sanding will be required (although, its easier to replace these ugly mofo's).

 

picture is a bit exaggerated because I had to hold it and take a picture, but it shows a clear overhang between top and bottom halfs. If you installed this on your ak, it will be extremely noticeable. When I first noticed it, i was like WTF>#$@#$!@$!@$!@$

 

contrast between the blued parts and the cast, painted parts

 

contrast between blued barrel and cast, gas tube

 

 

everybody loves serial numbers. Although, they probably are all the same regardless of the kit, but hey, at least they are matching.

 

Romy sidefolder or "E. German" folder...its rock solid, although if you aren't careful, that stock can hit you in the face.

 

cast, charging handle with serial number. I tried to replace it with a inokatsu one, but it didn't fit. So im stuck with this for the time being.

 

If you have the option of buying a aluminum silencer vs. the steel silencer, get the aluminum one. The all steel DM kit is very very well balanced, and adding the steel can, made it extremely front heavy (not enough to complain, but enough to question whether or not if it the heft is really necessary). Also, I installed inokatsu AIM grips I had lying around, so the kit doesnt include those, nor the brown pistol grip.

Edited February 6, 2008 by mrblah

[Gigueand]

Good review. Honestly, for $230 I would be pretty upset. It seems like the kit has some great quality parts, some mediocre parts and some bad parts. If you couple the mediocre with the bad and then toss in the fiddling that you have to do to get it to all fit together then it seems pretty awful.

 

Now I'm certainly no expert on AKs or AK kits, so anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt, but for $230 I'd expect a whole lot better for what amounts to a pile of aftermarket parts.

[dookieboy]

Nice review glad to see someone who got it posted a review. Helps the Ak nuts decide easier

[0nslaught]

awesome review dude. with the Inokatsu furniture it turned out pretty good. really good for the price actually. only thing i would do if i had that is get some real romy hand guards and a new gas tube.

[CrazyJ]

nice review. One thing to consider there was news of Inokatsu dropping the prices on all their kits to make it competitive. I think I would rather wait for those instead to not deal with the the rough quality on it

[ECRRRainman]

Nice review MrBlah, now I need to decide in either buying the VFC or getting this and filling in the blanks, as I am in dire need of an AIMS

[mrblah]

I definitely like inokatsu kits, and have owned them in the past, but its hard for me to recommend inokatsu after purchasing this kit. In fact, my donor gun for this project was a inokatsu bodied ak, lol. Inokatsu makes some top quality kits, but for me its about the pricing. In order to save money, and undercut its competitors (which is inokatsu), DM definitely cut corners. For me that is acceptable, but for others, it isn't.

 

Even though inokatsu dropped its prices (around 330 i believe), I would never ever pay inokatsu prices again (mainly due to acme products devalue every custom aeg i own, and the fact that inokatsu dropped their prices makes me even feel worse for paying full price for their kits in the past). Also with the DM kit, its proof that full steel kits shouldn't cost a arm and a leg. At the same time, I don't think DM could have gone any cheaper without their kits turning into junk...lol.

 

I think ak fanatics will enjoy this kit, even with its flaws. Its cheap, and any flaws are correctable, and because its a full steel kit, it has its own character. Once built, its solid, there is no play anywhere. This is the tightest fitting body I've owned, there is no magazine rock in the magwell, hopup sits perfectly, no stock wobble either (just be careful of the latch as I mentioned in the review).

 

I hope i answered any questions people may have, and explained myself a bit better.

 

[0nslaught]

Nice review MrBlah, now I need to decide in either buying the VFC or getting this and filling in the blanks, as I am in dire need of an AIMS

 

theres different ways to see it as, i mean if your like me and your a accuracy(in terms of how accurate it is to RS)/realism nut, then go with the VFC. but if that stuff doesnt bother you and you would like to save some money, go with the DM kit. this is a great kit for the price and you only have to swap out a few parts to make it close to perfect; however, if you care about those tiny details that VFC implemented(like the romanian push button style stock, correct receiver markings, correct rear sight, and the way you can fit a lipo inside of the vertical foregrip) then go with the VFC. VFC finally decided to use a steel barrel with the AIMS instead of the Al barrel theyve been using with the other ak series.

[dookieboy]

mrblah more pictures pleasE? and do you have a size comparison for a ino vs DM pic? Thanks! I have a guarder akm BTW lolz.

 

[mrblah]

i can't...the inokatsu AIM has been disassembled and in a bizillion parts. I'll see if i can compare parts n stuff over the weekend, since i've been just laid off, i have alot of time on my hands...lol

[ECRRRainman]

If I were to replace the stock front grip with say, a real romanian AIMS front grip, where would I obtain such said front wood kit?

[mrblah]

I presume you live in the US, there are a bunch of places. Mainly forums such as the ar15 forum, ak forum, and others. If you want the front end you will be looking for "romy G" handguards, or romanian ak front handguards, AIM, or AIMS. Keep in mind though, usually its the lower handguard only (which you want) or complete frontsets and complete kits, which can get expensive, and many of them are in need of refinishing. As for retailers, there are quite a few online, so google it, it seems the handguards are relatively easy to find in the US. Again, even for retailers, most of the romy handguards are in need of refinishing.

[dookieboy]

No refinishing it looks BATTLE worn. lol That sucks mrblah^^^ :/ Oh well more time for the ak right?? lolol

[The Crunchy Bunny]

If I were to replace the stock front grip with say, a real romanian AIMS front grip, where would I obtain such said front wood kit?

 

 

Go to your local gun shows and look around to. I got a very worn AIM furniture set for $20 a while back.

[mrblah]

Ok, i take back everything i said about the crappy finish on the cast parts. Wanna know why? Because they polish to a nice gunmetal/dark grey Gotta love steel.

 

Currently, I'm trying to redo the front wood handguard. I sanded down the sides to try and get it more proportioned, and i'll restain it, but I think it wont be finished for another week. I wonder if DM copied the out of proportioned VFC front handguard....... because they both have that out of proportioned bulge.

[0nslaught]

what bulge?

 

http://www.gb-tech.com.tw/vfc_new_web/eng/...ail_ak_aims.htm

[mrblah]

what bulge?

 

http://www.gb-tech.com.tw/vfc_new_web/eng/...ail_ak_aims.htm

 

Originally, the vfc had a fat handguard due to putting a lipo battery in it. I could have swore I saw it somewhere on the net somewhere, but then again I might have inhaled to much paint thinner in the last few hours.

 

as for the dm handguard, there is a noticeable bulge on the side, and the rear of the handguard that isn't suppose to be there.

 

 

I removed them using the ino handguards as a template, and some pics on the internet, so it looks half way decent, and it fits. Now I just have to refinish them.

 

Edited February 15, 2008 by mrblah

[0nslaught]

Originally, the vfc had a fat handguard due to putting a lipo battery in it. I could have swore I saw it somewhere on the net somewhere, but then again I might have inhaled to much paint thinner in the last few hours.

 

check out the pre-release version:

 

 

 

no bulge, but still not proportional to real deal romy hand guards. sorry for cluttering your thread. great finish on your gun btw, looks very nice.

 

 

[mrblah]

damn it it must be the paint thinner

[ECRRRainman]

That weathering looks incredible

[The Crunchy Bunny]

Really grand weathering job. These kits are looking better and better. what did you use to weather it? Steel Wool?

[mrblah]

yep just steel wool, and alot of rubbing, polished the steel to a grey shine.

[BigAl]

Would it be practical to remove the *beep* stock to replace it with a decent design, as it's steeel I guess a new mounting could be welded on. I assume also that an AK forend would fit on to replace the Romanian rubbish?

 

Your probably wondering why i'm interested as I hate the Romanian AK, simple it's a cheap steel kit.

[mrblah]

dm makes other steel kits also, other than the romanian one. They make a ak74 kit and aks-74 kit

Edited February 15, 2008 by mrblah

[BigAl]

Even better cheers.