Kalash AKS 74U

[Boar]

Gear Box: Ver.3
Magazine: 500 Rounds
Length: 498-735mm
Weight: 2680g
Battery: AK Stick Type Battery
Muzzle Velocity: 350-370FPS with 0.2g BBs

Contents:

1. Introduction / The Real Steel
2. First Impressions
3. Skirmish Report
4. Conclusions


1. The Real Steel.


The AKS-74U (nicknamed the Krinkov[1],) is an ultra-compact assault rifle designed in the Soviet Union that was in production from the early 1980s until circa 1991.

The AKS-74U ("U" for "Укороченный"/"Ukoročennyj" [shortened]) was developed in the late 1970s from the AKS-74, a folding-stock variant of the AK-74. The earliest known models were produced and dated by the Izmash and Tula Arsenals beginning in 1981. The AKS-74U is the size of, and has the effective range of a submachine gun, due to the shorter barrel. Only a few parts are interchangeable with the AK74, although it does utilize the same 5.45 mm ammunition. A notable distinguishing feature is the conical gas expansion chamber developed to control recoil and muzzle flash as well as to facilitate cycling of the weapon given the shorter barrel.

The rifle was intended for vehicle and artillery crews, as well as for special forces soldiers needing particularly small, lightweight weapons. Today the AKS-74U is found primarily amongst police, private sector guards and rear-echelon military units, being superseded among front-line military units by the compact versions of the AK-100 family.

- Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKS_74U


2. First Impressions

I received my AKSU roughly one week ago yesterday, and in all honesty the grin has still not slipped from my face. On opening the box I was greeted with a rather thick printed manual (which seems to "borrow" quite liberally from the VFC manual) and beneath that; the future love of my life. I expect that from these first two sentences you will have some idea of how I feel about this gun, so for those who were hoping for a "China fails again, stick to VFC!" type review, you may want to hit the back button on your browser.

Moving on, the gun itself is made almost entirely from pressed sheet steel, with a few parts made from what I presume to be some sort of Zinc alloy, or what is more commonly known as "pot metal". As I plugged in the included 8.4v stick battery; I took some time to have a more careful look at the gun. The finish on this AKSU is rather glossier than on the Unicorn or the CYMA, but according to Snorkelman (henceforth referred to as the God of all things AKSU) the finish is very close to the real deal. The folding stock snaps into place with a satisfying "clunk" and is rock solid, with perhaps a millimetre of wiggle on the vertical axis at most. The bolt is a little loose in all honesty, not so loose as to rattle on its own or to be particularly irritating, but it is one minor negative point against a gun that is otherwise built like the lovechild of Robocop, The Terminator and a brick wall.

The included "bakelite" magazine is relatively decent; it's not particularly attractive, but it gets the job done and I honestly can't think of a lot else to say about it; it's a magazine, BBs go in it. Um. That'll do.

The fire selector on my particular AKSU was a little loose, but a couple of quick turns with a wrench and it is now fine and locks into each firing mode with a definite click.

The wooden grips are decent enough, a little glossy and plastic looking, but they're nice enough that you wont immediately want to wrench them off your gun, and the great thing about the VFC AKSU and its Kalash clone is that when you do decide to change the foregrips, parts from the real gun will fit with very little effort.


Also included in the box are the usual bits and pieces; a cleaning rod, a very decent sling and a couple of hundred .2s

3. Skirmish Report

The day after I received this rifle I was lucky enough to have the chance to try it out in a skirmish. Once again I didn't stop grinning the entire day; from the admiring glances as I pulled it out of the bag, to the satisfying "crack" that this gun makes with each shot - I was honestly having far more fun with this gun than any of my other AEGs (and at one time or another I have owned basically the entire TM range)

I haven't had a chance to chrono this gun, but all indications were that it was firing roughly 350ish fps, and the effective range was really quite surprising for a rifle of this size. If I were to hazard a guess I would say that the maximum effective range of this rifle is going to be somewhere around 100-150 feet, and I managed a couple of good kills at this distance.

The battery that comes with the gun is very good as Chinese batteries go, it compared favourably with my intellect 8.4v stick and is a cut above the usual black wrapped paperweights that you get when buying guns from Cyma et al.

4. Conclusions

BUY THIS GUN. No, really, sell what or who you have to, your own body if needs be, because far more than friends, family, self respect or your anal virginity; you need this gun. I am trying to think of bad things to say about this gun, something to balance out this rather superlative review, but honestly I can't think of anything bad enough about it to warrant choosing a different AKSU over this one, it really is a very good gun.

To sum up: If it's good enough for Bond and Bin Laden; it's good enough for you.

Edited December 2, 2007 by AliceHKfan

[Revenge Seeker]

oo, great review! I was just thinking about getting one yesterday but I guess I'll wait for the RK-02 because I like big guns. Nice gun nonetheless.

 

Oh, and were you implying we sell our virginity to buy this gun? lol... maybe for the rk-02...

[vbtb110]

Need more pictures

 

But aside, nice review. This will probably be the straw that breaks the camel's back in making me buy one of these.

Edited December 1, 2007 by vbtb110

[Guinness]

Nice review Boar! Well done!

 

You should add this to the Review Database-

 

Actually both you and Snorkleman should put each of yours up there so we have alternating reports on the same gun in easy reach!

 

 

 

 

Slainte!

[Korppi]

Nice review. I actually watched Golden Eye before buying my unicorn to sweeten things up

 

OT:

 

Or LRB-equipped classics shooting in some massive arcs.

 

Sorry, they fire flat. My Asahi Sterling does 80m, better tuned barrels up to 100m.

Edited December 1, 2007 by Korppi

[MrBlanks]

It was a nice review but there are some obvious cons to the gun.

 

 

[Boar]

It was a nice review but there are some obvious cons to the gun.

 

Such as? I never said it was perfect, however what AEG really is? But for the price it is very good. Anyhow I would appreciate you illuminating me as to the cons you feel I overlooked.

[oshaberi]

Such as? I never said it was perfect, however what AEG really is? But for the price it is very good. Anyhow I would appreciate you illuminating me as to the cons you feel I overlooked.

 

such as - mentioned in snorkelman's review - inability to work properly with magazines made by other manufacturers. you have to file/change mag catch so other mags will sit properly. however after you do that, supplied mag won't fit. that is an obvious flaw you overlooked - should have been mentioned IMHO.

 

don't get me wrong, I personally have RK02 and I am perfectly happy with it. however when I bought it and I had already known (thanks to snorkelman) what to expect from it at least in terms of mag compatibility.

 

your - perhaps overly positive - review might raise the expectations too much. and it is not a good thing when expectations are not met, it always leaves bad taste in your mouth no matter how good the gun really is.

 

anyway, thanks for review, one can feel from it you really like the gun

 

[pathfinder909]

i think that was well said oshaberi.

But i too am very excited about this gun, and am I not really worried about some of its flaws...

[MrBlanks]

I dunno about not working properly with any other mags. I bought some ak74 MAG mags and they fit without modification. The thing is, is that you have to put it differently than you would with the high cap. Its a bit snug however I personally think it's an awesome thing because it makes the whole thing rock solid. Plus, the mag catch is fine the way it is, its more of the front of the mag well (or slot) where the lip of the magazine is inserted that causes problems. Hell, I am even bored enough to make a video of it:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmqDxc6V4_A

 

Anyway. My only complaints are that the stock is loose when not locked back, the muzzle break after a while gets really loose and my hicap is subpar. Even though this only happened once to me and saw it happen once to someone else, but when I started shooting, the heatshield popped open. Thought it was weird.

 

Thats it though, for the most part it is awesome. When I ordered it I didn't expect much. I was going to make it a project gun. Now, it has surpassed my expectations and I think I am going to keep it stock for a while (with the exception of a tightbore and hop up bucking, but I do that to all my guns).

Edited December 2, 2007 by MrBlanks

[Boar]

I have tried King Arms midcaps and CYMA Highcaps in mine and they fit without problems. They dont "click" into place but they fit and feed without problems and are rock solid once they are in the gun. You are right in that the flash hider is a bit loose as the gun comes, I forgot to mention that as it took me roughly 15 seconds of work to fix. Anyhow, I make no apologies for an overly positive review of a gun that I personally am very happy with.

[pathfinder909]

May I ask how you fixed it in case I have the same problem?

[Boar]

I wrapped some electrical tape once around the thread for the flash hider and then screwed it down. It is now solid as a rock.

[MrBlanks]

I wrapped some electrical tape once around the thread for the flash hider and then screwed it down. It is now solid as a rock.

 

Wait, you mean on the thread? I mean I am fine with locktite right now but it's pretty expensive if I have to keep removing it.

 

I have tried King Arms midcaps and CYMA Highcaps in mine and they fit without problems. They dont "click" into place but they fit and feed without problems and are rock solid once they are in the gun.

 

Thats what I thought too when I put in the MAG mags. You kinda have to put it in differently than you normally would.

[Boar]

Wait, you mean on the thread? I mean I am fine with locktite right now but it's pretty expensive if I have to keep removing it.

 

 

 

Thats what I thought too when I put in the MAG mags. You kinda have to put it in differently than you normally would.

 

Yes, a short piece of electrical tape wrapped very tightly around the threads. The flash hider now fits on very securely and it's easily removed.

[pathfinder909]

Thanks. Thats awesome, I'm glad its an easy fix. Does your upper handguard wobble at all?

 

...I've never had a full steel or real wood gun before, so i guess this gun will really blow my socks off.

 

[greatwatermelon]

lots of the small quirks u mentioned as a con never seemed like a con to me

 

more things could be said about the gun like

 

steel isn't as impressive as other steel guns. or like the performance isn't incredible

 

dboy aks74u most likely won't outperform other guns, but it still works pretty well

[Boar]

Steel isn't as impressive as other steel guns? Which guns are you drawing comparisons with mate? To a certain degree steel is just steel. Now obviously that is a bit of a generalisation that proves wildly untrue when it comes to other uses for steel but within airsoft and especially when it comes to Metal Body Kits I'd assume that most steels used were of the same composition. So what exactly about the steel is worse than other steels? The carbon content? The heat treat? Or do you mean the pot metal gas block and outer barrel?

[snorkelman]

same guage of mild steel as used on the VFC and real deal receivers albeit not heat treated as real one is - guarder/inokatsu use a heavier guage but other than that its down to finish applied to the steel rather than the steel itself when it comes to these guns. The upper receiver cover could well be a little lighter guage but Id need to do a compare and contrast.