WE AKS-74UN First Impressions (Pic heavy)

[renegadecow]

Shot Dan a PM, thanks.

 

While I'm at it, are people still breaking their hammer springs? I made one for Calbur20 a while back when he still had his AKs so was wondering if this is also an issue I ought to expect, and when the time comes will people be needing them too so I can make them in batches?

[renegadecow]

I used rubber from a tire this time round and it seems to do pretty well. Only problem from last weekend was it coming off due to my misguided faith in double sided tape. Although the tape held well against the hammer, it was the rubber surface that slipped off. Changed it to a latex based sealant, the same stuff I use to seal mags and is what's pretty much holding my 5-7 together so I'm pretty sure this will hold at least for much longer. Also, can anyone attest to their pot metal bolts breaking/wearing down against the steel hammer? I believe the case is so for most of WE gbbrs so I'm thinking this would also work for saving bolts from wear.

 

About 2mm thick. Can't go overboard with the thickness as it will push the hammer down too much. Best keep it under the hump at the top of the hammer. Doesn't have to be as long as mine either as you only need to cover the area where the bolt hits it first. I just extended it to increase the surface area so the adhesive will have more to hold.

 

I also made a recoil buffer out of a 1cm block of dense foam rubber. Works fine since the impacting forces are pretty blunt unlike on the hammer,and really helps keep the noise down (like banging two pots together) which would be undoubtedly necessary when I turn this into a bullpup. I wanted to make it look like real recoil buffers at the start, but thought otherwise since the recoil spring guide doesn't look 100% correct anyway, maybe later on. Speaking of which, I find it funny how some people find the use of recoil buffers (or rof upgrades) for WE AKs as offensive/laughable when recoil buffers exist for the real article.

Edited February 4, 2014 by renegadecow

[3vi1-D4n]

I would not mount anything adhesive on moving parts, thats why I didn't put anything onto the bolt to buffer the hammer impact.  Thing is that on an AK the rear part in contact with the hammer is essentially an oversized firing pin/firing pin extension:

 

 

Hence why the solution sits with buffering on the GBB firing pin/gas release part, which buffers the impact of the hammer.

 

I haven't seen my friend's AK steel triggers wear the bolt carrier yet,  so waiting for someone to put up a post.

[renegadecow]

Digging around about the slow rof I came across adadqgg's mention of a fix involving staples. Basically the recoil spring and guide bind from tight tolerances in the bolt carrier from the top cover latch being slightly tilted. The earlier fix was to put a shim under the top cover which pushes the latch up when put down. I found an easier method by simply taping/gluing a sheet of aluminum (from a can or bottle cap) at the back corner of the latch itself.

The foam rubber buffer helps a bit in increasing rof too but it's there mostly to keep things from mashing each other to death.

 

edit:

Also the latex adhesive I used for the strip of rubber for the hammer is working great. No shifting or peeling whatsoever and the hammer and bolt carrier are free from any wear except for paint being rubbed off. I've Probably shot it around 300-400 times in games though and add another 100 for dry firing so it's going to be slow assessing its full usefulness.

Edited February 23, 2014 by renegadecow

[NightFury]

Digging around about the slow rof I came across adadqgg's mention of a fix involving staples. Basically the recoil spring and guide bind from tight tolerances in the bolt carrier from the top cover latch being slightly tilted. The earlier fix was to put a shim under the top cover which pushes the latch up when put down. I found an easier method by simply taping/gluing a sheet of aluminum (from a can or bottle cap) at the back corner of the latch itself.

The foam rubber buffer helps a bit in increasing rof too but it's there mostly to keep things from mashing each other to death.

 

edit:

Also the latex adhesive I used for the strip of rubber for the hammer is working great. No shifting or peeling whatsoever and the hammer and bolt carrier are free from any wear except for paint being rubbed off. I've Probably shot it around 300-400 times in games though and add another 100 for dry firing so it's going to be slow assessing its full usefuln

It is this a possible fix for the AK trigger boxes? I sure hope so. Been waiting too long for an AK. Just waiting for the day that all the kinks have fixes for them.

[renegadecow]

Thing is, even with the trigger box broken the gun will still perform like it didn't matter. The more pressing concern is the hammer but replacing just that leads to a cascade of parts failure so it's best to get the full set right away. I'm mostly just curious with thw DIY fixes I'm trying out and if my findings prove that an overhaul isn't necessary then all the better for people wanting to try the system out. 3vi1-D4n has come up with an entirely different approach to the problem too, focusing on the triggwr box itself and how impacting forces are not distributed evenly on an unaltered gun leading to breakages. Best pm him on details as I haven't tried it out myself.

[NightFury]

Wait but isn't the part that usually breaks the place where one would slide the hammer into? What would secure the hammer and keep it from wiggling itself out? Or is there a pin that fills the diameter of the hammer bushing enough that the play in the trigger after that area breaks is negligible? Oh, and what are the chances of the firing pin and spring to fall out once it's broken? Or has no one experienced this issue as of yet?

Edited March 5, 2014 by NightFury

[renegadecow]

The hammer is pinned all the way to the other (and meatier) side of the trigger box. The area that breaks off is only holding the firing pin/valve knocker and only on one side. Without it the valve knocker is still held in by the left side and the hammer is unaffected in operation. I've only heard of it breaking on people with steel hammers so I'm guessing there's tolerance issues going on. The stock hammer doesn't even touch the part that breaks. Then there's epoxying the part that breaks back, filling in the dead space on its right side which I assume was left empty for ease of die casting.

[NightFury]

Oh I heard about that too. Mainly people have been you RA assemblies. I haven't heard about broken trigger boxes from people who have been using Hephaestus trigger assemblies. I guess the Hephaestus is built more to WE spec than the RA. Either that or since the RA is finished it creates to tight a fit cause it to shear. I don't recall Hephaestus finishing anything in their AK set except for the trigger.

[NightFury]

I finally got the AKs74u. It's awesome. I did the DIY mod that renegade suggested but I used a 1/8 blank sorbo cut to size and super glue. Works like a charm. For the past 5 days, I've put this gun through its paces. 20,000 rounds and no sign of any wear on the hammer or trigger assembly minus paint rubbing off. As of yet, this has got to be one of my favorite gbbrs. Can't wait to see what the SVD is like.

[renegadecow]

20,000 rounds?!? How the hell did you get there that quick? I'm barely past 500, though only having one mag, being used to guns that have a maximum capacity of six, and contracting the flu the past couple weeks may be reason for my slow goings.

[NightFury]

I had four buckets of crosman .20g bbs that I just didn't care for and the recoil got addicting, lol. Also, it's heating up quite a bit in Texas so there's a bunch of wasp and hornets I try to clean off the outside of my house and garage. It wasn't just me though, I shared the fun with my friends, and 20,000 rounds goes by pretty quick when you have ten mags filled to 50 rds each. Kinda of curious WE didn't make it real capacity, but nonetheless nothing a little counting could fix. But that's one hell of an idea buffering the hammer. That is quite a genuine idea and it didn't cost me 100 dollars for a steel trigger assembly. Thank you Mr. Renegade. props

 

A few of my friends are still in the aeg zone and fill the need to fire ten round burst to hit a target. That could be a contributing factor as well. AEG users and icthy trigger fingers.

Edited March 15, 2014 by NightFury

[renegadecow]

You may want to do that top cover latch mod while you're at it (if you haven't already). Makes the bolt glide like butter, which is always a good thing plus I think it also eases up on gas use.

[NightFury]

I shall definitely get to that but since midterm tests are coming up, it maybe at least a week or two before I'll have time to fiddle with the gun. Like all WE gbbrs they're perfect once the kinks get sorted out.

[renegadecow]

Also, if counting to 30 gets irritating (especially since you can't see just how many rounds are left in the mag) you can open it up and put bbs under the follower spring as a kind of spacer. I can squeeze around 45 in mine so put 15 under and it should load to 30.

[NightFury]

Ok so I haven't tried the staple mod on the recoil guide rod, but for those wanting faster rate of fire with a full travel bolt, this DIY mod works out fine. I cut an m120 spring down to 4 cm length and fed it down the recoil spring rod. I kept the full travel bolt as well as increased my ROF from 8rps to 16rps. Also makes the gun more fun because the bolt is slamming forward faster. Not sure about the damage it may cause to the front end as I have only put 1000 rounds through using this mod. Also, cut the spring in a way that allows the spring to fill the contour of the bolt. As in make sure the angle you cut the spring matches the angle of the bolt. You'll also need to bind the spring so it stays in one place. Tape works but a better alternative is sliding a roll pin through the hole that holds the guide rod in place and thread the spring onto the roll pin. I personally wouldn't cut go as far as 5-6cm. It short strokes the gun to where is fires 20 rps and you get a little less than half travel for the bolt. Plus I prefer to have all my guns shoot with real steal rates of fire. If that's you, 3 cm should do it.

Edited March 16, 2014 by NightFury

[rvp69]

mine has been sitting for a year and i have just got it back out it wont fire and on closer inspection it seems the firing pin is going over top of the valve (plunger)  of the mag even pushed down hard its only hitting 3% of the mag valve? reason i put it down was because it was starting to miss fire ,i put 15k bbs through it before i did a total ra tech up grade and it lasted about 10k worth before it started to miss fire has any one had this problem yet and any ideas of how to over come this? 

[renegadecow]

Does the mag still seat in properly? Not lowered or anything? Pics might help too.

Edited March 18, 2014 by renegadecow

[rvp69]

yea the mag IS sitting correct 

 

[renegadecow]

Look to be alright, but a pic facing the knocker would be better. Have you tried changing the valve o-ring?

[rvp69]

It shows the firing pin over top of the valve can't really get a more accurate pic than that 

[renegadecow]

Compare it like this:

That's with the knocker backwards.

[rvp69]

yea mine looks exactly like that.. it seems to jump up over top of the mag valve i need to find a way to jam it down but not so as to restrict its movement 

Edited March 20, 2014 by rvp69

[renegadecow]

That's strange because that hits the valve square on. Process of elimination: check mags first, find a known working mag and see if it's just your o-rings that have gummed up and needs replacing. Next, examine the surface of the knocker if it has an angle or bur that may cause it to deflect against the valve.

 

Anyhow, replaced my old foam rubber recoil buffer to a home made rof booster. If I'm to protect the bolt from slamming rearwards I may as well increase rof a bit. From 400 to 600rpm aka 20% cooler /)^3^(\.

Edited March 20, 2014 by renegadecow

[rvp69]

Yea all six mags seem to be ok although in my exp with GBB it could be the bloody mags as you say going to take it into an airsoft shop 2moro and try brand new mags