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PTW clones( DTW A&K etc)


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I'm not going to strip the cylinder and hop yet (later tonight). This is just a quick look at the cylinder, hop and barrel and the externals of the gearbox.   The Cylinder is blue anodised and well

It always amazes me the way people think that because the Systema is $1500 it's actually worth $1500. Do you really think it costs Systema more than a couple of hundred dollars to make? Do you think

ok on with the rest of part 2.   I had a look at the gearbox and electrics today. Some good news and some bad news but to keep you in suspense I'll put the bad news nearer the bottom. No sneak peeki

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Okay guys i dont know if its me thats just unlocky...

 

So i send bak my A&K to gunfire.pl. And they send me a new one, but it wasnt assembled that well. The buffertube was a bit loose, and had chewed a wire for the mosfet....

i dont want to bother with it, because its porbably going to be changed anyway.

 

Has anyone tryed a etiny ECU and mosfet in the A&K PTW? Im also lookeing into buying a fcc 3.0 motor.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I changed all electronics to etiny on my A&K.

Changed the motor to a jg( the one aggressor sells)

Couldnt get the old pinion gear off, so i bought a fcc pinion gear.

Works great for now, but i noticed lyng wrote to Keep the old one.

Does this mean that my new pinion gear wont Hold?

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I'll be reviewing the A&K PTW similar to my DTW review.

 

To start off with I'll stick up a couple of photos with a brief description and then start to review it in detail over the next few days.

 

First up is a picture of what you see when you open the plain brown box.

boxed_zps93a4484a.jpg

 

Inside the box is the PTW, magazine, unjamming rod, hop adjuster and front sight post adjuster. There is also a manual similar to something you would find in a TM box.

Below is a couple of pictures showing the left and right side of the PTW

rightside_zps1dc8e712.jpg

leftside_zps689f08c7.jpg

 

Initial findings are:

It feels like a systema

The front handguards are cheaper plastic than the systema

the cylinder is gold and this will be too high a FPS for most sites.

It fires every bb from the magazine

it's sluggish on a 9.6v but fires well on a 11.1v LIPO

 

As you can see it comes with a black stock tube as standard which I prefer to the chrome Systema one. It looks to be modeled on a 2008 PTW but I'll see more of this as I take it to bits over the next few days.

 

It's slightly more pricy than a DTW and with postage cost $395 or around £233. This price doesn't include customs fees and it's hit or miss if you get stung for them.

 

More to follow........

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Here's a few more pictures with a brief description:

 

The outer barrel - well made with the flash hider being held in place with an allen grub screw. The front sight post also has an allen grub screw and roll pins holding it in place. I prefer roll pins as they provide tension unlike solid pins which are just friction fit. The flash hider is -14mm so a variety of AEG flash hiders should pop straight on.

barrel_zpsa83632d0.jpg

 

The hand guards are not the nylon material found on a systema but as I've pointed out in other reviews these are usually the first thing to get swapped on an AEG/PTW. They aren't badly made and fit well.

handguards_zpsa21e97cc.jpg

 

The receiver is well made and doesn't suffer from any wobble at all. As you can see markings are limited to the fire selector settings and a laser engraved serial number.

receiver_zps0657a6c7.jpg

 

The stock pipe is black instead of chrome silver and the stock itself is a direct copy of the systema one. there is no wobble on this at all and fits well.

stockandstockpipe_zps4a804155.jpg

 

Inside the box is a useful manual

manual_zpse8c2f1c9.jpg

 

the other pages can be found here:

page 1     Page 2/3     Page 4/5     page 6/7      page 8/9   back page

 

 

The magazine is a basic black painted one without any markings. It used the same follower as the systema magazines and from experience these get lost a lot or end up in the bag of BB's after I've emptied my mags after a game. I prefer the Vanaras mags as the follower is fixed in place. It holds 120 BB's and feeds them all from the quick tests I have done.

magazine_zps25832863.jpg

magazine1_zps174e0e9b.jpg

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The hop unit looks to be well made but further tests are planned. A nice touch is the direction arrow showing which way to turn it to apply hop effect.

hopadjust_zpsff6d25ff.jpg

 

The pistol grip does what it says on the tin. It's well made, rock solid and has what looks like an allen grub screw to adjust the motor height.

pistolgrip_zps6d140e0c.jpg

 

When you break open the upper receiver you get a look at the stock pipe end cap and the gearbox.

stockcap_zps94d618dd.jpg

 

Unlike the DTW the A&K looks to directly copy the Systema PTW bolt release.

gearbox_zpsa4ebd8c0.jpg

 

The cylinder looks to be well made. There is very little movement on the nozzle and shortly I'll be stripping it and seeing how well the internals are and if they are compatible with the Systema parts.

The inner barrel is brass, has a taper on the front end like the newer Systema barrels and the hop unit looks well constructed. I'll be stripping this down and seing how it's made shortly.

cylinder_zpse959f26e.jpg

 

And lastly for today the stock is a direct copy of the systema one and I'll confirm this by sticking a Systema one on it and seeing if it fits. As you can see below the connector for the battery is a large Tamiya one and this will be getting swapped for deans to free up some space in the stock tube for a LIPO.

batterycompartment_zpsbb3974f5.jpg

 

Initial findings are it's well made, looks to be Systema compatible and has a few nice added features

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Ok today I stripped down the hop unit, the cylinder, tried a few different manufacturers magazines, tested which part was steel and tried a few Systema bits in the A&K to see what was compatible.

 

The hop:

The hop is 100% Systema compatible and looks to be of high quality. The hop adjuster looks to me machined instead of cast and seems a really high quality unit. When I take the A&K for a spin on Sunday I'll see if it suffers the same issue as the Systema unit with the odd flier caused by the hop rubber spinning on the pin. This is an easy fix and involves a small drop of superglue.

I've used the Systema naming convention in the picture to make life easier. The only issue with my hop was the hop chamber packing base which seemed to have some gunk on it. It doesn't affect the hop at all but made it a bit tight to remove from the chamber packing base. The only other thing I noticed was the hop adjuster cushions were different lengths. Again this won't affect the hop but shows a little bit of lack of concentration from the QC guys (if they exist!).

Hopparts_zpsc316e9bc.jpg

HopAdjuster_zpsa770ade3.jpg

I tried a Systema hop unit and barrel in the A&K and it dropped straight in and worked well with the A&K cylinder. I dropped a Systema cylinder in and again the mix of A&K with Systema parts works well.

 

Next up I split down the cylinder. Again all parts are 100% compatible with Systema parts. The threads on the cylinder head and end cap are the same as the Systema. The piston fits inside a Systema cylinder and there is good movement within the cylinder. I changed the stock spring for something a little lighter so that I can use the A&K this weekend. The nozzle looks to be completely compatible but I might attach the A&K cylinder head to a Systema cylinder to prove this 100%. In the picture below the A&K cylinder head is on the right.

Cylinderparts_zps8beb43f6.jpg

Cylinderhead_zps3adba455.jpg

 

The piston looks well made, the rubber seals look good and don't show any wear after 800/1000 bb's that I've fired through the A&K so far.

Piston_zps6a563df6.jpg

I tried 4 different magazines today and all worked well with out any lose of FPS or jamming/misfiring.

Systema LW inner inside a RAMPO PMAG - fits fine and feeds well

Vanaras Inner inside a Systema shell - fits fine and feeds well

Vanaras CMAG - fits fine and feeds well

A&K magazine - fits fine and feeds well

 

All had approximately 120 0.2g BB's loaded and I tried G&G, EXCEL and Blaster BB's. I didn't experience any chopping, jamming or misfires on all 3 brands.

 

I ran a magnet over the A&K and as seen in the picture below certain parts are Steel/Magnetic whereas others are Aluminum/Alloy. All the castings are good quality however I would like to have seen a steel magazine catch as from experience I've seen the cast alloy type snap on occasion.

magneticparts_zpsdc6b42f5.jpg

 

After I've gave it a run out on Sunday I'll have a look at the electronics and take the gearbox to bits to see how it's been put together.

 

So far we have a fairly good copy of the Systema PTW. The only negative thing I can find at the moment is the weak metal magazine catch.

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The mosfet is quite big. I changed all wiring to Etiny and a JG motor(aggressor).

Ran it yesterday and it Works great. Not the same sound as the a&k original motor, but we'll se how long it holds up.

 

 

Does anyone know where to find emags?

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Good review old new but still great.

A few adds to it tho.

Be carefull not to take the cyl apart to much as it will strip the ends because the material isent strong enough.

Hop-up unit is quite leakey out the bix so will need a little attention in that area too.

Also quality of the innerbarrel is quite low, you can actually feel it by just holding it in your hands and have poor surface quality but it will work as a start.

When these small issues fixed ( hop-up leak and cyl. Is airtight ) it easely does 140 M/S so new spring is needed

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Heh a little update on my a&k project(as it has become)

I installed my etiny electronics (ECU, MOSFET, and switch), yesterday, and they fitted perfectly, and the gun fired again! but after 50 test shots, it began doing half cycles and 1/10 cycles, and i figured it was because of a "cold" solder connection. so i resoldered and it fired perfectly again. But only until the plastic "towers" holding the springs on the motor snapped.... .
After some time trying to get the motor working again, i just thought maybe it was time for the fcc 3.0 upgrade, the ROF on the stock motor was way to low anyways.

 

One thing to notice on the etiny mosfet is that the wires is VERY thick. so there arent room for them in the stock grip.

I decided to buy a MOE grip with the motor because of the extra space, in the grip.

 

so right now to get my a&k to work i've spend approx. 600 euro, wich is still cheaper than a systema, but wold be a premium price for an AEG. Bt man that feal of the gun and its trigger response, its just worth it! its nothing like my Classic Army ;)

Edited by Raketen
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Mixed results today but nothing too major.

 

Took the A&K to CSW and used it for 1/2 a day. I've posted a video below which will hopefully show the issues I had.

 

The A&K had an issue where it would fire 1 bb, dry fire the next then fire 1 bb and this happened for the first 5 shots. After that it would fire fine until I stopped rapid firing whereas it would do the fire/dry fire 5 times before firing fine. I used it during the morning and even though it was only chrono'd at 295 it still held up to a decent bit of skirmishing. nearer lunch it started to chop bb's and double feed.

 

I've seen this on Systemas and by swapping the hop unit or cylinder usually resolves it and in the A&K's case it also sorted it out. I put a Systema cylinder in it and it fired perfectly. The combo of Systema cylinder and A&K hop was pretty fantastic to be honest. The hop/barrel combo is spot on and every bb flew like a laser. I tried fitting the A&K cylinder into the systema and weirdly it didn't fit as it was too fat for the hole in the upper receiver. I'd better mention thst I might have a third party upper on the Systema so this might not be the case for all uppers but I'll check this out and report on here if the A&K cylinder fits in a vanilla Systema upper. I'll also try a DTW cylinder in the A&K to see if this is a cheaper option for replacing the cylinder.

 

The A&K hop unit fitted into the Systema no problem and worked very well when combined with the Systema cylinder in either AEG.

 

The only other issue I found was that the rapid fire usually associated with Systemas was slightly slower. I think this is because the motor is OK not excellent and I've ordered a Hornbill motor to test this out.

 

So overall for today if you get a A&K the cylinder might be problematic but using a Systema one will make it work better. I'm going to try fitting a Systema cylinder head assembly to the A&K to see if this sorts out the problem I was having.

If you decide on one of these the motor is OK but could be improved. A lot of people used to (and probably still do) send there motors away to be TAC'd and a similar service on the A&K would probably work well. There are other options for the motor for the technically minded and that would be fitting a Etiny core which might make it a bit snappier.

 

for those with a price tag in their head then the A&K is £233, a new Systema Black cylinder is about £100 and the hornbill motor will set you back about £40 which brings the price up to £370.

 

I'll report back on here how it goes with the cylinder head swap and when the new motor is fitted. Final thoughts for today are:

 

If you want Systema performance buy a Systema. If you are on a budget or just want to try out the TW style of play then buy a DTW or A&K. If I was to choose between a DTW or a A&K I'll go for the A&K simply because it feels sturdier, the hop is fantastic and it's 99% Systema compatible.

 

 

I swapped the upper/lowers around and had mixed results.

 

Systema Upper to A&K lower fits but will need a magic pin due to side to side movement. you also need to wind the stock pipe back as the end cap protudes too far as standard on the A&K lower.

systemaupper-AampKlower_zpsc4972d75.jpg

 

A&K Upper on Systema lower doesn't fit.

AampKupper-Systemalower_zps4e760c9c.jpg

 

If you want a A&K upper on a Systema lower you need to file the receiver pin block on the upper as it catches on the gearbox casing (ignore the big circle in the picture below)

problemwithupperlower_zps9fba247d.jpg

 

And a bit of a surprise as the motor looks to be a DTW motor.

motor_zpsa6adeef6.jpg

 

I took apart the A&K piston and found that the long bolt through the front of the piston head had worked loose. This was mostly likely the problem I had yesterday with it misfeeding/double feeding/dry firing. I decided to put a Systema cylinder head combo on mine and now it fires 100%. I'm pretty happy with it right now (apart from needing to add some sort of RIS rail) but I'll strip the gearbox and have a look at the electronics next.

 

EDIT * I forgot to mention that the A&K cylinder fits in a vanilla Systema upper and that the Systema stock slides straight on.

 

A Madbull DD RIS dropped straight on with no modification.

AampKwithRIS_zps29e233d9.jpg

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Hey guys, although I have no information to contribute to this thread, it's been very informative and I just wanted to thank those of you who have provided so much useful detail. Hoping to take the plunge and see one of these for myself and when/if I do, I'll try to do likewise. Cheers!

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how many of you have tried aftermarket motors on yor a&ks?

 

I just got my FCC 3.0 motor, but i doesnt fit. The curved groove that goes on to the receiver is too wide(not the pin grooves). 

 

So im a little concerned what to do now :(

 

is it normal that the motors are a bit of spec?

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That's good to know- just got mine this week, and the motor and/or gears are definitely louder / higher pitch than I expected. Given how PTW motors apparently give out, I'll keep in mind a future FCC maybe.

 

Love the A&K in many ways though, so easy to take down, and maintain. Never again to the AEG methinks...

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