NegativeCambre Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 About six months ago, it seemed it was easy to decide upon which chinese clone to buy: it was either the CM027 or the CM028. Now there seems to be a dozen fair options, with more coming out every week it seems-- I haven't really been hearing a lot of unanimous praise for certain models like we saw for the later CYMA guns--is it just because there are too many and the diversity too much? Is anyone here more in tune with the clone happenings and can tell me if there have been substantial improvements over the CYMA guns that kicked off the legitimacy of the chinese copies? Steve Link to post Share on other sites
Alcareru Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 You know, I have this burning desire to buy a Chinese gun, for the heck of it. But I know that if or when I buy one, it won't even be worth the box it comes in. Maybe I'm over exaggerating, maybe I've read too many rumors, may I have it all wrong, but I'd rather drop 300USD on a gun that I *know* will work, than 100USD on what could possibly be a piece of junk. Link to post Share on other sites
falconfox01 Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 the saying "you get what you pay for" still holds true. I have a CYMA028 and compared to my Mate's TM AK, it still looks and feels cheap. They shoot about the same, but I've had to disassemble my gearbox twice just to keep it going (had an odd lockup issue, I never found anything wrong and it worked after reassembly then stopped again after a week or so) while hers hasn't had a hickup since she got it at about the same time (couple months now) sure she put out 100+ more than I did, but hers will always shoot while I have to HOPE mine will Our usage is just range shooting ant the ocasional backyard shootout (she is evil with that AK) so it's not like mine gets that abused. we use the same .02 bio BB.s and I keep both guns lubed and clean. Link to post Share on other sites
Habakure Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Haven't had a problem with my cyma ak47s, but it does look cheaper than the marui one, but having said that it is cheaper. Alot of people always upgrade there guns anyway, it just depends on wether you want a project gun, these cheap one's are good for that. Link to post Share on other sites
aznsk8s87 Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Steer clear of WELL and BE (Both Elephant). I've found those two both to be craptastic. The good ones are CYMA, JG (Jin Gong, I thinnk), DE (Double Eagle), and I think D-Boys was alright. Not sure about that one though. Link to post Share on other sites
davecymru Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Steer clear of WELL and BE (Both Elephant). I've found those two both to be craptastic. hummm, i've got to add to this. I've been buying clones and cheepo guns on and off for years (see my profile for my shame list!) as i'm a sucker for a bargain and always "want" them to be as good as they sound. So while i'd agree that the older Well (d90) and BE guns (especially with plastic gearboxes) are only really good for plinking, their newer guns are worlds ahead and "starting" to catch up to what people think of as "main stream" manufacturers. My BE M8-2 (Steyr Aug Carbine) was bought as a cheap backup to the M249 as i couldn't justify having £200+ of TM MP7 + accessories sat in a bag "just in case". This clone has now been used for complete days skirmishing and performed superbly! The only real critisims i have with it are the lack of hop up (although that wasn't as big a disadvantage as i'd expected when i actually skirmished with it) and the plastics used on the body are REAL soft. Which annoys the hell out of me when taking it apart and reassembling it as the original supplied self-tapping screws eat through it at a fast rate of knots. So when you consider i spent £45 for a 305fps Aug as compared to £200-ish for the CA one firing at a similar power or £160-ish for the TM one which is less powerfull, then the numbers speak for themselves for what i want it for! Link to post Share on other sites
rwham Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 UTG always clones good clones lol. That UTG clone of the warrior clone of the maruzen that UTG is coming out with looks pretty good. They also do body upgrades, are reasonably priced, and have good service. Note that they do not just rebrand like people say, but copy guns, and make upgrades to the body. Link to post Share on other sites
Sledge Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Please provide proof of this. The only "upgrade" I'm aware of UTG doing is them weighting DE shotguns with concrete and rusty metal. Link to post Share on other sites
davecymru Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Please provide proof of this. The only "upgrade" I'm aware of UTG doing is them weighting DE shotguns with concrete and rusty metal. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And adding a spage Mag! Link to post Share on other sites
Sledge Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 I got a spare with my Double Eagle. Link to post Share on other sites
Lone Talon Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 I'm thinking about getting a clone but i have narrowed the list down to three, please can people comment and give me their thoughts. Double Eagle M87P AK47 Beta Spetsnaz Commando CYMA CM031 AK74 AEG FULL STOCK Double Eagle M86 AK47 AEG FULL STOCK Please let me know what you think... - Lone Talon - Link to post Share on other sites
Mike_West Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 A&K, DBoys, AGM, JG and Cyma seem to be the best. Well is just screwing around, you can't be sure with BE (agreed, they have new releases... three of them!) and JLS blew it with their SCAR (the first thing you should do with it is opening the gearbox and checking the insides). Double Eagle has nothing new. Link to post Share on other sites
davecymru Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 I got a spare with my Double Eagle. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i just got the torch/laser and a pair of safety specs that didn't fit me! I was under the impression that UTG added the extra lump of rusty metal (easily done myself in the workshop) and a spare mag. whereas the DE didn't have those but had a pair of <cough>shooting glasses</cough> ho humm. Link to post Share on other sites
Zuka Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Please provide proof of this. The only "upgrade" I'm aware of UTG doing is them weighting DE shotguns with concrete and rusty metal. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They come with rusty metal weights and concrete sausages already. I got a DE M46 (FA-MAS) for some indoor plinking, and when I took it apart, there were about four or five rusty steel cylinders inside. It's lighter, but safer than the lead weights some companies use (I'm looking at you, Tokyo Marui, HFC, and every other company who doesn't make their guns out of metal). Link to post Share on other sites
NegativeCambre Posted January 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 These are good comments--but haven't heard a lot of owner criticism about some of these. The only clones I have first hand experience with are the CM031, CM028, and the UTG Mp5. The 031 and 028 both score impressively in fit and finish, and the internals seems robust enough--mine has shot many thousands of bb's through it as a loaner, albeit I did take the time and money to reshim it, put metal bushings into it, and relube it. With the element hopup and tokyo marui inner barrel I scrounged, it shoots reasonably accurate, and serves as a great gun to throw into the hands of a friend who wants to see if the hobby is for them. The UTG Mp5--hard to know where to peg this. I wouldn't own one, I know that... the build quality and heavy handed use of plastic leaves a lot to be desired, but the internals seem, once propperly massaged, robust enough to withstand regular skirmishing, as the one in my group of friends does. I'd like to hear a technical viewpoint on the new M14's... I've heard only but good things about them. My own personal take on the clones is that they are good tinkering guns, but as a primary skirmish gun, if you are going to be in this hobby for any reasonable length of time, its better to go with one of the more expensive guns. The refinement internally and externally on the 'real deals' is well worth the price tag, I believe. Steve Link to post Share on other sites
Sgtwiltan Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 I haven't had any major problems with mine. The thing is most people want these guns to be as good as the more expensive brands and that is just plain idiotic. There are trade offs and the saying that you get what you pay for is a good one to start with. That being said, I've also had some very good guns out of the box and some superb ones with a bit of tweaking but I have so many of the clones that I can't be a good measuring stick for their durability. It is a good assumption that these guns will sometimes need a little work but do not fool yourselves into thinking they are as problem free as the more expensive ones. I personally own over close to 3 dozen Clone MPEGs and with some of the same, kind all that was needed was just a swapping of parts from one gun to the next to get better performance. On to the M4 clones. My R6/R7 (I own 7) needed work and one is in the 240s,3 are 280s, 2 in the 300s and one is a return I have yet to fix (discounted). Well R6/R7 are not for the mechanically challenged. The Dboys are nice but I don't like the One piece hop-up as those setups make it a pain to change out barrel and hop-up parts and the extra plastic used for 2 piece hop-ups are missing which makes that part of the lower receiver weaker in my opinion. I have 2 A&K M4-S and they are fine out of the box but quite heavy (300s w/20s). I own 2 Aims but they can be hit or miss. 1 is in the 340s out of the box and the other stripped a piston within 200 rounds. Fixed and shooting in the 320s. My personal pick for the M4 groupies is the JG or Echo1 which I own 2 and both are 290s and 300s. I will get the A&K M16A3 or M4A1 as they are my second favorite Brand of clone M4s which have not given me any problems. I won't even mention the AK, G36s, or Mp5 clones I own but that should give you an idea about the current crop of M4 clones of which I have experience with. The JG/Echo1s, A&Ks, and AIms AR clones are my suggestions in that order due to their almost total compatibility with TM compatible accessories and parts if you need them in the future. As a sidenote this R7 is my primary play gun while I have let others use other Well R6s for loaners. or this I use this UTG/Well MP5 Link to post Share on other sites
DarkLite Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Any of the new JG DE AGM CYMA KART Dboys/Boyi GALAXY stuff is good. Stay well bloody clear of BE and WELL - their QC is beyond craptasticular. Link to post Share on other sites
Sgtwiltan Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 I'll have to agree with you on the out of box state of Well and somewhat on the BE's. The other thing to worry about the Well brands is that they have enough to be internally TM compatibles but have enough parts to make such things external as Mags and barrels assemblies to be quite proprietary. Link to post Share on other sites
machgo Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 I can receommend the Cyma 028, or the A&K s-system. The A&K is the better of the 2. I have the 028s and the stock lock broke immediately. No biggie because it's just the foundation for a project with metal body, full internal upgrades, the works. Anyway, go for a Chinese cheapie. You can always practice upgrades and have less to lose if you make a mistake But I think you'll find the finish on the knockoffs is a little subpar, as far as paint goes anyway. Nothing a new paint job can't cure. Link to post Share on other sites
evilliboba Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Original Post UTG always clones good clones lol. That UTG clone of the warrior clone of the maruzen that UTG is coming out with looks pretty good. They also do body upgrades, are reasonably priced, and have good service. Note that they do not just rebrand like people say, but copy guns, and make upgrades to the body. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Corrected post. UTG rebrands okay clones lol. That UTG rebranded Warrior1 (clone of the maruzen) that UTG is rebranding with looks pretty overpriced. They also do not do body upgrades, are reasonably priced, and have good service. Note that they do just rebrand like people say, but rebrand guns, and make upgrades to the price. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There, better. Link to post Share on other sites
chalupa5199 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 oh man soooooooooooo good. Link to post Share on other sites
NegativeCambre Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Some good information--the new M14's look really intriguing, especially because of their high metal content. There don't seem to be any super-detailed reviews of this wave of clones. I'm about to write up a '4 months with a cm028s' report, to give some people perspective on how they can hold up with regular skirmishing. Steve Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Note that they do not just rebrand like people say, but copy guns, and make upgrades to the body. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Then they "clone" the WELL trademarks too. Last UTG MP5 I worked on had WELL stamped into the gearbox! Link to post Share on other sites
evilliboba Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Some good information--the new M14's look really intriguing, especially because of their high metal content. There don't seem to be any super-detailed reviews of this wave of clones. I'm about to write up a '4 months with a cm028s' report, to give some people perspective on how they can hold up with regular skirmishing. Steve <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The M14's do look very nice. I still refuse to talk myself into buying on at the moment. Why? No trademarks... Next thing I want is a clone gun with trademarks. Link to post Share on other sites
Noodle_2000 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Well my UTG Mp5 came without a spring guide... but what can you say $10. Then a day later a free UTG Mp5 comes in from some guy? I don't even know him... wierd... Gary B. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.