SRC RPK short review

[otherrandomhero]

Well, when I ordered my XM8 a friend of mine ordered an RPK so we could both get a handle on SRC's new line. I got to handle and briefly shoot it today, and this is my experience.

 

The gun comes in a MONSTROUS box, it is about an inch longer than the gun itself. Upon lifting the gun up with the mag, battery, and bipod , you notice that it is extremely heavy. You can definetly tell this is not meant to move around in, not just because of the extremely heavy weight but because the barrel is about 6 inches longer than an AK47, resulting in a 41" or so length. As far as size goes, this gun is similar to my SG1.

 

The gun is constructed entirely of metal, the exception being the feaux wood. The metal seems to be a nice metal, and much of it is steel I believe (I know for sure the bipod is, which is very nice). I love the trumpet-style flash hider on this thing too. The wood print look nothing short of horrible online, but these pictures are not true to life. The wood print is very realistic, and looks pretty good. As compared to the standard AK47 which I'm accustomed to from my old CSI, the RPK furniture is a little strange at first. The Grips and stock are much more "boxy" and as a result are a little uncomfortable IMO.

 

I also got to very briefly shoot it. The included 600 round hicap feeds very well, but this gun just doesn't look right without an extended banana clip or a drum mag. ROF is about average, similar to my XM8. Power was very disappointing, the coke can test showed it to be about equal to a 265 fps UTG MP5. This was a big letdown for me, as my XM8 shoots a consistent 315 +/-5. The bolt makes an excellent sound, and the hopup is nice and responsive. Accuracy was nothing special, a bit better than my XM8, range was about equal.

 

 

Overall, this gun was both a weeper and a cheerer. On the outside this gun is nothing short of fantastic, but it is pretty much a wallhanger. The FPS is totally unacceptable for a gun of its grade, and it doesnt even have a wicked fast firing rate or awesome accuracy/range to make up for it. Looking at this gun you will think "man, if that gun was a woman I would make sweet, salty love to it all night long," but leave it at home and take something better performing to the skirmish field.

[Raygis LasVegas]

For inner barrels longer than a carbine's length, it is very difficult to achieve a high velocity without a bore up kit.

 

The velocity jump from a SMG barrel to carbine is very noticable. The velocity jump from a carbine to rifle is neglible... sometimes it is even counter productive.

 

What I'm trying to say is that since your RPK is even longer than the most optimum barrel length, the carbine length, it is inherit that the weapon will have a lower velocity especially if you don't have a bore-up kit to compensate for the extra barrel length.

 

The best cure for you is to buy a bore-up kit for the AK and also buy the tightest bore barrel you can find. The combination of maximum volumn of air being rushed out with the mimimum inner barrel volumn will help keep the BB accelerating within the barrel.

[otherrandomhero]

Okay, but if you paid attention you'll see that the RPK is not mine, but is a buddy of mine's. I got an XM8, not an RPK. I'll be sure to tell him this, as he was pretty steamed at the gun's performance.

[Forze]

upgrade to 330-ish + high speed upgrade might be interesting.

 

I also would add a 12V battery in the mix with a box mag, but hey that's me

[1st Commando]

For inner barrels longer than a carbine's length, it is very difficult to achieve a high velocity without a bore up kit.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

absolute rubbish ,I have aegs with very long barrels firing above 328 fps quite happily with only a spring change and some metal bushings/bearings.

If you want to be really sure then fit a good piston head/o ring, bearinged spring guide and teflon the cylinder head.

Bore up kits give very little performance differance and are completely pointless unless you have exploited all the other easier/cheaper ways of gaining power at which level you will be at a power unsuitable for skirmishing anyway (and illegal in the UK)

I have in the past built a training rifle(aeg) firing 485 fps without the need for bore up kit

[otherrandomhero]

Well, he got fed up with the lack of performance and decided to up the power. We opened up the gearbox about a week ago and checked everything out. It looks very similar to my XM8, read up on the review here of said XM8 with pictures for detailed info on that. We put a 1J spring in there and did some regular lubing. Immediately the gun chrono'ed at around 320, but it has since broken in and shoots in the 300-310 range. I'm guessing the gun has some compression issues in it, so a new piston head and possibly air nozzle will be in order. I'll keep you guys updated on it.

[AustinWolv]

For inner barrels longer than a carbine's length, it is very difficult to achieve a high velocity without a bore up kit.

As mentioned above, this is patently false.

[hsimoorb]

What he means is, the RPK's 590mm barrel probaly won't put out very much power without a bore up. Certainly if the barrel was shorter(m16 length) there would be no need for a boreup kit, but on this gun, it needs one. If SRC hans't provided one with the rifle that'd be a shame.

[psycho]

just wondering is is front heavy like the real one?

[Dentonboy]

Cheers for the reviews, this gun has been on my 'to buy' list for a while...

[otherrandomhero]

Thanks! If you buy one for game purposes (not just wallhanging), pick up at least a 9.6v battery and most likely some power upgrades too. Performance was mediocre before, but that 40 or so FPS and ROF upgrade really kicked it into gear. I want one now . I'd also like to see what a tightbore barrel does to it. It most definitely has potential to be a kick-*albatross* support or sniper weapon, but you'll need to put a bit of work into it. Otherwise, it's just a ridiculously massive mediocre assault rifle.

 

Psycho: Yes, yes, yes times a million. The entire weight of the gun is in front of your trigger hand, with only the battery to balance it out. Hell, the bipod alone probably cancels out the battery in weight since it attatches at the way front. Imagine tying a 2 pound weight to the front of a regular AK47, and holding that. It's pretty unbalanced; you can tell it was made to be a bipod weapon.

[lineman66]

my guarder RPK beats this thing silly.

[-FIDO-]

my guarder RPK beats this thing silly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

wow youre my new hero

Edited April 11, 2007 by -FIDO-

[lineman66]

Just telling the truth, once I had the Guarder RPK in my hand, there was no turning back. Not so sure about the quality of SRC's GB and more importantly, hop up unit b/c TM makes one wicked AK hop unit.

[otherrandomhero]

Well, it had damn well better be a lot better quality. The guarder kit is:

 

-$225 for TM AK

-$475 for guarder kit

-$35 for hicap

-$100 for metal body and support parts

-$50 for a nice tightbore

 

That totals $900 with shipping. This is 3 times what the SRC costs. If it wasn't much better quality, no one would even think about buying it.

 

Anyways, the new piston head, nozzle, firefly bucking, and tightbore were installed today. This totally made the gun rock! It shoots about 10% over the forum limir now, is very accurate, and fires around 1100 RPM on the 10.8v battery we have in there. Totals:

 

SRC RPK: $275

tightbore: $50

firefly bucking: $15

used drum mag: $75

-10.8v custom: $45 on ebay

-piston head $20

1J spring: $10

 

$445. This is still about half of what the guarder costs for something that performs MUCH better. At that price, this gun is a seriously good support gun and I would reccomend it to anyone with a little work.

[lineman66]

LOL the price you quoted for the "Pimped out" SRC RPK is just about how much I paid for my Guarder STEEL RPK, with all the bells and whistles upgrades. Second hand market is your friend. Oh and the stock on the SRC RPK looks absolutely atrocious, IMHO. Also why did you add $100 for "metal body and support parts"? My RPK already had a metal body. I also doubt that SRC correctly replicated the RPK receiver, which is thicker than the standard AK one. All in all, if you want something that kinda looks like a RPK, sure go ahead, but if you want real quality, I'd look at the Inokatsu kits that are coming out.

 

Edit: Oh you also didn't account for the additional costs of a set of wooden furniture for the RPK, the cost of which will definitely be high.

Edited April 12, 2007 by lineman66

[otherrandomhero]

I added $100 because the guarder kit doesn't come with a metal reciever. The only one that does is the all steel kit, which hasn't been made in a long time and costs nearly $1000 new. Ikonatsu kits are even higher. It doesn't matter one bit what your USED one came with, the standard kit doesn't have one. Why buy used when you can get new, anyways? Plus, buying an upgraded used gun is a horrible idea, since you have no idea who installed them, if the parts were installed correctly, all that stuff. Regardless, upgraded+used=bad idea.

 

The SRC replicated the reciever or a Marui correctly, from what I can see. Their replicas are excellent; afaik the armalites are built to exacting dimensions of a Marui. It'd certainly explain why they're completely compatible with them. Besides, I highly doubt the guarder one replicates it so perfectly anyways, since it would make the gun incompatible with aftermarket parts.

 

"kind of" looks like like an RPK? You're joking, right? The gun is a perfect replica of one; it's at least as good as a Marui would be. The faux wood kit looks excellent; I'd prefer it to any wood kit I've ever seen. The grain looks very realistic. The pictures online really don't do it justice.

 

Also, does yours have a drum mag that feeds as well as standards? Didn't think so.

 

So, let's recap. For around $450, you can get a full metal perfect replica of an RPK with absolutely astounding performance, new. For nearly $1000 you can get a guarder kit which doesn't perform as well. If you want to shoot for the steel kit, it will run you around $1300 for all that and still won't perform as well. You got yours used and upgraded, which basically means you could get a gun with a gearbox filled with internals equal to goat semen. With the SRC, you get a fantastic replica with excellent performance, very realistic looks, full metal, and doesn't drain your wallet by any means. SRC makes replicas with near marui-quality (well, they are now) internals and near CA-quality externals, sans the ABS bodies on their G36s. Not to mention they cost about 2/3 as much as their more expensive counterparts.

 

 

 

What are you trying to prove, anyways? That your gun, which would cost at least $1000 new (if you got the drum mag, forgot to mention it before), is superior to something that costs less than half as much and is intended to be an affordable quality replica? Way to make yourself look like an arrogant ****.

[lineman66]

I find it amusing that you have the audacity to call me arrogant, when you make outlandish claims about the SRC RPK. I'm not saying that people shouldn't buy SRC, it's your money, what I am saying is there are better quality kits out there.

 

You stated:

 

"The gun (I'm assuming that you're referring to the SRC RPK here) is a perfect replica of one; it's at least as good as a Marui would be"

 

Wow, TM never made a RPK. When I was talking about the dimensions of the receiver, it was that Guarder correctly replicated a RPK receiver, which is thicker than a standard AK receiver. Oh, I did forget to mention that I received a Hero Arms 3000 round drum magazine with my RPK. What I am simply trying to say is that a RPK is really just another AEG, and it will perform like an AEG, but if you crave someting unique, why not save up and keep you eyes open for a quality kit?

 

you also stated:

 

"Plus, buying an upgraded used gun is a horrible idea, since you have no idea who installed them, if the parts were installed correctly, all that stuff. Regardless, upgraded+used=bad idea"

 

I really can not stand this incredibly ignorant statement you made with regards to second hand guns. There are plenty of quality second hand guns out there, it is as much the responsibility of the seller to inform the buyer of what's being sold as it is the buyer's burden to find out what he's about to buy. I own ChiMan clones, they are awesome, but really you make it seem so hard to obtain a guarder or inokatsu RPK, which is just not true. The most interesting thing is that you incessantly make comparisons between the SRC RPK and the Guarder kit, however when I point to the positive aspects of the Guarder kit you only refer to the price tag.

Edited April 13, 2007 by lineman66

[otherrandomhero]

I really find this quite humorous, all of it. Before continuing I'll say: what the hell are you trying to prove, that a gun kit which costs several times more that a gun intended to be an affordable replica is better? No sh*t sherlock.

 

I find it amusing that you have the audacity to call me arrogant, when you make outlandish claims about the SRC RPK. I'm not saying that people shouldn't buy SRC, it's your money, what I am saying is there are better quality kits out there.

Outlandish? O RLY? What have I said that's outlandish? Of course there are other kits that are higher quality, they just happen to cost several times more and don't come with a gearbox.

 

Wow, TM never made a RPK. When I was talking about the dimensions of the receiver, it was that Guarder correctly replicated a RPK receiver, which is thicker than a standard AK receiver. Oh, I did forget to mention that I received a Hero Arms 3000 round drum magazine with my RPK. What I am simply trying to say is that a RPK is really just another AEG, and it will perform like an AEG, but if you crave someting unique, why not save up and keep you eyes open for a quality kit?

What the hell is your point? No sh*t TM never made an RPK.

it's at least as good as a Marui would be"

Note the use of "would be." Plus, who said that my friend (who I assume you're talking about, since I don't own the gun) was craving something unique and expensive? If you'd actually bothered to read the post, you'll see that he got it to see how the SRC line of AKs is. No sh*t it's another AEG. Hell, the M134 replicas are just an AEG, it's the body style that people are after. What does it matter that the reciever is a few mm thicker? It makes absolutely no difference in anything in airsoft and is not even noticeable unless you speficially mention it.

 

but really you make it seem so hard to obtain a guarder or inokatsu RPK

When did I say this? I said they are expensive, which they are.

 

The most interesting thing is that you incessantly make comparisons between the SRC RPK and the Guarder kit, however when I point to the positive aspects of the Guarder kit you only refer to the price tag.

 

I need a minute to let my blood settle a second for this one.

 

IT'S A REVIEW OF THE SRC RPK. YOU CAME OUT OF THE BLUE AND SAID THE GUARDER (WHICH COSTS SEVERAL TIMES MORE) IS BETTER. NO SH*T I'M COMPARING IT TO THE GUARDER, YOU BROUGHT IT UP.

 

Honestly, what do you think I'm going to compare it to, a CM023?

 

Let's make a pros-cons list of the 2, shall we?

 

SRC:

pros:

-very affordable, only $268 for a complete AEG

-once upgraded lightly, performance is nothing short of fantastic.

-even with all upgrades, batts, and drum mags the gun is under $450

-full metal out of the box, good metal too

-wood print is as good or better than most wood kits I've seen

-comes with a hicap

 

cons:

-apparently the reciever is a few mm too thin for you. Who gives a *fruitcage* anyways?

-though it can compete out of the box, upgrades are required to make the gun really worth it

 

 

Guarder:

Pros:

-real wood

-steel (well, one kit is)

-more realistic probably

 

Cons:

-no gearbox included

-$450 for kit with no reciever, $900 for steel full set version which is no longer made (still no GB)

-no hicap

-requires the purchase of another AEG (TM AK47)

 

Hell, I'll buy an SRC and do all this to it before I ever buy a guarder kit. Skipping all of this, here is the main reason the SRC is a good buy:

 

IT'S F***ING AFFORDABLE, AND IS THE ONLY RPK AEG MADE

 

Again, no company makes an RPK AEG, SRC was the first. Guarder and ikonatsu only make kits, and those alone cost several times more than the SRC. What if SRC made an MG42, wouldn't you want to buy one? Oh wait, you can go buy a custom made one for $2200, so you should completely ignore the $250 SRC which was made to be an affordable replica.

[lineman66]

Well, it would seem that you are quite set in your opinions, good luck to you. I'll just enjoy my second hand Guarder RPK.

[otherrandomhero]

Ah, nothing beats the unmistakeable smell of victory.

[lineman66]

sure, just keep telling yourself that, all you did was use excessive profanity on an internet forum. Job well done, champ.

[suicidalsnowman]

You can't compare the value for money of the SRC RPK with a second hand gun that you got a very good deal on, since most people will not be able to get it for that price.

[balberoth-the-destroyer]

Actually he didn't use excessive profanity, I would have, given the nature of the conversation, but to his credit, he didn't.

As for "victory" yeah well you were right, so what?

There's no point gloating over the internet, as it's almost anonymous, so no-one cares.

[Senor Bear]

my guarder RPK beats this thing silly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah, I'd go mental if somebody did this on my review topic as well

 

Edit: there is no need to be sour just because you spent more money, if you've got nothing constructive to post, then you shouldn't come barging in going "my gun is better than yours".

Edited May 10, 2007 by Senor Bear