Ghk gbb aks74u

[Zeaken]

a review as promised to my friends in ca, its a work in progress so be patient and watch it develop

Alright well after shooting a wa m4 i fell in love with the maintenance filled world of gas blow back guns. However not willing to take the plunge of $600 for an all plastic gun that cant take green and has $130 mags i kept an eye out for something out and ended up finding this. Its not an armalite and I am really happy for that. To often have good guy guns like the m4 get the innovations that no others get like the ptw and recently the gbb of the wa m4. This gun offered a cost effective way into the gbb rifle area which on paper looked way better then the wa m4 could be and on par with the we m4 which has just been released.



When i originally ripped open the package i was hoping to find it neatly packed away it is own custom design like any other clone aeg from china. Much to my dissapointment i found this.....


Thats right right, it was packed in a m733 box, the bb's are post packing. Now thinking maybe this is because i ordered extra mags i moved to the manual and this is what i found.....


Now if you look closely you may have the same "wait...what the **** is that?" Thats right, the manual this gbb ak came with is an aeg manual. So at this point this gun is clearly 0 for 2 when it comes for initial appearance. This gun was already a "back door" gun that no one has heard of and so far it was living up to its expectations and i was not happy. Hoping that perhaps i was getting more of a pre mass production gun as this rifle is not in stock at evike, russian mania or any of the other shops to carry it. I presume that owners from that will probably get a real package as its the least that could be done to make this appear a little better then it did so far.

Once i got the gun out of the package i instantly put it next to my cyma ak and snapped a picture.


Now some of you might not know which to except to have those really cheap looking grips that make you wonder if its the cyma or this new ghk. Just like its poor packaging though, the wood grips are very poor and honestly well below what i expected as the $125 cyma wood grips clearly put it to shame and the only thing that has been done to those is multiple meetings with mud and whatever else i have dove into.

As you can see in the picture above. the grips are made with a very cheap wood and they are just layered with a really thick protective layer which takes away from the beauty of the wood and makes it almost look plastic. The lower also appears very different from the top. the top was much better done then the lower. althought not really shown in this picture, the lower actually came with a ding on the bottom of the wood out of the box. This doesnt really bother me though as even my realsword has nicks and dings in the wood just like my real wasr, personally i think dings and such can add some flare and the used look kalashnikovs are well known for.

Beyond the poor stain on the lower, overall the wood isnt bad. The cut of the wood is actually very good and better then the cut on my real wasr. The lower has zero play what so ever. The upper has no side to side play but like all other aks74u varients i have ever seen. it has some play along the y axis due to how the grip is removed.

Overall despite the ugly initial appearance, if a little love is applied to these grips i feel they will shine because there most important purpose is that they are well formed and solid in place, which they succeed very well at which is especially important in a gun with large moving parts



Just like the cyma it was stacked side by side with. It does have a side rail mount. This is clearly something that will be helpful for anyone who feels optics are a must have and this could be a good canidate to test how worthy that new replica kobra sight is.

When you look at this side you will also notice there is a serial number stamped into it and then again the last four are matching on the dust cover. This could indicate that there is individual serial numbers again but personally i doubt it and the reason why is because the number. The serial on mine is 1121, This gun has not been bought by more then a handful of people anywhere. it has not even been released by most companies. When i bought my realsword during the inial rush i was below 800 and everyone had one of these or was trying to. if i was number 21 and the first two 11 were just put in there i might be more inclined to believe it but i suppose we will have to wait for more to come out to see for certain.

The magazine of the gun are possibly the closest resembling to real steel. Now i dont have ak74 mags to compare it to but i do have ak47 mags to compare it to. left to right these mags are, 30rd real steel mag, star midcap, random 74 midcap, cyma hicap, ghk mag.

[Zeaken]

now some of you might be wondering how off of a totally different mag i can come to the conclusion that this new gbb mag is more realistic then any of the aeg mags sitting beside it. The reason i say this is because of something people rarely think about or compare to and thats the height of the mags. The gbb mag and the real steel mag are the closest when you stack them next to each other and i personally like it. When it comes to the weight of these mags, they tag in at 400g which is about half the weight of a fully loaded real steel mag. I think this gives a healthy balance between real steel and the people who are to looking to keep there loadout as light as possible. The fill valves on these mags are regular fill valves so replacing them should not be a problem if something goes wrong with the valve itself.

when it comes to the durability of the mags i will refer to this promotional video. I can tell you personally that i dropped mine once on carpet and its ok. it appears to be firm and all take propane straight out of the package with zero hesitation or leaks of any kind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sx4Y23cMQo...feature=related


more mag pics:

[Zeaken]

Continuing with the review

It occurred to me and one person posted on arnies said that the mag still looked to long. realizing i never took a pic with the two mags together i figured i would put it next to the real steel to show everyone how close it is height wise.




Now onto other parts

The flash hider on this can be removed but it is different then my cyma and initially appeared not to be the 14mm thread. perhaps some with a vfc can tell me what the threading is on this but i currently do not have a caliper. it turns out that the threading below that is 14mm though so your standard silencers are an option for this gun for either looks or to conceal a longer inner barrel.





It only seems to like letting me post 4 pictures at once so this will continue in a moment.

[Zeaken]

now onto something more general for this gun, the baby seal factor as i call it and the finish. :P

When i pick up both this gun and its clone aeg counterpart the cyma there is some things i notice very quick. The first is that despite my hopes the cyma is considerably heavier then the ghk. The metal itself feels kinda cheap even when put against the cyma so without a doubt i am sure this is a pot metal gun.

The finish is also lacking compared to the cyma. there is defects in the paint and looks like it was slapped on with a can of spray paint. Its that flat black color that fails to even give the illusion that you are getting some kind of steel. I really was not expecting it to be steel but one can keep there hopes up right?

When it comes to the baby seal factor of this gun it blows the cyma away. Despite the poor materials, the gun is rock solid. Far more solid then my cyma, i would compare it to my realsword as i dont own a vfc to compare it to. Nothing creaks or wobbles all of the parts are made to very very tight tolerances. The dust cover was so tight i actually had to pop it off with a screw driver to get it to come off. All of the tolerances inside and out of this gun are very tight, if this was a problem on the old kalash guns i believe either this is a new generation or these are hand picked due to how tight the tolerances are and how perfect everything seems to hold together.




The selector is very very stiff. it often took so much time to get moving i accidentally moved it all the way down to semi by accident. I would say it is indentical to my real steel in terms of resistance. As long as this doesnt loosen up or can be retightened i would say this is going to be a huge plus compared to any aeg which has to cope with the flawed addition of a gearbox.




Compared to the fast moving bolt in youtube videos i came to find out the bolt travel on this is not a "full" bolt travel. The bolt will only move as far as show in this picture. Although this is only about half of what a real steel bolt will travel it is about 3x what a pistol will slide at 80mm of movement per pull of the trigger. Now i dont know how far the we or wa m4 mov but this probably moves farther then they do. Although this is not the most realistic gbb could be, it is very practical for gas consumption and allows it to do things like empty an entire mag on full auto but more on that later

Now for dinner to be soon followed by the internals!

[Zeaken]

To the internals!

After using a screw driver to have to pop the dust cover up (which is not fun mind you and is quickly heading away from really tight tolerances and into just plain annoying) i was greeted with this.


Anyone who owns a real ak will instantly see its relation to the real steel. This design is simple, crude, and wonderfully effective

The grip on the GHK is not like an aeg grip. it does not suffer from the bloated design required for motors. The real steel is so skinny that most people used to aegs will find it tiny by comparison. When i removed the grip i thought it looked oddly close to the real one so i took the grip off of the real steel and put them side by side.



When i put them side by side i began to wonder if it could really be that simple that a random new gbb designer would make real steel compatible parts!

There was obviously only one way to find out and this is what resulted B)

Can anyone say awesome after market grips?

After changing the grips out i pulled out the internals and placed them next to there real steel counter part. you can easily see the resemblance


The only big difference is that block you see. that goes behind the trigger assembly and acts as a recoil pad for the bolt itself. the upper part of the bolt you see when the gun assembled is metal but the lower part is mainly plastic. it came well lubed and appears very solid. I dont know a lot about gas guns so i am not sure if this is something new in terms of design or is based off of something else, any input is welcome.

[Zeaken]

Some more pics of the innards.

The mag well


Close up of the bolt next to a real steel bolt.


A look into the receiver with the bolt out


A real steel receiver for comparison. they are not as similar when it comes to the trigger assumbly as i had hoped but its airsoft

[Zeaken]

ok, that puts the bolt movement about the same between the two guns then. I actually dont know of any ak varients where the bolt moves as far as the real steel including the tanio kobia. maybe an external rig would make it feasible but i dont think its practical or even possible to get full mags with the gas consumption required to do so. A clear draw back on paper.

Since i can load any more pictures now that i am at work again i will give you a little feed back on shooting this thing.

What sold me on the gun was this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PY7BrEiBOk...feature=related

The blow back was loud, it rattled the gun around and just seemed like amazing amounts of fun. When i got mine i expected it to be a little less as promotional demo videos always seem to master the art of being better then the items really are.

With the expectations of a quieter and softer blowback i gassed up my first of three mags and put it into the gun. The mag fits really really tight and took some work to get it to click in, everything on this gun is made with really tight tolerances, even how the mag fits in. Since the mag sinks into the receiver much more then an aeg it results in zero wobble of the mag, even less then my wasr-10

Unlike the real armalite series, the kalashnikovs were never designed with a bolt catch and like the real kalashnikovs, this does not have one either and due to the forming problems related to we from the bolt catch, i am kinda glad.

I set the selector to full auto and decided to see what this thing could really do. I just held down the trigger in full auto, waiting for the inevitable run out of gas. Much to my delight this gun went through all 50 rounds on full auto and kept going even on just one burst! I am guessing i probably got about a mag and a half with a single trigger pull so if caution was taken i imagine you could get two mags per fill which is more then the wa which struggles to dump a full mag in full auto and about on par with the we which would be more of a fair gun to compare it to as the wa is the first of its kind.

The kick on the ghk is very similar feeling to the wa i shot which i believe (correct me if i am wrong jimmy) was running on 134a and not upgraded. For those of you not familiar with the kick of either of these i would have to say it compares to about a .22lr.

But is it skirmishable?

That is the question i am sure everyone would like to know. The initial fps readings i took (a more detailed result will follow) were all over the place. it would start at 360, then dive to 330 and then go back up to 350ish. Now this probably has a bit to due with the fact that i tested about 30 seconds after filling the mag and i know these mags suffer from cool down issues. a 30fps change is not the end of the world for a gun like an aks74u due to its cqb nature but it does not look like a candidate for a sniping platform where as the we with its much higher fps and better consistency does.

When it comes to the range of this gun i can not give a clear answer right now due to the fact that where i live its below 32f/0c and there is snow on the ground. I can tell you that this gun is at least getting "stock aeg range" so basically if you compare it to your standard aeg in the 330-350 range and you can probably expect this to shoot on par distance wise

When it comes to shooting in the cold, you can tell by pic of the mag sitting in the snow that i did give that a test. It was about 26F or -2ish celsius (sorry, poor unit conversion) outside when when i tested the mag. when i set that mag outside, there was no snow so i suspect it was about out there for two hours. I put the mag into the gun and tried to let it rip. I pulled down the trigger and heard a small hiss and then it stopped. At this point i was a little dissapointed but decided to give the gun another shot. I racked the bolt to reset the trigger and tried again and much to my surprise it fired! not waisting any time i switched it to full auto and held down the trigger. It clearly did not last as long as it did in doors but i suspect i got about half a mag out of it in full auto or maybe a little more. Considering this gun fired at all in below freezing temperature, i am very impressed with this result.

I can not complete a range result unless the snow melts but when it comes to accuracy i am not worried. Unlike the WA and i believe the WE, this takes aeg barrels! so you know that tightbore you had just sitting around? well now it has a new home to go to. Not only will a tightbore increase accuracy but if it was longer then the original barrel it will also serve to boost fps! I have not tested how large or small the gain will be but the general consensus is that a gain will be achieved with a longer barrel. Just because it will take your aeg tightbore it does not mean this gun will shoot as tight of groupings as your aeg. Unlike your aeg, this will shake when you shoot it in full auto, it will probably knock off clone sights so if your looking to put optics on this gun and you dont want to lose your zero i suggest you stick with real steel optics designed for the shaking.

So in summary, this gun appears to be a very skirmishable weapon. it has a respectable size when it comes to the magazine, you can dump it all in full auto with no worries of running out of gas and spare mags can already be purchased (i currently have 3). At a price tag of $400 for the gun and $45 per mag it is not about to take over clone aegs which run about 100-200 for comparable preformance and external quality. When compared to its other current in production counterparts, it is much less expensive then a comparable wa which runs 600+130+130+180 or $1040 for a full metal wa with three mags compared to just $490 for the ghk. It is also about $60 more then a we which runs about $340 (we does not have spare mags released so i wont compare it to rumored prices). Overall i would say the price is about on par with what others in the market are asking. The WA is a first of its kind and not made by a clone company which is one way to justify the higher price. The we is actually a little cheaper then the ghk but from what i have seen, about 50% of them have issues, it is unknown what % of the GHK will not operate properly but i am about 500 rounds in using only propane and no silicone and i have no issues i am aware of at this point.

You ca guys have been especially quiet about this thing after expressing interest. if you have any questions or comments post them up!

[The Saint]

Looks like the mag uses TM2011/1911 gas lip and valve.

[Zeaken]

Some one said the loading system was like that of a wa. It is appearing as if this gun is a collection of ideas from different companies and put together in an entirely new format.

[ancorp]

Thank you for the review, some interesting info there.

It seems you end up comparing Cyma to Dboys (this is a Dboys AEG with gas internals). The wood isn't that great because that's what Dboys made. The finish is not to your liking - also due to Dboys (and I consider the Dboys finish much better then the Cyma AKSU one). Dboys is significantly better in construction and materials. Receiver, stock, top cover, and some others are steel, where the Cyma is almost 100% pot metal. You are way off on the quality of the materials.

It IS a shame though that this AK is based on the older Dboys, not the full steel AKSU they released a couple months ago.

1121 is the standard serial number on Dboys AKs.

You cannot compare a 5.45 style mag to a 7.62 real mag for length. Yes the gas mag does look significantly too long compared to a real 5.45 mag. Common problem with many airsoft mags too, many companies measured (or copied) wrong, and made them longer then they should be.

[ujiro]

Yeah thanks for the review. Looks interesting.

PS, I like the Vampire Hunter D avatar.

[Zeaken]

Thanks for clearing up the issue on the serial number. i knew i was getting to hopeful

As for being way off about the quality, the dboys quality of the metal itself seemed poorer, it was very rough and it has blemishes. My cyma has neither of those but perhaps its not a matter of quality but personal preference on how one likes the finish that lead to that vote in my review.

As for the mag issue i guess everyone is going to have to make me wander out to the local gun story to confirm or dismiss my hunch officially (because finding the information online doesnt give me an excuse to handle real firearms). It is a good point that a 47 mag will be different then a 74. I guess we will have to wait and see on how it really stacks up.

If any of you didn't know, a full size 74 variant is supposed to come out, though i don't know when.

[Zeaken]

Ancorp, it turns out my original assumption was correct, i did a magnet test on the gun and the only thing to respond was the stock. this gun is in fact pot metal

[ancorp]

Originally Posted by Zeaken

Ancorp, it turns out my original assumption was correct, i did a magnet test on the gun and the only thing to respond was the stock. this gun is in fact pot metal

Say what? The body looks like a regular Dboys to me, and its very much steel made...

[Zeaken]

i did a magnet test, sorry but she is pot metal

also, i found out mine was supposed to have a bolt stock which locks it open. mine never worked due to the spring looking like a blind person trying to shape it with a hammer. I removed the spring and the piece of metal the gun continues to function fine.