General questions about AK74U AEG

[8thArmy]

Originally Posted by Kingsix

CYMA AKS-74us are bad guns if you game guns hard. Potmetal frontsight, reciver. Internals can be fixed/upgraded externals are harder to deal with. Get steel if you can Dboys,VFC,CA,LCT if not Aluminum, ICS,SRC and if all else fails a potmetal gun CYMA,JG. Avoid APS as it's generally just Another Piece of Shit.

I understand CYMA mechboxes are beastly I had one last 4 years stock until I decided to upgrade the motor thus frying the switch but it's still mechcanically good to go.

The newer CYMA stamped steel reciever guns look promising, but it's my personal view on externals over internals. Easier to import a new mechbox pain in the ass to get a new reciever.

According to the owner of APS, they have purchased Dboy after it's raided by the goverment like Cyma did.

[Kingsix]

http://www.red-alliance.net/forum/in...?topic=17071.0

Recent review 2011
"comrades don't let comrades use inferior weapons"
As the AKS-74u uses the same reciever and folding stock hardware as the AKS-74 I'm pretty sure you can put 1+1.

"Stats: (out of the box)
Manufacturer: APS
Designation: unknown/not stated
Type: AKS-74
FPS: 365fps
RPM: 700-800 (with stock battery)

I bought this gun for £169 (+postage) and when it arrived and i opened the box the first thing that struck me was the wood finish, this gun has THE best wood finish out of the box that I've ever seen, it has a dark red stain and very little shine on it giving it and used but not totally battered look, i really approve of this and i wish more manufactures used this type of finish.

However that is the end of the positive side of this review, it all went downhill from the moment i picked it out of the box . . . . .

the first thing i noticed when i held it was the fact the stock had about an inch of wobble in all directions, this got very irritating very quickly. second thing that struck me was how very light it was ie. suspiciously light, its was lighter than my CYMA AKS-75u, i know lightness has its advantages but there is such a thing as too light especially when when its meant to be full metal and wood.

another thing that i didn't like very much was the finish on the metal parts, it has a very odd textured finish, i know most AKs have got a textured finish but as much as this one, it felt like they had mixed sand with the paint! i swear if you ran your hand down the receiver too quick you could get friction burn. and while we are on the topic of the receiver i should like to say the receiver cover doesn't fit properly meaning not only do emergency in-the-field battery changes take about 5 mins of grunting and puffing trying to cram the top of the receiver back on but it also means the the battery doesn't quite fit properly and pushes against the bolt preventing the blowback from functioning correctly.

overall the gun has a large feeling of cheapness about it, which i thought was pretty stupid since it was hardly cheap (only £15 less than the CYMA CM.048 AK-74)

well i decided to give it a chance to prove itself and took it to a woodland skirmish. during the skirmish i made a list of things wrong with it:
*stock wobble had gotten worse
*stock folding button and snapped off after exactly 4 uses leaving the stock un-foldable
*the pistol grip was stupidly thin and flimsy
*the motor became very hot after more than 3 second busts, coupled with issue above left me forced to wear full finger gloves for fear of buring my hand (not even kidding)
*rear sling mount broke after 3 hours of supporting its own weight (and as i said its not even a heavy gun)
*the selector was coming loose already
*accuracy was all over the place (seriously, people with half my barrel length were more on the mark at range than i was)

in conclusion i would say this is not a good gun, i would never buy APS again after this. i sent it back and got a refund the day after said skirmish and then got myself a CYMA CM.040 for only £20 more (which i may review later) which so far has been absolutely solid as a rock (like every other CYMA I've owned).

APS say their guns are used as training tools by armies and law enforcement around the world . . . . . . Rubbish!"

Dboys was busted by Chinese police years ago if APS purchased Dboys/Kalash then they have gone downhill since then.

[Cliffradical]

Look, there's a lot of different opinions of what 'quality' means.

A lot of people operate on opinions collected between 5 and 10 years ago.
Cyma guns reflect a very good price to performance ratio. They are not fantastic fix-all unicorns of value, but they work and are solidly built these days.
If you decide to upgrade a Cyma, it will accept most if not all upgrades, and will require attention only in those prime areas which any AEG would anyways (Hopup, piston/ compression, lube/ shim, [gears/ shell if you run an overpowered spring]).

[Kingsix]

I've run 2 CYMA AKs as of 2011 last year one borrowed one bought. Borrowed AKS-74u broke one of the front sight hoods off during a skrimish typical potmetal again. Broke something in the mechbox right at the last game.

Gun was wobbly front sight had lots of play, owner was more of a AR guy and his AK saw little use. The skrim did have me crawl at one point. Compared to a ICS AKS-74u I borrowed at a previous game where I kissed the dirt this one faired badly.

I am very sorry to the owner of the CYMA AKS-74u (you know who you are) I'll try to make it up to you somehow someday.

CYMA AK-104/5 Great little gun when I got it. Off the bat noticed front sight had no drop adjustments kind of sucks but it's a CQB gun. A part of the lower reciever where the bolt meets develops a crack and falls off. The optic plate fell off (NSPU is pretty heavy probably a dab of 2 of PL could have prevented this).

CYMA V3s are great little buggers exernals have something left to be desired.

Most of the problems I've had with CYMA guns have been attributed to the weaker Alloy they use (Potmetal) I've had the same issues with both a Element and a CYMA aftermarket AK-47 reciever. The tabs on the reciever will brake if you are not careful with the bolt or use a ICS bolt. The stock CYMA RPK frontsight is due to be replaced with a LCT steel AK front sight.

My 2 current Ak variants SRC AKS-47u and RPK both have aluminum recievers and have never given me a issue as of yet. Except for the optic rail only way to keep a heavy optic from yanking the rail out is some PL construction glue.

Case in point I don't hate CYMA Aks I am tempted to buy a CYMA AKM with stamped steel reciever just not sure if the front sight will last me or not. It will most likely end up in my armoury if the LCT AKM steel frontsight fits with minimal modification. My first gun was a Kraken aftermath OEM CYMA it still lives as my RPK mechbox run time before failure 4 years.

[Kingsix]

Originally Posted by 8thArmy

Please refrain from flaming, I've never mentioned Cyberguns weren't Cyma, Chances are I got the rebrand of the earlier version of Cyma Ak with lousy gearbox and worse than pot metal exterior back in 08. I was looking forward to their steel versions but now their factory got raided last summer by the government.

If that is the case where is Echo one getting the Redstar AKM and Redstar wolverine, CPM,RPK

I am 100% sure OEM is CYMA

As far as I know
Redstarm AKM
Redstarm wolverine
Redstar RPK

Have stamped steel recievers, the RPK has a potmetal bipod but one piece steel barrel. Red alliance is really good at finding weak potmetal I've seen them brake parts like gas tubes. I didn't think it was possible to brake the potmetal gas tube accidentally.

[Slow]

GO SRC AKS74U Gen1!! YOU WILL NEVER DIE!!!

[Steven]

VFC or nothing.

[8thArmy]

Originally Posted by Kingsix

If that is the case where is Echo one getting the Redstar AKM and Redstar wolverine, CPM,RPK

I am 100% sure OEM is CYMA

As far as I know
Redstarm AKM
Redstarm wolverine
Redstar RPK

Have stamped steel recievers, the RPK has a potmetal bipod but one piece steel barrel. Red alliance is really good at finding weak potmetal I've seen them brake parts like gas tubes. I didn't think it was possible to brake the potmetal gas tube accidentally.

What use to be known as "Cyma"(司马) is history, it was on the local chinese news when i was there. Tried to call their office # no one ever picks up anymore. Rumor is what are left of Cyma got bought out buy uncomfirmed company (most likely hongkong) and moved its facility into either hongkong or somewhere really hidden near Guangdong and hongkong border.

[C73061]

Originally Posted by 8thArmy

What use to be known as "Cyma"(司马) is history, it was on the local chinese news when i was there. Tried to call their office # no one ever picks up anymore. Rumor is what are left of Cyma got bought out buy uncomfirmed company (most likely hongkong) and moved its facility into either hongkong or somewhere really hidden near Guangdong and hongkong border.

please be on topic, I appreciated and will still be appreciating someone with a direct hit on the products themselves.
if you have experienced both cyma and APS' s gearbox, Please say something about them as long as you have them in hand, like how crappy and wonky the brushing/piston/spring/gear/or some retardedly unnecessary blow-back action is.
otherwise, please just be a reader if interested or simply walk away.

[Forever_kaos]

The blow back on Cyma's AK's is a simple little rod, connected to the bolt.
A minute of your time and it is disabled. All you need to do is lift the dust cover and voila, the parts are all right there to disable it.

Never kept it, didn't bother.

[MaciekA]

A local retailer has rows and rows of boxes lining their walls of various A.P.S models, everything from stubby M4s to AKs.

Every single one is a lemon, most of them arrived with shattered receivers (no joke, I've inspected a bunch of them myself) and they are unable to sell them except to people who are interested in using them for parts.

Don't buy APS unless you are wealthy and looking for a challenge with parts prone to catastrophic failure and funky proprietary parts.

[Kos-Mos]

I did had an AK74U from CYMA a few years back.

If I was able to support AKs, I would have kept it. It was a monster, both externally (all iron-based metal and wood) and internally (aside from a good clean and shim job, it is really well built and good quality parts are used).

Don't touch the EBB version, this one is crap. But if you can find either a Cybergun rebrand or CYMA without the EBB, it's a winner. Well, if you like AKs.

[C73061]

The VFC one almost has the same price as the Real Sword, so hopefully they are technically equivalent.

[Danke]

VFC does a 74, Real Sword does a 47. To some folks that matters.

A couple local guys have Real Swords and they're nice but no nicer than my VFC. I think the people who freak about how nice they are maybe haven't seen a lot of nice AEGs.

[C73061]

how about the echo 1 74u?
is it basically same as the dboys or somehow like the cyma's early model?