First gun for an AK Fanatic?
 

I need an AK, as you could clearly tell in the title :)

This is my first ever gun. I played airsoft before a few times and I really want to get into it. Here's the gun I am looking into- http://www.torontoairsoft.com/CYMA-A...od_p_2466.html

I probably know what your thinking. You shouldn't be getting an expensive gun as your first. But I really want to go for a more realistic feel to a gun. But either way, what do you think? This, or something else?

Expensive gun as your first.

CYMA...

$199.....

WAT.


Its from china, stay away from rifles made in china. Also, id stay away from buying online, and in my experience stay away from buying guns in general from TA. Every single one I had problems with and when inspected by outside gun docs....some fishy hanky panky had gone on with the internals of supposedly "new" items.

Get AV'd, go to stores and touch shit, *cough* buy a we gbbr pmc *cough* and look at our classifieds and pick up a kitted out rifle.

CYMA actually makes decent AKs - especially for the price and someone who is just starting out. $199 is definitely not "expensive" in the airsoft world, lol.

LCT would be the best if you feel like spending more.

CYMA's are OK as a first (and as a result the Aftermath Kraken and Echo1 are OK too since they use CYMA internals). They're good workhorses for starting out. But seriously there are more expensive out there like VFC, LCT and Real Sword.

@ Daishi: I think that might be a result of their supplier "preupgrading" the rifles for import.

I think the CM.042 and up use the VFC design too - which is better I feel. They're pretty solid.

This is not an expensive AK by far. A high end AK is around 400$ to 600$. With that said, the Cyma AKs are usually good performers for the price. With a bit of work and a good hop up rubber they make excellent starter guns for cheap.

With that said I would recommend that you remove the link in your post as it is against the forum rules to post links where you can purchase airsoft guns outside of the age verified section of the forum.

Go Real Sword, VFC, LCT or E&L bro. You won't regret it. The build quality on those ak's is outstanding!

That said however, I have a CYMA AK myself and have run it through it paces as well. It has never let me down.

cyma non blowback AKs would get my vote for being super reliable workhorses. I've serviced the AKs at a local rental field and after a couple years of weekly use, 3 of 20 or so needed new nozzles... 1 had a motor seize. You're talking about guns that are seeing probably 50-60k rounds a year with only 3 nozzle failures and 1 motor issue. No stripped pistons, no broken gears, nothing.

Given that they're rentals and it's hard to say what happened with the motor failure, it could have been abuse or the motor shed a winding... which can happen to any motor. The guns are dropped, thrown in the dirt, played hard in the rain, I don't think you could ask more out of a 200$ gun.

Good choice as a beginner gun, CYMA's are work horses. Just like a real AK: cheap, but works.

If you're in for something more, however, I'd recommend looking at E&L and LCT. They are more expensive, but they come at a new level.

GHK AK74MNa or go home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1KGS9u46HI

My first rifle was a CYMA real wood / full metal EBB AEG. Avoid the EBB, if you choose that option later on, it's very non-realistic and somewhat an annoyance.

As a starter gun, my AK was on the heavier side, and I wanted to go pistol only after half a day.

Cyma...expensive...lolwut

LCT make really beautiful AEG AKs. I got a GHK AK 105. It uses an LCT body but it's a gas gun and I love it like crazy.
But I wouldn't recommend a gas gun for your first airsoft gun.

I disagree, these days GHK rifles are so reliable they can totally be a first gun.

VFC, LCT or Realsword for AK. I wouldn't even suggest E&L, there was massive hype for em but the end product doesn't compare to RS or LCT.

*Looks at comment*
- "Hmm, can't look better than E&L... Let's take a look..."
*Views video, gets to range part*
- "I think I need new pants now..."

P.S. If the person thinks CYMA is an "expensive gun", it would not be wise to advise them to get an $800 rifle (even though its frikkin' awesome), imo.

E&L seems to pay more attention to detail on the externals, everything is pinned no hidden grub screws. The receiver seems to be pretty descent.

Gearbox looks like it was made by Dboys and they have QC problems. I would like for them to have a AKMN option, but in reality AKMN wasn't a very common gun at the time.

LCT
Good gearbox, they lose points for using grub screws instead of pins and screws instead of rivets in some places to make manufacturing easier.

They don't pay attention to detail as much as some other manufacturers
(AK-74 having a larger gap between automatic and semi) but they have a wide range of Aks to satisfy anyone.

Realsword

Norinco Type 56 with a AEG shell Pricey but very close to a real AK. They are well made pretty much collectors items. Their Type 56-1 uses a TM style locking mechanism which can be fragile when compared to the way VFC and LCT locks the under folding stock.

VFC
Only VFC would redesign their AK-74M instead of just slapping on AK-74M furniture on a AKS-74 and calling it a day. They pay attention to detail their internals aren't too bad. Good air seal, self shimming gears are iffy weak pistons.

CYMA
Good gearbox, externals aren't too bad, but AKs are supposed to be Steel and wood/polymer weapons and not Aluminum zinc alloy.

CYMA advertises Steel construction but it's only for the Receiver and dustcover and not any of the load bearing components. The rear stock trunion and rear sight block, front sight are made of potmetal.

I don't like the fact they use a half moon front sight drum instead of a standard drum (Again attention to detail(

I found their rear sights have a lot of play and should be shimmed if you want the gun to hold zero.

Their new design is part VFC and part LCT. The don't use the spring loaded hopup trolley that VFC does, instead opting for a LCT style hopup arrangement.

However they kept the VFC style pin that keeps the lower and upper together. This is strange because it makes takedown kinda strange. VFC/Dboys owners know that the spring loaded hopup trolley makes removing the gearbox a breeze.

In short CYMA externals will fall apart before the gearbox stops working.

I agree. They are super reliable and amazing. But I feel if you're new to airsoft maybe a AEG is good to start and then a GBBR later? I guess it mainly depends on what you really want.

If he uses green gas mags it will be harder to play in colder temperatures.

First gun for an AK Fanatic?
 

For myself, it was precisely the opposite. Gearboxes and wiring had me suffering Tourette's, while the simplicity, sound, and feel of gas drew me in wholeheartedly.


Location: YYZ VOR 062 radial, 17.5 DME FL5280

yup

CO2 mags all the way :)

I guess you guys are right. If I were to start all over. I would probably have bought a GBBR first. They are just so much fun. To take apart and clean and lube. They are also easy to fix and replace parts.

I liked the echo1 ak700..it was nice and has rails for optics or flashlight

Thank you all for the helpful replies! But in regards to KingSix's statement regarding the fact that externals will fall apart before internals. How long does it normally take for that process to really be noticable?

Even with the abuse I give mine, all my CYMA/TM externals lasted 6-8 years before anything broke, but the paint etc will wear off much quicker and not stay original colour for long. And the builds these days are much better than they used to be. I have TM based AK's that are now just reaching their end of life span at over 12 years hard use. Parts have broken off etc but they were able to be maintained.

Thanks!

Just make sure you put some lock-tite on any screws that look like they could come loose over time.