Happy Birthday AK74!!!
That's right, in two days my SLR105 will have been mine for a whole year. I decided to do a complete strip of the entire weapon;
- Disassembly and cleaning/oiling of all external parts;
- Take mechbox apart, clean and regrease, check for wear; and
- Locktite all structural/mechbox screws.
A few things that I feel are noteworthy after a year of ownership/use;
- Zero wear on all mechbox components. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I'd estimate I put about 5,000 rounds through this AEG so far and everything looks like the day I bought it internally. This AEG is still barely broken in, but any problems should have made themselves evident by now in the form of wear on components, metal shavings etc. The grease inside the mechbox was of course, absolutely filthy. But the stock TM piston proved to be an excellent match with the CA steel gears and no wear on either.
- Loose screws on in front trunnion. There are two setscrews on the in the front trunnion (it's what the rear sight sits on for those not familiar w/ AKs) that press into the outerbarrel and hold it (and the entire frontend) in place. These had developed a habit of becoming loose and as such the frontend was subject to randomly trying to fall off. To remedy this I cleaned the screw threads and locktited them. Will keep an eye on this in the future, but should be resolved.
- Lower handguard is loose. No matter how many times I try to reposition the lower handguard it always remains slightly loose, with noticable play within it's retainer when grasped. The reason for this is that CA did not use a spring clip like those used in a real AK74. As pictured here;
I am referring to the metal clips at the front, which provide tension when compressed. To remedy this I'll be looking for the real part, or I'll have to fabricate a suitable alternative.
The above issues are minor niggles in an otherwise great AEG, and I'm pleased that no major issues have cropped up so far. Looking forward to another season of gaming with it.