CYMA AK74U first review

[Colonel Klink]

I've never been a fan of Chinese guns and earning Pounds Sterling buying the quality stuff has never been an issue.

2-months ago I was 'forced' to buy my first Chinese Clown. The AGM Stg44, due to the Shoei being a skirmishing nightmare and this being the only alternative. Now the reviews were up and down and as you'd expect the Chinese quality system isn't all that. Luckily I got one from the second batch though and they'd appeared to of trawled all the forums and comments from first edition owners and rectified the major concerns. Better locking pins, better stock fit, gerbox mods, etc... The only problem intitially was a bent inner barrel. Not a worry though as I was planning to tightbore it anyway (now I run all Systema internals).

Aside from that they seem to of come a long way since their origin and have learnt a lot. Not on par with the quality makers still, quite a long way off but, if you don't mind fiddling and they are the only maker of something, they're worth a shot.

Based on this I figured I'd get one for the nephew to use since I'd rather he didn't run around with a $600+ gun initially.

I decided a folding stock was a good way to go along with the V3 gearbox. It would be small enough to suit him and double up for CQB if we ever get a site rather than him having multiple guns. Being all metal and real wood made the CYMA AK74U a pretty tempting choice.

Box is standard affair.



Inside the usual layout exists. Small packet of pellets and charger live in box. Comes stock with an 8.4v battery. This is the one part of Chinese Clones I'll still not trust and a sure way to lock-ups. I ordered a couple Intellect batteries for around $18USD a pop. 9.6v but there's room in the gun for a 12.4v.





It comes with the plum mag. Not to my taste but appropriate. Wood seems a little different on both suggesting hand finished and not CNC like some kits. Sizes are slightly different for lower handguard and there are not uniform saw marks. Nothing that can't be tidied easily.



I picked up a spare at the same time incase they are anygood. I've spent enough time with one on COD4 to have a special relationship with one. My preference is the normal mag though.



It cycles crisply. No motor whine so it seems the shimming is OK for a change in both of them. I'll chrono them first but I've got a couple M105 and M110 springs ready to go incase. Being the short barrel though I suspect they'll come in low (around 340fps).

Field results after the weekend and then a few photos of the internals once I have one cracked open.

So far it seems like they are a good deal and worth considering. Metal is solid and finish is generally good. V3 gearboxes can take a lot of abuse.

They work out around $350 landed or $620 for 2 landed due to shipping savings.

[Edakupeta]

Ooh, looks interesting. Would be nice to see how much it ends up costing once you've upgraded it. Looking forward to it Klink.

[Colonel Klink]

Spring will be about $8 - $20 NZD depending which one I have to use. Bushes will already be metal.

[Edakupeta]

Ah nice, CYMA make some decent AK's?

[Colonel Klink]

Not sure yet. There are good and bad reviews. Initial opinion seems they've up'd their game. They are still the cheap end of the spectrum though so you expect small flaws.

[Bane]

The bodies on the CYMA's ive seen have been pretty good.

Definitely serviceable and sturdy enough as a knock-around gun

the internals always seem to be lacking on what i've seen. They run OK out of the box but just dont go the distance.

[Nigel]

I just picked up a older Cyma AK its a CM.031D Wgc dont even have a listing for it anymore. Its all steel with pbs fore grip / pistol grip and magazine in black it has a folding stock infact it looks like the ones the colonel got except black parts instead of wood.
The FPS is unknown at this stage but it seems to run fine. Having pulled it apart to check it out there are some obvious upgrades needed:
1: all the wiring is very light weight and will need to be replaced with something a bit more substantial.
2: the gearbox bushes are nylon and wont last.
3: the gearbox needs to be shimmed.
All in all a very solid and sturdy gun witha a good heavy realistic feel to it just a few little bugs to sort out and add a 9.6v battery and it should be all good.
Colonel i would luv to sit down with yours and mine and see what the differences are on Sunday

[peter]

Hey colonel Klink would u be able to get me a 350 fps Spring for my CYMA CM.031B?

[Colonel Klink]

Gearbox out tonight in one of them.

Wiring is fine for what it is. Better AWG than previous ones I've seen.

Bushes are now metal.

Shimming is fine.

Gears are inproved. Look like G&P copies.

Fits and materials are very good. Far better tolerance control than other Chinese I've seen.

Nozzle material is poor. Would recommend buying a new nozzle and fitting it when you do the spring.

Piston is TM copy and will last well.

Only fault is a non-vented cylinder with a tiny barrel. Means the spring to fps ratio is not right as the pellet has left the barrel way before the spring has reached full song. Hence why the fps is down compared to longer barrels with the same spring.

Other than that I'm actually happy with it. Very easy to strip and put together too.

[Bane]

yeah teh air nozzles were the probs i had with the ones here

Also the o-rings on the piston heads dont seem to last the distance. I replaced them with stock TM piston orings and they went fine.

[Colonel Klink]

They saw their first day of action. About 500 rounds through one and about 1,500 rounds through the one the nephew was using (trigger happy noob).

Not a single jam and still plenty of battery power left. Not even a hesitation.

Very accurate with very good grouping. Also very good range and easily competitive with other SEG's on the field.

Sturdy construction and no creaks or groans.

Only issue was one of the mags hesitated to feed after lunch but a quick bang and it was good to go again.

A very good advancement over their previous models and I wouldn't hesitate getting another one. Will likely order another this week whilst the dollar is high. Probably the AK47 version this tim.

[ADLER]

Can you pull one apart & see what the contacts & internals are like. With the dollar sitting pretty I will look at getting 10 of these in for club guns very very soon. I want to get full stock versions though with bigger battery capacity.

[Colonel Klink]

I will upload photos tonight but the internals appear very sound. Plastic bearings on previous models atre now metal. Grease has been applied correctly and they all have good shimming. I'm impressed enough to consider getting a couple of different variants on top of the AK74U. It seems they'll last a while. Metal bodies are also a plus.

THey are very easy to strip and are actually a bit of a pleasure to work on.

They'll need and M100 or M95 spring out of the box though.

[Gunnyevangelista]

This is an excellent review. Id like to see more of this from you guys in view of the fact we have our guys changing over weapons.
Thanks.