Chock

Had a bit of time to take the SRC apart, because I wanted to make sure it was properly lubed up before firing it too much. Spring guide and return spring are steel. Bolt Carrier and piston are alloy. Upper receiver plate is steel, lower receiver, fire selector, trigger and trigger guard are steel. Front/rear sight is steel, outer barrel and flash suppressor is alloy. Stock is pressed steel. Mag is alloy with some steel parts. Some pics: Piston and spring guide: Top of bolt carrier: Hop up: Internal tube and rear of hop up: Top of trigger mechanism:

Anything which looks like it could be a real gun to the average person, is considered a RIF in legal terms; even if it was made out of cheese and painted black, if the average person might mistake it for a real gun, then it is a RIF. Your friends are mistaken. In the first place, a UKARA registration (United Kingdom Airsoft Retailers Association) is not a licence, it is a registration with UKARA, which far from being a Government entity with the mandate to issue a license of any kind, is simply a trade association with its own scheme to identify legitimate airsoft enthusiasts (the UKARA scheme is facilitated through participating airsoft sites and airsoft shops). Thus UKARA is merely a convenient means for retailers to identify who has recently been airsofting and is therefore supposedly a legitimate buyer of something which looks like a real gun. In the second place, whilst it is convenient for airsofters to have a UKARA registration number (since it is widely used by retailers when distance selling RIFs and is a number you can quote when buying, which they can check on their database), you do not need one to own or buy a RIF, what you need is suitable reason for wanting one, a reason which will satisfy the person who is selling it to you, so they can be (as far as the risk of criminal prosecution is concerned) seen to be responsibly selling it and not carelessly supplying a RIF to someone who might then use it to rob a bank or whatever. All you really have to do, is not be a dick with the thing, and you will be well within the law. So don't worry about it.

The VZ.58 may look a bit like an AK variant, but in fact it is quite a bit different from one internally. Of course much of that doesn't matter with airsoft guns, but the VZ.58 is a bit smaller than an AK, so an AK gearbox might not physically fit in a shell of a VZ body of the correct size. Here's a very good comparison video for those interested in the differences:

Oh that's just a cheap springer AKS74U coming from Bohemia Airsoft in the Czech Republic (or as a 70's comedian would probably say: 'the Czech's in the Post'). It was literally about 23 quid, but since it is a Class D RIF as far as the UK's VCR Law is concerned (i.e. it is black with a wooden-coloured plastic grip, so Joe Blow might think it is a real firearm), I thought I'd add it to my order for a bunch of AK mags I was ordering from there anyway the other day, just as a test to see if RIFs come through from that site okay, since rifles and pistols are quite good value on there. http://airsoftshop.cz/product_info.php/products_id/6968 However, there is also a bit more method to my madness. That AKS74U is the Unicorn Hobbies Corporation (UHC) one, which you might know is the cheapy 'dual powered' AK which many BB gun sites sell (actually triple powered if we're being technically accurate). Now, I already have one of those UHC ones that I got for the princely sum of 45 quid - which I've upgraded the internals on to make it 'skirmishable' - because I like the fact that lift up the upper receiver, pop six AA batteries in the thing and be good to go, which is handy if you decide to go skirmishing at the last minute and don't have your normal AEG batteries charged (it's the one in the pic above next to the SRC one). That and the fact that it also functions as a 'cock and fire' springer too. So it is my intention to do a similar upgrade on the one that's currently winging its way from the Czech Republic. That way I'll have a 'grab gun' for those last minute decisions to go skirmishing on Wednesday evenings which I sometimes make, and also have a back up 'grab gun' which won't need charging either. As most people probably gathered from that AK12 thread, really, these things are as much about having a bit of fun tinkering with stuff and ending up with some nice wall hangers too, as much as they are about having something to go shooting with, because I've certainly got enough decent 'fancy guns' anyway not worry about whether such tinkering turns out okay. Although to be fair, the UHC one I have already souped up with better gears is not actually a bad CQB skirmish gun - does about 310 fps and is pretty accurate, certainly accurate enough for CQB ranges anyway - and it does look okay with the 'worn metal' paint job I've given it. Not bad looking for a 45 quid plastic gun with a few cheap tweaked parts:

500 round 417 mags 22 quid each, or 20.50 if you buy three, 100 round mags 17.50 each (although showing out of stock on those 100 rd mags when I checked earlier): http://aegcartasia.com/magu03.html As a guide to additional P&P costs from AEG Cart Asia, when I bought five 160 rd M4 mags from there the other day, it cost me 9.27 in postage (which was nearly as much as the five mags cost, so still a bargain at 24 quid for five M4 mags), and when I bought three 50 rd GBB H&K MP5 magazines (much heavier, obviously being metal gas blowback, so the postage was dearer) it was 24 quid in postage, again still a bargain, since the mags themselves were only 15 quid each, which is bloody cheap for GBB mags (they're over 35 quid everywhere else). That's why i always try to get my mags from there, although sadly, they don't appear to have any for my shiny new SRC AKS74U.

If you only want it for target shooting and not for airsoft skirmishing, then you can go for something which is too 'hot' for most skirmish sites, and in that case, this one is a very good choice, since it looks a lot like a Ruger pistol, so it ticks the 'realism box'. Technically at a claimed 210fps, it isn't over the odds for a skirmish pistol, but I've seen those things shoot a lot hotter than 210fps. And at that price it won't break the bank either: http://www.patrolbase.co.uk/airsoft-pistols/asg-mk1-airsoft-nbb-pistol.htm#.VIFkINxd1RU Note that it is a gas powered pistol, so its performance might not be great in cold weather, but it does at least have the virtue of being non blowback, so all the gas is being used to shoot the sixteen rounds in the mag and not being wasted on moving the slide backwards and forwards, which affects accuracy when shooting rapidly. Another advantage of that one, is that it shares magazine type with their compact tactical sniper rifle, so if you wanted to do a bit of rifle target shooting, or even sniping at a skirmish site, you'd save a bit of cash on mags: http://www.patrolbase.co.uk/airsoft-sniper-rifles/asg-mk1-tactical-sniper.htm#.VIFlEdxd1RU

Yeah, I'd never show up to a skirmish without a back up, and especially when running a gas gun. GBBs are nice, and good fun, but they're a bit like a fancy thoroughbred horse, impressive but often temperamental. I don't trust GBBs enough to use one without a back up, and the back up is always an electric gun, especially at this time of year when nearly every gas gun is all over the place in terms of consistency and reliability.

Cool. Glad it is sorted. Expecting the same sort of traumas with a package I've got coming from a Czech airsoft place this week, coincidentally with another AKS74u and some AK74 mags. Post always gets arsed up this time of year.

I like the idea of gas cartridges in mags, as that seems like it would add a very realistic feel to changing mags, as is the case with GBBs, but with more consistency to the shots. However, I'd be less enamoured with the notion of carrying a bottle around in a backpack and having a high pressure line attached to my rifle; I think it'd feel a bit too much like being a WW2 M2 flamethrower operator on some Pacific Island. It would limit your movement too much as well, and it's a step away from having a realistic appearance to your weapon with it having a compressed gas line coming off the bottom of the thing.

Unless you have an M249

Yeah, eHobbyAsia simply use the most 'obvious' currency for international trading, which happens to be Dollars, but it's simple enough to type 'convert dollars to sterling' into Google and find a converter which will tell you how much you are paying in UK currency. I've never had an issue with getting stuff from eHobbyAsia, I think it took them about 10-12 to get my stuff to me last time I bought from there (which was about a month ago). The only time you will have an issue with Customs, is if you are importing a RIF and don't put a UKARA or (other suitable defence) bit of info on the packaging, or, if you are importing gas blowback magazines (which they have been known to get snotty about on occasion, but actually that's largely to do with it being a pressurised container rather than it being related to weaponry). You may also want to give this other website a look. This is my 'go to site' when it comes to buying mags, because it is unbelievably cheap and it always has a lot of stock (especially AK mags, including obscure Eastern European types as well as the more typical AK mags). They also have a bunch of bundle deals, such as ten mags for 30 Euros, which is a steal. Be sure to scroll all the way down, there's three pages of AK mags on there: http://aegcartasia.com/magazines/aeg-std-magazines/ak-series.html From personal experience I can say that aegCartAsia is okay to buy from, for example, I bought a bunch of magazines for my MP5K from there the other week (and they were gas blowback ones too, arriving with no problem or Customs hassle). They only took about a week and a half to arrive too.

Bit of dry brushing with Metal Cote on my plastic AEG AKS-74U to make it look more realistic:

To be fair, if your business is good at what it does, then competition is a welcome spur to further improve your service, and anyone who isn't as good as you serves to highlight your strong points. Anyone who is decent at what they do should not be afraid of competition.

Chances are they'll get LCT to mail it direct to you.

Full metal is overrated to be honest. Yes it is nice to have something which looks feels a bit more like the real thing, but to be fair, that's only of use for the cool factor when everyone is in the safe area getting kitted up, once you are actually sneaking around and shooting at people, it makes very little difference and you won't care. This is why so many people on here recommend the G&G Combat Machine M4. You can find them for not much more than a ton, they are reliable, look good, and can be found in starter kits at many airsoft shops online, meaning you can be good to go for 150 quid fairly easily, with no UKARA, and even when you do have a UKARA, you'd probably still be happy to use that rifle anyway. Even the two tone black/clear ones look okay as is, or if that bothers you, that can be sorted in ten minutes with nothing more sophisticated than a can of matt black spray paint and some careful spraying.

Full metal can be a bit of a misnomer with Armalite rifles such as M16s, AR15s and M4s, because the real things are not actually full metal. And even the metal bits are made in different ways on various ones. Contrary to popular belief, the M16's receiver body is actually not steel, but 7075 grade aluminium. The receiver is either forged, or milled from a solid block of metal depending on the variant and manufacturer. The stock and fore grip on the original Armalite M16s was made from resin which was impregnated with fiberglass, but these were found to be fragile and would break if used as a club in hand-to-hand fighting, which is part of what has added to the reputation of the AK47 being tough and led to the first M16s being disliked by veteran troops used to the very robust M14 which the Armalite replaced; this dislike is referenced in the movie 'We were Soldiers', when Sam Elliot's character remarks that it 'it feels like a BB gun'. Later versions of the M16's plastic furniture are made from glass-impregnated polymer, which is vastly stronger than the original fiberglass stuff (supposedly over ten times as strong). Thus most airsoft 'full metal' Armalite rifles tend to follow along similar lines, so the description 'full metal' tends to mean it has a metal gearbox with metal gears, a metal outer and inner barrel, metal flash hider, metal sights, metal upper and lower receiver body, metal stock tube, metal trigger, charging handle, switches and body pins and a metal magazine, with typically only the fore grip, pistol grip and rear stock involving much plastic or polymer in its construction. This is certainly true of the D-Boys M4 SIR; it is all metal apart from the front fore grip (the rails on the fore grip are metal), pistol grip, and most of the rear stock. Pretty much everything else is metal. The question is though, what sort of metal? This can vary, although it is usually a mixture of of steel, or alloys such as aluminium and mazak, for various parts, depending on how strong they need to be. Mazak is also known as zamak and zamac, that name deriving from the metals involved in creating it, which are Zinc, Aluminium, Magnesium and Copper. Of course you probably know aluminium and steel, but are probably less familiar with mazak, although you will certainly be familiar with many things which are made from it, notably: die-cast toy cars, the hardware on many electric guitars, zips, door handles, but it is used in the production of some firearms, most famously Hi Point pistols and rifles. Zamac is often disparagingly referred to as 'pot metal' but it is in fact usually pretty strong, fairly corrosion resistant and can generally take quite a lot of punishment. I'm sure you know that your toy cars could take quite a few smashes into brick walls, which gives you an idea of how tough your alloy-bodied M4 will actually be.

Love that 'thanks for choosing SRC as your first option'. Erm actually no, it was a cheap-ass Black Friday option lol. With regard to UPS, I got lucky with that. Apparently the delivery van tipped up to number 85 on my road because it was delivering something there, then they saw they had something for number 80 (my house), but got no answer since I was out at work, so the delivery guy actually used his brain (unlike my fecking postman, who never bloody does so): 'screw it, we'll get the guy at 85 to take it and put a card through the door at 80 letting them know'. So when I got home from work yesterday, I just knocked on 85 and Bob's yer uncle, AK74 in my grubby paws.

Below are some links to recommendations. As much as people slag off 'BB gun' sites (especially on these forums, and not always undeservedly so), I've actually had pretty good service from them whenever I've bought things off them. However, that's because you generally have to know what you are looking for in order to avoid the turkeys, and those sites often 'talk up' guns which are not that great. But if you do know what to look for, they can offer some good deals. It is worth noting that if you do not have a UKARA registration, you'll probably be looking at having to buy a two-toned M4, which is no bad thing really, since you can either keep it like that, or if it bothers you, get some matt black spray paint and just spray it the right colour (note that you need a suitable reason for doing this if you want to be within the boundaries of the law, i.e. if you genuinely want it for airsoft, and do so regularly). This is where buying from a 'BB gun' site makes sense, because those sites tend to mostly sell two-toned guns, so you won't be charged for them painting a black weapon in two tone colours, because it will already be two toned. Here's a few links to some decent two toners from a BB gun site, all of which are pretty affordable. And before anyone chips in and says those sites are crap and don't buy from them, I will say that the first link in the list below, is to the D-Boys M4 SIR, at a very reasonable 179 quid, and I in fact bought that exact gun, from that exact site, in that exact same two tone blue and black. I simply sprayed the fore grip and the stock black with a cheap ass aerosol can of matt black paint (the paint literally cost me 1 pound from a cheap shop), and it looks great. The D-Boys M4 SIR is a really excellent rifle, it is in fact my main skirmish weapon for both CQB and outdoors, and I've never had any problems with it at all (and I've got loads of different rifles and SMGs, so it's not as if I am forced to use that one), I use it because it is a truly excellent weapon. Apart from painting it, the only thing I've added to it, is a pressure activated TAC light on the right fore grip rail, with the pressure switch gaffer taped to the front fore grip. I don't even use any optics on the thing, because the iron sights are excellent and I can hit people at long range using those quite easily: http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/dboy33-d-boy-m4-sir-airsoft-gun-aeg-metal.html?filter_name=D-Boys%20M4&page=4#.VH7tbNxd1RU http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/cm008-cyma-m4-sir-cqb-airsoft-gun-metal.html?filter_name=D-Boys%20M4#.VH7sKtxd1RU http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/061-jg-m4-gas-blow-back-assault-rifle-gbbr.html?filter_name=D-Boys%20M4#.VH7sbtxd1RU http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/032-agm-m4a1-socom-aeg.html?filter_name=D-Boys%20M4#.VH7sidxd1RU http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/062-jg-m4-gas-blow-back-assault-rifle-with-ris-rail-gbbr.html?filter_name=D-Boys%20M4#.VH7sxdxd1RU http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/031-agm-mp031-m4-rifle-full-metal.html?filter_name=D-Boys%20M4#.VH7s7Nxd1RU Note that a couple of those recommendations are for Gas Blowback M4s. Those won't work well in the current low temperatures, and you would need two or three spare mags for them, which would probably add another 50-70 quid to the cost, so unless you really must have a GBB weapon, I'd say stick to the electric ones with the high capacity mags. The D-Boys M4 SIR is therefore the one I'd recommend to you, since it is electric and has a 300-round mag with it, which means you shouldn't even need to reload it on a skirmish, just roll the winder on the mag every fifty shots or so, and if you use it on semi-auto and double-tap shots, it might even last you the whole day. The battery will certainly last all day if you do that, I know that for a fact, because I did exactly that with mine the Sunday before last at Trojan's woodland site out near Macclesfield, which also demonstrated how tough that gun is, because I was crawling and rolling about in mud and crap all day with the thing and it never missed a beat.

Easily contactable and friendly via email or phone. Rapid post for online stuff (and try to keep this as affordable as you can). Emails or texts of where your order is up to. That's it. Every online store that manages those three things gets my repeat business. And as far as stock goes, just stock what you know is gonna sell. The last thing you want is a bunch of 500 quid wet dream guns sat on your shelves doing bugger all except depreciating in value.

As it stands, I only had a brief look at the thing yesterday when it arrived, as I wanted to go out to see my girlfriend - after all, girls are (only just) more fun than guns - so will get a better look at the thing later tonight. But, I did put a few rounds through it and apart from being crap in the cold weather, as all GBBs are, it works okay. Other things I noticed: It's not as heavy as I thought it might be (which is good, some airsoft weapons end up heavier than the real thing). It was well packaged (apart from that bloody polystyrene, which meant I had to clean little polystyrene balls out of the internals), being in transit with the top receiver cover open and the return spring popped out so that the spring wasn't weakened by sitting under tension while it's in a warehouse (again good). The mag is a bit awkward to load, with the included speed loader being about as cheap and nasty as speed loaders usually are, and with a rather clumsily fitted adapter precariously attached to it to facilitate filling the SRC mag (not good, but might be a case of getting used to it, may have to glue the adapter in place on the speed loader, as it isn't very securely attached). Foregrip wood colour, density and finish is pretty good, a lot like a real one (i.e actually slightly cheap and nasty lol), so no need to re-stain it unless you wanted a particularly different appearance (good). The folding stock is good and is very reminiscent of a real one - this is in comparison it to my (real) folding stock variant Chicom (type 56) AK that I have - it folds nicely and doesn't rattle about. Seems to be about the same gauge metal as a real one too (good). Black finish is fairly basic (a lot like many real AKs) but it is paint and not blued metal. Nevertheless, the overall quality of the external parts is nice, including the side rail adapter, which is a bit blued, although TBH, side rails on shorty AKs are often pretty academic, since the CQB rear sight often fouls a lot or rail adapters. It will probably look better with a bit of wear and tear on the finish. (good). Manual is not bad, with, loading instructions etc, plus an exploded diagram of the magazine internals and one of the GBB mechanism too, plus a spares list (but see above comments on potential spares availability issues), although as ever with airsoft weapons, I think the word 'manual' is stretching it a bit; 'pamphlet' is a bit more like it. Having said that, it is well printed and is in colour (good). ROF is pretty slow, like the real thing, and accuracy seemed good straight out of the box. Although I'll be honest, my experience on firing real AKs with live ammunition is limited to having fired an old AK47 a few times and an AK74 once, and that AK74 which i fired wasn't the shortened version either, so I've never actually fired a real AKS-74U. Very little kick at all from the SRC when on either single or full auto, which is a bit like the real (full wooden stock) AK74 I fired, in that it had not a lot of recoil (unlike the AK47 which I had a go with, which nearly broke my frigging shoulder blade when on full auto lol). The action certainly clangs and rings like the real thing as it cycles, so I reckon it'll be important to lube the living crap out of the thing to minimise wear and tear, but then again, anyone who has ever handled a real AK will know that they fecking stink of Cosmoline and also clang and ring like crazy, so it's not like you don't have to do that on a real AK either (good).

Dunno which is 'the best', but I have one of these (the black one in the middle): http://ant-supplies.co.uk/Pages/RubberAirsoftBayonets.aspx That type acts as a knife and also fits onto an M4 rifle as a bayonet, and it's quite likely that he has an M4, since the M4 is by far the most popular airsoft rifle. hope that helps

SRC AK arrived in post today. Here it is in the box, alongside one of my AEG AKs:

Yup, it is indeed, but I tend to just type AK74SU out of habit. Not good to hear those reports about it being crap internally, but I guess we'll find out. Like straffham, this is not a critical purchase for me, since I tend to use an M4 actually, and I already have a few AKs anyway (AEGs), including three other shortened AKs with folding stocks. So for 150 quid, obviously I'd not be thrilled if this SRC one fell to bits, but I would be okay with then either messing about with it or having it as a wall hanger. For me, airsoft is as much about tinkering and having stuff on the wall as it is about shooting people in the face

No, I have not been had. I did a bit of research on it before buying, because I liked the kit, although to be honest, even if it was incorrect I'd probably still have bought it anyway. But as it turned out, it isn't incorrect, USMC do indeed wear Multicam on occasion, and even with official permission to do so: Whilst it is true that the standard USMC pattern is MARPAT and also true that Multicam is a DoD US Army pattern, thus technically illegal for other forces to wear it, and against USMC regulations for Marines to wear it (although historically, it's the Marines who've tended to be more picky about who can wear their official patterns), there are several non US Army units which have been granted permission officially by the DoD to wear Multicam in Afghanistan because it is more effective in that terrain, and this includes some Marine units. Amongst the non US Army units wearing Army Multicam with official permission, are the United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command, aka MARSOC - basically the USMC special forces, and the US Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controllers aka JTAC - basically FACs. So yes, there are Marines who are officially issued a Multicam BDU set, and indeed some US Air Force personnel too, in spite of 'the rules' saying they don't wear that pattern. Interestingly, there is currently a widespread campaign on Facebook et all, to allow all USMC troops in Afghanistan, and other desert theatres, to be granted similar privileges, with many US people writing to their congressmen about the matter, since Marines have been complaining that Marpat is not as effective as Multicam in that terrain (which it quite plainly isn't when you look at pictures). It is known that some USMC have been wearing Multicam unofficially on operations in Afghanistan, although since it contravenes USMC regulations to do so, naturally they tend to keep quiet about it in the same way that grunts picking up AKs in Vietnam and using those when they found them better suited to the conditions, were hardly going to shout about it to their COs. In other words, it's like a lot of 'boots on the ground' situations, where the by the book rules go out of the window in favour of practical measures in theatre. A classic example of that is the keffeyah. In the 1991 Gulf War, US Troops were expressly forbidden to wear them, by the second Gulf War there were so many troops ignoring that rule and wearing them anyway because of their practicality in theatre, that the rule got changed and now they get officially issued one, as indeed do UK troops, when deploying to those theatres.