mightyjebus
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- Dec 11, 2015
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[SIZE=10.5pt]It's been a while since I've reviewed an AEG or pistol but it's now time for me to review the Celcius AKM. The last time I reviewed a Celcius product it didn't do too well but in fairness I try to be as open as possible with anything I review so if the AKM is good or bad I'll be as fair as I can.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]There is a little bit of general information to go through first before I start the review. The Celcius AKM comes in two flavours. You can buy a complete AKM with electrics and wooden furniture for $1000 or the other option is to buy the Expert Solution which is basically the AKM minus the motor, electrics and furniture. The selling point behind the second option is you can add whatever electronics and motor you want and stick on any RS AKM furniture. The Expert Solution costs around $488 and this is the option I will be looking at.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]If you buy the expert Solution version or just want to have a better look at how they go together then check out these 2 videos from Celcius:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Video 1[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Video 2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Ok on with the review. Let's start with a picture as we all like pictures.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]As you can see I've stepped away from the traditional wooden furniture look and went for something a bit more modern. The main reason for this was the Expert Solution (now known as ES from now on) comes with a Sliding stock adapter as standard. This adapter is Mil Spec so normal AEG sliding stocks will be too small to fit. I've replaced the rear sight with a RIS rail so that I could add a RMR and I've replaced the gas tube with a RIS version so that I can attach RIS attachments when I need to. The only other thing I will do to mine is add a RIS lower hand guard so that I can add a torch and vertical grip. If you want to fit your own handguards, stock, etc then any Real Steel furniture should be a straight fit.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Starting at the front:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The front sight, gas block and outer barrel are all steel. They are all pinned to the barrel as per the real thing and the finish is a nice blue/grey and should look good if artificial wear is applied to them (if you want that old skool look).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]next the gas block:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Again full steel and nicely blued. There is absolutely no wobble on any of the parts (apart from the flash hider but I'll cover that later).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The receiver:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The receiver reminds me of the phosphate grey finish that is sometimes seen on USA made AK's. It's nice and even and should wear well.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Pistol grip:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Nice and thin just like the real thing but sadly you can't use the real thing. It actually holds the motor in place and needs to be seated against the trigger guard to work correctly. It's a little fiddly getting it just right but not the hardest thing in the world to do. On the ES version you get a black pistol grip and on the full AKM version you get a brown one although I think all they have done is paint a brown one black for the ES version.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Stock adapter:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]As mentioned above it's Mil Spec and houses the mosfet and battery. It's actually nicely made and a 11v 25C LIPO fits in nearly all the way.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Popping the top cover off the receiver is just like the real thing. You push the button at the rear and pull the top cover up and off.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The spring that holds the top cover in place is actually the spring that powers the cylinder. To change the FPS of the cylinder it's a quick job to pop off the top cover, remove the spring from the top cover catch and pop a new spring in place.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]In the picture above you can see the cylinder. The large black lump is the cylinder and inside is a piston, piston head and special nozzle. I'll cover this in more detail later.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The Hop unit is a rotary dial type and can be accessed from the magwell or if you cock the bolt back you can get your finger inside the receiver to adjust the wheel.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Removing the cylinder involves removing to allen screws and the whole unti comes off to allow access to the lower part of the gearbox.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I added a set of Etiny electrics apart from the selector board as the ES comes with this board installed and works with the Etiny electrics. You can use whatever electrics you want but it's worth remembering that if you use the Systema type then you need to change the trigger as the Celcius boards (and Etiny Celcius version) uses a smaller switch. You can find out more about this in the videos linked above.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Looking at the cylinder next. The cylinder is solid lump of metal with a piston inside it. The piston looks to be a standard PTW piston so replacements shouldn't be an issue. The nozzle is a bit of a strange design but to make the cylinder line up with the barrel this was probably the only design that would work.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]You'll notice in one of the pictures above that there is a strange little silver bit with a grub screw pointing downwards on the bottom of the cylinder. This is the cut off lever and it should disengage the ECU when the magazine is empty and when you fit a new magazine you need to cock the bolt, which moves this part down and reengages the ECU. On mine this doesn't work very well. It's either the magnet that holds it up is too weak or the spring that pushes it down is too strong. I'm not to bothered about this feature and I've padded it out so that I don't have to cock the AEG every time I change the magazine. At some point I'll have another look and see if I can figure out which part is causing the slight problem but for now I can live without the feature.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The fake bolt is actually 2 parts made to look like the bolt and the part that engages the magnetic switch is held in place by a stiff spring.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]If you decide to remove the inner barrel and hop unit then be prepared to completely strip the front end. You need to knock out the pins and remove the gas block and furniture. You end up with the bits in the picture below but to get the inner barrel out of the outer you need to remove the hop unit. it's all a bit complex so I'd only recommend doing it if you really need to.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]While I'm talking about the barrel, the inner barrel protudes slightly from the front of the outer barrel but is covered by the flash hider. On flash hider rattles a bit as the threads don't quite match with the stop catch. The easy fix is to fit a small O ring between the flash hider and the front sight to stop the rattle.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The Magazine.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The magazine holds around 100 BB's and seems well made. You can take the inner part of the magazine and insert it into a RS magazine shell without modification. This is a nice feature if you want to run Polymer, Bakelite or maybe something a bit more modern.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]You can see the inner sealed unit below.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The part that disengaged the ECU can be seen in the next picture.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]So that's the kinda technical look done. The big question is how does it fire? Well frankly really well to be honest.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Plug a battery in, lock a magazine in place, select fire and pull the trigger and it does. The FPS on mine without hop was about 290. I added a little spacer to the spring guide and this climbed to 320. I've ordered a M110 spring to try and push it to 345 unhopped. Talking of hop the hop unit this works really well. The gearbox sounds nice and crisp and the trigger response is very good as you would expect from a PTW.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]So in summery.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]It's a well designed, solid AEG and it's nice to have an OPFOR weapon that fires like a PTW. The option to buy a bare bones system is a nice idea and you can go crazy building your own unique AKM. It has two flaws that are more annoying that show stoppers. I've mentioned to cut off lever but I should mention that the selector lever moves about a bit when in the safe position. It won't suddenly jump to full auto as it doesn't move that much but there is some movement. It's probably fixable and when I get a chance I'll see what can be done to tighten it up.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Would I recommend it? Yes.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]And lastly.......[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]If you know your way around AEG's and PTW's then buy one and stick in the parts you want. There are no surprises when you try building one if you are used to PTW's. If you fancy a really nice firing AK but don't know your nozzle from your sprocket then get your local shop/tech to build it with the parts you want.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]There is a little bit of general information to go through first before I start the review. The Celcius AKM comes in two flavours. You can buy a complete AKM with electrics and wooden furniture for $1000 or the other option is to buy the Expert Solution which is basically the AKM minus the motor, electrics and furniture. The selling point behind the second option is you can add whatever electronics and motor you want and stick on any RS AKM furniture. The Expert Solution costs around $488 and this is the option I will be looking at.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]If you buy the expert Solution version or just want to have a better look at how they go together then check out these 2 videos from Celcius:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Video 1[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Video 2[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Ok on with the review. Let's start with a picture as we all like pictures.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]As you can see I've stepped away from the traditional wooden furniture look and went for something a bit more modern. The main reason for this was the Expert Solution (now known as ES from now on) comes with a Sliding stock adapter as standard. This adapter is Mil Spec so normal AEG sliding stocks will be too small to fit. I've replaced the rear sight with a RIS rail so that I could add a RMR and I've replaced the gas tube with a RIS version so that I can attach RIS attachments when I need to. The only other thing I will do to mine is add a RIS lower hand guard so that I can add a torch and vertical grip. If you want to fit your own handguards, stock, etc then any Real Steel furniture should be a straight fit.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Starting at the front:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The front sight, gas block and outer barrel are all steel. They are all pinned to the barrel as per the real thing and the finish is a nice blue/grey and should look good if artificial wear is applied to them (if you want that old skool look).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]next the gas block:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Again full steel and nicely blued. There is absolutely no wobble on any of the parts (apart from the flash hider but I'll cover that later).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The receiver:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The receiver reminds me of the phosphate grey finish that is sometimes seen on USA made AK's. It's nice and even and should wear well.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Pistol grip:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Nice and thin just like the real thing but sadly you can't use the real thing. It actually holds the motor in place and needs to be seated against the trigger guard to work correctly. It's a little fiddly getting it just right but not the hardest thing in the world to do. On the ES version you get a black pistol grip and on the full AKM version you get a brown one although I think all they have done is paint a brown one black for the ES version.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Stock adapter:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]As mentioned above it's Mil Spec and houses the mosfet and battery. It's actually nicely made and a 11v 25C LIPO fits in nearly all the way.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Popping the top cover off the receiver is just like the real thing. You push the button at the rear and pull the top cover up and off.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The spring that holds the top cover in place is actually the spring that powers the cylinder. To change the FPS of the cylinder it's a quick job to pop off the top cover, remove the spring from the top cover catch and pop a new spring in place.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]In the picture above you can see the cylinder. The large black lump is the cylinder and inside is a piston, piston head and special nozzle. I'll cover this in more detail later.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The Hop unit is a rotary dial type and can be accessed from the magwell or if you cock the bolt back you can get your finger inside the receiver to adjust the wheel.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Removing the cylinder involves removing to allen screws and the whole unti comes off to allow access to the lower part of the gearbox.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I added a set of Etiny electrics apart from the selector board as the ES comes with this board installed and works with the Etiny electrics. You can use whatever electrics you want but it's worth remembering that if you use the Systema type then you need to change the trigger as the Celcius boards (and Etiny Celcius version) uses a smaller switch. You can find out more about this in the videos linked above.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Looking at the cylinder next. The cylinder is solid lump of metal with a piston inside it. The piston looks to be a standard PTW piston so replacements shouldn't be an issue. The nozzle is a bit of a strange design but to make the cylinder line up with the barrel this was probably the only design that would work.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]You'll notice in one of the pictures above that there is a strange little silver bit with a grub screw pointing downwards on the bottom of the cylinder. This is the cut off lever and it should disengage the ECU when the magazine is empty and when you fit a new magazine you need to cock the bolt, which moves this part down and reengages the ECU. On mine this doesn't work very well. It's either the magnet that holds it up is too weak or the spring that pushes it down is too strong. I'm not to bothered about this feature and I've padded it out so that I don't have to cock the AEG every time I change the magazine. At some point I'll have another look and see if I can figure out which part is causing the slight problem but for now I can live without the feature.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The fake bolt is actually 2 parts made to look like the bolt and the part that engages the magnetic switch is held in place by a stiff spring.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]If you decide to remove the inner barrel and hop unit then be prepared to completely strip the front end. You need to knock out the pins and remove the gas block and furniture. You end up with the bits in the picture below but to get the inner barrel out of the outer you need to remove the hop unit. it's all a bit complex so I'd only recommend doing it if you really need to.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]While I'm talking about the barrel, the inner barrel protudes slightly from the front of the outer barrel but is covered by the flash hider. On flash hider rattles a bit as the threads don't quite match with the stop catch. The easy fix is to fit a small O ring between the flash hider and the front sight to stop the rattle.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The Magazine.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The magazine holds around 100 BB's and seems well made. You can take the inner part of the magazine and insert it into a RS magazine shell without modification. This is a nice feature if you want to run Polymer, Bakelite or maybe something a bit more modern.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]You can see the inner sealed unit below.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The part that disengaged the ECU can be seen in the next picture.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]So that's the kinda technical look done. The big question is how does it fire? Well frankly really well to be honest.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Plug a battery in, lock a magazine in place, select fire and pull the trigger and it does. The FPS on mine without hop was about 290. I added a little spacer to the spring guide and this climbed to 320. I've ordered a M110 spring to try and push it to 345 unhopped. Talking of hop the hop unit this works really well. The gearbox sounds nice and crisp and the trigger response is very good as you would expect from a PTW.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]So in summery.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]It's a well designed, solid AEG and it's nice to have an OPFOR weapon that fires like a PTW. The option to buy a bare bones system is a nice idea and you can go crazy building your own unique AKM. It has two flaws that are more annoying that show stoppers. I've mentioned to cut off lever but I should mention that the selector lever moves about a bit when in the safe position. It won't suddenly jump to full auto as it doesn't move that much but there is some movement. It's probably fixable and when I get a chance I'll see what can be done to tighten it up.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Would I recommend it? Yes.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]
[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]And lastly.......[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]If you know your way around AEG's and PTW's then buy one and stick in the parts you want. There are no surprises when you try building one if you are used to PTW's. If you fancy a really nice firing AK but don't know your nozzle from your sprocket then get your local shop/tech to build it with the parts you want.[/SIZE]
