First AK12 in Production

[Chock]

Oh I intend to. Apparently the order status was 'despatched' fairly early on today, so it is evidently on the way already, although I went for the cheap ass 'free postage' option, so it'll be probably delivered by mule train or something, still, I reckon it might be here by Friday, and as luck would have it, I'm off on Friday too since I'm supposed to be playing a gig on Thursday night, so I'll video review on Friday with a bit of luck.

[Samurai]

It does look pretty decent for that price. And from the pictures it seems that it does have a standard v3 gearbox. I'm looking forward to your review.

[Chock]

'Kinell, I'll bet you don't get anticipation like this for your gigs, Chock!

 

No, probably not

[Sitting Duck]

I'm sure you will get it better than say 270fps & 8.5rps with proper ver3 in there

plus with the weight or rather lack of it you could just go nutz and buy another......

 

AKIMBO BEEFED UP AK12's - yeah mofo's

now who's laughing at my gun(s) now 8itches !!!

[Chock]

So... Just got back from Trojan's Purge CQB night, where I teamed up with fellow forumite Jangalak (who is a very nice bloke by the way, and a bloody good shot from what I could gather), and looky what had been delivered to my rainy doorstep...

 

 

Yup, that's right, bet you'd never thought you'd read this on the forum... full marks go to www.bbguns4less.co.uk for service, because I ordered it Tuesday morning, and it arrived Wednesday teatime, that's a little over 24 hours from placing the order to delivery, and that was with the free postage option as well! They also texted me twice with status updates for the order, plus tracking data for my package, as well as sending me three emails on the status of my order whilst it was being picked and packed. Those BB gun sites sometimes get a bad rap, not always undeservedly to be honest, but the fact is that that is really awesome delivery service.

 

Anyway... It's late now, so this ain't my review - I'll do that on Friday - but here's just some initial impressions of the thing...

 

In the well-packed for transit plain cardboard box with a Black Viper sticker on it, you get: the rifle held in your regulation polystyrene box inner, a printed sheet with some basic instructions, a couple of hundred fairly crappy yellow BBs (straight in the bin), an unbelievably long unjamming rod, a charger, an 8.4v 700 milliamp battery, a cheap and nasty two point sling (also going in the bin), and a black plastic high cap windy-wheel mag (which I believe is about 350 round capacity). The battery goes in the stock by means of the buttplate sliding up, the stock itself also has a release button which enables it to completely slide off, so if you changed it to be front wired (and there is room to do that internally), then you could run the gun with no rear stock for a bit of CQB fun, but as it stands, when you slide the stock on it makes electrical contact with two connectors on the rear of the receiver, so it will be a full stock for a while at least. There is plenty of room inside the stock for a bigger battery, even though that would probably over-stress the current gearbox internals.

 

The gun itself is a combination of ABS plastic and metal, the metal bits are: the outer barrel, the gas tube (although the large flash hider at the tip of the barrel is plastic (which is a shame, as that's the bit you always ding into walls in CQB), the trigger, mag release switch and the rear sight (typical AK type) are also metal, as is the ramrod under the barrel, which can be removed with some persuading, and there are metal bayonet mounts under the barrel too. The upper and lower receiver and body up to the front grip are all molded transparent ABS plastic, although this is split in two halves longitudinally, and secured with black crosshead screws on the right side, which means you definitely can take it apart easily and could drop in a decent metal-geared V3 gearbox. It also means that you could spray the inside of the body black, and not have the paint wear off. The detail on the molded body, is also faithful to the real AK12 in terms of contour and surface detail, so it is certainly a good lookalike for the real AK12. Unlike the real AK12 however, which has a split rail along the top to facilitate the hinging of the upper receiver cover plate, this AK12 does not have a hinged cover, even though the rails are correctly split and it at least looks like the thing would hinge.

 

Similarly, the stock might look like it is collapsible, but it is not, being fixed in the extended position, nor is the stock foldable (on the real AK12, you can fold the stock either way, because parts can be swapped over to make the real AK12 left or right-handed, with it able to eject shells either left or right). Similarly, the fire selector switch, whilst an accurate visual representation of the real improved AK12's fire selector switch (i.e. you can reach the AK12's fire selector with your thumb whilst keeping your finger on the trigger), is only present on the right hand side (the real AK12 has an ambidextrous fire selector switch, present on both sides). Also, the real AK has the ability to fire a three round burst, whereas this airsoft AK12 only has safe, semi, and full auto, so more like a traditional AK, although frankly, I tend to triple tap on semi anyway, so who cares lol. The selector switch is quite stiff, which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, because the fire selector switch on M16s/M4s is a pain in the ass for accidentally going onto full auto when it rubs against your webbing, whereas there's no chance of that happening on this AK12.

 

It's pretty light - only weighs 3.19 lbs - and despite it having a metal barrel, it's not in the least bit nose-heavy, in fact it is actually very well balanced. It comes up to your shoulder nicely and feels like it would be good for quite long-range aiming, this is helped by the fact that the rear sight is - unlike on traditional AKs - at the back of the upper receiver, which is a definite aiming improvement over traditional AKs. Looks-wise, although it seems a lot longer than a normal AK, this is merely an optical illusion caused by the acres of rail space it has along the top (this thing has more rails than Crewe Junction, it's a gadget fiends's wet dream), however, in spite of it appearing longer than a normal AK, I put it up against my CYMA AK47, and it was only about two inches longer than the AK47, and most of that appeared to be because of the fecking massive flash hider it has, which on the real AK12, ports gas out to control the recoil. The rails incidentally, are all plastic, but it is decently tough plastic and they are on there good and tight, secured by hefty crossheads screws, so I would have no qualms about sticking gear all over the thing and not have it move around at all, which is more than can be said for the rails on the sides of my D-Boys M4. Moreover, with it being so light, it would still be easy to haul around even with craploads of things added to it, which is just as well because this is finally an AK which actually won't look stupid with a modern optic on it.

 

The black plastic pistol grip is contoured, and it is actually quite nice, with a sort of grippy, rubberised feel to it in spite of it being merely the surface molding which gives it that feel. It is quite a hefty sized pistol grip, certainly bigger than an AK47s, in fact, it feels a lot like the grip on my Thompson sub machine gun, which is a good thing, although I think anyone with small hands might find that pistol grip is bordering on the large side.

 

Overall, for seventy quid, I think it could potentially be a bit of a bargain if you throw a decent gearbox into the thing (since that would only take it up to about 110 quid in total), which I probably will end up doing, although I'm gonna paint it up and take it to a skirmish with the stock internals, just to see how it fairs.

 

Look out for a proper vid review shortly.

[Lord_Metile]

Black Viper are known for doing cheap things well. Like the LS m9 gbb pistol for £30.

[Monty]

Black Viper are known for doing cheap things well. Like the LS m9 gbb pistol for £30.

 

That gun is complete crap though.

[Hudson]

What's the hop unit like on the AK12? Is it replaceable with a standard AK unit?

[AK47frizzle]

Excellent!!! I'm well hyped for a video review!

[Finius]

That gun makes my loins juicy.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, not in a happy-ending way

[Chock]

Okay guys, took a while to make the video review, and it's pretty long (21 minutes), but you do get a very good look at it with some extreme close ups, plus some history and fun stuff like that...

 

[AK47frizzle]

Okay guys, took a while to make the video review, and it's pretty long (21 minutes), but you do get a very good look at it with some extreme close ups, plus some history and fun stuff like that...

 

Excellent review! So if you can get a hold of spare stocks, you can defo change batteries very fast, but i think to put in a new gearbox, you'll have to rewire it to fit with the contacts OR drill the contacts out and just feed the entire wire through the stock.

 

The fire selector looks like there is a specific piece in there for it to work.

 

All in all, great review, thoroughly enjoyed it. Might pick one up myself if a metal V3 gearbox is actually transplantable, can you do that?

[Ian_Gere]

Good job, but... 10" isn't a long barrel, it's SMG length & you don't need a UKARA registration to paint your gun black: the defence against prosecution for "Manufacturing a Realistic Imitation Firearm" applies to you if the gun is going to be used for airsoft, so if you are an airsofter of any age, that's you, whether you are a member of a site or not.

 

The slide for the hop unit looks like a standard TM compatible AK type, but we cannot see it very well - can you tell?

 

When you moved the fire selector it looks like it is shifting a standard AK geared lever internally - is it?

 

Does the flash hider unscrew? If so, is it a 24mm CW thread?

 

Cheers

[Chock]

Yeah I know that technically you don't need a UKARA at all to paint the thing up, and i cetainly don't need a UKARA even though I have one, because at the start of the video, you can see the training room where I teach CGI film effects, including how to do all that CGI which was at the start of the review, and personally, I think VCR Act is a bunch of typical UK-esque knee-jerk reaction bullshit, nevertheless, I'm very aware that - especially on a youtube video - we airsofters do not want to come across as irresponsible dickheads, so I think it best to err on the side of being seen to be responsible.

 

I know ten inches isn't massively long, although I'm sure my girlfriend would disagree lol.

 

With regard to all the other stuff, I'll take some still pics soonish and that should clarify other things, although it does look TM-ish to me, and yes, the gearbox is a bog standard V3 CYMA=esque AK gearbox in terms of the position of the fire selector, with some fishplate linkages to enable it to connect to the standard fire selector axle.

 

The flash hider may unscrew, but I've tried turning it (both ways) and it is on there good and tight, and it's not moving, so I think it might be glued in position.

[Chock]

Hop up bit in the AK12, close up:

 

[Chock]

Ok. Bit of an update. I've taken the AK12 apart, painted it up in black/blued metal. Ordered a new gearbox for it, and taken some pics and video for you all of what it is like inside. It comes apart fairly easily, there's around about 15 screws in total to get the thing apart, because the three tactical rails are what clamps the two halves together.

 

Video of it in bits:

 

 

Some pics of the hop up unit and barrel. The barrel is indeed alloy and is 265mm long (approximately 10.5 inches). If you get one yourself and take it apart, note that the rear terminals are spring loaded, so be ready to catch anything which flies out!. The rear sight is also spring loaded (like most AK sights):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Samurai]

Nice, great info.

The GB still looks like a standard v3, and even the selector is the same. Only the external lever is different.

I cannot make out the hopup but it seems that it's a normal hopup and that block that holds it in other AKs. They may be separable on this too.

[Chock]

Yep, it's all fairly standard fare on the internals as far as I can tell, which I suspected it would be. That gearbox is basically a plastic knock off pattern part of a standard V3 one as far as I can tell, so, not wanting to spend a fortune on what is essentially a cheap ass gun, but still wanting it to last more than five minutes, I bought this gearbox to throw into it:

 

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/cyma-full-gearbox-set-for-cm-028-ak-series-aeg-cm-02-1.html#.VFZv7sm2j_p

 

If I don't get stung too badly on import costs, that'll mean it was about 120 quid in total. Needless to say, for 40 quid that isn't the best gearbox ever, but will probably be an improvement on what is in there presently. Forgot to mention that the fire selector linkage parts are all metal, so in using those they hopefully won't be a weak link in the chain. Might throw a better barrel in there too at some point. I'll borrow the tactical foregip off my G36C and put that on the thing's bottom rail and sling my tac light on it so I can and see how it does at dark CQB for a laugh. It is popping BBs out at about 290 fps at the moment, which is really about as high as I prefer in CQB since anything more is a bit over the top at those sort of ranges. Frankly, it's a bit on the longish side for CQB, but what the hell eh? At least it will be entertaining showing up with an AK12 instead of my M4 or MP5.

[AK47frizzle]

Looks like a normal hop up unit, just compared the picture to my cyma hop up unit.

 

As for the gearbox, looks standard, but not entirely sure about the battery connectors, personally i'd do a bit of diy and feed the entire wire through the stock.

 

If all goes well transplanting the gearbox and maybe the hop up, i might be tempted.

[Chock]

Thing is, it all depends on how badly you want an AK12. This Black Viper one is a bit of fun and isn't a bad lookalike for the real thing, but it is undeniably a cheapo airsoft gun, so to make it half decent anyone is going to be into 120 quid at least. For that kind of money there are probably better options for anyone who isn't particularly bothered about the 'completist' aspect of liking AKs. Fair enough, if one does like AKs and is a completist, one has to consider whether there will even be a decent airsoft AK12 made by anyone else. If not, this may end up being the only viable option to enable you to have one on your wall, unless you want to spend the best part of a grand on the fancy NPO-AEG Russian airsoft AK12 that is supposedly on the way next year, assuming you could actually get hold of one, and had the cash.

 

After all, the AK12 was passed over by the Russian military, and although there are some claims that special forces and some security forces in Russia might use it, there are literally loads of variants of modernised AKs, and other makes of weapon that these units already have access to, and, since all special forces units tend to have free reign on choosing weapons on their merits, rather than having them forced upon them, I should imagine the Russian Spetsnaz could have any weapon they wanted, Russian or otherwise if they could find a suitable justification for requesting it. Nor can the AK12 gain popularity in the US, since Obama has banned the import of Russian made AKs to the US as a sanction measure because of the conflict in the Ukraine. Yes the AK12 appears in some computer games and proves popular in those, but is that enough for an airsoft manufacturer to risk developing a decent one when it isn't a popular choice in the real world?

 

So whilst this is a bit of a fun project for me because I like Russkie stuff, the fact is that the AK12 may end up simply being a footnote in history, and only a small part of the Kalashnikov story.

[Chock]

[AK47frizzle]

Yep, it's all fairly standard fare on the internals as far as I can tell, which I suspected it would be. That gearbox is basically a plastic knock off pattern part of a standard V3 one as far as I can tell, so, not wanting to spend a fortune on what is essentially a cheap ass gun, but still wanting it to last more than five minutes, I bought this gearbox to throw into it:

 

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/cyma-full-gearbox-set-for-cm-028-ak-series-aeg-cm-02-1.html#.VFZv7sm2j_p

 

If I don't get stung too badly on import costs, that'll mean it was about 120 quid in total. Needless to say, for 40 quid that isn't the best gearbox ever, but will probably be an improvement on what is in there presently. Forgot to mention that the fire selector linkage parts are all metal, so in using those they hopefully won't be a weak link in the chain. Might throw a better barrel in there too at some point. I'll borrow the tactical foregip off my G36C and put that on the thing's bottom rail and sling my tac light on it so I can and see how it does at dark CQB for a laugh. It is popping BBs out at about 290 fps at the moment, which is really about as high as I prefer in CQB since anything more is a bit over the top at those sort of ranges. Frankly, it's a bit on the longish side for CQB, but what the hell eh? At least it will be entertaining showing up with an AK12 instead of my M4 or MP5.

actually hang on chock, after taking a second look at the video, there is an extra lump at the bottom of the motor cage.................. I'd assume there's a screw at the bottom to secure it.... am i correct? If so, then either: it wobbles, or maybe you can get a longer screw to feed through...

[Chock]

Yup, you are correct, there is a big screw on the bottom of the pistol grip which secures the bottom of the gearbox to the pistol grip. If I recall correctly, normally on decent gearboxes, that screw allows you to adjust the meshing of the motor's drive gear with the other gears by moving it tighter or or backing it off, so it looks likely that a decent gearbox will drop right in and be able to be fitted and adjusted properly without any issues, although I guess we'll see when that gearbox I bought arrives from Hong Kong.

[AK47frizzle]

Yup, you are correct, there is a big screw on the bottom of the pistol grip which secures the bottom of the gearbox to the pistol grip. If I recall correctly, normally on decent gearboxes, that screw allows you to adjust the meshing of the motor's drive gear with the other gears by moving it tighter or or backing it off, so it looks likely that a decent gearbox will drop right in and be able to be fitted and adjusted properly without any issues, although I guess we'll see when that gearbox I bought arrives from Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, it doesn't do that with a V3. I have the exact cyma V3 gearbox you just bought, and with V3s, there is no motor height adjusting, it's all fixed in position. I have a feeling you might need to bring out the DIY tools...

[Chock]

Yeah, no big deal. DIY is half the fun.