What are folks thoughts on the 'new' E & L Essential range of AK's?

[NeatBeard]

Hi y'all, beginner here (played a few games with rental gear and now have my defence) and in the market for my first AEG and i'm really wanting to go the AK route. I've been doing a fair bit of research and reading up and was pretty settled on going for a CYMA CM.048 (with the full wood stock etc) or my 2nd choice was another CYMA but this time the CYMA CM.045A - AKS-74U or Krink as the yanks call it.... But what with brexit etc and the lack of stock of guns available in the UK at the mo. and for the foreseeable future i'm kinda re-thinking going the CYMA route as no one seems to have them and I don't fancy risking ordering from overseas as I was going to give taiwan gun co. a look but have read about folks issues with them and delivery/customs etc.

 

I guess my budget for gun (alone) is around £350 tops. As I said i've been doing a fair bit of research/looking around and I have found an E&L ELAKM  from their 'Essential' range, which is apparently their new 'budget' range when compared to their Platinum Range. Has anyone got any real hands on experience of these E & L Essential Range AEGs or can offer any pro's/cons etc.

Also any advice on which AK platform to go for within my budget would be welcome. I prefer the old-school looking wood, versus tactical rails everywhere (but having said that I do love the build for sale on here based on the AKS-74U covered in rails for £600!!). I'd prefer something that I can keep standard and don't have to replace parts on until they wear out and I need to. I would like the opportunity to add a trad looking side rail and optic of some kind at some point though. And i've noticed that the E&L ELAKM doesn't have the side mount option....

GAHHH!!! Advise me please but ideally based on real experiences as im getting sick of all the same style uTube 'reviews'.

Thanks in advance.

[Rogerborg]

Huh, I hadn't heard of them doing a range for Poors.  This one?

 

https://wolfarmouries.co.uk/browse-products/airsoft-guns/rifles/e-l-elakm-airsoft-aeg-essential-wood-metal.html

 

Replying to follow the thread, I have no idea about E&L - I'm such a poor that I won't even raise my eyes to a Master Race Gun.

[NeatBeard]

21 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

Huh, I hadn't heard of them doing a range for Poors.  This one?

 

https://wolfarmouries.co.uk/browse-products/airsoft-guns/rifles/e-l-elakm-airsoft-aeg-essential-wood-metal.html

 

Replying to follow the thread, I have no idea about E&L - I'm such a poor that I won't even raise my eyes to a Master Race Gun.

Yeah thats the one.....

 

[Wavey_Gravey]

I have a platinum brought of this very forum, it’s fantastic and if you shop around I’m sure you could get one well within your budget.

 

There’s a few up in the classifieds now actually.

 

Be warned though if your used to a rental g36 or somthing similar, a full steel AK is hefty!

Edited September 16, 2021 by Wavey_Gravey

[alxndrhll]

Based on everything you've said here I'd pop up a wanted thread on here for the specific CYMA AK(s) you'd landed on and just a have little patience (which I know is very hard to do when you've just got your defence sorted).

 

Seems to me you've landed on the right answer for you and you're trying to find a new answer which you can obtain quicker by throwing money at it, but this new answer isn't actually right for you at this point in time. Food for thought I guess.

 

I don't have any experience with the essential line, but was impressed by the E&L that my one up for sale on here started life as before being gutted and having a fortune thrown at it. In my, albeit limited, experience with AKs the cost your paying has more of an impact on the quality of the externals than it does the quality of the internals. At this point in time outside of a select few RIFs (namely, some Marui's) I expect to be swapping out a hop bucking as a bare minimum when picking up a new RIF to get a small bump in the weight of BB I can use and E&L was no different to a CYMA in that respect.

Edited September 16, 2021 by alxndrhll

[Adolf Hamster]

wonder what the difference with the cheaper version is, maybe internals? it's impossible to tell from the pics if they've cut any corners on the externals, looks pretty much like an e&l, which is a good thing because imo they're the nicest commonly available ak (not counting real sword basically). if you like wood and blued steel then you won't be disappointed. fyi as a general rule most airsoft akm variants tend not to have siderails but pretty much all the ak74 variants will, you can however get an aftermarket rail and bolt it on the side.

 

the platinum versions internal wise are very good, about the only thing that you'd want to consider changing is the hop rubber as they tend to be a bit on the hard side (and that's me being nit-picky), but apart from that and maybe being a bit slow on 7.4v (respectable on 11.1v). it's on a short list of guns (sitting alongside the likes of the scorpion evo) of guns i'd be happy to skirmish completely stock (granted i modded all the ones i've had but i'm a lost cause at this point). no mosfet, but that's a criticism you could level at a lot of guns.

 

of course the internals may well be where they've cut the cost, which would make sense for folks (like me) for whom good enough isn't good enough and insist on yeeting all the internals in a quest to squeeze every last drop out of their pews no matter how good they were to begin with so ironically it's maybe aimed precisely at folks who don't care how well it shoots out of the box.

 

11 minutes ago, alxndrhll said:

the E&L that my one up for sale on here started life as before being gutted and having a fortune thrown at it.

 

^with perfect timing to prove my point

 

 

the cm045 (well, any of the metal bodied cyma range) is the kind of gun that's hard to argue with, not just as a starter gun but just in general. it won't be as pretty or as heavy (which subjectively could be a good thing) as the e&l but it'll lob bb's very very nearly as well and it is basically half the price. tbh if you know what your doing a cyma with £150's worth of bits would make quite an evil proposition.

 

 

12 minutes ago, alxndrhll said:

In my, albeit limited, experience with AKs the cost your paying has more of an impact on the quality of the externals than it does the quality of the internals.

 

a pretty accurate summation, certainly the cyma's and jg's of this world are an excellent demonstration of the diminishing returns curve in this hobby. 

 

15 minutes ago, alxndrhll said:

Seems to me you've landed on the right answer for you and you're trying to find a new answer which you can obtain quicker by throwing money at it, but this new answer isn't actually right for you at this point in time. Food for thought I guess.

 

think you're onto something there, especially when starting out and you're not necessarily sure how well you'll take to a given platform, i'd say waiting for the cyma to come into stock and spending the extra cash on a bunch of midcaps, an odin and a warfet would be the better solution.

[Sniper780]

If I remember correctly, E&L essential series is a rebrand/reboot  of their Force Core series which was a collaboration with Gunfire Poland. In short E&L externals with more economical internals. The Force Core series were very well priced for full steel AK externals around the 250 euro mark on Gunfire when they had them in stock. 

 

However the 3 Force Core I had did have a  few QC problems, such poor blued finishing on the steel parts, missing cleaning rod, rear sight leaf spring just general fit an finish was a step down form E&L own brand of AKs

 

But I used them as conversion kits anyway so it was not a real issue for me.    

 

If you not already seen it there a external comparison of LCT vs E&L gen 2 vs E&L essential on reddit, which gives a brief review. 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Sniper780

[Druid799]

To be honest I’d stick with the Cyma my self , the E&L is a new range of guns and an unknown item where as Cyma has a VERY well established AND very well earned reputation for no drama/no bullshit/run all day AKs that literally will run for ever with zero fannying around with it and stay of use as you progress with your gameplay due to gained experience .

[Rogerborg]

54 minutes ago, Druid799 said:

To be honest I’d stick with the Cyma my self

 

Availability, though.  We keep hoping for restocks, but absent ordering from TaiwanGun via PatrolBase, they're thin on the ground at the moment.

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

I expect the 045 will have a production run at some point if it's still listed.  When it does I'll buy two. 

 

No way I'll be an unpaid R&D man for a new range of E&Ls or anything else.  I'm sure that these days, manufacturers use warranty claims as design feedback.  

[loctez]

I picked up an AKS74N Essential recently and had my first game with it on Saturday, absolutely no complaints, great bit of kit.

 

A friend has an older (and a bit more "loved") CM.042 full metal AK and I will say that the E&L feels significantly sturdier.  However they both chuck bb's out of the barrel without any issues and probably have similar quality internals with comparable longevity.  

 

A side note, I think LCT do 7.62 AKMs with the "N" rail if that's what you are after.

 

 

[NeatBeard]

** UPDATE **

Ah well I've bitten the bullet (well the BB in the case of my last skirmish - note to self purchase lower face mesh!) and ordered an E & L AK74N. Well I should say re-ordered as the first shop failed to tell me they were out of stock even though they took my monies! Should be here today/tomorrow!

[Danno46]

I’ve got an E&L essential AKM, and I recently sold my Cyma AK74su and I can say the externals on the E&L even from just opening the box are far better than the Cyma, Admittedly I have only used it for one game at Defiants recent game but it worked perfectly and seems to have a pretty good range for a out the box gun 

[NeatBeard]

It arrived!!

 

it looks bloody lovely (to me) and is REALLY well made, zero wobble or rattles and I can’t wait to use it.

[Danno46]

Quite a nice thing aren’t they 

[NeatBeard]

49 minutes ago, Danno46 said:

Quite a nice thing aren’t they 

They so are!! 

 

[Cromulon1994]

I have just grabbed one. £270 new, cyma 04xxxs aren't far behind that now.