Unicorn AKS74UN review

Fiach Dubh

*UPDATED*

The Unicorn AKSU's arrived today, 3 of them, made clear by the huffing and puffing of the postman as he carried them up the driveway, these things weigh 9lbs each Opening the brown parcel wraping revealed 3 small plain brown boxes with a small sticker in the corner of a Unicorn. Inside each box was the AEG and 1 Mid-cap mag, no manual, no battery or charger (No great loss to me since I've just dumped 3 HK chargers. I've more then I can shake a stick at)

When removing the last AK from the box I was greeted with a metal clonk on the floor. The steel charging handle which is welded to the bolt carrier was incorrectly welded on one of them and had snapped off in transit :mad:


You can see the missing handle on the bottom AK in the above pic.

Putting that aside, on to the general build quality. This is clearly an Inokatsu copy, the parts are held on by grub screws in the same places. The steel receiver is remarkable, very close to the RS. The skeleton stock locks open well and locks closed slightly better then VFC's 74 series. The receiver cowel is also steel and held to the gas block with a pin like the RS, when you open the body it swings upward but remains attached to the gun. The steel selector lever is good quality and held in place with a large bolt like the RS rather then a screw and cap like TM AK's and their clones. Front sight (Steel) is solid as a rock, conected to the outer barrel by grubscrew. In front of the sight is the muzzle break, full steel AKSU type with a 24mm thread not 14mm. Inokatsu and VFC use 24mm threading. The 24mm mount is an adapter over a 14mm standard threading so any aftermarket break or silencer will suit. Unfortunatly the adapter is minus it's locking grub screw, missing on all unicorns to date, this can cause wobble in the muzle break if you are not carefull. Not critical but annoying.

Furniture. The grips are made of Oak, very strong but they also have problems. Firstly they aren't mounted correctly and are sitting a bit wrongly on the body (can be fixed) this is due to the grip tang being a bit too long. Secondly they haven't been varnished very well, one or two coats at the most. Sand down and restain with a deeper red varnish.



The bolt carrier really is this AEG's weekspot. Although it goes all the way back a-la Inokatsu, VFC, it's not well made. It is steel but looks more like an AK47 carrier then a 74. The welded handle is a letdown and if you get a bad weld on one like I did it will probably fail. That being said the other two seem strong and the weld looks quite good. The next problem is the bolt carrier isn't secured properly in the receiver a simple rod and spring system holds the it which is fine enough if the receiver cowel is closed, pull the bolt back with the cowel open and when you let go it will shoot off the gun The first VFC AKSU's suffered from this untill they released the service pack. It does deliver a sweet steel on steel clack when you operate it though... tasty!



The AK optics rail designated N, hence AKS74UN, is full steel and solid as a brick. Correctly mounted and the right dimensions unlike the first run of VFC's AKSU's which were too small. The above picture shows my RS Kobra sight installed. The mid-cap magazine is 1970's pattern Bakelite with a steel bottom plate, all correct, and appears to be a copy of VFC's Bakelite's. For those of you who don't like Bakelite mags and you are legion, I've heard it enough times You can also get the mags in black or plum. Haven't had a chance to put any rounds through the mag yet, I'll update this on how they feed soon. I can confirm that VFC Bakelite's fit fine.

Performance. The inner barrel, located in what I'm gussing is an aluminium outer is a 6.04mm tightbore, the gearbox is a CYMA 031 and CYMA motor, the hop-up is TM compatable. I haven't had a chance to fire it yet beyond dry firing but I have enough AEG's to know that the thump, thump, thump is of a gearbox firing around the 1 joule mark. It gets a good rate of Fire with my Intelect 9.6v 1100 mAh battery. I'd say an 8.4v would get an average to below average rate of fire, heavy piston it seems. I have a chronograph so I'll get the accurate fps up as soon as I can, hopefully today.

Word around the net is it's outranging a lot of long rifles, I'm not surprised as VFC's AKSU does the same and Fung guessed it would too.

Overall this a banging little AEG for the low low price of $130. It has it's problems, most of them fixable in a few hours but I wouldn't recommended it for the first timer or if you aren't happy about disassembling your AEG. It comes from the factory as a kit not a full AEG so it's up to the seller to build them. Their skill level will determine what condition you get it in and what amount of work needs doing.

UPDATE

Power: 338-340 fps with .20 BB's (This is a chrono reading, not a guess)
Accuracy: Good, I was hitting a 3" target consistantly at 10 metres. I'd guess the effective range to be about 100 feet, very good for a small barrel rifle.

I restained the wooden furniture today. Here's some pics.


Furniture removed and sanded down.


Furniture restained. 3 coats of Teak stain.


New furniture top, old furniture below.

bullets

They Look excellent! and very real indeed.

One thing I have always wondered though was why the
magazines outside were brown/tan/orangy in colour in Real steel.
What the specific reason was for it. Anyone know ?

~B

Fiach Dubh

I think it was to match the mags with the wooden furniture. The shades of brown/orange varied between factory's because the process of colouring Bakelite is done with chemicals. Different amounts and slight changes in grade of chemical would effect the colour outcome. Although there still plenty of Bakelite mags floating around most factory's produce the black or plum ones these days.

There was a rumour they were colour coded for ammo type but that is bull.

kinkstr

Solid review Fiach, think im gonna put th 93r on hold and order one of these.
Do all 3 need work on the wooden furniture?
How long did it take from the day you ordered and actually had them in your your hairy arms:)

Fiach Dubh

I had them in my hairy man arms in about a week Gunner was swamped with orders from the UK before the VCR act comes in but he's cleared them now so you may get it a bit quicker. The wood furniture is the same on all of them so it will need a bit of work. As soon as I do it on mine I'll put a how-to guide up here.

Fallschirmjager

great review and a really nice piece of kit there. i am not an ak person, but its great to see sucha nice piece...

i noticed gunner said it can take a14.4 v batt..whats that all about?? surely its a typo...or is it

Fiach Dubh

That's not a typo. Like Inokatsu and VFC AK's the battery compartment runs all the way from the rear of the receiver up through the gasblock to the front of the foregrip. That's 14" of space for the stick battery

kinkstr

Would the 9.6 or 14v not shred the internals?

kdouglas

a 9.6 wouldnt, but a 14.4v could possibly do some damage, although the rate of fire you would get from it would be insane!

Fiach Dubh

Yeah the 9.6 isn't much more powerfull then an 8.4 but the 14.4 probably would wreck a CYMA gearbox. You'd probably want to either buy a new mechbox, Systema or something or at least build a tougher one from parts. I wouldn't use anything higher then a 9.6v anyway, I hate unrealistic rates of fire in an AEG.

joe90

Nice review Fiach. They look a nice bit off kit. Fiach just wondering what type off tact vest do you use to carry your AK mags ?

Fiach Dubh

I use the Russian M23 Pioneer vest. It can take 8 AK47/74 mags, 10 40mm grenades, 2 pistol mags, radio and flares

http://www.redsoldier.com/Russian-Tactical-Assault-VEST-M23-PIONEER?sc=2&category=454

cherubaul

Nice review fiach and nice guns, Just wondering is that corrosion on the bottom gun? If it is is it merely a dust that wipes off with a bit of silicon oil and leaves the black metal or is it a serious case of rust that leaves shiney metal after a good scrubbing. Just my Romanian stocks corrode quickly but wipe off clean as they are mild steel just wondering if its the same thing

Fiach Dubh

Review updated with more pics!

It's just factory dirt, looks like rust but it isn't. I wiped it down with a dry rag after taking that picture and it came straight off. They just aren't bothering to clean them before they leave the factory.

Fallschirmjager

fiach, it looks much much better when you restained it....just wow dude...looks stunning, almost a shame to use it!!!!

Fiach Dubh

Cheers man Couple of hours work and it's improved no end. I've resolved the receiver cowel problem with it. A few more fixes and this thing would be worth $300 of anyones money

Fallschirmjager

christ, for 135 + shipping its a friggen steal...what version gearbox is in it by the way?

Fiach Dubh

CYMA version 3.

kinkstr

Fcuk thats lookin good after a coat of varnish. Is it fitting in tight now to?

Fiach Dubh

Yep, I moved the front locking piece for the lower grip back a bit giving it some good push and I had to twist the upper grip hard to get it back on the gasblock, now it's not moving at all

Fallschirmjager

god i am sorely tempted....must resist must resist as bang will got my 249 budget....

kinkstr

Fallschirmjager wrote:

god i am sorely tempted....must resist must resist as bang will got my 249 budget....

Fair enough but would ya not like some real wood in your hand?

I know i would:eek:

Fallschirmjager

kinkstr wrote:

Fair enough but would ya not like some real wood in your hand?

I know i would:eek:

i think thats for sex and sexuality threads....LOL

H.O.T.A.S.

Looks really nice with the new varnish Fiach. How long did it take you to do that?

Fiach Dubh

About 20 minutes to sand the grips down. 5 minutes for each coat with a 30 minute drying gap between each one. 3 coats in all. So about 2 hours to do the work. The stain is waterproof in 4 hours but it'll be about 24 hours before it's completely dry.

I used Ronseal quickdrying woodstain, Teak and 70 grit sandpaper.

Fiach Dubh

Major Update on problems with the Unicorn!

One of the Unicorn AKSU's (My one of course :rolleyes: ) was firing auto when set to auto and auto when set to semi. No problem I thought, the selector sector must be set wrong. I removed the mechbox from the receiver and saw I was right but not in the way I thought. The selector armature had been miscast, the first 3 teeth were tiny so the sector was slipping right past them and not moving it to the semi position.

I pulled the parts from a TM version 3, replaced the bad cyma parts and reinstalled the mechbox. I installed the battery, set the selector to auto and straight away smoke started P***ing from the front of the mechbox. I pulled the battery quickly and it was really hot, WTF! After taking the mechbox out again and checking the wiring I found a rip in the insulation. ok so a short circuit occured but the fuse should have blown and prevented that effect. Guess what? No fuse, none of them have one, unbelievable.

Fallschirmjager

Fiach Dubh wrote:

Major Update on problems with the Unicorn!

One of the Unicorn AKSU's (My one of course :rolleyes: ) was firing auto when set to auto and auto when set to semi. No problem I thought, the selector sector must be set wrong. I removed the mechbox from the receiver and saw I was right but not in the way I thought. The selector armature had been miscast, the first 3 teeth were tiny so the sector was slipping right past them and not moving it to the semi position.

I pulled the parts from a TM version 3, replaced the bad cyma parts and reinstalled the mechbox. I installed the battery, set the selector to auto and straight away smoke started P***ing from the front of the mechbox. I pulled the battery quickly and it was really hot, WTF! After taking the mechbox out again and checking the wiring I found a rip in the insulation. ok so a short circuit occured but the fuse should have blown and prevented that effect. Guess what? No fuse, none of them have one, unbelievable.

jeeze man thats a bit of bad luck...is it okay now?

RC car fanatic

caviat emptor fiach

kdouglas

Fiach: why not just replace the whole gearbox and wiring with the v3 you think the selector parts from?

Fallschirmjager

kdouglas wrote:

Fiach: why not just replace the whole gearbox and wiring with the v3 you think the selector parts from?

yep i think thats a good idea..after all even 135 dollars + shipping for the metal skin is a steal...add a friggen beast of a gearbox into it...evn your mates would be stunned with it !! LOL

kdouglas

or even have a look on rsov, they have full dboys gearboxes for cheap enough

Fiach Dubh

I can't replace the gearbox with the TM one for three reasons, one it's only firing 242fps so I'd need a new spring. Two it's wired for a solid stock so I'd have to rewire anyway and three all of the AKSU's are needing rewiring so I'd need 3 gearboxes.

There isn't any point in buying new ones as they are already CYMA gearboxes. It's not the performance of them that's the problem, the other two operate fine beyond the fact they have no fuse installed. I wouldn't get a more expensive gearbox at the moment anyway, I'd be looking at $220 for a guarder or $270 for a Systema. Multiply that by 3 and I could have gotten 3 VFC AKSU's for that price when you add the cost of the Unicorn's. I'm not throwing good money after bad.

Caveat Emptor, I agree completely. With clones it's even more true, I'm just amazed that anyone would sell an AEG without a fuse installed.