LCT AKMS (Model: MG MS) - No Discussion

MerryDespot

Ok - anyone who knows me knows that I have an allergic reaction to AKs. I have been known to call AK users pinko commie liberal bed-wetters who need to Get On Side For The Big Win! But a few days ago I was looking at the SG airsoft site and I noticed that they're now selling the LCT AK series. I'd heard of LCT metal and wood kits for toyko marui aks, but I wasn't aware that they made full aegs. So I decided to go for a look.

Inside of ten minutes in the store I was walking out with this wee beastie (and a sense of dread that I'd just bought a lemon that would need a complete new set of internals):

(apologies for the photos - my camera is in Zurich so I had to improvise with the iphone)

It's a variant of the AKMS (as far as I can tell), with a metal heat shield as the top hand guard and a slightly shorter barrel than an AKM or AKMS (though longer than an AK74SU or those Spawn of Satan Beta Spetz that we see so many of on sites).


The under folding stock is nice and stiff - it locks securely in the open and closed positions - though the end piece is very stiff and it takes a fair bit of pressure to get it to fold out to the shouldered position. These types of stock are reknowned for being a bit shaky - this one, made of pressed steel, is strong and sturdy without a shred of wobble. Apart from the unusual feel of it (for someone used to a M4 stock or folding galil metal stock) it's solid as a rock.


The nicest things about this aeg (from first glance) are the blued steel and real wood of the handguard. This is plywood rather than sold carved wood - which is actually as it should be for this model of ak. The wood looks perfect - and though I always think that an AK looks better a bit messed up, it'd almost be a shame to mess this AK up given how good it looks!

All the correct markings, body pins, and pressing are present - together with a unique serial number (and here the factory mark together with the year - 1977).




(close up of the handguard - with the heat shield grill and wood bottom section)




Externals
As you can see above - the externals are a thing of beauty. But what you can't see from the photos is how solid the gun is - it's a rock. There is no shake in it - none. The supplied high cap magazine fits the mag well perfectly - again, no wobble.

Internals
I haven't taken this gun apart - I'm rubbish with aegs. But this is a standard version 3 gearbox. The parts diagram supplied with the aeg shows some solid looking internal parts. With the top of the receiver off the gearbox looks solid. The connections and wiring all seem good and there's a nice stainless steel cylinder visible. I had expected the internals to be a bit ... maaah ... and the plan was to drop in a vfc gearbox, tightbore etc. But this was before I actually got it out to HRTA today for a game... and oh sweet baby jebus...

Performance
This thing is a wee beastie! With a 8.4v stick battery the rate of fire is bloody fast. This was the first surprise for me - as I wasn't expecting a high rate of fire. It came fitted with a m95 spring, which is firing at 315fps pretty consistent. The hop is a standard ak style slider hop - but unlike some other high end aegs (Masada - I'm looking at you!) where the hop only dials in range at the end, this hop gives you good effective range in the first quarter of the adjustment range. From the chrono area in hrta the treeline at the other end was at the extreme end of range with 1/4 hop applied (with a reasonably flat trajectory too). I was simply gobsmacked at the range. Today was not the best day to test accuracy (given the bloody gale force winds and my failure to bring heavier bbs - so today was .2s) but even still, quite a few people got nasty surprises from this aeg today!

I have quite a few aegs (god help me!), a lot of which are decent to high end. This aeg is as accurate as my g&p magpul m4 (and close to the savage rate of fire of that gun with the m120 motor too!) and has the range of my magpul masada. The only gun I have which would outshoot this is my vfc hk416 - which has had a tightbore, replacement hot and lots of work done to it. Consider that this means that a stock aeg is coming close to one which has been upgraded heavily to get the required performance!!!

Overall
I can't find fault with this gun. I hadn't expected it to be such a performer - which came as a complete surprise. Consider that at 300 odd quid this gun is only marginally more expensive than a cyma/cybergun ak with steel and wood fittings - yet it's an entirely different league of airsoft gun. What can I say - The Despot has gone Commie!

Note: From a quick trawl on line it seems that these aegs retail between 400 and 500 USD on the asia sites (ehobby and red wolf). LCT are basically unknown in Ireland (other than with people who know their airsoft aks - I know Puding has talked about them on his site - but I'm talking about among the general airsoft community) - so I believe SG are getting a decent deal from LCT on these - hence the price. I'm so impressed with the AKMS that I'm thinking of picking up an AK105 or AKS74.

Thanks for reading.
Despot