GHK AKM GBBR Review

[Kokanee]

GHK AKM GBBR Review

*A note about the images in this review. Upon receiving this rifle I immediately took it completely apart and stripped the bluing and aged the wood to weather it, henceforth I have used some stock images of the GHK AKM from other sources when referring to how the rifle comes out of the box.

By Kokanee

First Impressions

The GHK AKM GBBR has been out for a few months so far, and I was lucky enough to snag one for the very reasonable price of $680 here on the classifieds. Rifle was second hand but NIB condition and came with all the original packaging and bits. The packaging from the factory was standard heavy cardboard and with cardboard cutouts; no chance of anything getting tossed around. Aside from the included magazine GHK also provided a great user manual which describes how to field strip and maintain the rifle; although I you are already familiar with real steel AK's and have been in the sport for awhile, it's all common sense.


(Image provided by blog.gunfire.pl)

Upon unboxing the rifle and picking it up I was surprised by how light it was compared to my CA SLR 105 (review here: http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=32588 ). It only clocks in at 3.1kg compared to 3.5 for the CA SLR, and 3.6kg for a real AKM. However, this is swiftly corrected by the insertion of a magazine. Weighing 0.5kg, the fully loaded AKM is bang on the weight of a real AKM with a loaded mag.

I was very impressed by the quality of the finish on the wood furniture and the receiver as well as the rest of the metal components. All metal parts (except barrel) are steel including the cast part like the front sight tower and finished with a very deep bluing job.


(Image provided by wmasg.pl)

What I am not wild about on this rifle is the crappy, injection moulded plastic pistol grip that GHK used;


(Image provided by intrudershop.tw)

It looks completely fake and very very cheap, thankfully it can be replaced by a real grip with no modifications.

Performance

This GBBR is an absolute beast right out of the box, shooting 390fps with very good recoil. I actually had to undo the screws on the front sight tower and gas tube and apply red locktite vs blue, as the recoil from cycling was working them loose.

Accuracy is extremely good even with the bolt cycling on full auto, and the hopup is a pleasure to adjust; gone are the days of the TM style lever hopup, GHK has opted for a big giant dial and is easy to manipulate even with gloved fingers and stays put once you adjust it properly.

I did have an issue initially with the bolt failing to cycle completely, however it turned out to be an ammo issue (Madbull .30g). Once I switched to BB Bastard .28g bb's there were no problems.

On the topic of gas economy, this GBBR is outstanding. The new 7.62mm type magazines hold a good amount of propane and I have not had any issues of running out of gas before all the ammo in the magazine was expended. The magazines themselves are very high quality, same all steel construction as the real thing, and the fill port is located at the top of the magazine which means it is hidden in the receiver when inserted into the rifle; great for preventing foreign material building up in the valve.

With 40 round magazines and no upgrades needed at all out of the box, this GBBR rifle is ready-to-go skirmishable right from the start. A welcome change from some other GBBRs that have entered the market in the past.

Aftermarket Parts and Improvements

There are currently two aftermarket parts available for the GHK AKM GBBR. First is an enhanced blowback kit from parts manufacturer "Samoon";


(Image provided by ehobby Asia)

This kit increases the amount of recoil generated by the rifle. In order to accomplish this it replaces the stock bolt gas tube with one that is weighted, and a stiffer recoil spring. I've installed this kit in my GHK AKM and I would say it doubles the amount of felt recoil while slowing down the ROF to a more realistic 600rpm, replicating the distinctive "chatter" sound of a real AK. There is also an aftermarket steel barrel from the same company available.

This GBBR will also take pretty much every real part off another real steel AK except for the receiver and internal parts. The wood furniture is 100% the exact dimensions of real stuff, and all the cuts for the rear stock are right WRT how it mounts to the receiver. So picking up a real stock set will be a drop in affair. Rear sight blocks, gas tubes and blocks, front sight posts etc will all fit on no problems, however you would have to pin them to the barrel as per actual factory assembly methods.

In terms of improvements, I stripped the bluing from the receiver and other metal components IOT weather the rifle. As well the wood furniture was aged, with the pistol grip being replaced by a real Russian bakelite pistol grip. Overall a big improvement in the looks department as I'm not a fan of the "just out of a catalogue" look;





Conclusion

Overall this is the most authentic replica AK I have ever had the pleasure to use firsthand; it simply puts all AEG replicas to shame in terms of build quality and authenticity. The Real Sword series comes very very close being top shelf in terms of build quality, but as an AEG it comes up short in terms of realism and user satisfaction against this GBBR.

I have had a great time using this on the field and for any sort of insurgent/tribal villager/rebel role I wouldn't even consider another rifle, the sound of this GBBR on full auto makes heads duck and it's great to not have to worry about your primary when caught in a rain storm.

I am awarding this GBBR 9 out of 10 bullets

[Stryker]

Now that's a review.... Great job brother!

[scottyfox]

From what I saw of yours, and from owning a Real Sword, I agree on all points.

[Strelok]

Now i'm curious how the WE will compare out of the box.

Already, having experienced WE's 'Out of Box' expenses with their other models this is becoming very appealing to me.

Winter project I think

[aZn_triXta07]

Hmmmm...maybe I'll keep the one I got

[Coresair]

A lot of people we're reluctant whenever I mentioned them because of past, well documented "trainwrecks" from GHK. I knew they changed the system, but I'm glad to know they're actually good quality!

Good stuff!

[Kokanee]

Originally Posted by Coresair

A lot of people we're reluctant whenever I mentioned them because of past, well documented "trainwrecks" from GHK. I knew they changed the system, but I'm glad to know they're actually good quality!

Good stuff!

Yeah the internals have been completely reworked compared to previous GHK releases. That, and the move for externals from DBoys to LCT is a big improvement.

[RacingManiac]

Got a question about these, if you were to get a M4 stock tube adapter, like ones from Vltor:

http://www.vltorstore.com/products/A...k-Adapter.html

Will that work? For RS the Vltor one is stated to work with stamped AK receivers only, not the milled ones. On the same token, the rail system from Ultimak also have the same distinction:

http://ultimak.com/ACR2Long.htm

Does the GHK fit the spec for a stamped or milled receiver?

[MilanWG]

The Vltor stock adaptor is sweet.

Check out this rail by US Palm - might be something you are interested in:

https://uspalm.com/component/magebri...tml?Itemid=102

[aZn_triXta07]

To gold plate or not .... that is the question ... LOL

Anybody been running theirs hard? I wanna know how the internals are holding up.

[RacingManiac]

Yeah if I were to go with the AK build I'd get the US PALM/MI M2 Top cover.....they have one specifically for 30mm sight, which would put my Aimpoint ML3 back on a gun...in that case I'd skip the Ultimak route...

[Sim123456]

Had one and it's one of the best airsoft I ever had, most realistic AK ever period!

[Kokanee]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

Does the GHK fit the spec for a stamped or milled receiver?

The Russian AKM is a stamped receiver, so this would be stamped.

[Kokanee]

Originally Posted by aZn_triXta07

Anybody been running theirs hard? I wanna know how the internals are holding up.

About 3000 rounds this summer, no problems so far. Barely had a chance to break it in only took it to about five games.

[Double Tapper]

I have the GHK Ak74,while I like it,it is lacking.It is nice to hear that
GHK has a better model out,I think I will buy one this winter.
thanks Kokanee for the review.