ok, that puts the bolt movement about the same between the two guns then. I actually dont know of any ak varients where the bolt moves as far as the real steel including the tanio kobia. maybe an external rig would make it feasible but i dont think its practical or even possible to get full mags with the gas consumption required to do so. A clear draw back on paper.
Since i can load any more pictures now that i am at work again i will give you a little feed back on shooting this thing.
What sold me on the gun was this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PY7BrEiBOk...feature=related
The blow back was loud, it rattled the gun around and just seemed like amazing amounts of fun. When i got mine i expected it to be a little less as promotional demo videos always seem to master the art of being better then the items really are.
With the expectations of a quieter and softer blowback i gassed up my first of three mags and put it into the gun. The mag fits really really tight and took some work to get it to click in, everything on this gun is made with really tight tolerances, even how the mag fits in. Since the mag sinks into the receiver much more then an aeg it results in zero wobble of the mag, even less then my wasr-10
Unlike the real armalite series, the kalashnikovs were never designed with a bolt catch and like the real kalashnikovs, this does not have one either and due to the forming problems related to we from the bolt catch, i am kinda glad.
I set the selector to full auto and decided to see what this thing could really do. I just held down the trigger in full auto, waiting for the inevitable run out of gas. Much to my delight this gun went through all 50 rounds on full auto and kept going even on just one burst! I am guessing i probably got about a mag and a half with a single trigger pull so if caution was taken i imagine you could get two mags per fill which is more then the wa which struggles to dump a full mag in full auto and about on par with the we which would be more of a fair gun to compare it to as the wa is the first of its kind.
The kick on the ghk is very similar feeling to the wa i shot which i believe (correct me if i am wrong jimmy) was running on 134a and not upgraded. For those of you not familiar with the kick of either of these i would have to say it compares to about a .22lr.
But is it skirmishable?
That is the question i am sure everyone would like to know. The initial fps readings i took (a more detailed result will follow) were all over the place. it would start at 360, then dive to 330 and then go back up to 350ish. Now this probably has a bit to due with the fact that i tested about 30 seconds after filling the mag and i know these mags suffer from cool down issues. a 30fps change is not the end of the world for a gun like an aks74u due to its cqb nature but it does not look like a candidate for a sniping platform where as the we with its much higher fps and better consistency does.
When it comes to the range of this gun i can not give a clear answer right now due to the fact that where i live its below 32f/0c and there is snow on the ground. I can tell you that this gun is at least getting "stock aeg range" so basically if you compare it to your standard aeg in the 330-350 range and you can probably expect this to shoot on par distance wise
When it comes to shooting in the cold, you can tell by pic of the mag sitting in the snow that i did give that a test. It was about 26F or -2ish celsius (sorry, poor unit conversion) outside when when i tested the mag. when i set that mag outside, there was no snow so i suspect it was about out there for two hours. I put the mag into the gun and tried to let it rip. I pulled down the trigger and heard a small hiss and then it stopped. At this point i was a little dissapointed but decided to give the gun another shot. I racked the bolt to reset the trigger and tried again and much to my surprise it fired! not waisting any time i switched it to full auto and held down the trigger. It clearly did not last as long as it did in doors but i suspect i got about half a mag out of it in full auto or maybe a little more. Considering this gun fired at all in below freezing temperature, i am very impressed with this result.
I can not complete a range result unless the snow melts but when it comes to accuracy i am not worried. Unlike the WA and i believe the WE, this takes aeg barrels! so you know that tightbore you had just sitting around? well now it has a new home to go to. Not only will a tightbore increase accuracy but if it was longer then the original barrel it will also serve to boost fps! I have not tested how large or small the gain will be but the general consensus is that a gain will be achieved with a longer barrel. Just because it will take your aeg tightbore it does not mean this gun will shoot as tight of groupings as your aeg. Unlike your aeg, this will shake when you shoot it in full auto, it will probably knock off clone sights so if your looking to put optics on this gun and you dont want to lose your zero i suggest you stick with real steel optics designed for the shaking.
So in summary, this gun appears to be a very skirmishable weapon. it has a respectable size when it comes to the magazine, you can dump it all in full auto with no worries of running out of gas and spare mags can already be purchased (i currently have 3). At a price tag of $400 for the gun and $45 per mag it is not about to take over clone aegs which run about 100-200 for comparable preformance and external quality. When compared to its other current in production counterparts, it is much less expensive then a comparable wa which runs 600+130+130+180 or $1040 for a full metal wa with three mags compared to just $490 for the ghk. It is also about $60 more then a we which runs about $340 (we does not have spare mags released so i wont compare it to rumored prices). Overall i would say the price is about on par with what others in the market are asking. The WA is a first of its kind and not made by a clone company which is one way to justify the higher price. The we is actually a little cheaper then the ghk but from what i have seen, about 50% of them have issues, it is unknown what % of the GHK will not operate properly but i am about 500 rounds in using only propane and no silicone and i have no issues i am aware of at this point.
You ca guys have been especially quiet about this thing after expressing interest. if you have any questions or comments post them up!