Review: WE AK74 UN (by Gruppa-L)

 

The WE AK74 UN is another AK variant, recently released in Germany. And it really is surprisingly good! Why?

Since Logisticz did a review on the WE/RA-tech AK 47 PMC (which is similar to the WE AK74 UN on most parts) last week, I highly recommend you to read it also:
Review: WE/RA-tech AK47 PMC

The gun arrives in a cheap and plain cardboard box. There are no markings at all despite a little sticker, which indicates that this is a AK74 UN and not a AK 47 PMC. I wish they would deliver their Airsofts in foam type gun-case like APS, but I guess WE tries to keep the price low.
However as soon as you pick up the gun and insert magazine you, will forget about the lack of this.

The gun is made from stamped or cnc-ed steel parts only, except the trigger mechanism. This is why the gun (with a mag) weights in at a hefty 3.3 kilograms.
There is not any wobble or such on the gun. Only the magazine moves a bit, which is typical for any AK (including real steel ones)
It really feels rock solid, there is no play in the butt-stock in either the extended or folded position.
All important screws are secured with lock-tight, so I don’t think any of the parts will become loose. This would else wise happen very fast due to the high recoil.
It is nice to see how WE improves on their build quality. Compared to their prior guns, this thing really shines.
 
The handguard reassembles a real-steel one, which is made by Aresnal INC.
Again the quality is pretty good – the pistol grip and the handguard are made out of polyamide and not abs plastic.
You can replace them with real wood and bakelit parts of course, if you want to go for a more classic look.
 
I find the iron sights to be pretty decent. You can not change the zeroing, but on mine and two other AK74UN in our team they are already zeroed in perfectly. However I read about people having issues with a too low zeroing. Though I can not confirm then, I still remember the problem from older models by WE.

Another issue might be the pretty low rate of fire. There is a ‘fix’ by RA-tech, which brings it back to around 700rpm like the real steel has. To archive this rof (= rate of fire) The fix/mod shortens the bolt travel length. Since this also reduces the recoil and fully-automatic firemode is forbidden in Germany anyway, I did not bother at all.

 
The magazine is made out of metal also, but resets in a plastic sleeve. I would have liked if they reinforced it with metal strips, since there is quite a bit of stress on the on the fastening parts. I can already tell, that the plastic will wear off over the years.
The magazine has a pin to switch between the ‘no-fire when empty’ and the old ‘alway fire’ mode. Quite handy for test-firing.
Operating this thing is like the real deal. Insert the magazine, switch the fire selector and rack the cocking handle.
 
Airsofts guns need to have some legal markings in Germany. They are lasered to the receiver below the chamber.
The hop-up can be changed very easy on-the-fly without any tools! Just lock the bolt back, using the notch on the fire selector, and twist the adjustment ring.
Field stripping is also very similar to the real deal. Press down the rear of the recoil rod and lift up the upper receiver. Then press the rod in, twist it by 180° and remove the recoil rod/spring assembly. Finally pull back the gas block an lift it out.
 
As I mentioned before, the trigger unit is the only part not made out of steel. Its made from pot metal, which is unfortunately usual for WE. Yet RA-Tech offers replacement cnc steel  parts. So either use the original parts until they break, or replace them right away.
Speaking about RA-Tech, another thing you will definitely need is the NPAS, because the initial power is a bit high. Though they stated that the OpenBolt NPAS will not fit to the AK74UN, it does. Probably just a hoax. Now you can dial in the FPS to meet the requirements of you playing site also.

This Airsoft is dead accurate without any modifications. I actually bought a RA-tech hop-up rubber, but did not install it. If you try to tune it any further you might as well just ruin the accuracy. That is why I will stick to the stock barrel and hop-up.

Cooldown will away be an issue on any GBB, but you will be able to shoot a whole mag on full auto without problems. Of course it all dependents on the temperature and humidity.

All in all this Airsoft is the best WE has made so far – in my opinion at least.
It is well made, extremely durable (if you replace the few pot metal parts), dead accurate and has a huge kick …and loud sounding, hard recoiling Airsofts guns always put a smile on my face!