The AK 47 airsoft bb gun

The AK 47 is one of the most well known, mass produced and most powerful assault rifles ever created, so it’s no wonder that it’s a very popular model on the airsoft scene – but how effective are they in games?

The AK47 is a 7.62mm fully automatic rifle created in (as its namesake suggests) 1947. The ‘AK’ stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova, better known as theKalashnikov, named after its creator Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Its simplicity of build, low cost production and durability are world renowned. As any engineer will tell you, the fewer parts a machine has, the less there is to go wrong and the AK47’s mechanics are so simple that it’s even possible to replace part of the trigger mechanism using a piece of string in the event of a breakage.

The AK has been adopted by a number of armed forces throughout the world, as well as, unfortunately, most (if not all) terrorist organisations.

With so much history behind the AK, whether good or bad, it’s no wonder that the AK 47 airsoft bb gun has always been a popular choice for airsofting, second to the now massively popular M16/M4 series.

There’s a certain aura about AK47’s that immediately cries authenticity as soon as you pick them up. The most authentic AK 47 airsoft bb gun manufacturers are Tokyo Marui, Classic Army and the more recent Real Sword, who now produce full metal and real wood versions of many of the AK variants, including the AK74 and AK47 Beta Spetsnaz.

However, even these authentic full metal and wood versions are relatively light, weighing in around 4 kilograms each. They’re also extremely manoeuvrable, especially the AK47S, which includes a foldable skeletal stock.

Most versions allow up to 8.4v 1500maH stick batteries placed under the top plate, providing a substantial amount of power for the day. However, with its huge curved banana magazines holding almost 500 bb’s each, you may find you get through enough ammo to need another battery by lunchtime!

Most AK 47 airsoft bb guns use version 2 gearboxes, meaning the motor is held inside the handle between the bottom plate of the handle and the gearbox. While not perfect, version 2 gearboxes are well established in the airsoft community and are relatively simple to repair.

The AK 47 airsoft gun has an average length inner barrel when compared to other guns, coming in at 455mm. Despite its average length, the effective range of the AK47’s is very capable and the rate of fire very fast. Of course, the barrel length can be extended by adding a silencer and installing a new barrel, or switching to a larger AK variant such as the RPD support weapon.

Alternatively, as with any airsoft gun, the effective range can be improved by using a higher quality inner barrel or hop up, such as those from Prometheus, Systema or Tokyo Marui.

There’s no doubt that the AK47 is an incredibly capable weapon. With its relatively light weight compared to other rifles and its massive 500 round magazine capacity, AK’s can be incredibly effective for laying down significant amounts of fire at short to medium range in assault games.

The full stock versions of the AK’s can also take large batteries up 3500maH – a massive battery size for dependable and long lasting firepower throughout the day.

Personally I use an AK74 as my primary in most games and have had some fantastic results with it, firing tens of thousands of rounds over two years with no problems to date. In my opinion, the only thing that goes against AK’s is the abnormal magazine size. They are very large and can be extremely difficult to fit to a tac vest. To avoid that I use a double magazine clamp, offering me up to 1000 rounds in one encounter – if you need more than that before you have a chance to reload, you need to look into improving your accuracy!

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