G&G GKM Full Metal Airsoft AEG Rifle w/ Battery Grip

"A bit of background first. Before buying this gun, my primary was a CYMA 046 EBB AK so I will be referencing it quite a bit in this review since the two share similar features. I loved the blowback feature the CYMA had and I still own it as my backup. Two things I didn't like about the gun though were number one the fragility of the mechanical blowback mechanism (it works well but studying how it is put together I know one good bang on the charging handle can break the whole thing), and secondly the aesthetics of the gun were rather lackluster- the real wood is nice but the bright glossy stain as well as the cheapy paint made the gun look more like a toy than its real steel counterpart. Still all around a great gun especially for under $200 but I wanted to treat myself. I wanted to move up to a better rifle and decided to try out this G&G GKM. I'll discuss different features of this gun separately.

Looks: This is a BEAUTIFUL looking AK. CYMA's options are very nice, but you have to see it to believe that this easily is three steps above that. I believe G&G sourced the externals from LCT and they are extremely high quality. The wood has a nice rich color with a very bold grain. The metal has a nicer matte color to it and feels plenty thick and sturdy. The one iffy part I found is the pistol grip is made of some rather cheap shiny plastic which looks quite off-putting compared to the rest of the weapon; I swapped it with the more realistic grip from my CYMA 052 RPK without issue and it looks far better. Other than that the gun is really nice on the eyes.

Performance: When the gun is functioning properly (I'll explain why I say that later) it is a brutal machine. It fires slightly less hot than my CYMA but it makes up with just an insane rate of fire awarded from the 11.1 lipo. I do not have a chrono so I can't provide my exact ROF but even so for lack of a better metaphor this thing projectile vomits ammo out of high caps at an alarming rate. Accuracy is quite respectable (4-5in spread @ 80 feet with .25s) and the hop up is very easy to dial in.

Gimmicks: This gun has some big ones so I will discuss them here.

Battery: I really really like what G&G did for the battery for this gun. Usually batteries for AKs are shoved up the stock or under the dust cover and I think having the battery built into the handguard is a very good idea. Pluging in/removing the battery is such a quick and simple process especially coming from having to unscrew the buttplate on my CYMA's stock and trying to shimy a 9.6v into such a small area. Having two handguards is real nice for changing on the fly and the gun comes with a special smart charger so it would be unheard of damaging the lipo.

Blowback: I trust G&G's pneumatic blowback much more than my CYMA's mechanical. It doesn't have as much recoil as my CYMA does however it is still very enjoyable to have if you are looking for something more realistic than just AEG motor drone. One peculiar thing I've noticed is the blowback is noticeably stronger when firing a live round than when dry firing- I'm in no hurry to rip apart my gearbox to see how it works but it appears G&G's design works off of backpressure from after the BB has been shot.

All in all this gun is very unique weapon and I believe these 'gimmicks' work fantastically and really lend to making the gun a very usable and enjoyable platform. But now I must explain why I have only given this weapon 4 stars.

The original gun I had received had a very bad defect where from what I believe was a bad hop up bucking. The gun would misfire constantly (out of every say five gearbox cycles a BB would leave the barrel on only 2-3 of those cycles) and accuracy and FPS were absolutely abysmal (sometimes BBs would just roll out of the barrel and fall to the ground). I was well within my return window and I sent the gun back for a new one. The one I received (the one I have now) had a very similar problem although on a lesser scale. I decided to service it myself and upon stripping it I found that the hop up bucking was installed wrong. After fixing it and reassembling (and I must make note that this gun is very easy to work on- everything is held together by the same size hex screws) the gun performs as I had expected. I am not sure if this is a QC issue on G&G's part or if it is going to plague more of them, but after what I experienced with both ones that I have had in my possession I feel that it is quite noteworthy.

I have also accidentally damaged the MOSFET chip. G&G has the MOSFET tucked inside of the trunnion but because of the size of the chip it just barely protrudes into where the upper handguard locks into place. I had by mistake crimped and severed the wires leading into the MOSFET when locking the handguard in place, however I was able to replace the damaged wires. If you have to remove the handguard be sure to take caution when putting it back on.

One other issue I have with the gun is that it is rather picky on what brand magazines it likes. CYMA high caps and G&P mid caps work with mine yet CYMA mid caps will not because the design of the lip on the mag is just a tad different and therefore will not let the mag sit correctly in the gun. If you have the option to try different magazines before you buy I would highly recommend it.

Because of these reasons (and also the flimsy pistol grip material) I refrain from giving the gun a perfect score but I believe these faults are very easy to remedy if you know what you are doing.