E&L Airsoft New Essential Version AKS-74N Airsoft AEG Rifle

"10/10

I have been using this specific model for about a year or two, and it has been nothing but amazing. It shoots just below 400 FPS, wich is perfect for the field I go to, so I do not have an MED. I would strongly reccomend this for new/current airsofters, as it is easy to use and amazing for the price.

"I've owned E&L AKs since 2019, and I am still impressed by the value you get with the brand. The New Essential internals are not quite as good as the Gen 2s, notably missing the EL170 High Torque motor, but they are still reliable and skirmish ready out of the box, even including a simple in-line MOSFET (Purchased in FEB25). For externals, the only difference I can notice is just the quality of the wood furniture, but I was able to install the hand guard from my Gen 2 AKS-74N just fine. Totally recommend this replica.

To answer a question I've been seeing in the comments, there is a cross-pin in the front sight block the prevents you from depressing the detent for the muzzle break all the way. If you want to change the muzzle device you must remove the cross-pin from the block so you can take the small metal rod out of the the spring for the detent. I found this out the hard way, but I can hide my shame by flipping the detent around.

"great gun, for the price, it outperforms lct in quality and shooting

"Very good rifle, well made and easy to use. this is an easy one to recommend.

A few notes:
1. the threads are 24mm, not 14mm.
2. some of the dimensions aren't perfectly 1:1 with a real steel AKS-74N, so just because something says it will work with an AKS-74N, doesn't mean that it will work with this.
3. As others have noted, it's picky with mags. The E&L 120 rounders work just fine, so I'd stick to those if you can.

"Everything is flawless, except for the furniture quality, really cheap wood. I swapped it out for LCT furniture and overall it's a better / cheaper package than an LCT AK. Phenomenal value for money if you're looking for a project gun.

"I have had mine for a couple months and used it all day at a walk-on event. Range was amazing with the proper ammo, build quality is fantastic, every piece of metal on the outside is steel. The stock gearbox sounds very good. Motor is not great, but the older E&L m170 motors (used in Gen2/Platinum) can be had for very cheap. The gun is picky about magazines so be prepared to try several brands out. CYMA and LCT magazines do not work, but Action Army Hi Caps work, and the E&L magazines are quite good. Overall amazing gun, worth every penny and so much more. Outperforms LCT in my experience and are much cheaper, so if you are looking for an AK this is the one for you.

"I absolutely love mine, motor isn’t amazing but this gun can reach out with the proper bbs and hop up setting. Runs great on an 11.1, very accurate and feels great in the hands.

"This is pretty well built gun. Feels nice in my hands. The wood is different from the previous generations but it is still nice. The midcaps I found that fit without modification are mag brand and blue box.

"This Is one of the nicest guns i've ever owned. The Quality is just Amazing and is a great replica.
The Motor is Not the best but the stock internals are better than most by far.
Would Buy again

"This replica is really nice and well put together. The internals are pretty good for the price, the metal is durable and does not wiggle, and it comes with a full metal muzzle brake. The wood is a little cheap, but that's expected

Pros:
Great range and accuracy for the price
Realistic weight (may be a con)
Folding stock makes the replica much shorter when needed
Magazine that comes with it does not wiggle at all

Cons:
When switching from semi to auto, auto doesn't work. Auto will also sometimes lock up in between firing
Doesn't fire the first BB after a dry reload
Magazine it comes with has a pretty weak spring