LCT Airsoft AS-VAL Stamped Steel Airsoft AEG Rifle (Model: Folding Stock)

"Pros:
1. This is built like a truck. Sturdy and durable construction.
2. Internals are good, a solid rifle out of the box.
3. Gearbox and motor have fantastic response time, very snappy gun that feels great to fire.

Cons:
1. Dust cover isn't 1:1, and extends higher than most VAL & Vintorez replicas. Most RIS won't fit on the gun, and LCT hasn't sold their RIS for years.
2. No quick spring changes.
3. Barrel cover can be finicky at first, and wiring can be stripped if you take it off incorrectly. Also can be annoying getting the battery to fit.

"Pros:
1. build quality
2. solid internals with little need for upgrading
3. heavy/ robust feel to it, its dummy thick
4:stock is sturdy with no wobble

Cons:
1. hopup is near impossible to adjust with the top cover on
2. vibration from full auto causes it to be switched to semi
3. no qd spring change compared to other lct guns
4. fire selector edges pokes finger every trigger pull

Recommend:
1: stick type 7.4v lipo or a nunchuck style 11.1v
2: wire it to deans
3: add a mosfet
4: replace stock bucking for a maple leaf marcaron bucking
5: fix piston AOE
6: Replace stock motor with a high torque

"I got this gun a few months ago and then unfortunately destroyed my ankle, took it out for the first time this past Saturday, and I was blown away. Amazing trigger response, range, and it just looks downright amazing. 10/10.

"This is a good gun. The externals are amazing, mostly steel with the exception of the trigger. The gun shoots very well however the motor is quite weak. The magazines sit in place very well with minimal play. The stock is stiff and does not move at all when locked in place. Great gun overall, I’m sure there’s better ones when it comes to internals but if you want a unique Russian gun with a great body and you can’t afford the npo then go ahead and get it.

"I had my purchase narrowed down between this an the SR3M. What sold me on the VAL (besides looks) was the longer barrel and the fact that I wouldnt have to buy new batteries to run this gun, rather, could reuse my old AK batteries.

First things first, LCT seem to have ironed out many if not all the grips on this gun, first being the wires getting sliced open removing and reinstalling the suppressor. They remedied this by simply putting a small velcro band around the wires right where the suppressor attaches to hold them in place so they wont float up. Second issue I heard people complain about was barrel wobble? Neither my inner nor my outer barrel have any sort of play at all.

I'll start with the bad parts about this gun because there are few, so we'll get this out of the way first;

#1 is probably magazines. Whether its price ($15 a piece for midcaps? thats almost what I pay for evo mags!), availability (evike is the first store in YEARS ive seen stateside and of many places overseas as well to even carry magazines for these), or the fact that theyre the size of an M4 mag and *allegedly* hold 50 rounds. Other than that, mags lock into place very sturdily with little to no wobble either, and seem to be built of very decent quality, and the spare mags I bought from Evike to go along are the exact same mags that came with the gun. All i can say about the mags is if you have money, id suggest stocking up as many as possible because who knows when theyll be in stock again once evike runs out?

#2 would probably be a noisy gearbox, but its nothing a good shim job from your local tech cant fix. Most stock AEGs are noisy out of the box. If you shim this properly, with the quality LCT internals, it should last a long time

#3 would be the hop up bucking/spacer. gun has insane range, but definitely struggles with consistency issues out of the box. Since hop buckings are like motor oil and everyone seems to know what brand is "best," just throw in whatever your favorite bucking may be, along with a flat hop/Rhop and this gun should be deadly

(dis-honorable mention): The weight. This thing is HEAVY. I'm 5'10, 170lbs, have a very athletic build and work construction for a living, so the weight does not necessarily bother me, however I'm also 26 and not 12 anymore, so heavier does not in fact equal better. Its just something to keep in mind if you have a smaller frame or arent in the best shape, you may struggle with this after a few hours.

NOW TIME FOR THE FUN STUFF! (pros)

#1 Build quality. Everything is tight as a drum, almost 2 stiff, to where I'm spending my evenings touching and playing with the gun, trying to loosen it up because the fire selector and safety are so stiff, they hurt your fingers to operate, the charging handle is extremely stiff too and doesnt return on its own. Suppressor was a pain to get off the first few times too, but seems to have gotten better with a few removals.

#2 RANGE RANGE RANGE. Ive probably owned 25-30 quality AEGs now, my current small arsenal consisting of a Mild build, prommy barrel, flat hopped E&L AK74N, and a stock/flat hopped ASG Evo. Ive also owned many DMRs (multiple G&G M14s), as well as some very heavily built AEGs, and this gun has quite possibly the best out of the box range for an AEG ive ever shot. You definitely get some fliers though, which is why id recommend a better bucking and probably a flat hop, but even the stock barrel seems to be of decent quality. Using 8 month old Bioval .3's, I can hit man sized targets at 130-140ft with relative ease, probably reaching out to as far as 150, all while falling under 400fps, making this the perfect option for counter sniper/DMR outfits.

#3, last but not least, the cool factor. I play on a russian opfor airsoft outfit in northern/central Illinois (check us out on instagram, @violenceindustries) and so we constantly like to get our cheeki breeki on. I know that when I hit my first BIG game next month, this gun should be the talk of the town. Couple it with a gorka and SMERSH, and you wont be able to keep the cameras away!

All in all, I would 100% recommend this gun though. All of my complaints are minor and can be fixed (besides weight) for under $30. My ONLY concern is the future of magazine availability, but we'll worry about that when it actually happens.

"I've had my Val for a few months now and like the other reviewer says, its built like a tank. I run a fully Russian style kit and all of my primaries are from LCT now after messing around with some of the other companies out there. Full steel, so much easier to take down than my Vityaz and I have had no issues at all so far. Broke the gearbox open and did the usual preventative stuff, AOE correction, etc. Really good shim job out of the box, I was impressed. Flat hopped it and put in a prommy barrel and this thing shoots like a dream. I have a valken 11.1 nunchuck that I run in it just fine and the Matrix scope mount clears the dust cover just fine. Beware that it is a bit heavy for running around in the field for hours on end...but then again thats what weight training is for, right?

"First of i'll start this review that this is coming from a tech's perspective on this gun. I got this gun with the intent to build it into a dmr. The external quality on this gun is amazing. It is an absolute tank with a full steel body and suppressor. Most of the internals are really high quality like the compression parts and the gears are decent as well. Perfect airseal out of the box, which means this thing can lob bb's way out there. The motor however is pretty weak but it runs okay on an 11.1v with decent trigger response. The bearings are pretty good but i swapped them out for retro arms bushings since i was planning to dmr it at 450fps. Out of the box it shot around 415 and settled right around 390 to 400. The bucking is your standard stock bucking and nothing to write home about. I'd suggest changing it for a g&g green or a flat hop/rhop set up. The barrel is pretty decent. My two biggest gripes about this gun coming from a tech's standpoint is the motor angle and barrel stabilizer. The val uses a slightly different motor cage than ak's, but the angle is slightly off making it impossible to get proper bevel to pinion shimming. Meaning you get a pretty noisy gearbox. Still, it runs fine. You can mod ak motor cages to fit though which is something i'll be doing in the future. I wish they used a longer barrel stabilizer so when you install the battery. It doesn't push or move the barrel. Even with its quirks, if you want an as val you can't go wrong with lct. It doesn't have any problems that can't be fixed with a little bit of effort. Its build quality makes it well worth its price tag and doesn't require much to make it a high performance aeg. Replica pso-1 scopes do also fit if you remove the illumation thingy on the bottom of the scope. Overall, if you have your heart set on the as val then this is a great alternative to NPOAEG without that stupid high price tag.

"This is certainly a pro level rifle. Full steel construction, top quality internals, all backed by the LCT name. It's not 100% true to scale to the real steel, however it is incredibly close and certainly the best Val replica on the market, especially for the money. I will say, all though this gun shoots like a dream and is built like a tank, there are a few qualms I have with the gun. The first thing I'll say is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to find magazines for this gun. The mags are completely proprietary to the LCT Val/ VSS series and they are likely out of production. I have researched on literally every website, based out of the U.S., Canada, China, etc... and I haven't been able to find anywhere these magazines are available. My only other problem is that the battery compartment is a pain to deal with, and the only battery that will fit this gun is a 7.4 lips butterfly. No other batteries will work. The other thing to note about this gun is that it's pretty awkward to shoulder, as it's very front heavy. All in all, when it comes to performance, the LCT AS VAL will not let you down. Just make sure you know what you're in for when buying this gun.

"To start off the gun does look and feel amazing, very solidly built. Externals looks very good, mags seat nice and snug, stock is tight and sturdy. My gripes include the dust cover being extremely flimsy, the sights are not aligned properly on the suppressor, they were actually brazed in the wrong spots, and the gun itself literally has a bend in it. Looking straight down the dust cover the inner barrel is a 1/4in to the right of center. Im not sure what the deal is but you can very clearly see it suppressor on or off. Not really sure what to think since its my first AK style replica but it really was quite a shock when i aimed down the sights the first time. Overall its an awesome replica of the AS VAL for a decent price.

"What an absolute disappointment. The AS VAL I was sent couldn't even manage to shoot a single BB out of the barrel before breaking. It sounded as though the gearbox was being shredded from inside any time I pulled the trigger, and eventually the gun just stopped cycling entirely.

I am in the process of returning this for a refund. Maybe once the holiday rush is over I will reconsider it. It seems that LCT's quality control has plummeted in the recent years though.

Pros? Solid externals, only a little wobble, and despite the sacrifices made to the appearance of the rifle (to accommodate the gearbox), it still looks cool. Also satisfying to reload.

"I've been waiting forever for Evike to get a restock on King-Arm's AS val. After months of waiting, I caved and bought LCT instead. Not exactly happy with my decision either.

TL;DR:

* Pros *
-Fast Rof
-Responsive Trigger
-LCT Internals, so it shoots like a dream

* Cons *
-Waaaaayyy to heavy. A solid 7.5lbs to King-Arms' 5 pounds. And that bit of weight makes all the difference
-Externals are clunky, easy to break and poor quality
-Nasty default furniture color.
-Inner barrel popped out when unscrewing the suppressor
-The mag-well is too tight, you have to jam the magazine in there and it doesn't always click the first time either
-Dust cover, hand guard and bolt covering the hop-up all move or wobble. Some more than others. Make the gun feel really clunky.

Full Review:

Internals are LCT standard, so it fires fast, it fire far, and it's snappy. That's really the only good part about it.

Within the first hour of having the weapon, I over-tightened the screw holding the pistol-grip in place (which I have since had to gorilla glue together to keep in position), popped out the inner barrel when un-screwing the suppressor to get the battery inside, and have gotten the magazines stuck inside the mag-well because of how tight it is. The bolt covering the hop-up wobbles, as does the dust cover and hand guard. Nothing really snaps into place and makes it feel clunky. I did manage to jimmy-rig it back together so I'm going to use it in an event and see how well it performs as well as how long it holds up under constant stress. Ultimately, even if it shoots good, cons outweigh the pros with this one.

I spent $400 so you don't have to. If you're a fan of the AS Val like I am, and you want something really good, this AINT it chief. Wait for King Arms or, if you have the money, NPO AEG. This weapon just isn't good enough quality for the price tag.