CYMA AK-105 Review

Table of Contents

-Introduction
-History: Real Steel and CYMA's own
-Choosing
-Ordering
-Receiving
-First Impressions
-Appearance, Quality, & Build
-Performance, Internals & Function
-Pros & Cons
-Recommendations/Upgradability
-Overall rating
-Sources
-Extra Pics

Introduction

Hello, I'm Kamikaz3, and this is my second airsoft gun review of the CYMA AK-105 (cm.031d). Well, enough chitchat, lets get down to business.

History: Real Steel and CYMA's own

The AK-105 is a member of the family of AK-102/4/5 compact weapons designed primarily for export outside of Russia. It combines features from the older AKS-74U carbine and the newer versions of the AK-74 rifles, giving a more accurate carbine. The AK-102, 104, and 105's are chambered for 5.56x45, 7.62x39, and 5.45x39 mm ammunition, respectively, and features a folding stock.



CYMA began its history as a manufacturer of cheap spring pistols and rifles. In 2005, they cloned Tokyo Marui's MP5 and later their AK47 to create a cheap, skirmishable airsoft weapon. They continued copying and cloning various designs and today have several different gun models available, from M-14's to Thompson SMG's. They have many members of the Kalashnikov Family, since about half their different weapon designs are of Kalashnikovs.



Choosing

While I was for the majority impressed with CYMA's AKM, it did have a couple of flaws. First off was the plastiwood, which was just... disgusting (CYMA has released a real wood version which looks sexy as hell). Second was the incredible 470 FPS that was virtually guaranteed to crack my gearbox within a month of heavy use. I ended up trying to sell it and it sits in my closet waiting for a buyer.

Enter the AK-105. I have always been intrigued by this gun ever since glimpsing it in an ICS catalog a couple of years ago. When CYMA released their version, and me already being impressed by the AKM, I knew I had to pick it up. I heard good things about their AKS-74U and decided that since it could hold up to a 12 volt stick battery, it was the one for me

Ordering

I ordered it from RSOV.com along with a PBS-1 Suppressor, CYMA AK Scope Mount, Red/Green dot sight with selectable reticle, and Firefox 9.6 volt 1500 mAh Battery for around $300 on May 1st, 2008. Ordering was interesting, as instead of paying directly on the sites page I was transferred to a PayPal Page, which was intriguing but not frightening. I asked that since it was shipping to the USA, that they would remove the foam from the suppressor and clearly label the package as "toy". I selected UPS Express for my shipping carrier, and since it was shipping from Hong Kong I set up to wait out the next couple of weeks.

Receiving

One week later, on May 8th, I returned home from an incredible baseball game (we beat a team we hadn't beaten in 5 years, thanks for caring) and noticed a brown package inside my garage, with a couple of stickers on it and a piece of paper taped to it on which was typed out "toy" in large letters. I was surprised at how quickly it had shipped, it only took exactly a week to arrive. I grabbed it and rushed the package inside.

First Impressions

After tearing it open, I was greeted with my extra items that I had ordered, and removed them and gazed upon the sleek, black piece of deadly weaponry that was to be my primary for the next year or so. I lifted out the gun, feeling its solid heft, hearing the clank of the rear sling mount, unfolding the triangular skeleton stock and resting it on my shoulder, aiming down the sights. It's definitely very solid, similar to my AKM in many aspects. The stock has slight play in it, a millimeter or so to each side. Foregrip and handgrip are made of a black plastic, which is fairly thick and I don't think will be much of a problem. Unlike on my AKM, there is no Quality Control sticker inside the magwell. The 9.6 volt battery fits easily inside the upper receiver, sliding into a space below the upper half of the foregrip.







Included with the gun is a cheapo-china plug charger, cheapo-china 8.4 volt 1100 mAh battery, cleaning rod, and manual, as well as a black plastic AK74 hicap magazine.

Appearance, Quality, & Build

Starting at the rear of the gun, left side and moving forward, you can see the folding stock as well as stock release button. The button is not like the button on my cm.028-s, you can feel when the stock is able to be folded. The stock itself has slightplay in it, about a millimeter in each direction. The shoulder rest has small ridges in it, to prevent the stock from sliding down your shoulder. When folded in, you can see the top of the black painted gearbox, and not much else.



(Sorry it's blurry)





Moving forward, you can see the scope mount, handgrip, trigger, trigger guard, mag release, and indent above the magwell, as well as the upper and lower receivers. The handgrip is made of a black plastic, and is pretty smooth except where the raised texture is. There is no play or wobble in it. Trigger, trigger guard, and mag release are all metal, and have no play in them. The upper receiver is ribbed, and both the upper and lower receivers have no wobble whatsoever. The metal feels solid and is painted a flat black. I could quote my previous AKM review and nothing would change...



The scope mount allows for the attachment of any sort of Soviet optics, such as Cobra red dots or Dragunov scopes.A seperate mounting piece with a 20 mm weaver/picatinny rail allows one to put on any sort of western optics that their heart desires. I personally have a red dot mounted on it.





Here you see the stock folding attach/release lever, foregrip, gas block,, fake rivers, and rear sight. The gas block is different in texture from the rest of the gun's metal, but is still metal. The rear sight doesn't concern me as much as on my AKM's, which is made of a very different material metal and seems liable to break off upon adjusting. The foregrips are made of a thick, black plastic, same material as used on the AK74 Magazine and handgrip near the trigger. The stock release button is metal, and when the stock is folded there is no wobble in it minus the rattling sound of the sling mount. Even when I hold the gun by the stock when it's folded and shake, nothing moves. Very solid.



Moving forward again, you can see the AKS-74U styled flashhider as well as front barrel assembly, faux cleaning rod, front sight, and front sling mount. The sling mount is attached to a piece of metal that holds the lower half of the foregrip in place. After removing the small allen-wrench screw in the small hole in the bottom of the flashhider, you can remove it by pressing a small pin on the right of the gun and twisting to the right, revealing a brass tightbore barrel extending slightly beyond the 14 mm CC threads. I am able to attach my PBS-1 suppressor easily.





Moving to the front rightside of the gun, you see the front sight and small pin to hold the flashhider. Don't lose that pin, it falls out easily as I accidently discovered when attaching the suppressor.



Moving rearward, you see the foregrip, disassembly lever, gas block, and charging handle. Pulling back the charging handle reveals the hopup lever, which is a slider type. The one thing I love about airsoft AK's is this type of hopup, I never have had to readjust it during a match.





Moving rearward again, you see the selector switch and rear sling mount. Same as on my AKM, it stays in place and makes a solid *click* when pushed into a position, except when pushing it into safe. The lettering that marks full and semi is different from that of my AKM, as well as the small indent above the mag well. The lettering has been corrected as well as the indent too. The rear sling mount rattles a lot, and makes a loud clang when it bangs against the stock. I recommend electrical tape to keep it in place if you are trying to be stealthy.





Pushing the button on the rear of the upper receiver and lifting it off reveals the battery compartment. The fuse and wires can be lifted out to view easily and you can easily fit a 9.6 volt battery in there. I measured and there should be room for up to a 12 volt battery, but I personally think that's overkill.





The front sights are fixed, while the rear sights can be adjusted depending on how far away your target is. I leave it on the point blank setting.

Performance, Internals & Function

Well, onto another crucial aspect of the gun, it's performance. I am not going to be able to tell you how it's internals fair, as I am not really that skilled with opening up a gearbox and will probably mess things up in the process. I can tell you about the gun's FPS, ROF with 9.6 volt 1500 mAh battery and accuracy, however.

I didn't expect that the gun's FPS would be as high as on my AKM's, but it is definitely high. Going outside, and selecting a couple Diet Coke cans from our recycling bag, I placed them on the table and popped a few test shots. The gun sounds... different, from my AKM. I can't really place the sound. It doesn't sound bad, just a change of pace from my AKM. The shots are crisp and have plenty of speed behind them. I'm using black .20's, so I can't really say how accurate it will be. I placed a soda can on the table and let loose a shot, piercing both sides easily. I then placed a different can on its side, and shot through the bottom center. Bottom side, top side, and top center are non-piercers, so we got us a 375-420 FPS gun here. I then fetched my AK47 midcaps loaded with .25's and fixed up a target.

Target was on a piece of paper taped to a shoebox. I am using .25 bb's for this, since those are what I will be using in combat. I stood 25 feet away (measured out) and let loose a few more test shots. I can tell it's definitely got some accurate, I was able to hit about a 1" pole from about 20 feet away several times. I then took aim with the sights, standing, aiming at a 6"x6" target with black dot in the center and fired 11 shots, discarding 1 as an outlier. The resulting groupings were fairly tight, especially for a breezy day, at around 2.5 inches. All shots hit the target. I measured out 50 feet and reshot at a new target, with 11 shots. Again, all shots hit the target, but the groupings were a looser 4 inches.





I am unable to get an accuracy measurement beyond 60 feet as my yard is much too small. I can say it will be very easy to get close kills with this gun, as it is easy to shoulder and aim, and is fairly accurate. When firing a burst on auto, I got about the same measurements as on semi testing. Accuracy is slightly better than my AKM after comparing long range shots.

ROF with the stock 8.4 volt 1100 mAh POS battery is extremely slow. I put in the freshly charged 9.6 volt 1500 mAh battery I got and fired a burst on auto. I expected 2-3 shots to come out, I got 6-7 shots. ROF is about 17-18 RPS with this battery, so it's pretty dang good with a 9.6.

This gun functions well as an assault weapon, and is versatile enough to be used for both woodland and CQC with it's folding stock and high ROF/Accuracy.

Pros & Cons

Pros:
+It's an AK
+Very sturdy
+Great accuracy
+Great ROF with a good battery
+Folding stock
+Looks sexy with a suppressor
+Holds up to a 12 volt stick battery
+Tightbore
+Amazing hopup
+Totally Metal


Cons:
-Crap included battery
-A bit too powerful for stock FPS
-It's metal but it's pot metal
-Stock wobbles slightly


Recommendations/Upgradability

If you get this gun I would recommend high grade .25 gram BB's, as well as a scope mount to put on optics. If you can get a downgraded spring.

Overall rating

For the price, a 9.38 out of 10. I honestly couldn't think of any cons for this gun right off the bat.

Sources

www.rsov.com
www.airsoftgi.com
www.wikipedia.org
world.guns.ru

Extra Pics

Wow, that was a great review. Like how the box says "Ultra-Cool Styling" on it. Lots of pictures, lots of info.

I am always killing myself over the fact that I got a CM.028 over this or the AKM, possibly even the M14.

If this does not get approved, get real.

Another great gun AND a great review. Props to you.
Approved.

Very nice! One thing though, why the Rising Sun Flag behind that Soviet beauty?

This post has been edited by darthrebelpenguin: May 12 2008, 03:33 PM

Nice review, lots o' pics, nice bit of text.

The gun looks really hawt with the suppressor and reflex site - but a Kobra would definately be better. ;-)

Great, great absolutely really well written and informative review. I have one question that maybe you should include. Can you still fold the stock even with the added rail mount for the scope? Also I just ordered the 101 version with the longer barrel, can't wait to receive it.

A- I don't have a USSR flag, plus I'm no commie . B- I'm half Japanese, and if I had to choose a real steel weapon for "freelance" work it would be a Kalashnikov



Agreed, if only they weren't $300 plus lol



No, you can't that's probably another flaw I should add onto the cons list, which doesn't have many. I plan to add an update in a couple of months on how well it's faired, even firing it in its limited time its easy to see how well CYMA did

That is disappointing to hear, I wasn't looking forward to hearing that haha. So it's pretty much a hollowed out full stuck that has the capabilities to only hold a stick? Dang that stinks, whatever still looks great and I don't regret ordering one!

I don't either my friend, I don't either.

Heh, do you have a nice chrono on fps? I really don't want mine around 400......

Nah sorry, I don't have a professional chrono near me... best I can give you is above 380 and less than 420

Very nice review. You have proved me wrong, Aks look really good with silencers. (I haven't seen many Aks with silencers.)

Yep that's a nice silencer. And may I ask why you got the 105 (shorter) than the 101? Just curious

One more question. An AK74 with a 7.62 mag becomes an AK103, right?

EDIT: I have problems on my CM.031 with a creaky pistol grip. Do you get that, or has it been resolved in this newer version?

This post has been edited by darthrebelpenguin: May 15 2008, 02:16 PM

great review. Ive been trying to find a review for this gum for week and the only one I found was not in english , just my luck . You should post some videos on youtube. Good job

Lol I got the cm.031a and damn it's longer than a regular ak-47....... I wish I got the same model as you. And airsoft gi chronoed mine at 380 so probably what your is around.

AK74m with a 7.62 mag for all intents and purposes is an AK103. But if you want to get into details, the issued mag with an AK103 is a ribbed polymer mag thats similar to the old AK47 mags, and there may or may not be slight asthetic differences. But yes essentially all an AK103 is is an AK74m chambered for 7.62 x 39 mm ammunition.



Yup, an Ak74 is longer than an AKM while being barely less in barrel length. I got the AK-104/5 because I'm a bit smaller than most people (5'4") and carrying an AK74 with a suppressor attached makes it longer than an M16, which looks ridiculous when I hold one lol.

Lol, I understand. Yeah, I want to take the suppressor off, it's just too long. HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CQB WITH THIS THING!!

SKIRMISH UPDATE:

About a week ago I took this thing along to a small 5 on 5 skirmish nearby. The freshly charged Firefox battery easily lasted the whole day with no noticible decrease in ROF. Highly recommended. Accuracy seemed to suffer at ranges beyond 120 feet, but that's probably due to the breeze that coursed through the area. Within that distance was easily able to place shots on target. Power was good, I flushed out a few people from behind bushes due to the BB's cutting through the brush. Got lots of comments on what a nice gun it was, and how sexy it was with the suppressor. Course, most of the kids use Echo 1 M4's/SR-16's, so what do they know? Easily the best gun there in terms of accuracy and had a good mix of ROF/power. Stock hicap feeds excellently when well wound.

Earlier that week took it to a very small skirmish with friends (3 v 3) and impressed them too. They had a TM M4a1, Spetsnatz (this thing blows it out of the water), CA G36k, and CA M16vn. Externals were better than the TM's, worse (not by much) than the CA's. ROF was comparable. Accidently dropped it on a rock, still shoots fine and everything. No cracks in the potmetal which I was worried about.

Still have not regretted buying this baby. Look forward to its further use this summer



RSOV.com, ordered them with the gun.

Anyone know what brands of standard or midcap mags work in this aeg? Thanks

Will a normal 14mm flash hider go on this thing, say a madbul gemtech blackside. Im thinking about buying the 101, but this is the only review of the gun, or similar, I could find.

Both 47 and 74 mags will work with this gun... I'm pretty sure it will fit any brand out there.



Yes, the threading is 14mm CounterClockwise. Keep in mind I haven't touched my gun internally or anything, and it shoots great. I probably won't open it until it breaks, just to see how long it runs stock.

Nice and detailed review - I am considering buying this one - but still undecided whether not to wait for a DBOYS/KALASH one. They don't have an AK104/105 out yet, but they started putting steel metal parts to their RK series...

Question>you say metal parts are made of pot metal - have you tried sticking magnets to them?

I own the same gun just with the longer barrel anyhow, when he refers to pot metal he's talking about the texture of the metal and how thin it is. It's just like regular metal and magnets also stick to it normally. Pot metal always has that "look" that makes you able to tell it's not hefty. Anyhow, it's nothing to worry about if you take care of it and it still looks darn sexy.

Yep. It's a very nice weapon. I popped a Madbull tightbore in it and using .28's got less than a 1.75" grouping outdoors at 50 feet...

I really do love this gun to death. A very versatile weapon in the field, good for most scenarios outside of a long range sniper battle.

Nice review. It makes me want to buy it.

Very nice review. I just ordered mine from ASGI here in the USA because of it.

Quick question on the Silencer. So you just unscrew the Krinkov flashider and screw the PBS on? Is it threaded 14mm counterclockwise, the silencer that is? I love the look, I might do that to mine. When you swapped the tightbore, did you use the same length or get a longer one to extend into the silencer? Im glad you got a proper Soviet silencer correct for this. I must do that as well if I choose to upgrade the inner bore as I would like a longer one.

I have the original CM031 and its been pretty nice. I have been wanting a shorter CQB version of it though, the full length fixed stock and barrel makes it kinda long for indoor work and we have a mock city and killhouse at one of the fields we play at alot. Im also buying this for the purposes of CQB at Operation Bulldog later in the year where we are using the MOUT site, the folding stock will be nice and the slightly shorter barrel profile but if I got the silencer I would definately want to make use of it as a way to hide a longer bore for better accuracy, not all of the game will be in the MOUT city area, there are woods adjacent to it and we will be using that as well.

Your information definately helps me to ease my mind with my purchase, thanks for providing the information. I think it will be a great platform to work from as a combo CQB/Woods gun.

To get off the gas booster/krinkov flashhider, you have to push a small button down on the right side of the flashhider, then unscrew it. It is 14mm CC, so you aren't limited as much as some other guns.

For the tightbore all I had around was an M4 length one (which fits perfectly), but I was thinking of gettin a longer one for woodland battles. It certainly wouldn't hurt the accuracy. Make sure you measure it properly so you don't have it sticking out of the suppressor

great review. its looks great with the silencer. it says ultra cool styling on top of the box.lol.

After action report.

I've had a chance to use this AEG in skirmish conditions twice now and I am very impressed with the amount of money it cost and the out of box performance it exhibited. Mine chrono'ed consistently with Airsoft Elite .20's at 374fps. Not bad at all. The hopup kept sliding back so I may have to see if those little screws are loose or replace with a TM unit. Not an expensive replacement if thats the case. I may also try a new bucking with a madbull tightbore as well. Comparing the stock barrel to an m4 length barrel I have here it is just a touch longer maybe by a few mms at most. Definately would say the CM031D's stock barrel length is essentially a 363mm (M4) barrel for those wanting to do a tightbore replacement. This information is not really posted or listed anywhere for this AEG. Hope that helps someone.

Many thanks to the original poster for his excellent review, I found my AEG to be about on par performance wise as to what he had reported. Definately I think the addition of a Madbull tightbore into the mock PBS suppressor and possibly a new hopup bucking would make this the ultimate CQB/Woods AEG. The only other addition I made was ditching the stock battery for an Intellect 8.4 1600 stick and the ROF and longevity of the battery was much improved over the stock battery. A decent 8.4 is perfect. A decent 9.6 would be way too fast for my trigger habits as I am trying to not rely on hicaps as much and more midcaps but each to his or her own. As far as magazines are concerned, my Mag branded midcaps work flawlessly but are a very tight fit. It took quite a few insertions of each one for the metal bodies magwell edges to shave the appropiate grooves into the mag bodies. Now they fit like a glove. My Star mags fit a bit loose but no feeding issues. The included hicap and the ones from my original CM031 work great as well, just annoying you have to wind it approx 100 to 150 shots out of the 500 it holds. As I mentioned with a faster ROF using a 9.6 you will be rewinding them really quickly. Its annoying, almost like having to take time change mags. :(

I'll definately consider some of the other CYMA metal AK series offerings after seeing the potential in this one. Since the original posting of this thread CYMA has reissued their CM028 series in full metal/wood as their CM047 series. I might go for the 47 look as well after being very happy with this new CM031D. I don't think any of their full metak AK series will be be a bad purchase.

Happy airsofting everyone.

Final request to the original poster.... Can you give me more information on the mock Russian silencer you got? Can you measure it to give me an approx additional length I might be able to bring a tightbore out to? If a standard 509mm m16 bore will sit inside the silencer unexposed at the end I'm golden as I already have a madbull I can use.

Thanks.

This post has been edited by Salami: Sep 23 2008, 02:00 PM

I'm not sure if you were the one who sent me the email regarding the PBS-1 Suppressor, but I've got it here...

No, I never sent an email. Thank you for the information. So its eight inches, perfect. A 509mm standard m16 airsoft inner bores just over 20 inches if memory serves me correctly. A 363 standard m4 innerbores 14 inches approx. So that means a standard m16 length bore would be perfect inside that PBS-1 suppressor. I guess I know now whats going to happen to my CM031D. Thanks for this information.

This post has been edited by Salami: Sep 26 2008, 04:05 AM

Information update. Got around to tearing apart the AKS today. Luckily I have spare left over stock barrels from previous tightbore upgrades of mine to compare with this stock innerbore of the CM031D. I was surprised to find out its longer than the 363mm as I originally thought it was.

Kamikaz3..... When you put the 363mm in there did you realize it was shorter than the stock barrel? Unfortunately its an odd size, its between the 363mm and the 455mm, I happened to have a spare 509mm as well and luckily it measures roughly 7 and a half inches extended from the start of 14mm threading. If the information you provided was correct that 8 inch silencer is perfect to house a m16 length inner bore. The 455mm standard for an AK only added an inch and a half extended and the 363mm standard for an m4 would actually be shorter than the stock AKS length and stops back into the main outer barrel. The stock barrel stops about a half inch into the krinkov flashhider. I measured it roughly at about 16 inches so that equates to about 400mm. I have yet to see anything near that length for a replacement tightbore so one will either have to sacrifice some length to go back to a 363mm or have the bore stick out just a bit with the krinkov style flashhider using a 455mm or a 509mm and go the fake silencer route as this obviously sticks out well over 5 inches with the krinkov on the end of the gun.

Now that I finally know the PBS will fit its just a matter of me breaking down and purchasing the new tightbore and the suppressor.

This post has been edited by Salami: Sep 26 2008, 09:10 PM

Figure I might as well chime in here, as I've owned this for about 6 months and used it as my primary a couple times. Overall this review is right on the money. I found this to be by far the most accurate out-of-the-box weapon I have fielded. It outshoots my TM AK47, my CA M15A4, and my D-Boys M4 SIRs by quite a bit. I didn't do an actual measured shooting but with a red dot dialed in I was able to land 19/20 shots on a tin can from a range of about 60 feet. Pretty good!

RoF is a bit slow but I am often shooting on semi-only regardless.

I have personally found the battery compartment to be very tight, even with the stock battery, and it is sometimes difficult to get the upper receiver to lock correctly back into place.

As far as magazines go, I did have some difficulty here with fit. The metal TM mag from my AK fits and feeds no problem, as does the included hi-cap, as do Star realcaps (mostly). However I bought a set of Mag AK74 midcaps and G&P AK74 midcaps and discovered that neither would actually lock into place. I had to file down the mag catch a couple millimeters to get them to catch. They now fit very snug; unfortunately that means the TM mag now fits very loose. The hi-cap still fits all right.

Overall this gun is a great value for the price and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I am moving up to VFCs from now on myself but I have been recommending this weapon to my friends who are just starting out.

PS - this weapon has the folding stock and is therefore an AKS-105! ;)