E&L Airsoft New Essential Version AK-74MN Airsoft AEG Rifle

"Pretty skirmishable out of the box. I went through about 5000 0.32g BB from AEX and ASG. With the stock hop set at 12 it'll send 0.32g BBs pretty far. My guess is about 200 feet.

If it's anything like the other models and other reviews of similar stuff from E&L, then the internals are pretty average, but still serviceable. However, the look and feel is pretty superb and its abilities out of the box are pretty competitive.

It'll shoot bbs at 1.3J.

If I have gripes is that the 24mm thread limit your muzzle choices unless you go out and get an adapter to 14mm threads; battery fitment isn't great as you may want something under 17mm thick. Bluemax 1450mah 7.4 from Nov or the Evike skinny 1200mah 7.4v will definitely work.

"Amazing stock gun! But when looking to upgrade the barrel just know the 445mm is shorter than what really comes in the gun by about an inch.

"I've owned E&L AK's since the Gen 1's first came out, and have owned the Gen 2's, the "Spartans", and whatever other names they came up with. Always been a fan of the build quality, inside and out. The new "Essential" line kind of made me scratch my head and most people are wondering what the story is now that they've re-tooled and re-introduced their line up, so here goes: Same outstanding E&L external build quality: Everything is steel, beautifully finished, ultra realistic. Only external difference is the use of solid wood instead of laminated plywood. This is less realistic but I suppose saves them labor in production. I bought an AK-74MN with polymer furniture, so no issue for me. Where they cut costs is on the internals. The motor was previously a genuine neo magnet high torque motor; the new one is a standard, run of the mill, toss in the trash bin, garden variety motor. Piston and piston head are cheaper, and need replacing for a more dependable, higher performing build. Cylinder and cylinder head are also down-graded and I replaced these as well. Gearbox also has solid bushings now, instead of ball bearing bushings. I'm a 'semi only' player, so not an issue. Hop unit and barrel appear to be the same, as are the gears. So these are still great guns, they've just cut costs on the internals. If you're like me and always re-build everything under the hood, this is not an issue, and the external build quality of the "Essential" Line is still at the top of the AK food chain. Great price for what you get.

"I already left a review early on after buying the gun won't let me edit. But if you do buy this maybe look into a better piston head and cylinder head as out of the box the stock piston head and cylinder head have no seal to them at all it's like throwing a hotdog down a hallway. Other than compression issues the internals are fine

"You will not be able to attach legitimate side mounting optics due to the side mount rail being to fat and rounded. I have tried mounting my 1PN34 and 2 PSO scopes and they do not fit. However you can get a AK Master mount and slide that on (it may be very tight) for any other red dots and optics. But other than that the gun is very sturdy and accurate.