ARCTURUS AK CARBINE AT-AK04

armoury

“THE MOVE TO OPFOR AND THE RISE OF RUSSIAN-THEMED TEAMS HAS CERTAINLY HELPED BUT I WOULD GO FURTHER AND SAY THAT THE ADOPTION OF THE AK PLATFORM BY MANY MORE SEASONED PLAYERS HAS FILTERED DOWN VIA GAMES AND SITES TO THE NEWER PLAYER.”

AIRSOFT ACTION HAS ALWAYS FOLLOWED CURRENT TRENDS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY CLOSELY AND WE ARE LUCKY

TO HAVE CONTRIBUTORS THAT ARE ABSOLUTE EXPERTS IN THEIR CHOSEN FIELD. THIS MONTH OUR RESIDENT

“AK GUY”, BILL, CONTINUES HIS LOOK AT NEW MODELS ON THE MARKET WITH THE VERY LATEST “TACTICOOL”

OFFERING FROM EMERGENT BRAND, ARCTURUS.

ARCTURUSKALASHNI-KOOL

FOR MANY YEARS AIRSOFT HAS been dominated by the “AR” platform, especially when it comes to “tactical” but things they are a changin’ - and the change is happening fast! If you’ve ever thought of owning an airsoft “AK” then there is no better time than now to be thinking about turning that thought into the reality of ownership, as currently there are more cool AKs on the market than ever before!

In years gone by, if you wanted to own a really good “tactical AK” then it was a case of buying a decent donor and then buying all the parts you wanted to � t onto it. For a long time these would have been “real steel” parts that, in the main, required a fair amount of not just fettling but out and out re-machining to get things nice and tidy. Of course, these days you can pick up airsoft-speci� c parts that will � t your AK straight from the box or packet and I’ll be looking at some of those in an article next month.

For now though, I’m going to concentrate on the AEG in hand, and that is the Arcturus AT-AK04.

Probably like you, I am constantly scouring the interwebz for new and interesting models and Arcturus is a brand that has been quietly but steadily gaining ground. I � rst saw the odd “AT” model appearing on the Taiwangun website a little while ago but then they started appearing with other retailers based in the UK.

Whilst I was wrapped up in other new AK models hitting the market I kept my airsoft-eye on Arcturus and again, slowly but surely, I noticed more AK variants and even some tasty looking ARs appearing from them. If you check out www.taiwangun.com you’ll � nd (at the

time of writing) seven different AK variants, seven ARs and the “Centaur B”, which is a classy-looking hybrid! Add to that some very tidy upgrade parts and you could say that Arcturus most de� nitely has my attention!

Luckily I have a great working relationship with Taiwangun so I reached out to them to see if there might be a test/review model available for Airsoft Action. Such is our standing now, not just in the UK market but also globally via our digital platforms, Taiwangun not only offered to send me over the very latest model but they did so as an exclusive for us and therefore, for you.

MOS WHO?I like to do a little digging to � nd out the background to any emergent brand and in all honesty, in this case it required my very best detective work! Whilst there is a lot of information on the “AT” models on the Taiwangun website about externals and internals, it wasn’t until I saw the sentence “for years, MOS has been gaining experience, producing items for � rearms as well as for the largest companies from the airsoft industry” that things really fell into place and a big smile formed on my face!

For those of you that haven’t come across them before, MOS Manufacture in China are best known for their E&L Airsoft and Meister Arms brands and now they have added another great line of airsoft replicas under the new brand Arcturus. MOS specialise in airsoft and have been providing high-quality products for years, delivering the most exclusive AEGs, parts

ARCTURUS AK CARBINE AT-AK04

AIRSOFT ACTION HAS ALWAYS FOLLOWED CURRENT TRENDS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY CLOSELY AND WE ARE LUCKY

KALASHNI-KOOLKALASHNI-KOOL

may 201910

ARCTURUS AK CARBINE AT-AK04

armoury

“THE MOVE TO OPFOR AND THE RISE OF RUSSIAN-THEMED TEAMS HAS CERTAINLY HELPED BUT I WOULD GO FURTHER AND SAY THAT THE ADOPTION OF THE AK PLATFORM BY MANY MORE SEASONED PLAYERS HAS FILTERED DOWN VIA GAMES AND SITES TO THE NEWER PLAYER.”

ARCTURUSKALASHNI-KOOL

and accessories. They also manage the shipping and warehousing for their partners and years’ experience have allowed them to build up an ef� cient logistics network to ensure their products reach the retailer and, ultimately, the end user in a timely fashion.

In their own words: “With hard work and total team dedication has continued to grow, from humble beginning, we know our success will be built on competitive quality airsoft brands, service delivery, and satis� ed customers. Arcturus focuses on high quality and unique designs for a fair price!”

Speaking of quality, throughout their range they use solid materials like Full Steel or CNC Anodized parts; some are steel stamped and QPQ processed (is this become more standard in the airsoft industry I wonder?) With 8mm bearings, 19000RPM motors, Micro Switches, Spring Tension Release systems and LiPO-ready, MOS ensures quality inside as well as out.

THE RIGHT AK AT THE RIGHT TIMEThe Arcturus AT-AK04, in my opinion, has hit the global airsoft market at precisely the right time. When speaking to friends in the international airsoft community I am seeing ARs being replaced by AKs at almost every turn and most certainly amongst those that I would refer to as “the old and bold”!

Whilst trends are driven in the main by manufacturers pushing forward with new models, the whole “AK Thing” seems to have grown more organically and to my mind has been driven by the players themselves. The move to OPFOR and the rise of Russian-themed teams has certainly helped but I would go further and say that the adoption of the AK platform by many more

seasoned players has � ltered down via games and sites to the newer player.

Once upon a time, the majority of players on any site would have been � elding some form of “AR/M4” so it was perfectly natural for new players to look around and come to the conclusion that this style of RIF would be their � rst purchase. I will openly admit that you would always see other styles of RIFs at any site but I believe you’d have to be blind not to agree that up until now the “AR” has been king.

I’ll bring this down to a thoroughly local, grass-roots level. My local shop sells many, many “AR” AEGs and in truth that is their “bread and butter”. However, there are a bunch of us that play together and hang out at the shop socially that use AKs and in recent times the shop has seen a rise in the sales of AK models. I would have to draw the conclusion that these two things are connected.

Although there are a few of us that love the classic 47/AKM/74 wood and metal models, the newer players in the main seem to look for something far more funky, far more “modern”, with all the bells and whistles as standard. The release by manufacturers, therefore, of thoroughly up-to-the-minute “tacticool AKs” with buffer tubes and fancy stocks, upgraded controls and all � avours of rail system has grabbed the attention of many new players - and the prices are now keen enough to please all of our wallets!

The newest AT- AK04 Carbine from MOS/Arcturus is an absolutely classic example of this, as it provides a modern, clean look with precision performance. If you look at this particular AEG from end to end the only giveaway that it’s an AK is the central section,

ARCTURUS AK CARBINE AT-AK04

“THE MOVE TO OPFOR AND THE RISE OF RUSSIAN-THEMED TEAMS HAS CERTAINLY

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ARCTURUS AK CARBINE AT-AK04

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combining the lower receiver with the top cover. In this area you’ll � nd the traditional AK selector but even this is upgraded with a “tacticool” thumb lever! Going to the rear of the 04 you’ll � nd a rock-solid buffer tube with singlepoint sling plate, along with a super “MOE L” style sliding stock.

Go forward from the receiver group and you’ll see a lovely slimline M-LOK rail made from high-quality alloy that looks great a feels just right in the support hand; it also has an “MOE AK” style pistol grip to round things out nicely. To me the only thing that jars slightly is the chunky “super-74” style � ash-hider but this is on a standard 14mm CCW thread so is easily replaced with an after-market part. I quite fancy one of the new muzzle-blast devices for it which would make it “thoroughly modern” in my eyes. In addition to some � rst-rate � ip-up front and rear sights, the 04 is also equipped with a unique magazine funnel which helps to make mag changes easier and faster.

Each 04 has a unique serial number and most of the external elements are made of metal. It should be noted here that (as in the real thing) the receiver, top cover, the safety selector and the trigger guard together with the latch of the magazine have been cold pressed from steel sheet. All these metal elements have been protected against corrosion using a “real steel” industrial process.

Knowing the other brands that MOS bring to the party the gearbox is � rst rate. There is a quick-change spring system and the spring guide, as well as the piston head, has bearings. The polymer piston is equipped with steel teeth that work with high-quality gears. Gears are mounted on slide bearings to be able to cope with the highest loads; only the motor rack is mounted on ball bearings to ensure that it is free to spin at high speeds. The 04 bene� ts from an electric trigger “Micro Switch” that is connected to low-resistance wiring, so essentially it is 100% Li-Po ready (the use of an electric trigger eliminates the problem of burned out contacts and improves the response to the trigger too).

The gearbox is � nished with a Te� on sealed nozzle.

Te� on provides durability and, most importantly, has very good � ow properties so no lubrication is required. This works with a metal hop-up chamber in which a hardened 6.01mm precision steel barrel is mounted. The gearbox has been equipped with a spring tension release that has been placed next to the trigger; the spring-loaded lever basically pushes the anti-reversal latch to release the spring tension, keeping the gearbox in top shape over time.

Huge thought and attention to detail has gone into the AT- AK04 and this shows on the range!

I had wondered about the power level of the 04 (in Poland the legal level for AEGs there is actually a whopping 17 Joules before a RIF is classi� ed as a � rearm, although players don’t get anywhere near that of course) and when the 04 arrived it was indeed up at 1.59 Joule/415fps on a RZR .20g! After a swift and easy spring change it was soon down to a UK legal and friendly 109 Joule/344fps on the same BBs. I am certain that UK-purchased models will be at the correct power legally but as a word of advice, if you buy from outside the UK chrono as soon as you receive it and have a spring on hand to reduce power immediately if you � nd you’re heading into a “grey area”!

Once I was happy with the power level I upped to .25g RZRs. The shot distance was great, sending BBs right to the extent of the 30m range with a dead-� at trajectory. After running a couple of full mags through the 04 I was able to achieve a nice tight group and switching to full-auto delivered a line of BBs straight to target. The 04 comes with two magazines as standard, a 550 BB hi-cap and a 120/30 BB model; this can be easily changed out by removing the magazine “cassette” and simply � ipping a clearly marked switch. Both magazines feed perfectly and are black “74” style; between the two you get a lot of game options, so bloody well done Arcturus!

SUMMARYOverall the Arcturus AK CARBINE AT-AK04 is one hell of a package. It’s beautifully put together and � nished, the parts are completely bombproof and it shoots really, REALLY well. And the best bit? It costs under 240 quid! Yup, you heard that right! A top-of-the-line “tacticool” AK with everything you need to get in the game for £237.56 at the time of writing!

If you’re not an “AK Guy” already, then this AEG could well change your mind! AA

My sincere thanks go to www.taiwangun.com for providing the test sample and please do be sure to visit their website to check out the other models from Arcturus and much, much more!

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