(this guy is from G&P - who we know makes great products)
Some people love tactical AKs, some hate them. Me - I like them a lot. As a guy who usually runs support, I am more biased toward a MK46 or a MK43, and of course - the M249 is always fun too. BUT I am becoming more and more open to the AK-family, and the tactical AK is the kind I tend to like best. I do get that some people are "AK purists" - they need a wood stock, nothing 'tactical', and that's the end of the discussion. I suppose there are people like that with their AR/M4s too, but in my experience AK fans are more often purists than the M4 peeps are.
I think that the tactical AK is growing on people though. Probably with the conflicts in the Middle East we are seeing more real contractors running AK-platforms, and we all know that a good part of airsoft is looking the part/looking cool. Thus, if some professional contractor has one, more airsofters are going to want them too.
This one above is from Magpul PTS and I love it. Partially it's just the 'it looks cool' factor. Part of it is because I'm a Costa fan and he has run this one before. But the other side of the equation for me is what this one offers. Adjsutable stock - huge benefit to me. Rail space - another great benefit. When I run anything other than support, I love to have a vert grip or AFG on my gun, so this gives me that option. And because of my style of play, a red dot is always nice. That's one thing about this one - the rail doesn't allow you add a red dot closer to your face, but you can't win them all I guess (and yes I know you can add a scope mount, but I am not a huge fan of them). The ICS AK (below) offers you more rail space closer to your face for optics, but it's almost impossible to find these days.
One nice thing is that if you like tactical AKs, they are becoming more and more reasonable in cost. JG (below) makes one and it's less than $200. It's not going to be the quality of the G&P, but it'll save you some cash.
If you want to take a step up from JG, the Echo 1 Contractor AK is a good option (below).
And APS makes some as does Javelin - and you can get them with the blowback feature too.
With more and more coming to the market, the tactical AK has a future it seems, and to me - that's a good thing.
- Carp
