Left is a Bulgarian AK74 I built. Right is the Well AK74B.
I paid $165 shipped for this NIB.
First thoughts on unboxing was how much I hate plastic furniture. Wood is good. Wood can be very expensive. Ive read that Well QC can be pretty spotty and apparently crappy fit for the furniture is a known issue. This one has no wiggle in the pistol grip or the handguards. Im still working on figuring out how to get the lower off to see if I can get an East German bake on there. Bakelite is pretty. Black plastic is not.
Now, the folding poly stock is another story. Horrid wiggly mess that wouldnt latch open. Ended up removing the locking latch, grinding it where it contacted the receiver/trunnion. I want to say I removed at least 0.050" of material. Little dab of locktite on the tension screw and there is minimal slop. About the same as a worn in hinge.
The selector is also garbage. It was way out of wack and went over the stop. The metal is quite soft. Ended up having to smash it flay so it hit the stop then remove it bend it at the hole so it had enough tension to not flop in the wind. It just feels cheap and out of place. I dislike the BHO notch but Im more of a purist.
The trigger bits actually look pretty good. Trigger feels heavy but smooth. A lot heavier than expected. It looks to be a double hook copy. Its closeish.
Overall the build quality is pretty good. Feels similar to the AK in green wood above. Similar weight without mags. Even came with the flash hider without orange!
The rivets are kinda cheap but its not supposed to support the stresses of a live round. The FSB is metal but no windage adjustment at all.
The mag latch is a little long and could use a trim but for the price Im actually pretty impressed!
Ive read that Well mags are junk. The first time I charged the mag it leaked pretty good. Sealed up nice on the second or third charge.
Visually its a little off compared to a ((10)) mag.
Left is a real ((10)), center is the Well and right is a KWA. The KWA quality is head and shoulders above the Well in quality and accuracy. The weight between a loaded real ((10)), the Well and the KWA mag is about the same. All 3 are fairly heavy.
Well on the left, KWA on the right. The feed lips on the Well are plastic vs the metal on the KWA.
I didnt expect a little latch on the top that either lets you dry fire to your hearts content or have it function like the real thing when empty, it drops the hammer and goes dead when empty. Perfect!
On FA the ROF is low, "full" bolt travel. Its satisfying with the klack, klack, klack I love in the AK. Recoil is decent, not as much as the real AK next to it but much, much more than an AEG.
For $165 Im thrilled and cant wait to run it more. Itll end up being a loaner/backup when my KWA AKSU arrives or if I just want to run a longer gun.
All in all, at this point Id recommend it.
