Finally got it out to the range today, and it was a real treat to shoot. There aren't a lot of AK guys at my range, and that's all I usually bring with me so I always get a few rubberneckers who come over and ask questions. I'm friendly and enjoy talking to these guys and answering their (sometimes silly) questions.
Note to all Kalashnikov noobs - Russian AG4 plastic/"bakelite" mags are not, in fact, wood.
ANYway ... this is about HKs, not AKs. I only ran a few mags of Wolf Gold through this because I had other guns to shoot as well, but the HK experienced no hiccups with the aluminum mag (more on that below). Here's what came with me today: from left to right the PTR C93, a Galil ACE in 7.62x39, an Arsenal SLR-106 in 5.56, and a Romanian PM md. 63 in 7.62x39.
After picking up the gun, I purchased a few 25, 30, and 40-round ProMags. In testing out the mags at the start, I didn't load my mags ahead of time at home, and only loaded five to ten rounds each (ten in the aluminum and five in each of the plastics to begin with). The aluminum mag locks in nice and just tight enough. The ProMags were weird. All sizes inserted loosely and felt like they were going to fall out of the gun. All just
barely seated in, even after a few stout whacks of my hand on the mag bases. They feel like they're just hanging in there, and you barely have to depress the mag release for them to fall back out. However, only the 30-rounder I could pull back out with enough force without pressing the mag release. All mags fed, but I didn't run very many rounds through any of them so I'm not sure if this will be consistent or problematic in the future. It almost feels like the horizontal mold lines at the top of the ProMags should be a millimeter lower than they are, like I needed just a pinch more space to push them into the gun to fully lock them in. They are all fairly cheap at Gun Mag Warehouse ($12.99 to $17.99), so I may sacrifice the 30-rounder by filing down the vertical line to test and see if that improves lock.
After trying out each of the ProMags, I loaded up another full aluminum mag and again, no problems whatsoever. I think I'm going to save up a bit more and add a few more legit metal HK mags to my collection. I hate ProMags for the AK, but I had read quite a few positive reports about their HK mags. After a cursory afternoon experience with them and this new gun, my opinions haven't really changed.
As I said above, on today's range the only .223 I brought with me was Wolf Gold, for the HK and the Arsenal. No problems with it, but the HK sure does send the brass flying! I'm used to this with AK variants but the HK took it up several notches, angrily ejecting cases at about a 3 o'clock trajectory, some 20+ feet away. One nice thing was that the ejection pattern was consistent - all the cases piled up quite nicely. However, they did take a beating before they landed there. Lots of scuffs, dings, and dents, and a nice carbon buildup on all of them. Picking them up, they look more bamboo than brass at this point!
Since I had a few other already-zeroed rifles with me, I went straight to the 100-yard range. Shooting an official 100-yard military target, I assumed/hoped that if the HK was off, rounds would still land on paper. I've never shot a roller delayed blowback before, and the iron sights are definitely different than what I'm used to. Not bad, but different. Here's my target after 20 or so rounds with zero adjustment. Seated at a bench using a sandbag. I'm decently satisfied and dare say impressed with the out-of-the-box accuracy. Note that all of the more disappointing rounds on the left that fall out of the black were from the ProMag 25-rounder. It easily could have been me, or a hotter barrel, but it was very weird that the ProMag rounds all flew so far to the left. Who knows.
Overall, I'm happy with this gun and glad I bought it. Felt recoil was more than my SLR but less than my x39 AKs (and more than my ACE. Even with the stock flash hider, that thing shoots softer than just about anything else I have in x39). Recoil impulse was also different than I'm accustomed to - slower than an AK and an AR. Pleasant.
I'll probably hang on to it, and once I get a bit more used to it I'm confident I can close up those shot strings a bit. I like red dots, so I think at some point I'm going to pick up a decent claw mount and put an optic on this thing. I mentioned that there are very few AK guys at my range, but this C93 caught a couple dudes' eyes, too, and they came over to inquire about it.
After I bought my first AK, it multiplied more times than the rabbits in my backyard. While the C93 is a hoot and a half, I still don't feel a pull to double down on a PTR-91 or something similar, but that may change someday. I will say this though ... I'm in my mid-30s and that HK slap made me grin like a boy who just saw his first pair of boobies. Holy moly it's fun to do!
