armoury
SPECNA ARMS SAJ-04
or the player who wants a “second” or OPFOR gun and
doesn’t want to break the bank, but I’m pleased to report
that all my AK Mid-Caps from different brands fit and
function well. I always find that, other than steel versions,
AK Hi-Caps feel a little insubstantial and even “flimsy”, but
the Specna Arms versions fit and feed well, although I did
notice a little “flash” came off the maglips with a “crack”
when first fitted. One associated feature I really like is one
that you may easily miss and that’s the little locating plate
in the magwell that lets you easily seat your magazine…
plus points here Specna Arms, as this will really help new
AK users!
The J04 has standard AK-74 iron (steel) sights, but if
you fancy fitting an optic then one additional feature that
comes as standard is an AK sight mount on the left hand
side of the receiver; you’ll need to buy the correct sight rail
to clamp to this though,
and
please note that
if you fit the rail then
you can’t close
the steel stock.
On the range AK-
74s have always given me very
respectable performance, and given
the 455mm inner barrel, pretty solid range
and accuracy too. First, I ran the rifle through the
chrono on .20g RZR BBs and recorded and consistent 1.11
Joule/347fps. Moving up to .25g BBs, easily resetting the
sliding hop adjustment and using just the iron sights (which
are also easily adjustable), I was able to hit A4 targets and
group reasonably at the limit of the 30m range. A 7.4V
LiPo battery fits easily under the top cover but if you’re
judicious you can squeeze in an 11.1V pack which brings
up the ROF quite seriously! My only quibble with the entire
rifle is the top-cover latch, which seems a little “short”;
even though I was able to lock the top-cover closed once
I’d fitted a battery it felt like the catch itself needs to be a
couple of millimetres “prouder” to ensure a solid lock. It’s
totally usable as is but I feel a slight change here would be
advantageous for future models.
Many airsofters, especially those just starting out, try to
find a replica model that will work for a variety of loadouts
and themes and the J04 certainly ticks all the boxes in this
respect. If you look at timeframes the AKS-74 was used
way back in Afghanistan (Round 1!) so you’re good for a
“Cold War” loadout, and it is still being used today - so
that’s “modern/OPFOR” and everything in between cracked
too. If you favour the ever-popular “contractor” look then
the J04 will work for that perfectly.
With solid performance out of the box, reasonably cheap
accessories and magazines should you need more, and an
introductory price of just €159 at the time of writing the
SA-J04 is a great bit of kit, and if you’re in the market for
something other than the “M4” then I’d really suggest
you take a good long look at this new model from Specna
Arms. I’m just keen to see exactly where they take “Project
J” next!
Thanks as always to www.gunfire.com for supplying
the test/review sample. Please do though visit www.
specnaarms.com to check out this model and the
comprehensive range of Specna Arms models
on offer! AA
“ONE ASSOCIATED FEATURE I REALLY LIKE IS ONE THAT YOU MAY EASILY MISS AND
THAT’S THE LITTLE LOCATING PLATE IN THE MAGWELL THAT LETS YOU EASILY SEAT
YOUR MAGAZINE… PLUS POINTS HERE SPECNA ARMS, AS THIS WILL REALLY HELP
NEW AK USERS!”
www.airsoftaction.net
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