So, has anyone fired a Hudson Special Edition AK?

*** Originally posted by mark ***

Ah, the last Hudson AK, the SE version...Does it fire any good? I have seen the internals of the SE AK on Hudsons site and they look 100% better than the older version of the Hudson AK. Not only that the cartridges as well as the external appearance is better too.

But, more importantly, does it shoot good? While I certainally don't expect MGC firing quality, I do expect some reliability as Hudson re-designed so many internals as well as the cartridges.

Since they are getting rare and they are fairly expensive I would like to know if they are worth the trouble before I get one as I have had two of them ( one early paper cap version and one later PFC style) in the last few years and they where not reliable in the least...So, I ended up selling them..

I think but, I am not sure that the CP version that was released shortly before the SE version was considerably better than the earlier PFC version as it had a new cartridge ramp as well as smaller details and the CP style cartridges.

*** Originally posted by doc ***

Hi Mark,
the version before the SE I had and it was no better really, partly due to the poor cartridge internals,
Jay at modelguns shows them in stock but there is no video and seeing as this guy likes his vids I`d say the new one still doesnt work......not 100 % though I have not yet had my hands on one...partly due to the cost and partly due to the fact the earlier models were so poor.
Well made yes ..operation lousy.
The only ones to have fired OK were with the extra long cartridges that took both 7mm and 5mm cap and a little blank powder .....now they fired great and really loud .
In my mind, Hudson have never got the Scorpion or AK quite right in terms or function.

*** Originally posted by allenb ***

Mine fires nicely but I haven't put many rounds through it.

The carts are very heavy compared to Marushin or MGC 16 carts, so they have chosen to use 2 5mm caps in each cart.So its twice as expensive to fire!

I can kinda see why Hudson chose to do this - the fat,stubby AK rounds don't make it easy to design a lighter modelgun cart.

The gun itself is a pretty good replica of the AK though there are a few minus points.

The exterior finish on the barrel is different to the other metal parts which looks wrong. The barrel is a darker,shinier black compared to the grey of the rest of the gun.

Also when disassembling you need to unscrew one screw to take out the bolt carrier assembly which isn't right. This screw holds a rubber buffer at the end of the receiver which is not present on the real AK.

Only very small points but thought I should mention them - I'm a bit of a perfectionist and little things like this annoy me!

Gun has been 100% reliable, but not shot a great deal yet...

Hope this helps

*** Originally posted by claymore ***


Recently saw some vid of the hudson firing on this site

http://modelgun.hp.infoseek.co.jp/movies.htm

But again only a few rounds which suggests it is not that great however i dont know if this is the SE model or the older gun. Also dont know what you would have to to do to get it working right if the rounds are the problem would it be down to the inner piston as on the other models

Hudson got it right with the sten but all other guns seem to perform badly and need work. I now have a PPSH but so far it has not fired more than 4 rounds without a jam and broke 2 bolts in the process (a weak point on the PPSH i think) changing the inners improved things but with the bolt bust the left prong on the face of the bolt ( there are 2) that support the round as it is extracted has broke off, same place on both bolts which has meant that firing does seem better but i now need another bolt.

It seems that Hudson guns need a lot of tweaking (like the thompson) but when done are worth the effort as they are superb replicas.

*** Originally posted by mark ***

Thanks for the replies guys!

Doc,

That's what I expected and yes, the lack (with a couple of exceptions) of Hudson AK videos tells us something that we suspected already: That they are great for display only! And, yes the cost is considerably higher than I really want to pay at this point. I had tried to fire both of my AK's but they just didn't work very well. (too many friction points, sloppy fit and not very good cartridge internals) Hudson has at least tried to get their modelguns working better lately and I think that they are getting better due to market pressures as you can only make substandard products for a little while until people stop buying them..

Allenb,

The cartridges are expensive too eh? (well, not as bad as like the Shoei cartridges) I think that since Hudson supplies only 6? cartridges, most buyers elect to use them and not buy any more! While this might be attributed to the fact that the Hudson SE AK is expensive and they can't justify the extra cost of the cartridges to fill the magazine. As for the finish on the exterior of the barrel, does a magnet stick to it? It just might be a steel tube instead of the older, and brittle cast zinc barrels that Hudson had been using. You have to remove a buffer at the back of the receiver? That means that the cartridges have a much better gas retention system (O-rings etc.) and they move the bolt carrier back with more force and Hudson decided that a buffer was necessary ( incorrect, but necessary) to keep the bolt carrier from damaging the receiver.


Claymore,

Thanks for the link, I forgot about that guy!

I think that the small round count has more to do with the expense of the cartridges than the reliability aspect of the SE version perhaps. That's bad that your PPSH bolt is so weak! Maybe Hudson should change the alloy of the bolt castings so they don't continue to break as often. The Sten is awesome isn't it? I have however, noted the tendency for the Hudson Sten's feed rib (on the bottom of the bolt) to break/wear-out in a similar fashion to the PPSH bolt but, it takes longer. Yes, Hudson modelguns do need far more "tweaking" than most and they have some parts of questionable quality..But, you are right, they do make some awesome modelguns that the other modelgun manufacturers don't.