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Apr21
WE Colt M1911A1 Full Metal
Introduction
I have always wanted a 1911 after seeing a lot of war movies (especially “black hawk down”) where the 1911 was used by special forces. If special forces use it I want it. I have been searching for a nice full metal 1911 for a long time, first you only had the Western Arms 1911 which is a very good pistol but it’s ABS, and the metal kits for the Western Arms 1911 are very expensive. Later came the choice for the Tokyo marui 1911 but it has the same downside ABS, so when the WE 1911A1 came on the market I found it to be very interesting fully Tokyo marui compatible (the parts not the mags) and full metal. So I am very glad doing this review. Thanks go out to 101airsoft.com who kindly provided this review sample! Check out their offering on the WE Colt M1911A1 here... For only 90 USD, roughly 70 EURO, this model can be yours. Let's continue to the review...
Facts and features
These are the facts of this WE 1911a1 pistol. What is this gun able to? These are the stock specifications listed in the voucher supplied with the pistol. Later on we will test the rifle if all the facts are really true.
Product Name WE 1911A1
Model Number 1911
Weight 930g
Magazine Capacity 14+1 BB's
Bullet 6mm BB
Initial Bullet Speed 330 fps
Energy 1 Joule
Shooting Range 25 ft, maximum 45 ft
System Gas Blow Back / adjustable Hop-Up
Built Material Full Metal (Slide & Lower Frame)
Material Used Zinc metal and few ABS resin
History
The 1911 was adopted by the US military and has been used in the US military in several conflicts, Second world war, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, and is still in use by several unit’s to day. Even today it is used by a lot of units because of a few thing’s, the 1911 has great stopping power with the .45mm ammo compared to the weaker 9mm ammo of the M9. The down side of the 1911 is the ammo capacity of only 7 rounds in a magazine, but the 1911 is so reliable that some unit’s in the US army prefer it over the M9.
First Impression
First impression I had when I opened up the cardboard box was that it was a little bigger then I expected, not to big but a little bigger then the berretta. The 1911 has a nice hefty feel to it and it comes with 2 mags which is a big plus. The pistol looks and feels great. Now the more imported stuff I couldn’t wait to load this pistol grapping a can of green gas and a bag of bb’s it was on to the testing.
Externals
The whole 1911 is made out of good quality metal parts, slide, lower frame, outer barrel, spring guide, trigger, hammer, and so on. Only the grips on this pistol and some hop-up part’s aren’t metal the rest is. The grips are plastic which have been given the wood look, it looks nice but in my opinion real wood or hough grips do the WE 1911 more justice. I will buy myself a set of hough grips to replace the originals. The colour of the 1911 is very authentic and looks really well all parts are evenly well painted and all look very good.
When ever I pick up the gun I get a smile on my face, because of the nice looks and feel. Because of the full metal construction it also feels cold. The gun feels rock solid as you may expect from a metal version. The slide fits perfectly, the is hardly any friction or other movement. The magazine fits also need and I couldn't detect any friction. There are also no feeding problems. The overall feeling when holding the gun is solid, like you can hammer some nails with it.
The sights are unpainted, but they can be used easily. Neither the sight is removable nor adjustable, this is quite standard for most pistols. The safety on the WE 1911 is a nice peace of work, there is the grip safety that make sure that the pistol isn’t accidently discharged when falling ore hitting a branch, when you hold the pistol in your hand the grip safety automatically disengages so you can shoot. There is another safety on the WE 1911 when the pistol is loaded you can put this safety up witch is located at the and of the slide just before the hammer, when is safety is engaged there is no way you can shoot, pull the slide, dissemble the pistol, I think it’s nice feature the grip safety for extra secures when in use.
The magazines for the WE 1911 are also fully constructed out of metal and are very sturdy. I have found that the feed well and lock the slide back after every last bb, I have to say I found a few downsides they contain gas for 2 bb loads in the summer and only for 1 in the winter(when I used yellow gas I haven’t had the opportunity to purchase red gas). I had one of the 2 magazines leaking on me after a few time’s of use I opened it up properly greased the o-rings and the problem was solved, I found the magazine to be a bit dry but lubricating the o-rings was an easy fix.
Internals
Field stripping the WE 1911 is easy, release the magazine, pull back the slide until the little gab in the slide is almost at the and of you slide release, push the slide release out. Now you can slide the slide of and adjust the hop-up unit clean and lubricate the other parts. You can further strip the 1911 by pushing the spring guide and spring to the side then pulling them out, turning the black peace at the front of the slide underneath the barrel and pulling it out, then grapping the black tube out from the inside op the slide, then sliding the barrel with hop-up unit out of the front of the slide. The internals look and feel really well made and are 100% compatible with Tokyo marui parts so upgraded parts will be widely available soon.
Performance
BlowBack
The blowback on this pistol is nice I have tried it with green and yellow gas and both where fine (Note yellow gas was used when it was around 5 degrees and the blowback wasn’t that impressive but still fine). There is a recommendation for red gas for this pistol but I have not found a supplier nearby that has it in stock so I hope I will get my hands on some red gas soon that would increase the blowback a lot. The only thing that I have found to be a down side is the slide not cycling as fast as the HFC M190, no problem for me but if I was sniping I would rather have a some what faster cycling side arm.
FPS
The fps test of this gun where done first with predator ultra gas at around 22 degrees Celsius, the pistol was shooting 328 witch is pretty impressive. Later I have tested the WE 1911A1 with yellow gas at 5 degrees Celsius it was still shooting 270/280 witch I found pretty impressive. I hope I can do some test with yellow gas inside at around 20 degrees and also with red gas to see the true potential of this side arm.
Target Practice
I haven’t had the chance to do some real target practice but the shot’s I fired with it in the field where nice shooting far and accurate. The adjustable hop-up comes in handy here because of the gas system and the changing temperatures a gas pistol will have the tendency to change in performance of shot’s, because of the adjustable hop-up you can adjust to the gas you are using ore the temperature outside with out having to change bb weight.
Overall
If you are looking for a nice full metal GBB that’s worth it’s bang for the buck this pistol is a good choice, considering it’s price and that it come’s with 2 magazines is a big plus. Taking in mind that this pistol is ideal for people who take time for well aimed shot’s rather than spraying because of the lower cycle rate witch isn’t that much lower but it’s noticeable. I would definitely prefer this WE model over de WA and TM models.
* Doesn’t cycle as fast as some other GBB’s
* Low magazine capacity (15)
External Links
www.101airsoft.com
I have always wanted a 1911 after seeing a lot of war movies (especially “black hawk down”) where the 1911 was used by special forces. If special forces use it I want it. I have been searching for a nice full metal 1911 for a long time, first you only had the Western Arms 1911 which is a very good pistol but it’s ABS, and the metal kits for the Western Arms 1911 are very expensive. Later came the choice for the Tokyo marui 1911 but it has the same downside ABS, so when the WE 1911A1 came on the market I found it to be very interesting fully Tokyo marui compatible (the parts not the mags) and full metal. So I am very glad doing this review. Thanks go out to 101airsoft.com who kindly provided this review sample! Check out their offering on the WE Colt M1911A1 here... For only 90 USD, roughly 70 EURO, this model can be yours. Let's continue to the review...
Facts and features
These are the facts of this WE 1911a1 pistol. What is this gun able to? These are the stock specifications listed in the voucher supplied with the pistol. Later on we will test the rifle if all the facts are really true.
Product Name WE 1911A1
Model Number 1911
Weight 930g
Magazine Capacity 14+1 BB's
Bullet 6mm BB
Initial Bullet Speed 330 fps
Energy 1 Joule
Shooting Range 25 ft, maximum 45 ft
System Gas Blow Back / adjustable Hop-Up
Built Material Full Metal (Slide & Lower Frame)
Material Used Zinc metal and few ABS resin
History
The 1911 was adopted by the US military and has been used in the US military in several conflicts, Second world war, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, and is still in use by several unit’s to day. Even today it is used by a lot of units because of a few thing’s, the 1911 has great stopping power with the .45mm ammo compared to the weaker 9mm ammo of the M9. The down side of the 1911 is the ammo capacity of only 7 rounds in a magazine, but the 1911 is so reliable that some unit’s in the US army prefer it over the M9.
First Impression
First impression I had when I opened up the cardboard box was that it was a little bigger then I expected, not to big but a little bigger then the berretta. The 1911 has a nice hefty feel to it and it comes with 2 mags which is a big plus. The pistol looks and feels great. Now the more imported stuff I couldn’t wait to load this pistol grapping a can of green gas and a bag of bb’s it was on to the testing.
Externals
The whole 1911 is made out of good quality metal parts, slide, lower frame, outer barrel, spring guide, trigger, hammer, and so on. Only the grips on this pistol and some hop-up part’s aren’t metal the rest is. The grips are plastic which have been given the wood look, it looks nice but in my opinion real wood or hough grips do the WE 1911 more justice. I will buy myself a set of hough grips to replace the originals. The colour of the 1911 is very authentic and looks really well all parts are evenly well painted and all look very good.
When ever I pick up the gun I get a smile on my face, because of the nice looks and feel. Because of the full metal construction it also feels cold. The gun feels rock solid as you may expect from a metal version. The slide fits perfectly, the is hardly any friction or other movement. The magazine fits also need and I couldn't detect any friction. There are also no feeding problems. The overall feeling when holding the gun is solid, like you can hammer some nails with it.
The sights are unpainted, but they can be used easily. Neither the sight is removable nor adjustable, this is quite standard for most pistols. The safety on the WE 1911 is a nice peace of work, there is the grip safety that make sure that the pistol isn’t accidently discharged when falling ore hitting a branch, when you hold the pistol in your hand the grip safety automatically disengages so you can shoot. There is another safety on the WE 1911 when the pistol is loaded you can put this safety up witch is located at the and of the slide just before the hammer, when is safety is engaged there is no way you can shoot, pull the slide, dissemble the pistol, I think it’s nice feature the grip safety for extra secures when in use.
The magazines for the WE 1911 are also fully constructed out of metal and are very sturdy. I have found that the feed well and lock the slide back after every last bb, I have to say I found a few downsides they contain gas for 2 bb loads in the summer and only for 1 in the winter(when I used yellow gas I haven’t had the opportunity to purchase red gas). I had one of the 2 magazines leaking on me after a few time’s of use I opened it up properly greased the o-rings and the problem was solved, I found the magazine to be a bit dry but lubricating the o-rings was an easy fix.
Internals
Field stripping the WE 1911 is easy, release the magazine, pull back the slide until the little gab in the slide is almost at the and of you slide release, push the slide release out. Now you can slide the slide of and adjust the hop-up unit clean and lubricate the other parts. You can further strip the 1911 by pushing the spring guide and spring to the side then pulling them out, turning the black peace at the front of the slide underneath the barrel and pulling it out, then grapping the black tube out from the inside op the slide, then sliding the barrel with hop-up unit out of the front of the slide. The internals look and feel really well made and are 100% compatible with Tokyo marui parts so upgraded parts will be widely available soon.
Performance
BlowBack
The blowback on this pistol is nice I have tried it with green and yellow gas and both where fine (Note yellow gas was used when it was around 5 degrees and the blowback wasn’t that impressive but still fine). There is a recommendation for red gas for this pistol but I have not found a supplier nearby that has it in stock so I hope I will get my hands on some red gas soon that would increase the blowback a lot. The only thing that I have found to be a down side is the slide not cycling as fast as the HFC M190, no problem for me but if I was sniping I would rather have a some what faster cycling side arm.
FPS
The fps test of this gun where done first with predator ultra gas at around 22 degrees Celsius, the pistol was shooting 328 witch is pretty impressive. Later I have tested the WE 1911A1 with yellow gas at 5 degrees Celsius it was still shooting 270/280 witch I found pretty impressive. I hope I can do some test with yellow gas inside at around 20 degrees and also with red gas to see the true potential of this side arm.
Target Practice
I haven’t had the chance to do some real target practice but the shot’s I fired with it in the field where nice shooting far and accurate. The adjustable hop-up comes in handy here because of the gas system and the changing temperatures a gas pistol will have the tendency to change in performance of shot’s, because of the adjustable hop-up you can adjust to the gas you are using ore the temperature outside with out having to change bb weight.
Overall
If you are looking for a nice full metal GBB that’s worth it’s bang for the buck this pistol is a good choice, considering it’s price and that it come’s with 2 magazines is a big plus. Taking in mind that this pistol is ideal for people who take time for well aimed shot’s rather than spraying because of the lower cycle rate witch isn’t that much lower but it’s noticeable. I would definitely prefer this WE model over de WA and TM models.
* Doesn’t cycle as fast as some other GBB’s
* Low magazine capacity (15)
External Links
www.101airsoft.com
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