Photo Review: Desert Warrior

[Jagdraben]

As many people have, no doubt, posted about the skirmishability of Ver. 3 SCW Western Arms 1911s, I see no particular reason to go into it in any great depth. Rather, as it is often said that Western Arms are highly accurate replicas, I figured that I would put the claim to the test.

 

First Impressions

At first glance, the Kimber Desert Warrior and its replica are very similar. They both have black controls, stainless(-ish) barrels, a unique coloration, ambidextrous controls, integrated dust cover/rails, and Kimber's khaki G10 grips (or, in the case of the Western Arms, a high quality plastic replica thereof). But on further inspection, that's where the similarities end.

 

Up-close and Personal

The first thing one will notice is off is the color of the finish. On the real steel, it's much darker and greyer, while the airsoft version is much closer to tan. Neither of the finishes are identical to Flat Dark Earth, the color they are supposed to be, however. Furthermore, the exact coloration of the finish in the Desert Warrior line has varied from the first production run to the more recent production runs.

 

The second thing one will notice is that the thumb safeties are not correct on the Western Arms. Both sides are too large and the right thumb safety is, in fact, of completely the wrong shape. The hammers are different between the two, but this is most likely due to an error at the Kimber factory, where they put a hammer bound for a TLE II or TLE/RL II on the Desert Warrior I recieved. Oh well. Adds character. The fact that the sights on the WA do not have Tritium inserts is a no-nevermind, because it would senselessly drive up the price of the gun. If you really want tritium inserts, though, you can probably buy a set from Kimber (provided you live in the States, at least)... whether or not modifications are needed is another matter.

 

The third thing one will notice is that the rails are different. In fact, I suspect that the rail on the WA is out of spec, because it is impossible to mount a SureFire X200 such that the rear of the light is adjacent to the triggerguard of the pistol, whereas on the real deal, it is very easily done (there are also numerous photos on the web of RS Desert Warrior and Warrior owners who have mounted X200s all the way back).

 

The fourth thing one would notice would be the trades. The differences are subtle, but there. The real deal has the trades set deep and wide, while the WA has them set up fairly sharply.

 

The last difference is even more subtle and nearly impossible to pick up on in photos: The real steel has had a melt treatment applied (standard), whereas the WA appears to not even have been deburred.

 

[Continued in next post...]

[Jagdraben]

[...Cont'd]

 

More Photos

 

Slide Locks and Safeties

One last inaccuracy: It can be seen in this picture above. While not major, aesthetically, it does seem to impede function as it is possible to return the real Desert Warrior back to battery by simply tugging on the slide after an empty magazine has been ejected, while the WA requires you to depress the slide release.

 

Conclusions

All-in-all, the WA Kimber Desert Warrior is a fairly decent reproduction, but there is definately plenty of room for Western Arms to improve. A replica is either made or broken by details. It seems clear that Western Arms, rather than paying attention to the details, took the big things and just threw together a bunch of pieces from a bunch of other Western Arms 1911s, painted them, and called it a Desert Warrior.

[Lithium Jack]

Good stuff, interesting read.

 

I think, though, what most WA owners will be interested in, is will various parts from the real Kimber transfer over to the replica sans modification?

[Jagdraben]

I would imagine that a large number of them would, but not necessarily all. I'm not exactly an airsoft gun guru and I don't particularly feel like taking my real handgun apart to see if the parts on her will fit on the replica. Y'all probably need someone else dumb enough to own both.

[phoenix360mute]

pro tip, take out the rubber in the recoil system for the battery trick, its there to make sure the slide locks 100% of the time, but it is no tneeded in any way

[tomster]

Very nice review/comparison. All in all, WA did a pretty good job replicating the real deal. A picture of the X200 mounted on both to see the difference regarding the rail would be much appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance.

[SilentScope]

This is a good thread. I hope you don't hold back on that Kimber and give her what she wants, which is abuse.

 

But yeah die, go to hell etc. for being 21.

[Jagdraben]

22, actually. I got it the Monday before my Birthday... and I had wanted to get a handgun on my 21st birthday! (Damn you, airsofts, damn you!)

 

As for abuse, I won't pamper her, but I also certainly won't go out of my way to punish her, either.

[SilentScope]

I'm guessing the X200 is yours too? You pretty much got it made. I would shoot a gun like that everyday

[Jagdraben]

Yes, the X200 is mine. It's a nice light. Real handy when you've got a pistol strapped to your thigh and you need some reading light, but can't be arsed to find the light switch or find your MagLite.