trench_raider Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 (pardon size of photos and odd configuration) I've always had a fascination with real steel shotguns as close combat weapons, but have been turned off by their limited utility as an airsoft skirmish weapon. However the recent addition of pistol/short ranged guns games at the end of the day by my local group has finally out me in the market for an airsoft "scattergun". When Marushin recently released a replica of the Winchester M1887 lever action shotgun it didn't take very long to decide to order one. Real Steel History The Winchester M1887 was the first commercially successful repeating shotgun. The prototype lever action shotgun was designed for Winchester by the prolific gun designer John Moses Browning in 1885 and was meant to be a repeating alternative to the single and double barrel guns of the day. Interestingly enough Browning would have preferred to utilized a slide or pump action in his prototype, but Winchester overruled this decision in the belief that the lever action design would have superior consumer recognition as a Winchester product. Thus Browning's design was based around the action of the extremely popular line of repeating rifles that Winchester marketed. Browning's design proved to be solid enough and the production model (which differed only slightly from the prototype) soon appeared in 1887 at first only chambered in 12 gauge but soon a 10 gauge version was offered as well. The m1887 was offered in a variety of finishes and grades, and originally was shipped with a 28 inch barrel. During it's production life the gun went through a number of small modifications to the fore end and the way in which the 5 round tube magazine was attached to the gun. The gun gained popularity in some circles as a fighting weapon and the barrel was routinely cut down to more manageable length. This prompted Winchester to release a riot gun gun version aimed at the law enforcement market in 1898. This version came stock with a 20 inch barrel and was far more handy to use as a weapon than the longer sporting gun. Despite it's superior firepower to the older guns the M1887 never really caught on. Besides being considerably more expensive than a double barreled bun it was also considerably heavier and the lever action was said to be tiring to use for an extended period of time. Moreover the black powder shells that the original m1887 design was built for quickly fouled the complex lever action design and caused jams. One of the great failings of the design was the fact that when it was hit the market the vast majority of shotgun shells still used black powder. When smokeless powder shotgun shells appeared it was found that the action of the m1887 was not strong enough to use the more more powerful shells safely. Thus a model with a strengthen receiver was marketed as the m1901. By this time, however, Winchester had another repeating shotgun for sale: the hugely popular m1897 pump action gun. Thus to avoid having two competing 12 gauge repeaters on the market at the same time, Winchester offered the m1901 only in 10 gauge. The m1901 was no more popular than it's predecessor and production ended in 1920. Total unit sales for both the M1887 and M1901 for their entire run were only 78,000. One of the last users of a Winchester lever action shotgun as a fighting gun was the murderous Clyde Barrow (of "Bonnie and Clyde fame) who was found to have an M1901 riot gun among the weapons found in his possession when he was killed by law enforcement officers in May of 1934. This gun (serial number 72767) is held by the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco, Texas. This gun has law enforcement markings and was no doubt taken from one of the officers kidnapped or murdered by Barrow during his brief career. It's use by barrow is something of a mystery as he usually preferred his shotguns to be severely amputated Browning and Remington semi-automatics. Today Winchester lever action shotguns are becoming hard to come by and quite expensive due to their popularity with cowboy action shooters and the use of a cut down version of the weapon in the movie, "Terminator 2". A working example, depending on condition and grade, will run between one and three thousand dollars. Impression of the Replica I ordered my m1887 from UNcompany and due to the slow holiday mail it took a much longer time to reach me than usual. Price after shipping from Hong Kong was about 315$US. I was initially disappointed when opening the box as I was under the impression that the replica was going to be full metal. However I quickly got over this after seeing that the ABS receiver was well made and solid. As stated, the replica is very solid with no rattles, squeaks, or flex to speak of. Unlike the silly "Terminator 2" cut down version that Marushin made previous to this gun this replica has real wood furniture which is stained in a pleasing dark finish. The configuration of the furniture and shape of the tube magazine retaining tab show this to be a replica of an early model M1887 and the size of the outer barrel approximates that of a 10 gauge gun. External metal parts include the tube magazine, the hammer, and the entire lever action assembly and trigger. Overall, despite the plastic receiver, the gun has a good weight at a little over six pounds. The Marushin M1887 The replica came shipped in a box with an "Old West" looking script labeling the gun as a M1887 "Guard Gun". Along with the replica was a manual, 5 shotgun shells, a large plastic key for adjusting the hopup as well as the usual small bag of BBs and paper target. The manual is in Japanese, but is well illustrated enough with photographs explain the loading process. The replica is marked with the correct Winchester Repeating Arms trademarks on the left side of the receiver an under the lever action. The Marushin markings are small and unobtrusive. The winchester trades The lever action is very smooth and crisp. However I quickly realized that it was perhaps a bit too smooth as it take very little pressure to open it. In fact rough handling will cause the lever to drop open unwanted. This can be prevented by cocking the hammer, which locks the lever in the closed position, but this present a safety issue as the gun has no external safety and a fairly light trigger pull. Carrying it in the field with the hammer cocked should not be an issue, but this is not a gun you want to load in the staging area. M1887 with action opened The replica uses individually loaded shotgun shells , each of which holds one to three 8mm BBs. The shells are about 3/4 the size of a real shotgun shell and seem quite solid in construction. They retain the BBs quite well and no manner of rough handling or shaking will dislodge them. This is a plus in a skirmish weapon. The gas is loaded through a port located at the bottom of the lever action. The action must be opened and the gun turned upside down to fill it. The gun came with a brass adaptor similar to that supplied with Tanaka revolvers, but I found that it is not needed to fill the gun. The recess in which the port is located it quite deep, however, and it's easy to mis-align the can and the port, which results in a face full of gas! I found that a full fill will last for two magazines of shells with a noticeable drop off in velocity in the last couple of shots. The gas injection port Loading the replica is a bit tricky. Unlike most repeating shotguns, the M1887 does not have a separate loading port. Loading is accomplished via the top of the receiver. The action is opened with the finger lever. Then a shell is placed in the carrier and pushed down. This points the nose of the shell toward the tube magazine. Finger pressure on the rear of the shell will push the shell into the magazine and the carrier will pop back into place ready to load the next shell. Despite what I have read in some of the reviews of the "Terminator 2" model, this is not a difficult, thing to do and it's not easy to get one's fingers caught in the action if done with care. After loading it a few times, it becomes fairly simple and quick, but it is still something that is going to be quite slow in the stress of a skirmish. One flaw that I did notice quite quickly is that the extraction is extremely inconsistent. Empty shells are supposed to be ejected from the gun every time the lever action is cycled, but I have found that this works correctly only about half the time. When it does work, it tends to fling the spent shell upward and back into the shooters face. Not dangerous to a shooter wearing eye protection, but slightly annoying. The common failure to completely extract the shells is far more of an issue. While most of the time the spent shell simply lies in the carrier rather than being ejected and can be quickly plucked from it's position and dropped, occasionally it results in a "stovepipe" type jam which takes some effort to clear. Continued: Open breach with shell in carrier Shooting Impression Shooting the replica proved to be a great experience. The choice by Marushin to chamber it for 8mm BBs, despite their being far more expensive and hard to find, enhances the experience. The heavier weight means greater accuracy and penetration of light foliage. From an aesthetic standpoint, it means a lot as 8mm BBs are very similar in size to real steel buckshot. The firing signature is a very satisfying "bang" and reports from those on the receiving end of the gun indicate that it also emits a small cloud of gas with each shot. Loaded with a single .32 gram BB in each shell the replica shoots a rather hot 400 fps or so. I found the replica to be quite accurate thus loaded with range being very similar to (or perhaps even slightly longer than) an upgraded AEG. With single shots I was able to hit a man sized target at 100 feet with no trouble. Sadly, this velocity under current Texas rules would subject it to the minimum engagement distance rules of a sniper rifle, which in my mind feels completely wrong for a shotgun. Loaded with three BBs, the velocity drops to a little below 300 fps as near as I can tell. Cronographing shotguns that fire more than one BB at a time causes most chronographs to register an error, but I was able to get a couple of good readings and arrived at the figure through this, the "coke can test", and visual estimation based upon prior experience. Fully loaded shells result in a greatly reduced range of course, but I was still impressed. I was able to hit man sized targets at 40-50 feet or so and was surprised by the flat trajectory of the BBs throughout most of their flight. This was obviously due to their greater weight. Despite only having three BBs, the gun still produces a great "shotgun spread" effect, with the pattern being about one foot to 18 inches wide at about 40 feet. The positive impact of this in producing hits on a target should be obvious. Skirmish Report As intended, I used the M1887 at our weekly skirmish in Austin on Jan. 8th. The unusual nature of the gun caused quite a stir as one might imagine and with a little goating about "sending some buckshot" to the opposition, I took to the field armed with it during our end of the day semi-CQB match. I found the weight to not be an issue and the length of the gun just about right. It pointed quickly and naturally. I fired a total of ten shots from the gun and as expected the somewhat awkward loading process proved to be difficult to acomplish under fire. After emptying it the first time I found it easier to simply single load shells into the breach rather than trying to fill the magazine fully before returning to the fight. True to form, I did experience one "stovepipe" jam which took about 30 seconds to clear. As I did not move more than a few feet from my chosen fighting position, recovering the spent shells (which I simply dropped on the ground) was not a problem. I can imagine that in a woods game, this would become more of an issue and some care would be needed to prevent loosing the rather expensive shells. I did not manage to actually hit anyone with the gun but did score a number of impressive near misses. In these cases the intimidation factor of the gun and it's heavy load were very obvious. The sound it made when impacting cover was quite a bit louder than 6mm BBs and this alone seemed to keep the opposition's heads down more than if they had been facing a pistol armed opponent. One fellow in particular leaned out from cover to take a shot at me, and found a load of 8mm "buckshot" missing his head by inches. The cries of dismay from the opposition at this disconcerting close call caused me to laugh out loud! Overall, despite my not being able to hit anything, (which I put down to rushed shooting caused by my own eagerness to shoot and the opposition being extremely careful to keep under good cover) I feel the shotgun did decent service and it was with great reluctance I had to put it down and draw my KJ Ruger to finish the fight. Conclusion Summing up the pros of the replica are: -Historically accurate and pleasing looks...A real head turner at skirmishes! -Wood furniture comes stock -Crisp action -Good accuracy even with fully loaded shells -Handy length -Decent price for a shotgun Cons include the following: -Something of a gas hog -inconstant extraction -No manual safety requires careful handling -Seperate shells might be easy to loose -Not very "milsim" for those care about such things - All in all, I'm pleased with the Marushin M1887. It functions well, is accurate and has good power. While I would not recommend it as a primary skirmish arm by any means, it performs well enough at close quarters and should appeal to those with a affection for classic guns. Rest assured, it will be my CQB gun of choice in the future. Link to post Share on other sites
bigphish038 Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Good review..Kinda want one now. Link to post Share on other sites
Sledge Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Could you maybe resize the pics? Only they're so big, you have to keep scrolling left and right to read the text. Link to post Share on other sites
trench_raider Posted January 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Could you maybe resize the pics? Done. If you are getting an error or still see the big photos hit "refresh" on your browser. "Trench Raider" Link to post Share on other sites
Sledge Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Cheers for resize, and top review. Sledge want now Link to post Share on other sites
evilhippy Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Get one, as soon as you can. They are freakin' unbelievably sweet Haven't read the review as I've already been praising this baby for ages, but I guess the general gist of it is: "least practical and most fun airsoft shotgun ever" ?? Thought so Link to post Share on other sites
blokhed Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Thanks for the excellent review. I'm sold. Now I just gotta get one of those KTW Winchesters to complete my Western collection... Link to post Share on other sites
TheDio Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 Oh my, that is beautiful.... Link to post Share on other sites
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