HG-197 .45 - Hi-Capa (Full Metal) - ArniesAirsoft

Author

R22Master

Dionysus

Registered: September 2004
Location: Static in the UK, but wishing I was motorbiking around the world - UK > Europe > Russia > Alaska > USA > UK.
Posts: 3,372

Review Date: 15/8/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �65.00 | Rating: 7

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Full metal, good weight, good finish, low price, runs on Green Gas, high capacity magazine
Cons:	Sluggish blowback, poor gas efficiency

I ordered this gun from WGC and was quite excited to see it arrive. At last, a full metal Hi-Capa that promised to be every bit as good as my Marui Hi-Capa that I love to shoot so much.

First Impressions The gun comes in a rather bland cardboard box that seemed relatively uninspired, but hey - I'm not buying this for the box, eh? Wink

I picked up the gun and WOW - it is heavy - noticably heavier than the Marui offering. I pull back the top-slide and again - WOW - it sounds great. A joyous click-clack greeted me as its happy new owner.

The finish is really nice and the integrated rail is a bonus for anyone with a laser or tac-lite that they want to fit.

But enough of this tinkering - I want to shoot it.

Firing

I gas up the gun and load the BBs ready for its first trial. After racking the slide again (just love that noise) I aim and pull the trigger.

The first thing I noticed on firing this gun is that the blowback seems REALLY sluggish. It is so slow that you can easily see the hammer hit the back of the frame before the slide even starts to move. This is not a good thing as it removes a lot of the Bang you get with the TM Hi-Capa.

The recoil is average to good, but again the TM Hi-Capa is better.

Gas efficiency is pretty terrible. Even on a full fill of Green Gas, more than half of the magazines I fired saw the slide unable to generate enough blowback to lock back after the last shot. As a related effect, cooldown is very noticable on this gun.

Note on Cool-Down: The 'Cool-Down Effect' occurs when compressed gas is released from a container quickly (in this case, the magazine). As latent heat of vaporization is taken from the atmosphere to allow the gasses to expand, the container cools down dramatically and ice can even form. As there is less and less heat available for this liquid-to-gas conversion, the gas is released more slowly and with less force. This lowers the power available to the blowback mechanism on the gun and decreases performance. As the WE Hi-Capa seems to use so much gas for each shot, cool-down is a noticable problem when rapid firing.

Accuracy seems pretty good and shots are consistant. I haven't done any paper target shooting yet, but BBs do seem to go exactly where I want them to go. I can knock down cans easily with this gun and for skirmishing, it is more than accurate enough.

Build Quality

Construction quality seems to be great and I am conviced this gun will last ages if kept properly lubricated. It could make a good skirmishing sidearm too as long as you don't plan to rapid fire an entire mag at once (cool-down will kick in if you do).

Conclusion

Overall, I like this gun - not as much as the Marui version though. However, it is hard not to like it as it costs about half as much as a Marui Hi-Capa and metal slide.

For this reason I would recommend the WE to anyone who wants a Hi-Capa on a budget. The TM one still performs better, but considering the extra price, it may not be worth the extra cost for everyone. Wink

I give it a 7 out of 10.

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coreyheidt

Registered: October 2005
Posts: 28

Review Date: 31/3/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �100.00 | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Solid construct
Cons:	Gas requirements, Hop up...

Most of the bases from the other review have been covered. Minus adjustable hopup this gun can perform well. Using HFC22 gas, you don't get near the performance you should. After a discussion with the distributor, he said for me to use red gas. RED GAS? Yes, red gas. That pretty much did the trick. Only that red gas isn't as easy to come by. So I moved in a different direction - propane. Getting the airsoft innovations' adapter has been a Godsend. not only does the blowback improve over red gas it is cheap (2.14USD @ the local walmart). Now I know everyone says propane will rod and tear up your gun. And it did to my KJ Para's hammer I have had no problems running propane through this pistol. Though lube must be done more often. The propane/ red gas put the gun @ 290 - 310FPS. Smart sidearm. Well worth the money spent.

The best price (US market) I've found is at www.ehobbyasia.com. I've ordered through them before for my KJ The gun itself is 86USD and shipped it comes to around 105 - not bad.

canizzle

Registered: May 2006
Posts: 428

Review Date: 11/8/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Metal, Strong 320 fps (.20), Green Gas, C02
Cons:	Gas efficiency, few minor problems

This gun is about 3.5 pounds full metal colt 2011, the future guns of colt 1911. The blow back is strong and the fps is about 320 fps with (.20).

Gun is built like a tank
Being a n00b the first time I got this gun I didnt know you need to lube it with silicone. Using the gun for about 2 years straight, shooting about 30-50 rounds a day, lubing on WD-40 which kills the internal parts of rubber, the gun finally gave up on me. IMAGINE IF YOU LUBE IT RIGHT ( SILICONE ) AND TAKE CARE OF IT WELL, IT WILL LAST FOREVER, I MEAN IT, I GUARANTEE IT!!!

Some minor problems
You can rapid fire about 20 rounds before the mag gets too cold to shoot and have enough for the slide to stay back. Or you can fire one round every 5 seconds you could get about 25-30 rounds in your clip. Some minor problems I had was that the slide lock and slide port became dull after a while but you can fix this problem by super gluing a piece of rubber the right size to the slide lock and voila!!! The other minor problem I had was that a piece of rubber that held the two inner barrels together broke off. You can fix this problem by getting a screw the same size and replace it. The last minor problem was the ejection port barrel started to chip off paint. You can fix this by chipping off the paint and everything and then sanding/waxing it to make it chrome again. MY FIRST GUN MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FLAW SO DONT WORRY. WEI TECH NOW MAKES BETTER Materials.

THIS GUN IS A BEAST AND WILL IMPRESS LOTS OF PEOPLE. GREAT GUN!!! BUY IT TODAY!!!