Colt M1911A1 Government - ArniesAirsoft

Author

Shao14

Misopethamenos

Registered: September 2004
Posts: 306,044

Review Date: 11/12/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �20.00 | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Solid, powerful for springers, high attention to details
Cons:	mis aligned sights, seam line under the frame, springer after all

Introduction

The Colt M1911A1 needs no introduction, and frankly, if one doesn't know what a 1911 is in the handgun world, he/she doesn't know handguns at all. Almost all of the airsoft handgun makers made one or two (or a million in the case of WA) 1911 style pistols and are still coming out with new variants. Tokyo Marui is no exception. It made a 1911 Government model springer a long time ago in the "stone-age" of airsoft. The technology has evolved much since then, and after TM introduced its third generation spring airsoft guns with the SOCOM Mk23 model, it decided to remake the M1911A1 Government model. In the rest of the review, I'll simply use 1911 to refer to the latest TM M1911A1 springer unless otherwise explicitly specified.

First Impression

My copy is the High Grade Hop Up (HGHU) version of the new 1911. TM likes to make several versions of the same gun for different age groups. The HGHU version in each case is the top of the line with the best finish and fixed hop up tuned for 0.25g BBs, and can be easily identified by the box art design and the word "High Grade Hop Up" written on the box. The 1911 comes in the regular TM HGHU springer packaging which includes TM's catalog and a small bag of 0.25g high grade BBs.

The color of the gun is a shade of grey instead of black to resemble the finish on old government issued real steel 1911s which were not black. I think the color looks quite good. The paint is evenly applied, and the slide and is exceptionally done using TM's third generation springer technology. There is no seam line visible on the top of the slide or the recoil spring guide rod housing. The frame, however still shows seam lines under it, especially the dust cover part.

Colt trademarks are meticulously reproduced and nicely engraved as usual with a small addition of "Tokyo Marui Made in Japan" on the right side of the frame.

The grip panel is wood imitation, but the pictures really don't it justice. It looks more convincing as wood under natural light.

The weight of the gun is quite good by TM standard. TM does not have heavy weight or light weight versions as other companies such as UHC does, but the new TM 1911 felt quite heavy compare to other TM springers. The gun also feels quite solid without any flex or creaks. There's a small gap between the slide and the dust cover, but nothing terrible.

Functions

The full size magazine holds 25 BBs, and can be loaded quite easily by just pushing the BBs in from the top one by one. The mag fits in the mag well tightly, but drops out freely upon pressing the mag release.

As in all springer pistols, one needs to rack the slide for each shot. The slide is relatively hard to pull back, but it's not bad. (If one couldn't pull back the slide, he/she shouldn't really be playing any sport.) The harder main spring translates to higher power, and it certainly shows in my shooting experience. Shooting at the same kind of paper target at the same distance, the 1911 makes a louder bang than other springers, but no formal measurement was bothered to carry out. No jam or mis-feed occurred during any of my shootings with the 1911.

The accuracy of the 1911 is also very good with .25g BB. I can easily achieve a tight grouping at 20 feet. The sights, however, were not calibrated correctly, and the gun shoots consistently high of the point of aim. What happens is if I aim at the bull's eye at 20 feet, I'd get a tight grouping about 1.5 inch above the bull's eye. The sights were not adjustable.

The gun has open ejection port, working external hammer, thumb safety and grip safety. Racking the slide back will cock the external hammer as well, and pulling the single action trigger will make the hammer to fall. If one doesn't want to shoot BBs, he/she can just cock the hammer itself without racking the slide, and pulling the trigger will make the hammer fall to make some noise without shooting anything out. When the hammer is cocked, the thumb safety locks the trigger and the slide. The grip safety also works as it should on real 1911s. The slide catch is non-functional for obvious reasons.

Take Down

One of the improvements on TM's third generation springers is the realistic take downs. The 1911 is no different. After ejecting the mag, one can pull the slide back about an 1.5 inch back, and push the slide catch out from the side, and slide the slide/barrel assembly out. Once the gun is dissembled, it become clear why the gun feels solid and heavy. There's a nice metal subframe inside that you don't normally expect on springers. There's also metal weights inside the grip panel.

Conclusion

The TM 1911A1 springer is everything one comes to expect from TM except the mis-calibrated sights. It excels in built, finish, power, and accuracy. Many people have mistaken those pictures as for WA GBBs. What can be cooler than a good ol' 1911? A pair of them, and that's what I got shortly after I get my first one. I soon realized, however, it's tricky to rack the slides when I hold two springers in my hands. Nah!

In any case, if you are into springers, the new TM M1911A1 is THE 1911 style springer to get.

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The Bushman

6mm HUNTER

Registered: June 2005
Location: in your shadow
Posts: 2,169

Review Date: 12/12/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �15.00 | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	cheap, great performance with 0.20g, ergonomic, strips
Cons:	can wear out after 10,000 shots !!!! lol

Well the above review is very comprehensive. However, I used my 1911 with 0.20g instead of 0.25g and used it comprehensively as a gaming gun.

I have taken this gun as my only back up for my SPORTER and been happy to have it too....

OK it is only a spring pistol, but you want to see it fire with 0.20g ammo in it. OK yes you have to aim low and the pellets lift abit. I have seen this gun out range AEG's. OK yet again, the pellets take a while to float out to 50m, but they do. They are accurate too.

I have tagged AEG players with it, at reasonable ranges too. This year I shot a guy using my G-SPEC with it..... he was 50m away on a ridge! was my 3rd shot....

I have lent it to AEG players who have used it to snipe with rather than their AEG's! I lent it to one very gun critical player and he saw the top of somones head at 20m, so instinctively shot bounced a 0.20g off the small target. He was super impressed with it (and is never impressed by anything!)

The mags are good and I think hold 24 rather than 25.

The action of the slide is smooth and mechanical. However after a while the front of the chassis can start to split open along the seam (as only pinned inside). this is remedied by pressing the 2 halves of the chassis back together. This only happens after several mags and the split is only very slight and not an issue. Just something to be aware of. You could tape or glue it I guess.

The Trigger is nice and doesn't jerk the gun like some springers do (TM GLOCK17).

Lastly my TM 1911A1 broke this week after getting it out of my day sack. I saw a tiny piece of plastic fall to the floor....

I cocked the gun to see the barrel shroud hang loose out of the front of the pistol. Stripping the gun, I found where the small platic lug had been located. I also found where another plastic lug would have sat oppersite doing the same job.

Together, they would form runners for the barrel shroud to run along when the gun is cocked. The stress involved is enough to break the lugs. However I think my pistol must have been cocked several thousand times and this is perhaps to be expected from a 15 pound gun....

I removed the barrel shroud completely and the gun now works as per normal. The barrel is secured at the HOP unit and there is no slop on the inner barrel. So it still shoots fine. Just looks abit odd with a gaping hole at the front and being able to see the pellets feed in through the top port.

There was noticable, but even wear on all parts inside. With plastic shavings littering the inside of the gun. They say TM handguns are tested to 10,000 shots on that funny machine (see the TM 1991 video). Well I guess mine is maybe approaching that and as such, I have had value for money.

All in all the gun is the ULTIMATE spring plinker or backup with GREAT performance. Every Airsofter should have 1 of these.

EDIT: Just bought another one to replace mine I like it so much...

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