Mk1 Ruger - ArniesAirsoft - Review Archive

Author

ChrisNorthInGer

The screams, they sound like music.

Registered: October 2006
Location: The outskirts of Reality.
Posts: 2,017

Review Date: 25/11/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �30.00 | Rating: 6

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Powerful, Durable, Inexpensive
Cons:	Trigger, hop up, gas effeicency

Notes:
*Due to high velocity the use of Green gas for skirmishing in this gun is not recommended. Using 134a gas will bring the velocity down to acceptable limits.

Intro:
I got the KJW Mk.1 Ruger on an almost whim. I had thought about it slightly, but not as much as I usually do with my purchases. I eventually decided to get it along with a few other items that I needed.
I had liked the style of the Ruger, being the assassin pistol and a target pistol. I was also looking for some real steal history, but unfortunately I could only find this
Wikipedia article.

Build/Look:

I was unsure of what to expect when I picked up the Mk.1 (I had ordered it online, but UPS screwed up so I had to go to their warehouse). I was sort of expecting cheap plastic and poor build, but I was very surprised when I picked it up. Even though the real Mk.1 that this is based on has a polymer frame (as this has an ABS plastic frame), the gun felt and looked a bit like metal. Only upon close examination can you see seams, but they aren't a real bother. Needless to say; for the price, I am quite surprised.
There are several metal parts, including: the rear sight, the trigger, the safety, thew magazine, and the take down lever. 95% of the internals are metal. Unfortunately, all of the metal in the gun is typical KJW poor quality pot metal. Still, it hasn't failed in my KJ M9.
All the valves seem to be holding up well. Keep in mind that I have only had the gun for a couple weeks, so I'll have to see what happens. The valve is a silent fill, but its really picky and if you don't line up the valves just right it leaks. It's not really a problem, but a bit of gas sprays all over the place. The barrel is made of brass, and moves backwards when the gun is fired, which is odd but probably has something to do with how the gun is fired.

Performance:

Accuracy is pretty good, actually. At 16 feet I got a 4 inch grouping, and that's only because 3 shots were far to the right. I have recently discovered, however, that I'm a pretty poor shot when it comes to target shooting, so my results are not necessarily the best way to judge accuracy. I was surprised to see that the shots that were off were off consistently (several areas were hit in almost the same hole). I have yet to see if the accuracy is like this because of the trigger pull or due to the gun itself. It seems to be a combination of both. Update: I looked at the barrel today and found a reason for any inconsistencies. The barrel, like most KJ barrels, is a brass tube. There is a space around all sides of the bb while in the barrel. Using heavier BBs seems to correct most of the inaccuracy with the gun, but not entirely. The hop is pretty crummy too.
Power is is very high compared to most GBB's. I don't have access to a chrono, nor do I have any accurate means of determining velocity. I did try a coke can test, but the gun shot a hole right through the bottom of the can. I don't believe that the "pop can chrono" is accurate, but I still use it to compare the velocity of my guns. Judging by this, the Ruger seems to have a velocity of about 360 FPS, which on on par with what Shorty USA says. This means that you should probably use 134a if you plan to be skirmishing with the Mk.1.
Shooting across my backyard, the bb falls at about a little more than halfway between the 100ft and 150ft markers, so figure about 135 feet. Its not bad, but the gun's inconsistent accuracy makes it some what ineffective at that range. Something that I have recently discovered is that either the hop up or the gas system is inconsistent. About every 10 shots, 1 falls extremely short. I'm not sure what exactly causes this, or if colder weather has something to do with it.
Update: The Mk.1 does use quite a bit of gas. In comparison, it looks to be about the same as a WE 1911 (the good version), which is probably the reason for the power the gun has. The gas consumption is not really a problem. The reason the gun seemed to use more gas than it actually does is because the can I was using was near empty, and I was filling the mag incorrectly.

Other:
(Some other things that should be noted about the gun)

From the moment I read that the magazine release is not a button, but a latch, I wondered what it looked like. I was expecting something like the battery plate on an EBB, but it is in fact just a small hook that holds the mag in. Its a little hard to explain, but it works. I think I like the traditional Mag release button better, and almost every time I try to take the mag out I shift my grip and try to the the mag release. Its when I can't find it do I remember about the latch.
The trigger pull is heavy, but not as heavy as some say. I can safely say that it does affect accuracy a bit, but not more than the blowback on a GBB. The trigger also extends a lot further than on the real Ruger Mk.1, and I don't think that the trigger guard has been re-sized on the airsoft version. What this means is that anyone with thick fingers or some one that wears gloves will probably have a lot of difficulty getting their finger to fit. I have relatively thin fingers and I have trouble. You also will have a bit of trouble quickly pulling the gun to shoot because of the location of the trigger.
Another thing that's interesting about the KJW Mk.1 is the way it takes down (field strips). I presume it's pretty close to the real steel, but I have no way of confirming right now. The take down part is as easy as a Beretta 92, but reassembly reminds me of when I was looking up the real Ruger's history and read the reports of how difficult it was to get back together. It's really not that hard though, its just a bit different than with most gas blowbacks because you have to make sure more parts are lined up and you have to do a bit of weird stuff like put the mag in the gun. It takes a bit longer than most.
The rear sight is adjustable, however it does not click and doesn't have a whole lot of tension on it. It also does not seem to adjust enough to have much of an effect. Right now I can't get the kind of accuracy out of the gun to use the sights effectively. This might change in the future.
What this thing lacks in blowback it makes up for in noise. It makes a noise slightly higher than that of an average GBB. Also, because this gun is a NBB you can effectively suppress it, should you find a means of attaching a sound suppressor (a silencer). There was a guy on the forums a few years ago that was able to do so, but the parts used were from a company that has gone out of business. Often when you shoot, a cloud of vapor will shoot out of the barrel. I'm not sure that that's a good thing, but it is a cool thing. Now that I think about it, its probably not a good idea to be firing this thing indoors as much as I have been...
Although the safety is hard to engage and disengage because of its location and stiffness, you should not need to use it anyway; The trigger pull is heavy enough to prevent any accidental discharge of the gun. Depending on how you grip the gun, the safety may be a bit uncomfortable on your right thumb. I don't have this problem, but if you tend to grip your pistols with your thumb above the grip, it might be.
One last thing that I found a little troublesome with this gun is the magazine. There is nothing to lock the follower down, and you can't pour in the bbs as you would with a normal GBB. The gun also didn't come with a loader (I don't think that it was suppose to), so I have to load in the bbs by hand one by one. To me this is not a problem because I find it relaxing, but if you wanted to load during a skirmish you would probably not find it as relaxing. You can use one of those magazine style loading things, though. Another thing that I had encountered was when the spring slipped from my finger while I was loading the mag it threw BBs all over the place.
Something else that I have discovered while pulling the trigger a few times one day, is that you can get a shotgun effect. All you have to do is pull the trigger to the point where it almost breaks up to three times, and you can shoot as many bbs out of the gun. This may damage something, so I wouldn't reccomend doing it often.

Basic Maintenance/Takedown:

To take the MK.1 apart, first make sure the magazine is unloaded of gas and bbs, and is out of the gun. Then pull the small lever on the back of the grip down, and then use that to pull out the spring housing (I believe that's what it's called), and then pull that down and out of the gun. Next separate the upper frame from the lower frame, and then slide the mock bolt out. There is a small lever right at the end and above the inner barrel, press the back end of it to slide out the inner barrel. That's the basic disassembly, although it is possible to take the hammer and barrel and sights apart, there is no reason to, and I haven't attempted it, so no guide on how to do it here.
While the gun is "exploded", you can do a bit of maintenance. There a a few things to do to decrease the trigger pull slightly, if at all. A bit of thin silicone oil or thin silicone grease should be applied to the outside of the inner barrel, and all moving parts of the hammer assembly. There is alot of contact and friction going on when you pull the trigger, and unfortunately it seems a big part of it comes from the barrel coming in contact with the magazine lip to load another bb. DO NOT LUBE THAT. Doing so will cause the bbs to be coated in lube every time you shoot. This is a big problem if you use grease on the lip, because it will get into the hop, and be a pain to get off.
Putting the MK.1 back together is a bit tricky. Begin with sliding the inner barrel through the back of the upper frame, making sure that little black screw is pointed downward. line the inner barrel up with the hole in the outer barrel, and then slide the barrel completely into the gun, until the silver nozzle thing is past the lever. Make sure that the metal "I" is at a 90 degree angle to the black screw if you can't get the barrel back in. Slide in the mock bolt. Now you have to load and empty magazine into the gun (as you would do normally) and make sure the hammer is resting froward towards the magazine. Now put the upper frame on the lower frame, pitting the front parts together first, and placing the rear end down last. It will take a few seconds to line things up, but not too difficult. Stick the bar of the spring housing up through the hole in the bolt and frame, and then move the housing downward and into its slot. There is a small metal bar that needs ton be lined up with it, or you will not be able to get the housing in the slot. Now all you have to do is press the little lever in and you've done it!

To remove the front sight, push the small pin out located on the middle of the sight, and lift the sight up and off the barrel. The rear sight, to my surprise, is held on only by friction. Simply slide it off to the side. Note that I do not know whether real steel sights will fit or not.

Also note that I do not know if RS grips will fit, but I highly doubt it. It appears that Mk2 grips do not fit on the Mk1, and as this is a replica of the MK.1 they will most likely not fit. Why not just get MK1 grips then, you may wonder? Because it seems that MK.1 parts are very rare, and even if you found some, I'm not sure that they will fit anyway.

Summary:

Revising my previous conclusion, the KJ MK.1 is cheap, but not a the greatest value for the money. It does what it has to, not exceedingly well, but decent enough. If you can't afford anything better, than it's okay. If you can, it's best to go that [the more costly] route.

If you have a question, or found a problem with my review, feel free to PM me.

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