Finally, a field test video for you and I thought I would start off with the new Umarex Beretta Mod. 84 FS CO2 Blowback 4.5mm BB Pistol. This replica BB pistol is fully licensed and is a very decent operational replica to boot. It has a full size drop out metal magazine with blowback operation, a working slide catch/release and safety along with the ability to be easily field striped. Did I mention it's pretty much an all metal gun?
So this video is mainly about the performance and overall I was very happy with how the compact Umarex Beretta Mod. 84 FS shot for me. Even on this somewhat cool day, my average fps came in just a smidgen higher than the claimed 360 fps from Umarex. I was a bit surprised at the slightly heavy single action trigger but it didn't seem to effect the accuracy at all as I got about a 1.5 inch 10 shot group from 30 feet away using a semi rested position. You can even coax out around 100 shots per CO2 if you space your shooting out a bit and let the CO2 warm up between magazines.
All in all, if you like the Beretta 92 FS styled pistols but perhaps want a more compact version with good overall fps and accuracy along with licensing and quality build. Then for sure pick your self up an Umarex Beretta Mod. 84 FS CO2 Blowback 4.5mm BB Pistol.
Moving on to the head to head comparison of the Tanfoglio Gold Custom versus the Sig Sauer X-Five Sight Rail (Open version). Again like my previous video of the KWC Model M1911 Tac A1 versus the Cybergun-KWC GSG 92-M92, these two Air Pistols feature full size drop out metal magazines that hold the CO2 and 4.5mm steel BB's, along with full blowback with working slide catches, safeties and magazine releases. Both are field Strippable and both have the addition of sight rails with red dot sights for quick target acquisition.
I did not find either sight rail pistol to be all that much more accurate than similar open sight pistols like the KWC Model M1911 Tac A1 and Cybergun-KWC GSG 92-M92, but I did find that target acquisition was much quicker and even when I accidentally double tapped the trigger, the second round was right on target.
In this field test comparison I shoot both guns through my Chronograph to see what kind of feet per second performance each one shoots, I also take them back 30 feet and shoot 10 rounds on a paper target using a semi rested position for true accuracy results.
Watch my Field Test Head to Head Shootout for the Tanfoglio Gold Custom versus the Sig Sauer X-Five Sight Rail:
Both CO2 4.5mm Replica Air Pistols feature full size drop out metal magazines that hold the CO2 and 4.5mm steel BB's. These super realistic BB guns also have full blowback with working slide catches, safeties and magazine releases and they can both be field stripped juts like the real steel versions.
In this field test comparison I shoot both guns through my Chronograph to see what kind of feet per second performance each one shoots, I also take them back 30 feet and shoot 10 rounds on a paper target using a semi rested position for true accuracy results.
Watch my Field Test Head to Head Shootout for the KWC Model M1911 Tac A1 vs Cybergun-KWC GSG 92-M92:
I stopped by the ICS Booth, we don't sell too much of their products but have carried a few items from time to time. ICS caries some nice quality Airsoft guns including the M1 Grand with real wood stock, and some AK & AR variants.
One of our suppliers had the new FN Herstal Five-seveN Blowback Airsoft pistol, I believe made by Marushin. Like the real FN Herstal Five-seveN, the pistol is pretty much all polymer including the slide and frame. This pistol also uses CO2 in the full size drop out magazine which should make it fairly powerful.
Looks like there is another Dan Wesson contender available now in the form of a Swiss Arms S&W 357 Magnum 4 inch and 6 inch barreled version, they look really nice and like the Dan Wesson have the realistic reusable brass shells that hold the 4.5mm Steel BB's.
Ever considered owning a mobile Gunsmith vehicle, look no further, I came across this pimped out Firearms Van complete with machine guns mounted in the front :) Inside was a complete firearms workshop.
Last but not least, we had some fun while in Vegas. I go down for the SHOT Show for business but I also bring my wife and we make time for some non business related activities. I generally stay at the WorldMark resort each time and this year the weather was pretty nice so we where able to get some sun by the pool a couple of days and I even got a tan line! Of course the food and entertainment is always awesome in Vegas.
Gamo did not have much in terms of new Replica guns this year either? Again, Gamo does seem to focus more on their hunting and target air rifles which for me is not my focus. Pretty much the same Replica guns as last year...
This year the Crosman booth was a bit of a let down in terms of "Replica guns" There really wasn't anything new to speak of? I didn't hang around too long to check on the non-replica guns, perhaps they have been focussing on that area of their market for this year?
One 4.5mm CO2 Blowback BB Pistol they featured as a prototype version last years was on display this year as the final product, the Crosman GI Model 1911BB. And again I was not overly impressed. The Crosman GI Model 1911BB looks for the most part like a 1911 except for the funky trigger which is supposes to look like a 1911 single action trigger. In reality it is a rather heavy double action trigger not at all true to a 1911. I was also puzzled by how recessed the barrel was, sure it's nice to have a slightly recessed barrel to make the pistol more believable but the GI Model 1911BB inner barrel is recessed at least an inch or more robbing this pistol of potential fps.
Guess I'm going to have to try one out at some point to see if it shoots better than I am giving it credit for.
One product from Crosman that is kind of a crossover between a replica and a PCP rifle is the Crosman MAR177 PCP AR Conversion Kit. It is designed to replace the top receiver for a standard AR allowing AR owners to shoot .177 caliber pellets using a standard Pre Charged Pneumatic system with their AR platforms. Of course you need an AR lower to use the Crosman MAR177 PCP AR Conversion Kit.
I also visited my friends at the ASG booth but for some reason I did not get a photo of their booth? I do have some video walk through stuff I will show you in my YouTube Video coverage of this years Vegas SHOT Show. Most importantly I have lots of gun photos so let's take a look at them...
One of my favorite ASG pistols is the Bersa BP9CC, I have already reviewed it and I just really like how this gun looks and holds, ASG took it one step further this year by adding a two-tone silver version and I have to say it looks awesome in person, my photos do not do it justice at all :(
A new handgun to the ASG blowback pistol series is the CZ P-09 Duty Pellet pistol. Basically it shares similar mechanics to the Umarex PX4 and Gamo PT-85 using the double sided rotary pellet magazine with 8 shots located on each end of the stick magazine. The ASG CZ P-09 Duty features a metal slide, working hammer and safety.
Another pellets pistol that should be very familiar to most of you is the new .177 caliber pellet shooting Dan Wesson in 6 inch silver and 8 inch black versions. ASG added a rifled barrel and redesigned solid brass shells that hold pellets instead of 4.5mm Steel BB's. Expect to take a little bit longer to reload the pellets as unscrewing the tip of each shell is required to place a .177 caliber pellet in each bullet tip.
Of course ASG has tons of licensed pistols to choose from, many on both 4.5mm Steel BB and 6mm Plastic Airsoft!
One new rifle that stood out to me was the ASG CZ Scorpion EVO 3 A1 AEG Airsoft Rifle, the Scorpion features an intelligent AEG system that detects when there may be a potential feeding problem and also when the magazine is out of ammo.
Umarex had a lot of new products this year so I thought I would start off showing you some of them. I will be following this post up with a full 2014 Vegas SHOT Show video once I finish posting some of my photos and comments on the show events.
Here is a photo of the main Umarex Booth.
I have always liked the 4.5mm BB version of the Umarex Makarov, Umarex now has the Makarov Ultra version that features blowback, a working slide catch and full size drop out magazine, looking forward to testing this one out!
Another kind of new addition to the 4.5mm Steel BB lineup is the Umarex Beretta Model 84FS. It has been available overseas but is now coming to North America. The Umarex Beretta Model 84FS also features blowback and a full size drop out magazine.
I'm not sure if we needed another rebranded version of the KWC 1911 Blowback BB pistol, but we got one anyways! Umarex now has their own version of what looks to similar to the KWC Tac A1 but with Colt licensing.
Umarex also made up a very limited edition and very weathered looking blowback BB shooting 1911 based on the KWC design called the Colt 1911 WWII Commemorative. I am not sure how many where made but I know there are not a lot of them... Hope I can get my hands on one...
Umarex came out with Smith & Wesson 327 TRR8 last year and this year they have added a similar styled 4.5mm Steel BB shooting revolver with removable shells but in a licensed Colt Python 357 version.
Last but not least and going back many years, Umarex is bringing out another Legends Series 4.5mm BB pistol. The German Mauser C96, I'm not 100% sure if it's blowback or not but it does seem to have a working action, the main pistol is made out of Polymer but it does have a full size drop out magazine and seems to have good weight overall. Most of the parts work like the original Mauser C96 including the adjustable rear sight and safeties.
Installment number 2 of my Head-to-Head Airgun comparisons. In this video I compare the replica Umarex Beretta PX4 Storm CO2 Blowback Pellet Pistol versus the Gamo PT-85 CO2 Blowback Pellet Pistol. Both are very similar mechanically and use very similar rotary magazines combined with single action hammers and very heavy blowback.
Watch the video below to see the Beretta PX4 Storm CO2 Blowback Pellet Pistol go head to head against the Gamo PT-85 CO2 Blowback Pellet Pistol in both a test of the feet per second performance and accuracy shooting at 30 feet using a semi rested position.
This post is really all about watching the YouTube video and seeing how these two similar CO2 4.5mm Steel BB revolvers compare to each other. I was working with a new Chronograph since again it was really dark outside and my old Chronograph does not like darkness. I did get some usable Chrony results with the new one but I did have to work for it ;)
I get many question over on my Vimeo Channel, lots of times people asking me which gun is better and in most cases it really comes down to personal preference. But in some situations the comparisons are really close and to be honest it's even hard for me to decide which gun I think is better.
I get asked which one has higher fps, or is more accurate, or has harder blowback recoil... the list goes on. Without actually taking both gun outside and doing a head to head test using the same exact situations, I really can not honestly tell you! So that's exactly what I am going to do. Take some of the most commonly asked about gun comparisons and have a showdown.
Over the next while I will be making a total of five separate videos where I compare the following CO2 BB pistols head to head:
In this Field Test Shooting Review I do actually shoot the ME 9 Mini-Para 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol which is what many of you want to see :) I shoot 5 rounds through the ME 9 Mini-Para 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol until the slide locks out and capture all of this using my Nikon 1 1080p HD camera along with my Casio EX-ZR1000 slow motion 240 frames per second camera.
My ME 9 Mini-Para 9mm P.A.K. Blank Pistol even though it could be as old as 10+ years still performed perfectly with no misfires or failures to load or eject, a testament to the West German build quality!
After posting my Table Top Review for the Gamo MP9 Blowback CO2 Pellet and BB Tactical Airgun, It seemed like most people where pretty interested with it and where looking forward to my Field Test Shooting Review. So I wanted to get this one out before the Holidays! Thought I would wear my Santa hat for this one :)
I did manage to get my Chronograph problem figured out so for this test I got reads on all 8 shots which was awesome! So how did my Gamo MP9 Blowback CO2 Pellet and BB Tactical Pistol perform? Pretty nicely overall, since it has 8 shots at each end of teh 16 shot rotary magazine I decided to base my testing on 8 shot groups. The first 8 shots where aimed through my Chronograph resulting in an average 415 fps using 7 grain RWS lead pellets. Not bad considering how cold it was and the fact that I was not using the super light weight PBA® Platinum Pellets. I would expect even lead pellets to hit 450 fps on a warm day.
The next 8 rounds where designated for the paper target which was setup 30 feet from my semi rested position (rested on sand bag and standing in the back). All 8 rounds shot within 1.5 inches and I am pretty sure I could do this all day long with this pellet shooter. I then emptied the other half o my magazine on my swinging steel targets and it appears I hit them most of the time looking back on my video.
The blowback is minimal with this CO2 blowback pistol, I don't think the internal blowback mechanism caries that much weight to it but you do feel some blowback when the CO2 is new and full. Gamo claims the trigger to be around 9.5 pounds worth of pull but to me it feel much lighter, combine that with the pull length being fairly short and you can shoot 8 rounds off at a time in a hurry with this Gamo MP9 Blowback CO2 Pellet and BB Tactical Airgun.
If I could have my way I would have liked to have seen a working ejection port like the Umarex MP5K PDW and perhaps a bit more blowback feel but other than that the Gamo MP9 Blowback CO2 Pellet and BB Tactical Pistol is a great replica CO2 Blowback pellets gun for the money.
As promised I did a redo of my Original Chronograph Test for my Pedersoli Derringer Guardian #11 4.5mm .177 Pellet Pistol. The first time around I just could not get my Chronograph to read in the poor lighting I had going on that day. I spent a fair bit of time doing some testing with my Chronograph since it is that time of year when the lighting is poor and determined that I need to use the white defusing panels as it seems that my roofline and the low light are playing havoc with the Chronograph readings.
Once I sorted this all out my Chronograph worked perfectly and I was able to get some readings for you with my Pedersoli Derringer Guardian #11 4.5mm .177 Pellet Pistol. As I assumed I did not get much over 350 fps. I also got a lot of variation in the fps, most likely due to the fact that I had to roll down the pellets a bit on the backside in order to feed them in the barrel from front to back, some pellets where tight and some where a bit looser, the looser ones seemed to shoot a bit faster as less of the pressure may have escaped out the back where the primer was situated.
It's that time of the year again where I dread having to go outside and do my Field Test Shooting Reviews, it's way too cold so the CO2 guns are not performing at their very best, neither am I since all I'm thinking about is "let's get this over so I can go inside and warm up with a nice cup of coffee ;)". It's also dark and dreary which means the lighting is not so good for the cameras or the chronograph, even with a bunch of extra lights setup, it's just not the same as what a nice bright day can do to spruce up the video and get the chrony to read the pellet speeds.
After some playing around with the lighting, I did manage to get my Chronograph to read a couple of shots and it shot just a bit above 350 fps, I would imagine the Daisy Power Line 2003 Blowback Pellet Pistol should get 400" fps easy on a warm day with a fresh CO2. At least we have an idea of whereabouts it shoots.
Once I finished playing around with my temperamental chronograph, I headed back to the 30 foot mark and took aim at my paper target using a semi rested position (sand bag rest up front, standing in the back). I shot the rest of the magazine, which was around 10 rounds left since I was originally loaded up with 30 rounds and ended up using a lot of them trying to get my Chronograph to read for the first part of the field shooting test.
Even with the fairly wide open sights, I managed to get a very consistent 1.5 inch grouping out my Daisy Power Line 2003 Blowback Pellet Pistol which kind of surprised me since I did not really feel the sight picture was suited for accuracy. Too much open space side to side but none the less it shoot straight and true and even very well centered on target with only a bit of pull to the left.
In terms of shoot-ability, the Daisy Power Line 2003 Blowback Pellet Pistol felt pretty good, the trigger is not the lightest for a single action only trigger but it is short and the break is clean. I had no miss-feeds or jams which I have heard this gun is prone to with some pellets. I did notice when shooting rapid fire without any pellets in the gun, it wanted to go into short full auto bursts, this may have been the cold weather and/or low CO2 playing into things.
All-in-all the Daisy Power Line 2003 Blowback Pellet Pistol is a nice air pistol to shoot even though it is a bit unorthodox looking, kind of a shame it's no longer in production. If you can find one in good working condition at the right price, pick it up because you may not get another chance.
I struggled a bit with this pistol during this Field Test Shooting review, mainly just in the accuracy portion. Perhaps the G&G GS-801 CO2 Blowback Airsoft Pistol did not like the .36 gram BB's I was using, maybe a bit too heavy or perhaps the hop-up did not agree with the size of this Airsoft round. Either way, my accuracy test did not do so well! I may give this gun another go at some point using a different Airsoft BB and perhaps simply using the iron sights over the built in laser just in case that was the issue?
As per usual, I tested this pistol out using my Chronograph to see what kind of actual feet per second rating I get from it. I fired 5 rounds from the G&G GS-801 using .20 gram plastic Airsoft BB's and this CO2 semi auto blowback pistol shot a very speedy 415 fps average.
Next up was the accuracy test, I decided to setup at the 30 foot mark and I shot a total of 10 rounds from my G&G GS-801 CO2 Blowback Airsoft Pistol using a semi rested position, (sand bag for a hand rest and standing in the back). My grouping was all over the place vertically (about 6 inches) but not so bad horizontally (about 2 inches). It makes me wonder if the hop-up was playing into it or maybe my laser sight was moving around up and down?
The trigger pull on the G&G GS-801 CO2 Blowback Airsoft Pistol is kind of different, it is single action only since the blowback action cocks the hammer back with each shot. There is a fair amount of take up with next to no resistance followed by the release point which seems kind of heavy after the soft take-up section, you need to keep applying pressure and then with no real movement it will just suddenly release so it's kind of hard to predict without practice. During the take-up portion of the trigger pull, a BB is loaded into the barrel and the laser sight will automatically turn on if you have the laser in the active position.
Over all the G&G GS-801 CO2 Blowback Airsoft Pistol is a well put together Semi Auto Pistol, it looks good, performs nice and hot and is a lot of fun to shoot, I would have liked to have seen better accuracy from it but in a heated Airsoft battle at close range, the built in laser will get you on target quickly and as long as you are not shooting at really long ranges you should be just fine.
Since both the Gold ASG Dan Wesson and the G&G G731 Airsoft Revolvers both have the 2.5 inch barrels on them and in many ways are very similar (at least mechanically), I thought I would not only do my Table Top Review but also my Field Test Shooting Review using both guns side by side so we can really get an idea of how they perform and compare.
As per usual, I test both pistols out on my Chronograph to see what kind of real world feet per second rating I get, since they are 6 shot Revolvers, I fired 6 single action rounds from each gun using .20 gram plastic Airsoft BB's and averaged out the string. Both guns shot a little bit over 400 fps with the Dan Wesson having just a bit of a higher fps over the G&G G731.
Next up was the accuracy test, I decided to setup at my 30 foot mark so that any accuracy differences would be more noticeable, again I shot 6 rounds from each gun while I used a semi rested position, (sand bag for a hand rest and standing in the back). This time I would have to give the slight edge to the G&G G731 as it seemed to shoot just a bit tighter grouping over my Dan Wesson Gold. Both guns shot pretty close to a 2 inch 6 shot group.
Both pistols have pretty decent single and double action triggers, there is a some noticeable friction when shooting in double action due to the way the barrel seals against the cylinder so you may want to shoot in single action when going for the most accurate of shooting.
When it comes to sight picture the Dan Wesson does have a fully adjustable rear sight but the G&G G731 gets the job done with it's simple yet effective grove sight which I kind of preferred with this style of short barreled revolver.
If you want more of that combat look with some Gold Bling than perhaps the Gold ASG Dan Wesson is the one for you? Perhaps you want something like the G&G G731, as compact and simple as it gets that you know you can count on as a backup ready sidearm. There isn't a bad choice here with either of these nice compact Airsoft Revolvers.
Another quick revisit of the KWC/Cybergun M92 Beretta - Taurus full metal, full blowback, CO2 4.5mm Steel BB pistol series. They come in several flavors but are all made by KWC and in many cases redistributed licensed by Cybergun. This Field Test Shooting Video Review focuses on the Cybergun Swiss Arms P92 version.
Now that I have a more standardized Field Test Shooting format, I though I would revisit this series of KWC/Cybergun Beretta - Taurus Replica BB Pistols and do a follow up Field Test to get some more camera angles and hopefully a nice tight target grouping using my standard semi rested position from 20 feet away.
I also incorporate some high speed video near the end of this Field Test Shooting video Review to go along with the Chronograph and target portion of the Filed Test Shooting review.
The KWC - Cybergun Full Blowback All metal serious of Replica CO2 BB Pistols has been hugely popular over here at Replica Airguns and for good reason, they are very realistic in looks and operation, are priced very respectably and replicate several of the more popular semi auto pistols.
So this is not the first time I've reviewed the KWC/Cybergun Series of full metal, full blowback CO2 4.5mm Steel BB pistols. The most popular version being the Cybergun Tanfoglio Witness 1911 since it was the first one on the scene. These BB shooting 1911 replicas come in several styles and can be found in both 4.5mm Steel BB and 6mm Airsoft versions.
They are made by KWC but can also be found redistributed by Cybergun with either the Tanfoglio Witness or Swiss Arms licensing on them.
Today I revisit my Field Test Review since it has been a long time and the way I conduct my field tests has changed a bit so I wanted to test this popular 1911 CO2 Replica using multiple cameras and a more scientific testing approach.
In a nutshell, the KWC/Cybergun Swiss Arms P1911 with it's true 1911 single action trigger and full blowback shoots much like its real steel counterpart with less kick of course. It is capable of nice 1.5 inch groups from a 20 foot semi rested shooting position and shoots right around 300 fps which will put a steel BB right through both sides of a water filled pop can.
You really can't find a more fun and realistic BB pistol out there, probably why this air pistol has been such a favorite with replica airgun fans.
I am jumping the gun so to speak with this field test review and showing you my field test video review for the King Arms Thompson Gold M1A1 Military AEG Airsoft Machine Gun before I've even done the table top review... Guess I just wanted to shoot this one :)
I decided to perform my field test shooting review using just the Thompson M1A1 version since the 1928 style has the same internal mechanics, there really was no point in testing them both. Other than a few cosmetic changes like a stick magazine versus the drum magazine and the forward stock pistol grip on the 1928 version, these guns are pretty much the same. I also opted for the most flashy 23 karat Gold version, well... because "Gold is Best!"
So let's get to the results! As with most of the guns I field test, I shot 5 rounds through my chronograph, this time I decided to use .25 gram Airsoft BB's for both my chronograph and target portions of this shooting review since fishing the ammo out of the stick mag was a bit of a pain ;) I was able to get a respectable 360 fps average 5 shot Chrono test which makes this AEG Airsoft rifle bang on for just about any Airsoft battle situation. I would expect to get right around 380-400 fps if I was using the lighter .20 gram BB's.
Once I stepped back to the 30 foot semi rested target position, I shot 10 rounds first in semi auto which got me a pretty nice tight 1 inch group (if you throw out the couple of fliers). In Full Auto the shot placement also stayed nice and tight spreading out to about 2 inches or so. This Classic Thompson AEG Airsoft Machine Gun definitely hits what every you are shooting at and has a nice rate of fire that's not too wasteful of BB's but still offers plenty of cover when required.
At the end of this field test shooting review for the King Arms Thompson Gold M1A1 Military AEG Airsoft Machine Gun, I shoot some water filled cans while capturing the experience in slow motion using my new iPhone 5's 720p 120 frames per second 4 times slow-motion feature.
