"Received this pistol yesterday. First impressions are that it is a beautiful presentation of 1911 design. Partially silver metal (slide and misc) with black grips, so it is much lighter than most of my 1911s but it still has a comfortable feel in the hand. The sights are excellent with large white dots on both front and rear, making target acquisition easy.
I generally like to use Crossman Wadcutters for my bulk shooting, since they are inexpensive and generally do a great job in most pistols. This pistol is the exception. There are a limited number of pellets that work well in this pistol. The main reason is the pellet cylinders are slightly larger than the average .177 cal 7 to 8 grain lead pellet. Crossman Wadcutters DO fall out of the two rotating pellet holders in my particular magazine that came with the pistol. They will shoot OK but will readily fall out of the chambers if you do not hold the gun vertical and steady before and while shooting, causing jams. I have so far found that H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 gr and RWS Hobby 7.0 gr pellets seat well into the pellet chamber and shoot well without falling out of the chambers from just moving the pistol around. This pistol is very similar to the Dan Wesson Valor 1911. Same magazine and pellet holder with 2 x 6 cylinder rotating pellet holders on a pivot so that you need to drop the magazine after 6 shots and rotate the pellet holder for the second 6 shots, then re-install the magazine for shooting those last 6 pellets. The Dan Wesson, however, is all metal and is of considerably better quality in construction.
Shooting is a pleasure with the right ammo and after a little wear of the magazine. Initially, I almost had to pry the magazine out of the pistol. Pushing the magazine release released the catch holding the magazine but did not allow the magazine to freely drop out of the handle. The first few times I actually had to use a screw driver to pry the magazine free. Pressing the release allowed me to pull the magazine out with some difficulty but only to about 1/4 inch by hand but that allowed me to pry to magazine free enough to get more leverage involved. After installing and releasing the magazine about a half dozen times, it began to move freely by hand without mechanical aid. Installing a CO2 cylinder was easy (using PelGun oil on the tip (as I do every time with all of my CO2 airguns) and using the included allen key to drive the cylinder for piercing.
Shooting this pistol is fun and easy but it is double-action, only. There is no slide movement involved and the hammer is a token that only looks like it is doing something. It does not cock the gun. That occurs when you actually pull the trigger. On my home range, the sights tend to shoot a few inches high and slightly to the left at 10 feet but compensation is relatively easy with those large white dot sights. Trigger pull is relatively easy and smooth which allows more accurate shooting than I would expect in a double-action-only 1911.
Shooting Stats using a fresh CO2 cylinder for each string and logged on an FX Radar Crony were as follows: Using H&N 8.64 gr Pellets: Hi Velocity=286 fps , Lo Velocity=248 fps, Mean Velocity=261.65 fps, SD=14.5 fps
Using RWS 7.0 gr Pellets: Hi Velocity=331 fps, Lo Velocity=210 fps, Mean Velocity=278 fps, SD=45.18 fps
The pistol did not meet spec using 7.0 gr pellets and was well under spec using H&N 8.64 gr pellets. Advertised spec is 359 fps, which is hard to meet unless you are using much lighter pellets.
The magazine for this pistol is exactly the same magazine used in the Dan Wesson Valor 1911 Pistol. I used my Dan Wesson magazine in this pistol and found that it shoots much better in terms of pellet seating and actually number of pellets fired without jamming. The magazine that came with the pistol jams frequently if you are not using pellets that the gun likes. It was hard to get a continuous string of shots for some data on performance but using the magazine from my Dan Wesson Valor, specs were as follows: Using Crossman 7.4 gr Wadcutters; High Velocity=311 fps, Lo Velocity=210 fps, Mean Velocity=278.8 fps, SD=33.92 fps. The pistol definitely shoots to the left by about 2 inches at 10 feet. Neither mag liked the H&N Greens 5.71 gr pellets but I also tried them using the DW mag. Greens would not fire consistently. However, two shots that did fire were 315 fps and 306 fps. DW mag did better with Crossman 7.4 gr pellets.
My overall feeling is that at the sale price of $80.75, this airgun is a steal. If you can afford it, go for a higher quality 1911, such as the Tanfoglio, Swiss Arms, the Umarex Colt M45 or Government 1911s. My collection includes 17, now 18, 1911 airguns, since I love 1911s, obviously, I collect them. My favorites are all metal models for realistic weight and balance. I think this will not be one of my favorite 1911s but if I was on a limited budget, I would prize it for looks, alone and take a lot more time finding the right pellet to use. The performance and handling are not too shabby. Again, the magazine that comes with this pistol is the same one that is used in the Dan Wesson Valor 1911. My specific magazine that came with my Valor seems to be less pellet-picky than the one that came with my Cybergun 1911, so I will be using the DW mag for any shooting that I do with this 1911. My recommendation is that if you can't afford a better version, save a little longer for a higher quality model but if you are on a tight budget, grab one of these while they are on sale. It is a good budget 1911 when paired with the right pellet and the silver metal looks really striking in this 1911 pistol.
(626) 286-0360
Airsoft
Fishing
Air Gun
