Traders Airsoft Forums

the4thpower3 Wrote:For a pistol like that, I don't think its even worth upgrading. You'd be spending the money to have a heavy weight gun that shoots hot out the box. That orange tip isn't going anywhere, unless you wanted to replace it all, but then..why would you spend the extra money on that gun?
I think that gun is only good for someone who skirmishes (legally with the orange tip), that wants a strong shooting, heavy side arm. Otherwise I think that gun is useless, at least for upgrading...TM or WA would be the way to go.
How does it stack up against WE 1911?

"Upgrading" can mean different things to different people. Just because YOU think the gun is "useless" in your opinion, doesn't make it so. Have you OWNED one? That mentality smacks of Elitism. KWA is a serious company, and they're making serious investments. It's just a little silly to dismiss them so offhandedly, don't you agree? Did you know that they completely sold out their new M4 AEG's to LE agencies? I guess they must just be making crap...

Also, the whole "skirmishing" comment? Um. That would include the MAJORITY of airsofters out there dude. Let's see, should I produce a product that a small handful of customers will want to hang on their wall and look at, or should I produce something that will be purchased by the bulk of the market that this product was designed for? Hmmmmm..

As for the orange tip "not going anywhere", I have a sand blaster that would make quick work of that. It's metal, remember?

Hell, there are a plethora of solvents even that would readily strip that off, should you REALLY WANT IT OFF. Mr. Negativity over there, or what??

Don't forget, KWA is producing products based upon their customer base, and what is going to SELL. It's up to the aftermarket manufacturers to decide to support this, and ultimately, we the buyers ourselves. If we buy it, they will come. Why not SUPPORT a product, and help to drive manufacturer support for upgrades, rather than simply writing it off right out of the gate? Seems to me I've had many a Glock that worked/looked quite nicely thank you.

I keep blowing o-rings by adding heat. I used the sun a bit yesterday and managed to blow the o-ring out on a King Arms piston! First shot.

I want to experiment with piston upgrades in the KWA, but I don't want to break the nozzle. This one has a screw in piston so you can change it.

Colin Wrote:Don't forget, KWA is producing products based upon their customer base, and what is going to SELL. It's up to the aftermarket manufacturers to decide to support this, and ultimately, we the buyers ourselves. If we buy it, they will come. Why not SUPPORT a product, and help to drive manufacturer support for upgrades, rather than simply writing it off right out of the gate?

Yeah this gun needs more support, kind of the reason I have one right now.

Can you believe that this particular model is over a year old now?! Crazy talk.

I am supporting it now, and working on good upgrade plans. We shall see if anyone else wants to start carrying it.

You're right, I didn't mean to sound negative.
I am not dismissing this gun nor did I refer to KWA as crap.
There are not a lot of upgrades available for this gun...what more can I say...it wouldn't be my first choice for upgrading.
Looks like a great gun for a skirmisher : heavy weight, orange tip legal, shoots hard out of the box. I assumed thats who this gun was built for. Nothing wrong with that...I don't see how that could be derogatory.
I'm sure you could get that orange tip off.......I won't say any more about that.
Though I've been told this gun will be available without the orange tip soon.
So I just might buy one. I would love a 1911 that shoots close to 400 fps in 5" form.

You do realize it's my job to bust your chops, right?

There's a lot coming down the pipe for this gun, among other things. Patience is a virtue so I'm told.

We all know the orange tip retention and use varies from state to state here in the U.S., so above all, it's the end user's responsibility to make the right choice for themselves. Orange tip or no, if you use this gun in an improper manner, you will most likely find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Common sense goes a long way folks. KWA is merely following legal guidelines for sale and shipment of airsoft guns within the United States.

That all being said, I'm working on getting one of these myself for some fondling..

lol, nice work in my user title colin

I AM THE ELITE!!!! lol

I did give the Shooters Design and Airsoft Surgeon floating valves a try. AS one didn't fit. Shooters Design fit, and power was decent, but it seemed to lose some on the top end. The gun stopped being able to shoot as high as it used to, but not a great loss. Good news in case anyone breaks their floating valve (it is plastic like the Glock valve).

I did get in some new parts to try out. PDI cames through once again.



We have a "stock" length 6.01 and an extended 6.01 which still comes with a suppressor adapter (good news). The extended barrel is just a bit extended, and with the adapter fit, it is completely covered (so you don't need to run a suppressor if you don't want to.



So on to the results. Weather has been a bit weird lately. Plenty warm, but the previous set up numbers where higher. So the baseline for this test includes these upgrades:

Airsoft Surgeon Hammer Spring
Airsoft Surgeon Recoil Spring
Airsoft Surgeon Floating Valve Spring

Testing as always was inside, full mag, room temperature. XCortech Chrono, Toytec .20s bbs.

Base line

1 - 354.2
2 - 354
3 - 344.6
4 - 348.6
5 - 352
6 - 347.9
7 - 345.5
8 - 345.3
9 - 346.9
10 - 343.1

Avg: 348.21

First up was the PDI "stock" length 6.01mm tight bore. In truth it is about a half mm shorter than stock. I need to check to see if they have extended this inner barrel for this version to boost fps some, but later. Either way it is a tighter bore, so power did jump some. Not as much as I would have liked, but it is a gain. I find that KWA guns don't seem to gain as much as TM guns do from 6.01mm tight bores.

PDI "Stock" Length

1 - 360.6
2 - 358.9
3 - 354.3
4 - 353.8
5 - 352.5
6 - 357.2
7 - 348.1
8 - 357.9
9 - 352.7
10 - 347.6

Avg: 354.36

So we do see a gain of 6 fps on average. Nothing to be ashamed of since this testing was done with room temp mags at 72 degrees. With some more heat, there are more gains to be had (of course). How will the extended tight bore do then?

Extended PDI

1 - 390.7
2 - 394.4
3 - 393.2
4 - 393
5 - 390.3
6 - 386.5
7 - 388.3
8 - 385.1
9 - 385.9
10 - 380.8

Avg: 388.82

Very nice I must say. A few things to point out. The mag ran out of gas one shot later, so it wasn't actually filled for this test, with a full mag it would shoot higher (it actually shot over 400 later). Also that low number is probably due to low gas capacity, so if it was just a few fps higher the gun would probably average over 390 fps.

Pretty amazing for the amount of parts, and for the cost.

KWA M1911A1 Full Metal - MSRP $150

Airsoft Surgeon Power Up Springs (floating vale & hammer) - $7
Airsoft Surgeon Recoil Spring - $7

PDI 6.01mm Extended Tight Bore - $37

So for a little over $200 you can have a full metal 1911 that shoots almost 400 fps (at 80 degrees I bet it will). And you can run a suppressor as well:

damn........... i may need to pick one up.......

great review man