Post by Guinness on Feb 24, 2007 18:37:16 GMT -5
WE 1911 Officers ACP
Product: WE Compact 1911 .45 Officer's ACP Replica 6mm Airsoft GBB Pistol
Weight: 870g / 1.91 lbs.
Construction: Full Metal, ABS Grips
Gas Compatability: Green Gas / Propane
Replica History
This replica is loosely based on the Colt Mark IV Series 80 Pistol and other compact 'Officer's Model' ACP pistols, it is not an exact replica of any one production firearm.
In the 1950's Colt developed and produced a smaller, more compact version of the venerable 1911 .45 automatic called the 'Colt Commander'. This pistol featured a shortened slide and barrel, down from the standard 5.03 inches to 4.3 inches and was issued to high ranking Officer's with an engraved name plate integrated into the wood grips. The Colt Commander models and varients are still a very popular size today.
In the 80's Colt released a yet smaller product from the Mark IV Series 80 family featuring a 3.9 inch length.
I have always had a 'thing' for Concealed Carry Weapons or, CCW's so when I learned that WE had released these i knew I would have to get one.
I mentioned that WE's version is "loosely based" on the Officer's ACP, actually what WE has done is to create their own unique gun here, we will go over the features that set it apart a bit later.
Presentation
I purchased the replica from Evike-
www.evike.com/
I paid $121 USD with shipping to my house, and she arrived in 3 days.
WE is providing a nice plastic case with the guns which is always welcomed, and as usual a bit of 'Engrish' to look for, the box has raised letters boldly stating "EDITION BINDING TOOLBOX"
...? uhhh ok
But I still appreciate getting extra free stuff with any purchase and this is no exception, it's a very nice case.
The gun also includes the predictable small bag of 100 bbs, and instruction manual which is written in 4 different languages- A difference that shows the Chinese makers and clearly catering to a wider audience than their Japanese counterparts.
As is standard with WE guns, the purchase included 2 magazines, however many of the retailers are supplying a compact-sized mag and a full-size mag for a what reason I can not imagine, I received two small mags.
Replica Impressions
This is my first WE product. I have been following them since the release of the HiCapa 5.1 and had always expected that I would eventually take the plunge and pick one up- I mean who could not be inticed by a full-metal, inexpensive, hard shooting gun for C-H-E-A-P that comes with 2 magazines??
Well I did what many of us did and sat back and waited for the 'long-term' testing results to arrive on these guns. It's fairly predictable that the first few iterations of their product had some shall we say, 'quality control' issues- that is not only common with up-and-coming Chinese manufacturers, but 1st edition releases from the Japanese houses as well, so I took it in stride and waited.
As well, to be honest, I've never been a huge 'race gun' or 2011 fan (With the exception of my WA SV 3.9, but that's another story) so I didn't rush to pick up a HiCapa.
WE later released a follow-on compact product to the HiCapa series called 'Baby HiCapa' that well....suffered from an unfortunate name and were pretty darned ugly-
With the much anticipated release by Tokyo Marui of thier GBB 1911 GM my hopes renewed that WE would create a clone version, the world wasn't left waiting very long. Again however, I waited to read the reviews of the product before I invested. And yes, there were some initial quality issues, but the common theme of the reports I read indicated that the WE 1911 represented an incredible value for your Airsoft dollar.
The major factor that kept my money in my pocket however was the trademarks.
I was not in love at all with the Taiwan replacement slides that had been released with thier white trades- I may as well admit that I have a problem- yes Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a trademark junkie.......
I make most of my buying decisions based on the accuracy and realism of the gun and trademarks obviously enter into the equation in 99.9% of the weapons choices out there.
However as more and more folks bought the WE products as well as the TM, the 'experimenting' soon begain and that led to the discovery that the WE's were in fact interchangable with TM's to some degree
WE's and TM's appear to be interchangeable in the top half of the gun, i.e the slide. The frame is a completely different story.
It appears that WE decided that the easiest way to avoid any sticky potential copyright issues (which is pretty suprising) was to design their own frame around a TM slide- which means that TM mags are not[/b] interchangeable or usable in WE guns, and it also means that WE metal frames are not interchangeable with TM's.
Then a few weeks ago I noticed that WE had released two new "Super Compact" pistols and a "Compact" model.
My CCW craving started to really bug me...
I had also been following the picture threads on Arnies showing the amazing things that some members were doing with their WE's. Soda baths to remove the black paint, polished slides, all kinds of cool mods to customize their weapons and make them look amazing.
I started to reason in my peanut-sized brain, "Well hell, these things are pretty cheap- I could buy one, try to mod it a bit and even if I bugger it up, I'm still not out that much......"
Kinda the same mindset I had with the AGM MP40 mods I did and I am well pleased with that.
I decided to go ahead and grab one to settle my curiosity, I'm very glad I did.
What makes the WE 1911 Compacts Unique
There are a couple of features of the WE 1911 compact frames that make them a bit different not only than their Tokyo Marui GM counterparts but guns or frame kits from anybody else.
Shooting Impressions
Well this is certainly the main point most people buy Airsoft weapons and whay they read reviews, so let's get right to it.
I had read all the reports of amazing blowback and suprising accuracy, so I was expecting good things.
The WE 1911 Officers ACP certainly does not disappoint in this respect.
@30 feet in my windless basement-
Let me tell you that this gun is L-O-U-D! Most of my pistols are Western Arms (see trademark snobbery indicated above), so I have some predetermined ideas about how loud a gun should be and how hard it should kick based on my full-metal and internally upgraded SCW2 1911 Military.
The WE exceeds that benchmark.
I do not have a chrono, but the WE will not puncture the bottom of a pop can from a foot and a half away....whatever that indicates.
Overall Impressions
I love it, ok, maybe I gave away the ending a bit early but hey- Honestly I didn't expect to and didn't really want to like this gun.
I wanted to be able to review the gun objectively and return a thumbs down verdict. Why?
Well, for starters I already shared with you that I'm an admitted realism-geek right? So how would I be able to live with myself if I accepted a plain-jane, no trades, Chinese clone gun that was never going to be able to sit along side my precious WA's or Tanaka Works museum pieces??
Also with all the reports out there already on WE's and their horrible gas efficiency and RCD issues (Rapid Cool Down), this gun would never be a serious sidearm carry contender for me anyway, ...right?
So my real plan was to take a look, confirm all my negative suspicions and be able to return to my nice safe world of elite WA's, Tanaka's and KSCs, not to mention TM's and not think another thing about these Taiwanese imposters.
Well...it didn't work out that way.
I actually find myself liking the smooth lines of the gun without the trademarks- I know it's crazy.
Is the WE a 'historically accurate' Colt Officer's Model?
Nope.
(WA's recent release in black and stainless own that. Yet they are SCW3 'Magna-Tech' guns and, well, they have their own issues.)
But does this gun have redeeming qualities that allow someone to look beyond visual accuracy and realism?
Oh you bet.
My opinion on the WE 1911 'Super' or 'Extreme' compact product is that is represents a fantastic value for your hard-earned Airsoft buck.
Pros:[/i]
>It's Inexpensive- 'nuff said
>It's Full Metal- What every good Airsoftinista dreams about for their pistols.
>It's LOUD!- Easily the loudest handgun I own, and I own a lot of them.
>It's Pretty Accurate- At 30 feet, I was hitting a man's head sized target with a 5 inch group.
>It's compatible* with TM stuff- Metal slides made for the Tokyo Marui 1911, HiCapa 5.1 and HiCapa 4.3 are interchangeable! As well, the WE Officer's ACP 'sister' gun, the compact operator styled weapon has cool things like a beavertail, front serrations and other thngs to mix and match to make a very unique, personalized gun with
>The finish is very good- Surprisingly enough, the gray matte finish is applied very well and evenly and appears as though it will hold up well.
Cons:[/i]
>It's Heavy- It may actually be too heavy for some- The authors gun has been upgraded to the WA Rosewood-colored grips that come with their Officers Model- those are actually painted steel grips and add a substantial bit of extra weight to the piece- as pictured here this gun is as heavy as my KSC Mk23 SOCOM and about half the physical size!
>No Trades/ Not visually correct- If your looking for trades, your outta luck. Sorry- But with the ability to use TM aftermarket metal slides, whocares? However unless TM decides to make a 3.9 inch product, the only choice for the Officer's ACP will be the TM 4.3 inch slides by Guarder or others.
>Bad Gas- It still suffers from the WE Mag efficiency curse.
>Wrong Hammer and Mainspring Housing- I wish they had not used the full-size spur hammer or a curved mainspring housing- basically I guess they were trying to go for a 'shrunk' down version of the full-size GM, but I would have preferred the Colt Commander Holed hammer and the more correct flat mainspring housing. But my next reviw will be on the 'Compact Operator' WE that has those features.
>Bad Rear Sight- You can see again that they followed the full-size 1911 pattern here- The rear sights are cast into the slide and not replaceable, which is bad enough, but they are also too low.
Yet regardless of the negatives, I still rate this gun very high overall due to the quality and usability and customization potential.
Conclusion
Well I went in with low expectations and preconceptions about this piece and as stated did not want to like it. I have to say I was turned. I will be investing in the other 'super' compact WE 1911 as well as the Colt Commander 4.3 inch version so expect reviews on those soon!
My thanks Evike.com
Slainte!
-G
KSC 1911, WE 1911 Compact and WA SCW2 1911 Military
Product: WE Compact 1911 .45 Officer's ACP Replica 6mm Airsoft GBB Pistol
Weight: 870g / 1.91 lbs.
Construction: Full Metal, ABS Grips
Gas Compatability: Green Gas / Propane
Replica History
This replica is loosely based on the Colt Mark IV Series 80 Pistol and other compact 'Officer's Model' ACP pistols, it is not an exact replica of any one production firearm.
In the 1950's Colt developed and produced a smaller, more compact version of the venerable 1911 .45 automatic called the 'Colt Commander'. This pistol featured a shortened slide and barrel, down from the standard 5.03 inches to 4.3 inches and was issued to high ranking Officer's with an engraved name plate integrated into the wood grips. The Colt Commander models and varients are still a very popular size today.
In the 80's Colt released a yet smaller product from the Mark IV Series 80 family featuring a 3.9 inch length.
I have always had a 'thing' for Concealed Carry Weapons or, CCW's so when I learned that WE had released these i knew I would have to get one.
I mentioned that WE's version is "loosely based" on the Officer's ACP, actually what WE has done is to create their own unique gun here, we will go over the features that set it apart a bit later.
Presentation
I purchased the replica from Evike-
www.evike.com/
I paid $121 USD with shipping to my house, and she arrived in 3 days.
WE is providing a nice plastic case with the guns which is always welcomed, and as usual a bit of 'Engrish' to look for, the box has raised letters boldly stating "EDITION BINDING TOOLBOX"
...? uhhh ok
But I still appreciate getting extra free stuff with any purchase and this is no exception, it's a very nice case.
The gun also includes the predictable small bag of 100 bbs, and instruction manual which is written in 4 different languages- A difference that shows the Chinese makers and clearly catering to a wider audience than their Japanese counterparts.
As is standard with WE guns, the purchase included 2 magazines, however many of the retailers are supplying a compact-sized mag and a full-size mag for a what reason I can not imagine, I received two small mags.
Replica Impressions
This is my first WE product. I have been following them since the release of the HiCapa 5.1 and had always expected that I would eventually take the plunge and pick one up- I mean who could not be inticed by a full-metal, inexpensive, hard shooting gun for C-H-E-A-P that comes with 2 magazines??
Well I did what many of us did and sat back and waited for the 'long-term' testing results to arrive on these guns. It's fairly predictable that the first few iterations of their product had some shall we say, 'quality control' issues- that is not only common with up-and-coming Chinese manufacturers, but 1st edition releases from the Japanese houses as well, so I took it in stride and waited.
As well, to be honest, I've never been a huge 'race gun' or 2011 fan (With the exception of my WA SV 3.9, but that's another story) so I didn't rush to pick up a HiCapa.
WE later released a follow-on compact product to the HiCapa series called 'Baby HiCapa' that well....suffered from an unfortunate name and were pretty darned ugly-
With the much anticipated release by Tokyo Marui of thier GBB 1911 GM my hopes renewed that WE would create a clone version, the world wasn't left waiting very long. Again however, I waited to read the reviews of the product before I invested. And yes, there were some initial quality issues, but the common theme of the reports I read indicated that the WE 1911 represented an incredible value for your Airsoft dollar.
The major factor that kept my money in my pocket however was the trademarks.
I was not in love at all with the Taiwan replacement slides that had been released with thier white trades- I may as well admit that I have a problem- yes Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a trademark junkie.......
I make most of my buying decisions based on the accuracy and realism of the gun and trademarks obviously enter into the equation in 99.9% of the weapons choices out there.
However as more and more folks bought the WE products as well as the TM, the 'experimenting' soon begain and that led to the discovery that the WE's were in fact interchangable with TM's to some degree
WE's and TM's appear to be interchangeable in the top half of the gun, i.e the slide. The frame is a completely different story.
It appears that WE decided that the easiest way to avoid any sticky potential copyright issues (which is pretty suprising) was to design their own frame around a TM slide- which means that TM mags are not[/b] interchangeable or usable in WE guns, and it also means that WE metal frames are not interchangeable with TM's.
Then a few weeks ago I noticed that WE had released two new "Super Compact" pistols and a "Compact" model.
My CCW craving started to really bug me...
I had also been following the picture threads on Arnies showing the amazing things that some members were doing with their WE's. Soda baths to remove the black paint, polished slides, all kinds of cool mods to customize their weapons and make them look amazing.
I started to reason in my peanut-sized brain, "Well hell, these things are pretty cheap- I could buy one, try to mod it a bit and even if I bugger it up, I'm still not out that much......"
Kinda the same mindset I had with the AGM MP40 mods I did and I am well pleased with that.
I decided to go ahead and grab one to settle my curiosity, I'm very glad I did.
What makes the WE 1911 Compacts Unique
There are a couple of features of the WE 1911 compact frames that make them a bit different not only than their Tokyo Marui GM counterparts but guns or frame kits from anybody else.
Shooting Impressions
Well this is certainly the main point most people buy Airsoft weapons and whay they read reviews, so let's get right to it.
I had read all the reports of amazing blowback and suprising accuracy, so I was expecting good things.
The WE 1911 Officers ACP certainly does not disappoint in this respect.
@30 feet in my windless basement-
Let me tell you that this gun is L-O-U-D! Most of my pistols are Western Arms (see trademark snobbery indicated above), so I have some predetermined ideas about how loud a gun should be and how hard it should kick based on my full-metal and internally upgraded SCW2 1911 Military.
The WE exceeds that benchmark.
I do not have a chrono, but the WE will not puncture the bottom of a pop can from a foot and a half away....whatever that indicates.
Overall Impressions
I love it, ok, maybe I gave away the ending a bit early but hey- Honestly I didn't expect to and didn't really want to like this gun.
I wanted to be able to review the gun objectively and return a thumbs down verdict. Why?
Well, for starters I already shared with you that I'm an admitted realism-geek right? So how would I be able to live with myself if I accepted a plain-jane, no trades, Chinese clone gun that was never going to be able to sit along side my precious WA's or Tanaka Works museum pieces??
Also with all the reports out there already on WE's and their horrible gas efficiency and RCD issues (Rapid Cool Down), this gun would never be a serious sidearm carry contender for me anyway, ...right?
So my real plan was to take a look, confirm all my negative suspicions and be able to return to my nice safe world of elite WA's, Tanaka's and KSCs, not to mention TM's and not think another thing about these Taiwanese imposters.
Well...it didn't work out that way.
I actually find myself liking the smooth lines of the gun without the trademarks- I know it's crazy.
Is the WE a 'historically accurate' Colt Officer's Model?
Nope.
(WA's recent release in black and stainless own that. Yet they are SCW3 'Magna-Tech' guns and, well, they have their own issues.)
But does this gun have redeeming qualities that allow someone to look beyond visual accuracy and realism?
Oh you bet.
My opinion on the WE 1911 'Super' or 'Extreme' compact product is that is represents a fantastic value for your hard-earned Airsoft buck.
Pros:[/i]
>It's Inexpensive- 'nuff said
>It's Full Metal- What every good Airsoftinista dreams about for their pistols.
>It's LOUD!- Easily the loudest handgun I own, and I own a lot of them.
>It's Pretty Accurate- At 30 feet, I was hitting a man's head sized target with a 5 inch group.
>It's compatible* with TM stuff- Metal slides made for the Tokyo Marui 1911, HiCapa 5.1 and HiCapa 4.3 are interchangeable! As well, the WE Officer's ACP 'sister' gun, the compact operator styled weapon has cool things like a beavertail, front serrations and other thngs to mix and match to make a very unique, personalized gun with
>The finish is very good- Surprisingly enough, the gray matte finish is applied very well and evenly and appears as though it will hold up well.
Cons:[/i]
>It's Heavy- It may actually be too heavy for some- The authors gun has been upgraded to the WA Rosewood-colored grips that come with their Officers Model- those are actually painted steel grips and add a substantial bit of extra weight to the piece- as pictured here this gun is as heavy as my KSC Mk23 SOCOM and about half the physical size!
>No Trades/ Not visually correct- If your looking for trades, your outta luck. Sorry- But with the ability to use TM aftermarket metal slides, whocares? However unless TM decides to make a 3.9 inch product, the only choice for the Officer's ACP will be the TM 4.3 inch slides by Guarder or others.
>Bad Gas- It still suffers from the WE Mag efficiency curse.
>Wrong Hammer and Mainspring Housing- I wish they had not used the full-size spur hammer or a curved mainspring housing- basically I guess they were trying to go for a 'shrunk' down version of the full-size GM, but I would have preferred the Colt Commander Holed hammer and the more correct flat mainspring housing. But my next reviw will be on the 'Compact Operator' WE that has those features.
>Bad Rear Sight- You can see again that they followed the full-size 1911 pattern here- The rear sights are cast into the slide and not replaceable, which is bad enough, but they are also too low.
Yet regardless of the negatives, I still rate this gun very high overall due to the quality and usability and customization potential.
Conclusion
Well I went in with low expectations and preconceptions about this piece and as stated did not want to like it. I have to say I was turned. I will be investing in the other 'super' compact WE 1911 as well as the Colt Commander 4.3 inch version so expect reviews on those soon!
My thanks Evike.com
Slainte!
-G
KSC 1911, WE 1911 Compact and WA SCW2 1911 Military