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Review Request, Socom Gear Tan M9A1

  • 16-11-2012 6:14am
    #1
    Depp
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,850 ✭✭✭


    http://www.airsoftguns.ie/airsoft-pistols-gbb/27-socom-gear-m9a1-sof-desert-combat-silencer.html

    hey all...been mad to buy one of these for a long while, Total beast of a gun looks wise, always been an m9 guy and tan really is my colour :P Comes with a silencer too which is a big draw for me...anyhoo with christmas coming up and the GBB addiction flaring in a bad way I'm considering biting the bullet as it were and investing in one. Just wondering if anyone had any personal experience with it as at almost 160 squids its a pricey number and I'm not too keen on splashin out for a lemon. Thanks in advance for all your good/(hopefully not)bad experience with this pistol. Also anyone have any experience with the assassins barrel kit that you can pick up for it, fairly sure it would drive the fps over the limit but its still so...cool haha. Thanks again and all help appreciated. Sound.


Comments

  • #2
    Inari
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭Inari


    As far as M9 's go there are quite a few options:
    - HFC (Green Gas + Metal; some models are full automatic)
    - KJW (Green Gas + Co2 + Metal)
    - KWC (Co2 + Metal; some models are full automatic)
    - TM (134a/Green Gas + Plastic; some models have functioning decocker)
    - WE (Green Gas + Co2 + Metal; some models are full automatic)
    - HK3P (Green Gas + Metal; some models are full automatic)
    - Socom Gear (re-branded WE with minor modification)
    - KSC (green gas + metal; functioning decocker)
    - KWA (same design as KSC; different box + trademarks)
    - Western Arms (134a/Green Gas + Plastic; functioning decocker)

    Now as to which one is the best (and similarly ranking the rest in descending order) is down to you and what particular criteria you want the pistol to have. Do you want it to be full-metal? Do you want a high quality finish that will last? Is accuracy and performance important to you? Do you want sheer recoil? Would you prefer a 1:1 replica of the M9 with all of its features? How much are you prepared to spend to get it 'perfect'?

    Without a shadow of a doubt the best performing M9 on the market is the new Tokyo Marui M9A1, followed by KSC, and then KJW, Western Arms and back to TM (this time their older design). From there the rest of the clones file in quite close to one another; HK3P/WE/Socom Gear are pretty much identical, though they are now built out of better materials. It was widely reported that WE M9's had a habit of developing full automatic. But that's just performance...what about build quality (criteria for build quality is materials used, weight balance, feel and accuracy to the real steel)? Top of the pile are Western Arms and KSC/KWA, followed by Tokyo Marui (once again only their new design M9A1), then HK3P, KJW and the rest.

    Why is that the case? The weightbalance in the Western Arms and KSC is spot on, literally, whereas it is only marginally off in the TM M9A1. The others may be full metal, sporting metal outer barrels etc...but that doesn't change the fact that on some levels the guns just feel....wrong. HK3P and KJW beat the rest for metal and paint used giving their guns a superior finish to the likes of the flakey HFC and the weak pot-metal of the KWC.

    Recoil wise the KJW co2 wins out, to no surprise. The rest are much in muchness; the metal ones beat the plastic in this department. But recoil is only one part of the realism picture - there's also the matter of the decocker; only Western Arms, KSC and TM (M9A1) have that feature, so if you're a huge M9 fan then that will bug you if you don't have it. Perhaps not now, but it will get to you.

    So what guns are top of the pile in all areas? Western Arms is fantastic in all except cost. KSC is a great buy, but spare mags are expensive. TM M9A1 is fantastic, but you have to get over the fact that it's plastic. And then you have the rest...WE/Socom Gear, HK3P, HFC, KWC, KJW etc. Whom are all over the place, but generally speaking will do the job. They're all compatible with the original Marui design, and as a result they can be improved upon. However, what if the areas that annoy you most are not performance, but rather feel? That is significantly harder to improve.

    To be honest, this post goes indepth in unnecessary areas, of that I am certain. The pistol you're looking at is fine. It is neither top of the range, nor is it bottom. It is a nice replica, and if you're specifically after a tan gun then I would say go for it.


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