10 year old pistol recommendation

damagegt

Hi Guys.

Iv been away from the sport for awhile now so my knowledge of newer manufacturers and systems has slipped to say the least.My boy has always wanted something of his own since his he set eyes on mine and hes going to be ten at xmas so I'm going to treat him.

I'm looking to pick him up a pistol to blink with at home.Nothing to crazy priced as its his first and there is nothing to say he wont throw it in a press and never look at it again.

Iv always ran with Marui but they seem to be a tad pricey.I was looking at WE glocks,gen 3-4,I'm not sure, they seem perfect .I remember seeing WE stuff a few years ago and wasn't very impressed with it.
Has it moved along in quality any bit ?

Ideally something light weight so hes not fighting with it,ggb or co2 full metal would be nice but quality abs and a metal side would be just as good.
Price I'm looking €120 tops. I'm open to second hand if the condition is top notch.

Fire away with some recommendations
Thanks

T.C.

Hi Damage,

I'll confirm what you were thinking on WE; I think most people would agree that the quality from WE has moved on considerably in the last 5 years or so. for my own part I own a good few and skirmish with their P228 model regularly and I've never had an issue. The Glocks are good (even in the opinion of someone who claims he doesn't like Glocks that much) and the Gen4 finally means the full size models actually fit my hand. If his hands are a bit small, I'd consider a Glock compact (19, 23, 32 etc) which I still find to be a perfect size pistol.

In the same polymer frame/metal slide mould, consider the M&P and Beretta PX4, both of which also available from WE for reasonable money, are copies of the Marui designs and therefore compatible, and have decent performance, ergonomics and cool factor

(I've just totted up; as it turns out I now have 9 WE pistols, so I guess I like 'em )

In terms of full metal and not too expensive, I've had a lot of luck with Army brand 1911s (2 x MEU, 2 x Detonics and a Kimber) but you'd definitely have to source those out of country, though not necessarily the far east. They're Marui compatible, tough as old boots and again, one of them is a regular skirmish piece without any issues.

As always, this is just my opinion, not wanting to offend anyone blah blah... happy to discuss at any length, either here or offline.

damagegt

Thanks for that T. C
Iv rang a few retailers this morning and iv been given mixed opinions. From quality issues to lack of stock due to manufactures moving to co2.
If it were for myself I'd be sticking with classic 1911 but been the modern lad that he is the more lasers and night vision he can murder it with the better. I think something like the px4 compact would perfect. It's got the modern look and nice compact size.
Is someone could throw there experience with it up that would be great.
Also where I might get one, here or Europe would be great.

T.C.

No bother mate.

I'd agree that the PX4 Subcompact is a nice piece, but I've only ever held one rather than used it. It does look like sgairsoft.biz (over in Drumcondra) have it in stock at the moment - you could wander over and have a look yourself. (I'm assuming we're talking about the same piece; the RS PX4 comes in three sizes, but as far as I'm aware airsoft only has 2) Tell John in there that Tim sent you.. ;-)

I'm at work and have limited access to other sites at the mo. Airsofteire in Dundalk also tend to have a very good selection of pistols.

Best of luck with the young gun

thermo

There is an "as new" tm meu on adverts here for €80
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057518082

Had one myself and it was a solid performer in regards range and accuracy. And as it's a copy of the single stack design it's not too wide for smallish hands, mags were cheap as you can use kjw gren gas mags and these can be sourced from as little as €15 shipped.

Personally I'd steer clear of W.E. As they seem to have a fairly high failure rate, instead I'd be looking at a stark arms/VFC offering if you were not going with TM.

damagegt

thermo wrote: »

There is an "as new" tm meu on adverts here for €80
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057518082

Had one myself and it was a solid performer in regards range and accuracy. And as it's a copy of the single stack design it's not too wide for smallish hands, mags were cheap as you can use kjw gren gas mags and these can be sourced from as little as €15 shipped.

Personally I'd steer clear of W.E. As they seem to have a fairly high failure rate, instead I'd be looking at a stark arms/VFC offering if you were not going with TM.

Thanks for that Thermo.I'll keep an eye on the adverts.I wont post up anything yet until I'm ready to purchase.I'm sure the VFC systems are the same quality as there larger brothers but as his first system and not knowing will be stay at it ,I cant justify the price.

What would be people options of the KWA g series ?

Dogwatch

Why not get him something that you would use if he loses interest. That way you can both be happy

damagegt

Dogwatch wrote: »

Why not get him something that you would use if he loses interest. That way you can both be happy

I thought about that.My time is very limited these days,my whole collect is now wall hangers.If anything the only reason to buy a higher spec would be resale value.Iv found a few kwa glocks in and around my budget.Iv had good experiences with them in the past.

Is there a quailty difference in the ksc/kwa products ?

T.C.

the guys can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I understood that KSC are made in Japan and tend to have all plastic bodies but do have trademarks and KWA are the same model but made in Taiwan where they can get away with the metal on the bodies but not the trades.

I have 4 according to my list (I have to keep em in a spreadsheet otherwise I lose track), but 2 of those are definitely wall-hangers. I also have 3 KSC clones (a glock 18C, a Beretta and a MAC-11)

My KWA USP compact did sterling duty when I did skirmish it, plastic slide included. The only thing I have noticed in recent years is that the genuine mags for KSC pistols are getting very pricey.

And if you're buying second-hand beware of the older NS-1 versions of things versus the modern NS-2 versions: mags for the former are like Hen's teeth, whereas the latter are easier. Come to think of it, I think the Glock is the only one of their models that hasn't changed for NS1 to NS2... but I could be wrong .

If you're back to thinking about Glocks, the only other thing I'll mention is KJWorks. They're Marui mag-compatible and I've found them tough and durable (I have 2 KJ Glocks) and the prices tend to reasonable. You can even pick up some of them in all plastic versions which are even cheaper (which might be useful if you're not sure of it's future). I bought a new KJWorks Glock 27 for 44 euro, and then when I decided I liked I bought the metal slide for a further 20 quid and changed them round myself. But that's just my way of doing things... :-)

Lemming

T.C. wrote: »

the guys can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I understood that KSC are made in Japan and tend to have all plastic bodies but do have trademarks and KWA are the same model but made in Taiwan where they can get away with the metal on the bodies but not the trades.

Almost. You can get KSC 'export' models that have full metal bodies. My USP Compact is full metal with trades and is a KSC, not KWA branded offering.

That said full metal, non-CO2 powered pistols are very, very over-rated for Irish & British climates and you're better off with a composite slide. Besides, everybody knows that TM guns are powered by magical pixie dust.

On a more serious note, they [TM] tend to be a bit pricier but also hold their resale value a bit better too given the solid reputation of TM guns.