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WE Makarov Test & Review
Armoury KitBag
WE Tactical Training International
WE Makarov
Test & Review
- Reviewed by Rhino
The Makarov is one of the latest pistols to come out of WE that I have been asked to test and review. WE have really upped the ante over the last couple of years with manufacture and quality control of their pistols, rifles and ancillaries. As most of their pistols are compatible with Tokyo Marui they have inevitably been benchmarked against the TM products which is never easy. Anyway on to my test results and review.
On opening the box you get the usual egg box type packaging which keeps everything in place and protected. In the box there is the pistol itself, magazine, manual and a barrel extension and silencer ( more on these items later). On close inspection of the pistol the finish is very neat and tidy with a matt black paint job and some basic trades and a couple of serial numbers. It’s not until you hold it you realise what a neat little unit this is. People with larger hands may struggle with this as the pistol grip is very short. The magazine is again very neat and tidy and possibly the smallest pistol mag I’ve ever seen.
Now stripping this pistol is quite different to the usual Glock or 1911 strip down and it’s a little bit tricky. Pull down the trigger guard then click the hammer back and push the slide right to the back and lift off taking care you don’t snag the slide on the fire nozzle. This then gives you access to a very basic set up with the barrel and hop unit still attached the lower. The hop adjustment is again totally different to any I’ve seen on a WE pistol. No wheel, just a little slider at the back of the hop unit which is very easy to adjust. Reassembly was just as tricky as the strip down so be careful.
So I filled the magazine with WE green gas and filled the magazine with the 16 bbs it takes, the bbs were the Nuprol ones. On firing the first thing I noticed was how snappy and crisp the blow back was as the slide had a very short stroke, it was also quiet. On the chrono test I got the usual 270-280fps with the mag at room temperature which is what we come to expect from WE pistols. Now this is where things got really interesting. As I mentioned earlier this Makarov comes with a barrel extension and silencer which both just screw onto the inner and outer barrels so no need to strip the unit. So I refilled the mag with gas and bbs and put it through the chrono, the results were astonishing. The fps had increased to 365-380 and I checked this at least three times and it was whisper quiet. So if you’re planning to skirmish this pistol I recommend using a low power gas like 144a. I got two bb reloads to one gas fill as the mags are very small in keeping with the design of the pistol.
This little pistol really puts a smile on your face when you fire it as it is very snappy and sounds great. It also looks very good especially with the suppressor fitted and the compact size makes it ideal for concealing at MILSIM events etc. The only down sides to this pistol that I can see are it’s compact size will put off people with larger hands and the strip down is a little tricky. But it’s certainly on my shopping list, Enjoy!
The test pistol was kindly supplied by Milspec Solutions and is available now on their website.
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This review is copyright 2015 by Yosser's Airsoft Odyssey © & Rhino and may not be copied or reproduced without permission. Pictures copyright 2015 by Author. You may link to this page
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Krytac @ BAS 2015
News Archives
Krytac AEG's
First sight in UK @ BAS 2015
This meant that the relocated Krytac Trident SPR and SDP was able to garner a lot of attention from airsofters visiting the Airsoft Action stand – these were possibly the first instances in the UK of these Krytac branded AEGs. The SDP was certainly getting a lot of attention, it just looks so different from other CQB type models. The guys at SHIELD Firearms and Sights stand still had the Trident PDW and CRB models on display and Ken Saville assured us that all these models should arrive in UK soon with distribution via SHIELD (for trade enquiries please contact ken@shieldpsd.com.
Pic below: Krytac Trident PDW & Trident CRB:
Checking these AEGs out (but keep in mind we didn’t fire them) the quality seemed spot on and well finished. I was certainly impressed.
Trident SDP
Compact design, lightweight and full metal with ambi fire selector and locking bolt with access to the numbered rotary hop unit with 15 settings. The battery is housed in the unique buffer tube. The AEG is fitted with a mosfet which should help protect trigger contacts and the receiver is stamped with the Krytac logo and each AEG is individually serial numbered.
With a 14.5” barrel and a 13” free floating DEFIANCE keymod hand rail the player is spoiled for choice for custom options on this AEG. Again a rotary hop up with 15 adjustment settings accessed via the locking bolt. Batteries are held in the stock and you can use nun-chuck style or small lipo brick battery at the rear of the stock in front of the buttpad (or a stick battery in the buffer tube).
These were great looking AEG’s and appear well finished – initial thoughts on pricing are lower £200 bench mark for the SDP and upper £200 for the SPR – however these are only best guesses at this point.
Update from the boys at Airsoft Action Magazine...the first UK review of these AEGs will be in the next issue of the magazine out 12th March.
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Airsoft Expo Review
Fairs & RetailersVideo Archives
Airsoft EXPO
Review - by Yosser
The exhibition centre is a fully heated, in-door event and much warmer and secure than the ‘cow-sheds’ that the airsoft element is normally relegated to at the BSS. However show goers were disappointed to find a number of exhibitors had pulled out although the organisers Meridienne Exhibitions had attempted to keep show goers fully informed via the usual social media outlets. It was a huge disappointment to many who had made the trip from all over the country to miss out on the likes of Airsoft World just because a certain Scottish Politician was indulging his ego. I was so looking forward to seeing their ‘electronic range’. Maybe one day we’ll see them south of the boarder. The disappointment from airsofters in general was palpable at the lack of support from vendors, manufacturers & exhibitors in general for the expo event.
I can’t talk for the numbers on the Sunday but a fair few airsofters turned up on Saturday to enjoy the displays and vendors on offer. Players could checkout a large selection of airsoft and tactical gear from JD Airsoft with possibly the best selection of gear on offer at the expo. Other airsoft vendors included Badger Tac2, and SOCOM Tactical along with Cloud 9 Combat and Enola Gaye for all your ‘smoke & ‘nades’.
The award for the loudest exhibitor had to be for the boys from Incentive Designs who were showing off a number of devices from a sentry turret to a muzzle flash generator called the MFG Venom. These are the latest in realism for your AEG and give you the ability to generate a 'realistic' muzzle flash. They also showed off the SMG Rattle – a M60 mounted machine gun with added MFG AND programmable sound for added effect. A great bit of kit and extremely loud, so loud they could only demo it once an hour and could be heard back in the car park. They also showed off a prototype tracer unit built into a modified magazine. These looked sweet so let’s hope it isn’t long before we see these on sale.
Airsoft Expo highlights Video - © Airsoft Odyssey 2014
Infiltration Airsoft had some great gadgets and gizmo’s on display which all form part of their ‘airsoft experience’ events. They have exciting scenarios coveringe a wide range of missions and scenarios and members get an RFID card which can record details from in game objectives. One of the videos from Infiltration included a ‘meth lab’ setup which needed to be raided or controlled by players and players could scan their RFID cards to ‘prove’ access to various gaming areas. They had some great in-game props which added to the gaming experiences.
Gunman Innovations Airsoft had the scenario area in which they ran ‘Flying Lead’ a mash-up of Cowboys & Zombies in a kind of LARP (Live Action Role Playing) meets Airsoft setup. Each Cowboy was issued with a replica Colt .45 single action revolver whilst the poor Zombie villagers had their rubber pick-axes and shovels with which to defend their Beans & Vittels. Players had a great deal of fun throughout the weekend on this stand which was a credit to the hard work and effort put in by Mich & Helena.
The show did leave me questioning if airrsoft is big enough to support its own dedicated show and I came to the conclusion probably not at this time. Only with a tie-in with the larger ‘shooting fraternity’ will airsoft grow, at least until it gets the support of the foreign manufacturers as well. It’s always noticeable how the UK does seem to be a poor relation in this respect, we just don’t have the mass to attract the attention. We must also attract the wider ancillary services like, providers of action cameras, custom kit makers, target providers, boot sellers and even those experience companies providing live shooting events. Anything and everything airsofters could be interested in. Pricing also has to be a key factor both for tickets and stands especially for new events trying to establish a foot hold in a market place in order to attract and grow an event.
I do hope we see an Airsoft Expo 2015 – we need this for airsoft in the UK to help grow and encourage the sport.
Yosser says: From my perspective it was a grand day out, meeting and greeting airsofters and getting to chat and meet new groups and see some gear I hadn’t seen up close and in person before. I even got to meet a fan from Norway – lol. However I can understand the disappointment some airsofters felt at the event. It is difficult in UK to get retailers, and players to support a BIG dedicated event. It just never seems to achieve the critical mass it needs. I do think a trick is being missed with the lack of tactical kit suppliers or the commitment from large distributors or manufacturers that other large events seem to attract outside of the UK, until that happens and until players themselves get behind and support such events maybe we’ll never get beyond niche?
For more information go to www.airsoftexpo.co.uk
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Fobus Holster Review
KitbagQuarterMaster
Fobus Holsters Review
For XDM & 1911 Pistols
- Reviewed by Yosser
Often overlooked by airsofters, Fobus have been making holsters (and other retention systems) for quite some time now originally developed in Israel for military, law enforcement and other ‘special services’. The Fobus holsters are a sea change in holster design and technology, with the first injection molded polymer holster and Fobus claiming to be the leader with more fits for more models in the market place. If you’re looking for standard, retention, roto, thumb break, CH rapid release, ankle, concealed, drop leg, paddle or belt holsters (plus many others beside), Fobus probably has the solution for you and your weapons system.
As we can’t hope to ever cover them all, we shall be taking a look at a small sample from the range, including the paddle rotating holster for the 1911 and the thumb break model for Springfield’s XDM.
Firstly this is a paddle holster. For those that don’t know what one of those is, it is the means by which a handgun, whose method of securing the holster to the wearer, utilizes a flat, concave shaped piece of plastic or leather designed to be worn against the body and ‘clips’ over the belt or trousers. This holster also has a thumb break, secured by snap fastenings, which prevents an unauthorised person from drawing the weapon but also crucially secures it in the holster while the owner engages in vigorous activities, such as many airsofters do!
As for holding my replica WE XDM 40 it does that very well. The holster even holds the WE XDM Compact 3.8 thanks to the adjustable thumb break allowing the shorter frame to be accommodated easily. Now on the full size .40 model, well it is a bit of a tight fit for the thumb break but being a leather strap I’m hoping this will stretch a little over time and get easier to fit. But for the smaller framed 3.8 you shouldn’t have a problem when the screw for the thumb break is adjusted, allowing the shortening of the securing strap across the top of the pistol. Even with the strap disengaged the friction retention on the holster is good and another adjustable feature on the holster allows this to be increased or decreased according to your requirement or preference via the flat head screw head just below where the trigger housing on the holster is.
Whilst wearing and in I had no problems with the holster. Although returning the weapon back to holster and refastening the thumb break over the pistol was a little tight, but as I mentioned earlier I’m hoping this gets easier over time on my full frame WE XDM 40. The holster was not adjustable for rake but I didn’t really find that a problem, although like many I find a slight forward 10 degree cant slightly easier to use. I would encourage you to follow the manufacturer’s guide on fitting and using the holster, which comes included in the packaging to get the best out of your purchase though as it offers some good tips on use and adjustment and will help you get the most out of your purchase. For those using the holster with real weapons it is an absolute must to read the instructions for safeties sake, please.
In keeping with the previous review this is also a paddle holster. One of the notable exceptions on this model is that the rear of the paddle is coated with a soft rubberised coating to aid comfort and fit, but otherwise fit and use is much the same as the above model.
This holster also has the facility to alter the rake angle at which the pistol will sit on the waist of the user, something which many users will love. Adjustment is made by means of a supplied hex key. Firstly loosen off the retaining hex screw (located on the back of the paddle), adjust to desired angle of rake, and then retighten. It’s really easy to adjust, but it might take some trial and error to find what’s comfortable for you. This adjustability also means you could adjust the rake to make a practical cross draw holster too.
Physically this holster just holds the weapon by a friction hold on the trigger, which again is adjustable for grip and preference by means of an adjustable flat head screw head located just below the trigger housing on the holster. The holster itself has a minimal appearance that shows off the lines of the weapon clearly and allows a tantalising glimpse of the pistol slide through the designed ‘port holes’ on the holster, which is a nice design touch, but for those not liking that they also do holsters which a more conventional appearance if that doesn’t appeal.
Again properly fitted on a belt and adjusted this should give you pretty much trouble free operation. I will say though that this is probably more suited to a range rather than skirmish wear for an airsofter as it lacks the thumb break which gives you that added security from accidental loss. I’ve been unable to try a Detonics style compact 1911 so I’m unable to state if one of these will fit this holster but I’ve tried other 1911's and a few other WE models with no issues at all.
For info on Fobus holsters check the website:
http://www.fobusholster.com/
Yosser says: Military and Serpa holsters of course all have their place but as more skirmishers are looking for more PMC and civilian load outs from ‘Prepper style’ and Zombie apocalypse survivor style these holsters will prove ideal, and of course not to mention on the range as well. With a huge selection of models, styles and options be sure to check out Fobus holsters especially if you’re looking for something to hold an unusual weapon. In the UK these are available from http://www.tactical-kit.co.uk/ for a wide of Fobus holsters. A BIG thank you to FOBUS holsters and LBT Trade for making this review possible - thanks guys.Stay upto date follow AIRSOFT ODYSSEY via TWITTER:
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Check out the Tactical-Kit UK website:
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