By C_Ranger
Published: 11 March, 2004
Tokyo Marui Glock 17 Spring
Introduction
The Marui spring pistols have been known as some of the best spring sidearms available. The newest generation of spring pistols that Marui currently makes are the HGHU (High-grade, hop-up) pistols. These incorporate an accurate and hard-hitting weapon along with hop-up, which some of the earlier models do not come with. The Glock 17 is not the newest third generation of Marui pistols (such as the TM Mk23 SOCOM), but it incorporates the latest of Marui’s spring pistol technology. The Glock is a very popular handgun, not only by military and police units worldwide, but also by many civilians for various reasons. In addition, the Glock is a very common sidearm with many airsofters. When all else fails, a springer may be the only weapon to fall back on. For those that play more than just the occasional backyard skirmisher, Marui’s spring pistols (as well as other springers) are also great during the winter when gas blowbacks tend to malfunction.
The Gun
The box that the pistol came in was tan, and had the words “Glock 17” and “Hop up system” written in several places on the box, with a picture of the gun in the middle and several warnings and markings written in Japanese. Inside the box were the usual items: the gun, a bag of Marui .25g BBs, the manual, a barrel plug, catalog, and several other pieces of paper written in Japanese. The Glock itself came with full trademarks and an orange tip about 1/2" long from Redwolf Airsoft. The gun is made up of all plastic (except for the screws and some internals), and therefore does not weight very much. Marui placed metal weights in the gun and the magazine to add to the overall feel of the gun. Despite its plastic build, it is nonetheless a very solid gun.
Trademarks
The trademarks are just like the ones found on the real Glock 17. On the left side of the frame, it says:
Glock 17 AUSTRIA 9x19
It also has the Glock symbol on the handgrip and a number 17 on the lower left hand corner of the trigger guard. The right side, however, does not have any of the trademarks found on the real steel. On the slide as well as on the frame, there are several markings and symbols, some of which are in Japanese. On the right handgrip, it says “TOKYO MARUI CO, LTD” on the top and “Made in Tokyo Japan” towards the bottom.
Trigger
Normally the trigger of a spring pistol is not included in a review. With the Glock, its trigger is unique. The trigger safety is fully functional, and is just like the one found on the real steel. There is one main trigger and a smaller, secondary “safe-action” trigger in the center of the main trigger that works independently. This trigger system will only allow the weapon to be fired if the “safe-action” trigger is depressed. The “safe-action” trigger only comes back a few millimeters when the main trigger is not pulled, and thus the pistol cannot fire. The total trigger travel is around one centimeter. The trigger pull is a little stiff, but it will not hinder combat abilities in skirmishes.
Magazine
The magazine is made of plastic, but has a metal weight in the center to add to over all weight of the gun. It can be loaded easily, by simply pushing BBs one-by-one into the feed tube until it is at its maximum capacity of 24. The new Marui pistol loaders do work with these magazines, but you must hold the nozzle of the loader to the feed tube or BBs will jump everywhere. The magazine fits snuggly inside the gun. The one part to watch out for is the top of the magazine. If it is bumped by something narrow, such as the edges around the magazine well, the BBs may all jump out. With normal use, however, the BBs will stay in the magazine. The Glock logo is also present on the bottom of the magazine.
One problem I have seen with the magazine occurs when you remove the magazine with it loaded. Sometimes, a BB will be pushed out of the top of the magazine. If you do not shake the BB of the magazine before inserting it back into the gun, it will become jammed between the piston and the slide. It will now be extremely hard to get out unless you take off the slide and get the BB out. The jammed BB, if not removed, may cause damage to the piston area. This is not a big problem if taken care of right away.
Other Parts of the gun
The slide pull is very short, only an inch to be exact, but it is harder to cock than most springers. The ejection port does not open when the slide is pulled back. Instead, it is part of slide. This makes clearing jams more difficult, but jams are not very common with this pistol. The field strip lever does not release the slide, but is instead a safety, in addition to "Safe Action" trigger. The field strip safety is not very combat effective, and most of the time I have found that it is not necessary. The slide release does not function on this model. It is molded into the frame.
Firing the Glock 17
To fire the Glock 17, simply load the magazine with BBs, place it in the gun, and rack the slide. Aim at something safe and fire, then rack the slide again. This process is the same with all spring pistols. The slide is a little stiff, and takes a little bit of time to get used to, but after about 100 rounds you will get used to it. The sights on this model are completely black, and are difficult to aim with most of the time. I find that three dots work well, but I added a rough copy of the U-shaped Glock sights by using mailing labels instead of whiteout or white paint. Just take a few measurements, cut them out, and stick them on, and they stay on very well.
Accuracy
This part is arguably the most important. For starters, the gun shoots very fast (most sites say around 200-230 fps) and it is incredibly accurate. To test the accuracy, I shot at a Marui target (about 1/2 sheet of computer paper) indoors with .25g BBs. Both stances were standing unsupported, from a short distance of 10 and 20 feet.
At 10 feet, I achieved groupings of less than 2 inches. Most shots were either in the 10 ring or in the 9 ring just above the center.
At 20 feet, the groupings were just barely inside 2 inches, but were mostly on the right side of the target and a little high.
Although these were only from 10 and 20 feet away, 2-inch groupings with a spring pistol were amazing when compared to most spring pistols. For the best accuracy, use .25g BBs as .2g BBs tend to go up a little when compared to .25g BBs. You may find that .2g work best, for extra range since they float upwards only a few feet while still staying on a straight path. I would not recommend using .12g BBs, as they “hop” too far up.
Field Stripping
As I said above, the field strip lever does not field strip. To take the gun apart, you need to take out the screw on the right side of the gun located on the rear sight. The rear part of the slide then comes apart, and the rest of the slide up to the front is held on by some type of friction nails that come apart. They have tiny grooves in them to hold on to the other half of the frame. There are some other screws, but they do not need to be removed to get to the “guts”. The only time you would want to use this is when a bb is stuck in the slide, but not in the barrel, which can be a problem if a bb is loose and you place the magazine into the gun.
Conclusion
Overall, the Marui Glock 17 is a great gun. I would highly recommend it as a back up to your AEG or spring primary, especially in the winter. It is even great to carry along if you already have a GBB secondary, as it will come in handy if you are completely out of ammo, or your gun fails. Its slow rate of fire, however, may be its only drawback, but spring pistols aren’t designed for a fast rate of fire. The cost of the pistol is a little less than double that of other springers, but you are getting a very nice and sturdy weapon. This weapon will fit those who just play in backyard skirmishes to gain the upper hand in battle, or a hard-core airsofter who can use a backup during the cooler months or as a desperate backup weapon.
Other Pictures
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