By Joe_1911
Published: 22 October, 2003
History
After purchasing a copy of Black Hawk Down and watching it several times, one weapon that my eye always caught was the grip/frame of a Colt .45 sticking out of the Delta soldiers holsters.
The M1911A1 is something I always look for poking out of a holster in any movie where it will be present, it's my favorite hand gun.
But back to the movie, I watched the Gary Gordon and Randy Shugart scene a dozen times, I played it in slow motion, backwards, forwards, paused it, just so I could see the full details of them firing their 1911 pistols. I knew I had to get an airsoft version for myself.
A quick browse through Den Trinity brought up the WA M1911A1 Military.
This was the pistol I had been seeking. Of course, it was out of stock. I searched through WGC, Airsoft shop, and dozens of other Japan/US retailers. I emailed all of them and asked if they could order one. None of them could pull some strings and get one.
However, this did not stop me yet. I posted some classifieds on several airsoft sites, and searched ebay. Not one could be found.
Fast forward two months, a man replied to an ad I had placed. He was selling his M1911A1 military, brand new, only two mags of gas shot out of it. He was including two cans of gas and a holster, all for $187 shipped.
At the time, I was having some trouble getting some extra cash. The guy was kind enough to hold on to this pistol for three months until I got some spare cash for it. I had found an awsome deal on two used 1911 single stack magazines during this period of time, and I bought them up to go along with the pistol.
First Impressions
The pistol came in the classic brown WA box, and contained two stainless steel allen wrenches, a Colt WA Manual, a piece of yellow safety paper and of course the pistol itself.
Lifting the pistol out of the box, you will instantly notice how heavy it is. Weighing in at 925g, this pistol isn't light like my KSC G19. Hitting the magazine release releases the 15 round magazine.
The pistol itself is well balanced, and sits perfectly in my hand. The sites on this gun are fairly small, requiring some practice in order to draw, aim and fire accordingly.
The gun is Single Action, meaning the hammer has to be cocked for the first shot. There are two safeties. The grip safety that is deactivated when the pistol is held, and there is a manual safety on the left side of the gun that can only be activated when the hammer is cocked.
The 1911 has a parkerized finish to it, and the few photos most retailers have do not due the finish much good, the gun is black underneath, so the parkerized paint slowly wears off on the chamber cover, and some other spots such as under the trigger guard from the palm of your hand rubbing against it.
Charging my magazines up with 134a, .2g bbs and loading magazine into the gun, I went out side and did some plinking. The pistol can hit a human size target from 80 feet easily using .2g bbs and with the hop up tuned in. Using Green Gas, the slide kicks back very fast, and cycles well. Undoubtly though, the pistol needs some upgraded internals to operate reliably with green, which I have just ordered and will be reviewing soon.
WA has possibly the most annoying Hop Up design, requiring the pistol to be field stripped in order to be adjusted.
The gun has the proper trademarks present. on the left side of the slide it reads: "PATENTED APR 20.1897.SEPT.9.1902
DEC.19.1905.FEB.14.1911.AUG.19.1913" Followed by the Colt Pony and then it says "COLT SPTF.A MFG. CO Hartford, Connecticut, USA", Also my home state.
On the right side of the frame it reads "UNITED STATES PROPERTY M1911A1 U.S ARMY" Below that it has "WA ASGK" marking.
Accessories
More and more are starting to pop out for this pistol. A Metal lower frame was recently released for this pistol, which can be found at www.dentrinity.com, and I believe PGC is going to release a metal slide for it. Of course, a PGC reinforced loading nozzle, guarders reinforced firing pins, Reinforced hammer/recoil springs will all fit this pistol. I have just purchased these upgrades, so expect a installation/review on some of these pieces shortly.
I currently have a Everise laser site that I occasionally mount on to it, it isn't all that useful, but it looks neat in my opinion. It needs a special holster inorder to be carried properly.
The three magazines I have for it are plenty for pistol only games, while not giving me as many rounds as say a KSC glock variant, this pistol makes up for it in its range and power. I would recommend carrying atleast two extra, three or four being more optimal.
Conclusion
This paticular hand gun is getting harder and harder to find. Western Arms has yet to produce a new batch or to drop it from their current production catalouge. So, when WA plans to release another batch is unknown at this time.
However, if you really want that pistol to complete your WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Blackhawk Down or dozens of other outfits, this is easily the pistol you're looking for. If you're more of a collecter, again this pistol is what you're looking for, since it is becoming harder and harder to locate.
Overall this pistol makes for an excellent skirmish pistol and with all the proper trade marks makes a excellent collectable.
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