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First Looks:
Why get a glock? Well many reasons, as we all know
that Glocks were one of the most innovative guns of the 20th Century.
Maybe you simply like the looks, maybe you don't even care and just want a cool
looking gun. Peronsonally I wanted some wall hangers that looked cool, and have always been a fan of the glock series. The Y&P Glocks were my way of fulfilling a dream without going out and spending hundreds on some gas blowback glocks. Whatever your reason I hope this review helps clear your mind about the Y&P version of the Glock 17/19. This review will cover mainly
the Y&P Glock 17 model but both the 17 and 19 models are extremely similar in
parts, quality, and usage, and exactly the same in many aspects. I will
adress the differences between the two models throughout the review. I
will also make alot of references to the KWC Tanfoglio 1911 pistol, as it is the
closest spring pistol I have, and the best thing I have to make comparisons with.
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Asthetics/Features:
Finish is very good. Equal in fact, if not nicer, than
the KWC 1911, though unlike the KWC which has to replicate a metal weapon, the
Glock is meant to look a bit plastic-ish (just like the real gun does!).
The finish is a flat black finished plastic (ABS material). It has a nice
dull shine on the slide, and a textured black ABS frame. Interesting to
note there are no trademarks on the Glocks, no writing at all, actually, except
"Made in Taiwan" in the lower right hand side of the grip. Grips are built
into the slide itself, molded from the plastic itself. Sights have no
white or any marking on them at all, and are a molded part of the slide.
It is very hard to aim with these sights, but a little white paint and some
careful time spent making your custom sights can fix that in a hurry.
Magazines are well molded and full-sized, to look like a real magazine might.
Overall this gun looks very nice and except for the obvious lack of trades, I
expect it would be very hard to tell from an actual glock.
Shown below is the Gun in the box as it came, and the Mags: (from left) KWC 1911 Mag, YP G19 Mag, YP G17 Mag. You probably will be interested to know that the G17 mags DO fit and work fine in the G19. (also I am unaware if you can buy single G19 mags but the G17 Mags are readily available.)
 
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This gun does have a lot of cool features included, I'll try to mention them all. First, is one of my personal favorites that gets left out of SO many spring guns: A working slide-lock system. I absolutely love this feature. It works quite well, though sometimes it accidentally locks on the first few shots out of a full magazine. Its simple to pull the slide release lever down in this case, and after the first 1 or 2 shots the gun works normally. Also, after you've fired the last BB and rack the slide again, it locks, letting you know its time for a fresh mag. Next is another nice feature - an open ejection port. When locked open, you can easily see the nozzle/loader, and the top of the magazine. No BB is loaded until you let the slide go, so you shouldn't have to worry about BB's slipping out of there. Also of note is the fact that when you rack the slide more than once, another BB does NOT get loaded. My KWC 1911 does this and I hear other guns do as well. The magazine in this gun is really the heaviest part of this gun. As I mentioned it is a full size magazine but more than half of it is dead weight. I can fit 15 or 16 BB's in the Glock 17 magazine but only 13 in the Glock 19 magazine. The gun itself is quite light, without the mag in it, it's about the same weight as the KWC 1911. When you put the magazine in the Glock, the Glock is MUCH heaver than the 1911. This is definatly a plus for the Glocks. Even the smaller Glock 19 is heavier than the 1911!
Takedown of this gun is very simple and straightforward. Pull the slide back and lock it. The rear of the slide can slide down and come off.
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Release the slide, and locate the two takedown handles just above the trigger and a bit foreward. The slide will move forward and slide completely off the frame.
 
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Be careful not to lose the recoil spring (in the front on the underside) and the main spring (top rear, hiding underneath the slide). To remove the barrel and piston assemblies, look on the underside of the slide. The guts are the little box with the loading nozzle pointing foreward, located near the rear of the slide. Scoot the barrel foreward (it will stick out the hole in the front of the slide) then you can pull the whole piston/chamber assembly out the bottom of the slide. After it is removed, the barrel can slide backwards and out of the slide. The fourth picture above indicates what parts are metal on the inside. Basically the parts that attach the slide to the body, the spring guide at the rear that holds the main spring in place, and most of the trigger assembly peices are metal, as well as the slide release lever.
Performance:
I'll let the chronograph readings speak for themselves here. All tests are with .12 gram bb's, average 10 shots.
| Y&P G17 | Y&P G19 | KWC 1911 | UHC 1911 |
| 226.7fps | 212.4fps | 296.4fps | 232.1fps |
The G17 did have some issues when I originally wrote this review, since then everything has worked fine. As expected the Glock 17 did have slightly more power, however they did both prove to be the most underpowered of the whole bunch. As far as accuracy, I was very happy with the Glocks accuracy at 10 and 20 foot ranges however much farther than that and the BB really starts to drop fast. Compared to the UHC the accuracy seemed about the same to me, with the UHC having a bit more consistant bb path than the Y&P's. The KWC topped the charts with .12g power, however all that power doesn't come without its drawback: in this case having to take a best guess at where the bb will go. I was able to hit large targets at much farther distances but would not be able to hit with pinpoint accuracy at closer ranges like I could with the slower pistols.
Conclusion:
As you can see the Glocks are much more accurate under short range settings than the KWC1911 however I have no doubt a higher grade KWC would perform much better, as the Tanfoglio is about the lowest end KWC you can get. Y&P Makes a good glock overall, I'd venture to say it's a very average spring gun. (at a low price, no less). It is also one of the only, if not THE only 3rd Generation Glock Springer out on the market. The lack of trades is dissapointing but everyone will know a glock from a distance anyway. The power is somewhat lacking but for close quarters or as a backup pistol it will do fine. The Glock 19 has been my choice as a "holdout" pistol many months now, to stick in my tacvest as a last resort, due to its small size. In the event that it's too cold out for my gas pistols, or my rifle and pistol are both empty/broken, it's down to this little Y&P wonder to save my behind. In all it's definatly a good gun for the money. Only time will tell if these guns make as bad a reputation for themselves as the shoddy Y&P M9 has, but so far, I am not dissapointed!
| Pros: | Cons: |
| Low Price
3rd Gen Glock Styling Heavy Open Ejection Port Locking Slide Fullsize Mag |
No Trades
Average Accuracy Low Power Y&P Brand Name |
 
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