Home Reviews Glock18c KSC Glock18c Review

KSC Glock18c Review

by Arnie

 

The Glock18c's original box from KSC

(Click
for larger picture)

edited by
Arnie
images/review by TheGeneral

Stock
Specifications
FPS
0.9J
(HFC22)
Length: 202
mm
Weight:
655 Kg

Ammo
capacity:

 

23+1 Round
(Standard Mag)

49+1 Round
(Hi-Cap Mag)

KSC Guns Japan

KSC
Glock 18C Review
(Upgraded)


Side on view at angle

What’s
a Glock 18C?
The
Glock 18C is a select fire pistol, meaning it is capable of firing in
semi or full auto. It is used across the world in armies and special ops
groups. Its design allows it to take many different calibres including
9mm up to .45ACP. This is possible by simply changing outer and inner
barrel on the pistol, which takes a matter of seconds from a strip down
of the pistol.

Most Glock pistols
are made with three versions, L for longer barrel and slide, the
standard version and C, which indicates that it has a ported barrel.
The Glock 18C’s main feature which sets it aside from other Airsoft
pistol replicas, is its full auto capability.

The rate of fire is very fast,
but due to this the recoil is very strong. The Glock 18C has a metal slide and
barrel but has a polymer stock. The trigger is made in two parts, which I will
go into more detail about later.

A
Legal Version Please?
KSC,
a Japanese airsoft manufacturer produce three variations of Glock pistols, the
Glock 17, which shares the dimensions of the 18C but has no select fire
option or vented barrel, the Glock 36, which is a lightly longer barrelled
version and the Glock 18C. KSC
are a Japanese company but for some reason the 18C is made in Taiwan. This doesn’t
mean any decrease in quality as some people may think, but it is mainly due
to cheaper labour.

I decided to get a Glock
18C
after hearing much praise from various people on the forums at the UK
Airsoft forums
(http://forums.kechara.net/)
and the US Airsoft forums (http://www.airsoftzone.com/).
The standard Glock 18C has a plastic slide and barrel of high quality,
but I wanted some more realism and power so I ordered a upgraded Glock 18C
from Wargamers Club http://www3.wargameclub.com/WGC_Shop/,
for a very cheap price of $195, including express shipping. The replica is upgraded
with the following:

  • Metal Slide and outer
    barrel
  • Bore Up Kit (stiffer
    recoil spring, bore up valve and harder recoil guide)
Say
What’s In That Package?
Well
the replica arrived within three days of ordering, which was very nice,
but I was landed with a hefty customs charge of £25. I ripped the packaging
off to reveal the replica in its rather flash box. Within this are two manuals,
one for the Glock 17 and a smaller one for the Glock 18C. Unfortunately
I can’t read Japanese so only the diagrams give me some hint as how to use
the replica, fortunately these are good enough to get the gist about what
the manuals going on about. There are also two packets in the box, one with
about 100 BBs in and the other with a hop up tool, and a hex wrench, then
there’s the replica.
Opposing side on view

What
about what I really paid all that money for?
Well
my first thoughts were that the replica is fairly small, or it may just be me
as I’m too used to a Desert Eagle. The first think I really noticed was the
quality of the finish on both the frame and metal slide. Both are excellent,
the frame has finely etched engravings of various Glock trademarks and serial
numbers that can be found in exactly the same place on the real 18C.

Slide locked top view

The metal slide is
made of aluminium and definitely looks the part; it also has the trademarks
found as on the real Glock. ‘Glock,  18C,  Austria,  9X19’ are all deeply
engraved into the left side of the slide.

On the right is the
matching serial number ‘CQB911’. Just above this is another matching serial
number on the outer barrel, all in all a very accurate copy of the real
Glock. The slide, as with the real Glock 18C is vented to reduce mass,
and hence cycle rates on full auto – the outer barrel is also ported.

The frame is made
of sturdy ABS plastic, which sits very nicely in ones hand. Even my big
hands fit comfortably, and there is a thumb rest located at the top of
the grip, which is found on both sides (for all you lefties out there).
The replica feels heavier than it really is due to its smallish size,
but the weight is evenly distributed making the Glock 18C a very balanced
replica to hold. The metal upgrades on my replica add to the weight but
only by 300g or so taking it to about 700g, very close to the real Glock
18C.

The trigger is made
of two plastic parts. There is the main trigger part and a middle bit
that acts as a second safety when pulled out (more later on this). The
trigger can only be pulled by firstly pressing the middle section which
takes the main trigger body with it. I think this quite clever of both
Glock and KSC as it you have to make a firm pull of the trigger to fire
it, eliminating any accidental shots.

The selector switch
is made out of metal and has three positions, upper-semi, middle-safe
and lower-full auto (I will go into more detail later). At the front of
the frame is an accessories rail that will accept the many real steel
accessories such as flashlights and lasers such as the Wilcox unit at
$3000. For those on a tighter budget various airsoft companies have brought
out their own lasers and lights that fit nicely. Overall this gin is very
accurate in weight, size and markings.

Side on view

One of my major criticisms
of this replica is that the outer barrel is fairly loose and rattles against the
metal slide when moving the replica from side to side rapidly. This is only occurs
on an 18C with a metal barrel and slide, something to do with a design fault
by the manufacturer of the metal kit. I can put up with it, but this may deter
some people.

So
How Does It Work?
Well the Glock has what seems a fairly complicated
method of safety and firing but after a while it becomes second nature.

The valve exposed for filling The
Mag
Well you have to start somewhere and the sensible place
is here. Firstly you need to put gas in the mag. There’s a nice feature
on the KSC Glocks that most GBB don’t have and that’s a plastic base plate
that covers the valve. It has a Glock insignia for realism. Just pull a
small bar down and pull the plate towards you, this reveals the valve.

Fill up the mag with
my recommendation of HFC Green Gas (N.B. I only recommend Green Gas in
those replicas with upgraded internals and externals, even then use it
at you own risk!) Alternately HFC 134a or HFC 22 (American Eagle) gas
can be used, but with the upgrades I have the former gas won’t cycle the
slide properly. The 18C doesn’t have a loading tool, but instead the mag
is loaded with BBs by pulling down a spring loader, which locks in place
at the bottom. Now just pour a maximum of 23 BBs, making sure they are
aligned properly in diagonal formation, this is quite annoying as if you
don’t the mechanism may jam. Now just release the spring loader and insert
the mag.

To Fire

Right, now pull back the
slide and hold it in the locked back position by pushing up on the slide locker
and releasing the slide so the slide locker holds it back. Now turn the selector
switch to the desired setting, semi or full. Now release the slide, which chambers
a BB. The trigger will now have moved from the rear position to shooting position. Pull the trigger if on semi or hold the trigger on full auto to let those BBs
fly, until you run out when the slide locks back, letting you know your out
of BBs.

The Safeties

The safety mechanism on
the Glock 18C is fairly complex. The replica has an internal hammer and no decocking
lever. When the hammer is cocked the trigger is in the forward position, when
the hammer isn’t cocked the trigger is pressed against the back of the trigger
well. In my opinion this is an excellent indicator of whether the hammer is
cocked or not. To put the Glock on safe the slide has to be in the locked back
position to turn the selector switch to safe. Release the slide and the replica
is in safe, but still cocked. The second safety is on the actual trigger, just
pull up the middle bit of the triggers the back is resting on the trigger well,
so you can’t fire the replica. So it seem the default position is cocked and it’s
just as well there are two safeties.

Hop Up

The hop-up can be adjusted
with the tool that is provided. Just lock back the slide and insert the tool
on a part of the outer barrel, anticlockwise for more hop-up, clockwise for
less. I found the hop-up to be adjusted at maximum when taken out of the box,
so make sure you tune this down before firing or you’ll find BBs raking up into
the sky.

G18c in bits. =(

Disassembly

To disassemble the
replica just take the mag out, then pull down two little notches found
just forward of the trigger guard on the frame. Push forward the slide
and there you go. Take out the recoil spring, then the outer and inner
barrels come out of the slide by just pulling them out, and then pulling
out the inner barrel. This is as far as you should disassemble the replica,
and is all you will likely to need for maintenance.

So
How Does It Shoot?
I’ve had quite
a bit of experience with GBB, some small pistols to some enormous ones.
The longer barrelled replicas seem to shoot further and more accurately.
Well I can safely say that this replica beats all of the ones I’ve used
(Yes, including a SVI 5”)
in power, hands down.

On semi the metal
slide crisply cycles with hard recoil, resulting in a very satisfying
“cuchink” type noise. The BB fly’s off to its destination, with accuracy
being pretty good for a replica with a medium length barrel, hitting a
man sized target at 120ft being easily possible.

Range is excellent
and beats my Marui M16A2 by a
good 15ft, reaching up to ranges of 160ft with the hop-up set to the right
position. Now I know why I paid more money for the upgrades!

Slide back view from top

Full auto is something special
– hold down the trigger and watch those BBs fly, emptying a standard mag in 2
seconds! Cycle time is slightly less with the metal slide but the sharp recoil
makes up for this. I had a hard time keeping the replica on a tree sized target
just 30ft away.

G18c magasine (empty)

The recoil is very
hard and accuracy is poor for longer ranges and adequate for short-medium
ranges. The cycle time is far faster than Marui’s 1000 type motor, as
used in their latest AEGs.

Knowing there’s a
metal slide on my replica is reassuring as I would be tad worried with
a plastic slide flying back and forth at 1600 rpm! The mag runs out very
quickly on auto so buying some more mags or the extended 49rd mag is advisable.

A mag full of gas
lasts me 3 lots of 23 on semi, and 2 on auto, full auto seems to use a
bit more gas up. As with most GBB the slide locks back after the last
round has been fired, as does the real steel version.

At skirmishes this replica
comes into its own. The load chuuuuurrrrrrrp of the 18C on full auto keeps heads
down wondering what the hell it is, and man-sized targets are easy to get at
120ft+. My 18C fits nicely into a thigh holster and I love it when my battery
runs out or the replica jams and I can reach down and pull out my 18C, it really
is a pleasure to fire. I haven’t used it in CQB yet but reports from some regulars
at CQB sites, with Glock 18Cs say that it makes an excellent room-clearing weapon.

Accessories
Well
there is the kit I have on my replica for a stock Glock 18C, and I thoroughly
recommend this upgrade. Other than that, there are many after market accessories
for the Glock 18C. Threaded barrels for silencers, lasers, flashlights, scope
rails for scopes, extended magazine basses, the list goes on. Most of cosmetic
accessories are for personal preference but I plan to get a threaded barrel
and a Socom silencer for my Glock, apart from looking the part it may improve
accuracy a bit.

Conclusion
I thoroughly recommend you go out and buy a Glock 18C, whether upgraded
or not. A full auto pistol is something not to miss out on and in my view
it is one of the best quality full auto GBBs out there. 

With the WA Prokiller
Mk2 being launched I think the Glock 18C may have some tough competition,
but the price of the Mk2 is £30 more than a fully upgraded Glock 18C,
and I think the 18C is the better choice. To start with I was deterred
by the Glock’s looks, I always thought they looked to square and ugly. But now I’ve got one I prefer its looks to many of my other GBBs. Go
out and by this beast!

Written by A W ( aka “TheGeneral
)

Please feel free to
E-Mail me at either @hotmail.com
or TheGeneral@
to ask any questions.

Appearance

4/5
–
its not a stunner but it is nice

Build
Quality

4/5
– Shame about that rattle

Performance

5/5
– Full auto pleasure!

Value
for Money

5/5
–
Just $195 form WGC

Overall
Potential

4/5
–
Go and get one!

side on view, with slide locked back
opposing side on view with side locked back

External
Links:

http://www.glock.com/g18.htm
– Some real steel info on the Glock range.

http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/ksc-g18c.htm
– Link to Redwolf’s review

Comment
on this review in the forums


copyright 2001
ArniesAirsoft




Cookies are used improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More