Home Reviews M629 Tanaka M629

Tanaka M629

by Arnie

(click
for a larger image)

Tanaka
M629 Review
by
Ken/888
images by Darren-Jon
Ashmore

and
888

Stock
Specifications
FPS

0.79 J (stock energy may vary)
Length:
287 mm
Weight:
825 g

Ammo
capacity:

15 Rounds
(Standard Mag)

short
review page
(by Nautilus)
|
review
page by
Ken/888


Vital
Stats

Owner: 888
Total
Length:
11.5
inch
Inner
Barrel:
Approx.
5-3/4 inch
Weight: 830
g
(with
barrel weights & fully loaded)
Shot
Capacity:
14
Power: 380
FPS w/ .30g & green gas

Effective Range: 30-50
feet

The
Performance Center is an excellent choice if you want to sample
a Tanaka revolver but not quite sure which one to get. The one being
reviewed here is the NATO green model, mechanically identical to
the other versions of the Performance Center save for a few minor
changes.

Ugh!
“Pea-soup” colored pistol… Many of you find the NATO green color
appalling. I admit I quickly overlooked this model and leaned more
toward purchasing the silver or midnight blue version. However,
the problem with the midnight blue is that it very easily scratches,
not something I would recommend for skirmishing use. And silver…well
its silver, stands out too much since I wanted an effective pistol
for field use.

So what
the heck, NATO green it is then…

The
NATO green model comes with the “un-fluted” cylinder. Interesting
thing about this is that the function is much smoother than the
standard magnum cylinder. I noticed that shots dont misfeed when
rapid fired, and half cocking the gun will enable the cylinder
to “spin” twice as fast and twice as long. Since I use my .44
magnum more, I swapped the outer cylinder casing between the two
models as shown above.

Unlike
my .44 magnum, the NATO green field strips as shown in less than
a minute. This is very handy if you like to keep your guns in good
working order, and want easy access to vital parts for routine maintenance.

The
inner barrel is brass that is just painted black; same diameter
bore as all the other Tanaka revlovers. Because the inner barrel
is not as long as my M29, the shot consistency is not as good.
Nevertheless, .30g bb’s will fly quite straight once you break
in the hop-up notch and stabilize the inner barrel.

Maintenance:
If you
bought a Tanaka revolver, chances are that you are using only green
gas.

Being
a NBB, there are no moving parts to worry about that take added
stress from higher powered gas.

However,
this doesnt mean the gun is immune to the effects. Although I cant
be certain that green gas will dry up the seals & o-rings ,
its always better to be safer than sorry… 

The
black plate comes right off; actually… it pops right off along
with the bb feeder spring as soon as you remove the guts from the
casing.

Not
to worry though, its pretty easy to put back together once you get
the hang of it.

The
picture on the right is the front part of the cylinder. (A)
is where the valve is located. Its kind of a pain to remove so
I will wait until I get my high flow valve. Keep this part lightly
lubricated, if it remains dry, then you have a chance of the plunger
o-ring coming undone or possibly even crack.

(B) is
where the gas is released from. Try not to lube this part otherwise
you will get too much silicone oil on the hop-up notch. The
same goes for the black plastic bb feeder, try to keep it dry.

To
the left is the rear of the cylinder.
(A) is the fill valve. Be sure to keep the o-ring here well lubricated.
(B) is where it screws into.

The black rod sticking out is the strike pin. You may want
to lube this if you feel it to be neccessary.

(A)
holds the cylinder together. As a precaution, I recommend you teflon
tape the threading. If you somehow strip this, the cylinder will no
longer hold the gas.

Tuning?
Tanaka
revolvers dont use the same striking system as other revolver makes.
Instead of using a small spring on a striker,  Tanaka uses
the leaf spring to load the hammer just like the real steel.

See
the screw (A) ? By turning clockwise, you increase tension on the
leaf spring, turning counter-clockwise will reduce it. When the
leaf spring has a higher tension, the hammer will strike the firing
pin harder, giving the gun a bit more velocity ^_^  Simple
enough yes?


This
is very handy if you want to fine tune the bb trajectory off the
fixed hop-up or to just simply increase/decrease the power.

Conclusion
Like
I mentioned earlier, I picked the NATO green for the function.
(the
color blends in well for field use and a

smoother
function over the silver version)

I plan on having the gun re-painted soon with a camoflauge pattern.
Fortunately, this will be quite simple to do since the background color
is already green and the gun is very easy to take apart.


I may
still prefer my M29 for backup/primary because of the higher power and
accuracy, but for pistol only games in dense brush, the NATO green would
be a better choice for me…

Appearance

?/5

Build
Quality

?/5

Performance

?/5

Value
for Money

?/5

Overall
Potential

?/5

by Ken/888

External
Links:
http://www.smith-wesson.com/
http://www.impactguns.com/store/smith_m629.html
888’s
review page
– full of Tanaka goodness, including
fine tuning and some useful power-up tweaks!
RedWolf’s
Magnum 44 8inch review
– As ever it’s a wonderful review
from RedWolf, putting the true Dirty Harry spin on it!

Comment
on this review in the forums


Last modified:
Wednesday, May 9, 2001 9:37 AM copyright 2001 ArniesAirsoft




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