Intro: GBBs are bloody magic. It’s an undisputable airsoft fact. In terms of enjoyment, it’s very hard to beat the pop-pop- half-arsed kick of a good blowback pistol. The following review, perhaps homage is a better word, is dedicated to the memory of arguably an exceptional airsoft GBB. Gone before but not lost; the Marushin GBB shell ejecting Colt Government1.

Construction: Very solid. This thing has more metal content than a pimp’s teeth. The rear part of the frame, where the tank and hammer are housed is made of metal, and is high-quality ABS from the trigger-guard forwards. The slide is made of thick, high-density ABS with some metal parts. Housed inside the front of the slide, where the recoil spring would sit on a real 1911 is the GBB mechanism. This is made of machined brass and cast metal. Hammer, slide release trigger, gas-tank are all metal. The only bad point is that the grip safety is non-functional and moulded into the metal part of the grip.

The magazines are steel with a plastic insert and the shells are made from chromed brass. The piece feels substantial and much more robust than most modern GBB pistols. In fact, although lighter, the build quality makes the WA government look positively shabby.

Frame and slide are stamped with authentic Colt markings and also the manufacturers name and date (1988!)

Operation: Two-stage trigger pull shell ejecting GBB

Gas is injected in the usual GBB fashion into the internal tank housed in the grip of the pistol. Once each shell has been loaded (by pushing a bb into the nose2) eight shells are loaded into the single column magazine. Magazine is pushed into the grip. Racking the slide back exposes the breach and ejection mechanism, releasing the slide allows it to move forward and chamber the first round. In this respect operation is exactly the same as that of a real colt 1911 (although without the BBs, naturally3)

The trigger is a two-stage affair4. The first part of the travel drops the hammer, firing the bb. The second part of the travel engages the blowback mechanism, via a small lever which, at the end of it’s travel, engages a secondary valve on the tank. Because the firing/blowback processes remain distinct the cycling of the action does not affect the flight path of the bb. When the blowback mechanism engages, gas is introduced to the cylinder below the barrel forcing the slide back and ejecting the shell. At the extreme of piston travel the gas is vented, allowing the slide to return, chambering the next round. . After the last round has been fired the slide lock engages cleanly and rigidly, and operating the slide release closed the breach with a satisfying clunk.

The authenticity of operation is impressive; a crisp pull on the trigger results in a fluid cycling of the model at an impressive speed: double tapping feels very real and the ejecting shells add great atmosphere to the piece. After the last round has been fired the slide lock engages cleanly and rigidly

Performance: Given the piece is clearly no use for skirmishing, it has only been tested indoors. Power is sufficient for 5m plinking and the fixed barrel and lack of hop make it quite an accurate piece. The fixed sights are bang on at around 4-5m. Unfortunately, in winter conditions the piece is all but useless. Testing at 4 degrees (indoors) led to venting of the whole tank on the first shot5. Subsequent heating of the pistol produced impressive results, with power about equal to that of a small GBB. Recoil is fairly light, allowing accurate grouping with rapid fire, although cooldown affects reliability substantially after the first 6 shots.

The internal tank contains sufficient gas for three magazines (24rounds) ,although this is in abnormally cold conditions6.

Upgradability: The piece is primarily for the collector, and certainly in it’s stock state it would be a very brave/patient7 skirmisher who dragged it into the field. It could be fitted with a hop-barrel sourced from another 1911 variant, but otherwise because of the outdated internals upgrades are not an option.

The piece can be fitted with an external feed, which would greatly improve gas feed consistency and potentially improve power depending on the feed-gas employed, but the realism appeal of the model would be seriously compromised8. Examination of the gas valves suggest that simply lightening the spring on the “firing” valve would increase flow and therefore power, but it would be foolhardy to make permanent alterations to a pistol when there are no longer spare-parts available9.

Conclusion: A wonderful example of what airsoft can be, that is sadly bugger-all use to the modern airsofter in terms of it’s concept, execution and practicality. I’ve seen literally nothing that comes close to this piece in terms of the feel and finish of it, but that’s sadly not likely to inspire Marushin to re-release a true gbb version.

Performance: 3/5 No Power, 100% authentic cycle
Value For Money: N/A Very hard to find outside of Japan, very hard to find inside of Japan
Upgrade potential: 2/5 Without messing with the guts, nothing doing….
Build Quality: 5/5 They really don’t make them like they use to
Overall Potential: N/A if this is what you want, this is what you get10

Footnotes:
1 There is a prize for anyone who can say this through a mouthful of Guiness.
2 No! Wait! Not your nose! Oh christ, someone call an ambulance.
3 Or the huge bang, recoil and massive hole in the target.
4 Which is not ideal: the firing pull is very light and the cycling pull is surprisingly heavy.
5 Gas pressure was insufficent to keep the valve closed. This made me swear more than a little bit, as I had to wait three days before I could get some gas to continue testing.
6 When I say abnormally cold, I mean there is ice forming in my bathtub some mornings.
7 I am neither of these things.
8 Imagine a porn-star with a transparent upper-torso; it’s the same kind of thing.
9 So given a week or two, I’ll get around to it.
10 Sorry. I’m a recovering PIL fan…