With such popularity you’d expect manufacturers to be positively dripping with SIG clones.. at least that is what you’d expect. Airsoft history: KWC make a lightweight P226 (~65USD each) (as do 3PSA/Cybergun under their rebranded label), and HFC make a P229 clone, Tanaka have been making a P226 for some time, although it was recently dropped from production and revived 6 or so months ago (according to ‘demand’*).
The original P226 from Tanaka was not hugely powerful; although it was the best looking and built P226 copy you could get hold of at the time. So (as mentioned above) in a nutshell Tanaka went from producing realistic and functional paperweights to producing the likes of the Kar98k and M629. I can offer no explanation for this ‘sudden’ change, perhaps their R&D fellow fell and hit his head on the bathroom rink whist changing a light bulb and had a revelation? Well we’ll never know really. ^_^ The Tanaka P226 rail-frame is Tanaka’s latest GBB release a faithful replica of SIG's own latest P226 variant, and should build upon their previous releases. Taking into account Tanaka’s recent history the new release promises more than just an average GBB. All of their recent releases (bar a couple of minor glitches… RedHawk anyone?) have been powerful, accurate and good looking pieces of kit, combine that with their past quality in their SIG line, the licensed gas/valve system from WesternArms and the straight assumption is that they have a winner on their hands. The straight truth is that it’s not that simple, then again what is in the Airsoft industry?
Breaking open the box you find the pistol itself, a little bag of BBs, two little Allen keys, the manual (with insert) and the spare barrel. Strangely you get no mag loading gear in the box - but read on and you’ll see why. You get no handy red barrel plug with this item I’m afraid. It’s not essential but I quite like keeping my GBBs with the plug firmly in place whilst they are stored away – it just feels safer that’s all.
Boris the Blade (Snatch) always says, "Weight is good, weight is a sign of reliability. If it does not work you can always hit them with it.” Well the P226 doesn’t disappoint, it is a fairly hefty item. The Tanaka Airsoft version weighs in (according to online specs) at 1kg with mag, whereas the real steel is 900g unloaded (mag is only 68g). Erm.. well that's what I had read, the P226 I have here is actually 720g, 300g of that being the mag, so is actually somewhat lighter than real thing, which is slightly disappointing. Okay.. well it’s a faithful rendition of a SIG, but there’s a downside. Why so plasticy?
On the original P226 metal parts included the groove lined trigger, magazine release button, hammer, decocking lever, disassembly lever, slide release lever, and front/rear sights. On this release the same parts are metal, but Tanaka have opted to coat control levers in a very plastic looking and feeling paint. I had to look really closely to spot that they were metal. Believe me they are metal! The control surface for the trigger is no longer ribbed in this version, instead it is smooth. Thankfully the price is lower than that of the previous P226 from Tanaka, the Rail-Frame coming in at roughly 20% less. I’m afraid the word plastic is one that is going to haunt this review. The outer barrel is sadly plastic, so I’m afraid that the threading will not last that long if you aren’t careful with it (that said I do gather that there are some fairly decent lightweight silencers available that complement the SIG nicely). That’s not to say that the barrels don’t look good (remember you do get two of them), the plastic is actually very matt and dull, and could easily be confused for metal until you pick it up. No… my problem with the plastic is not with the barrels, it’s with the frame. Sadly the lower frame and slide are rather more plasticy than I'd like. To be fair the real things looks very fairly plasticy (ref SIG promo shots), but I’m afraid that the mould seam that runs down the middle of the lower frame is a rather poor show from Tanaka. It’s one of those things that could easily be solved if you have some basic modelling skills - or that alternative choice is to fit a lamp to the front so that you’ll never spot the seam. Markings: The markings are nicely carved into the right places, the only real giveaway is the Tanaka/ASGK logo on the RHS next to the trigger.
The grip: The grip may look a bit plasticy but it is very comfortable to hold, and the markings certainly look the part. As you'd expect the lettering is clearly cut with precision moulding. On the left side of the grip you'll find the lettering 'P226' and on the right hand side 'SIG SAUER'.
Comparison to the real steel: Jeremy (aka LoneWolf) was kind enough to send in some photos of his real SIG P226 for comparison sake. Please note that the serial number has been edited out (blurred) for obvious reasons. Jeremy's SIG has Hogue grips fitted to it - the real SIG grips aren't up to much either!
You can find more of Jeremy's photos on this page. Behold the footplate! You can tell a whole heap has changed from reading the two parts diagrams - handily Tanaka ship this model with the original manual, and an insert for the RailFrame, which allows you to compare the part schematics. Whereas the old SIG had a mag that looked akin to the WA design, with the gas locking slide behind the mag valve, the mags on the new RailFrame are more like what you'll find on a KSC Beretta. So if you decide to buy a replacement Tanaka mag be sure that you are buying a new mag, and not one of the older mags. Check that the new mags that you buy come with the thicker footplate found with the newer model rail-frame P226. The previous SIG 226 was a single stack 15 round affair, that is not the case here - remember this is a complete remake. Here you'll find that the capacity has increased and the mag is now a doublestacker sporting a 21 round capacity. "These are not the SIGs you are looking for": Having had a look at the schematics for both the old P226 and the newer rail-frame and it would appear that there are several major differences between the two models:
One good point is that the recoil spring guide rod is metal, which always nice to see. To cut it short - this is a compeltely reworked SIG, and has nothing in common with the previous Tanaka SIG release looks, internals and gas systems are entirely new. For anyone still not believing me I shall wave my hand in a Jedi fashion and say again - "This is a brand new SIG design". ^_^ Tanaka have opted for a ‘Nitron’ look. Nitron is SIG’s own coating treated for strength and wear resistance… okay so it’s just black plastic. ^_^ The real SIG is available in Black (Nitron), Two-tone, blued and stainless. The two-tone will probably be most familiar to you as Travolta’s pistol in John Woo’s ‘Face-Off’.
Usability: The real P226 is very comfortable to hold and use, being a faithful replica the Tanaka copy is true to the original. All controls are easy to use from a standard grip/stance. What's it like to use and fire? Well I've mentioned that the trigger is somewhat gritty, but lets get into more detail. The pistol is double action, so you can either pull the trigger, or cock the hammer and then pull the trigger, the latter resulting in a shorter, lighter trigger pull. The blowback action is swift and a pleasant experience. There's plenty of kick in this for a low weighted GBB, and when rattling through a loaded mag the slide very nicely catches and locks open on the last shot. On this you will notice is that as you pull the trigger back to fire a shot (without the hammer locked back) the slide will lift slightly at the rear, not by much, it can only be 0.5-1mm but it is noticeable. This is because the mechanism that pulls the trigger back is braced against the slide, thus pushing it upwards as the hammer rolls back. As the slide is perhaps not as finely milled as say a KSC or a WA pistol the slack in the slide runners shows up. This really isn't a huge issue - it doesn't affect the usability of the piece but it's one worth mentioning. Magazines slide in nice and tightly into the grip, and the mag catch snaps in very tightly with a reassuring click. I can't stress how pleasing it was to find a nice secure mag system. Anyone that's owned a WA double stacker can attest to the rather annoying rattling of the mag in the magwell, and M93r owners will tell you how annoying the weak mag catch is on them - often leading to loosing mags whilst holstered. The minor downside with such a snug fit is that the mag gets longitudinal scratches on it quite quickly. Trigger: The trigger is double action – you can either pull/rack it back (with the slide) or simply pull the trigger back. The trigger is rather.. well it’s difficult to put into words but it is not smooth. I think the best word to describe it is gritty. Pulling the hammer back without the hammer being pre-cocked requires a fair amount of pressure. The pistol is designed for people with large hands though I’m afraid, so the fact that the trigger is heavy will not be of much concern to the average yeti handed purchaser. To anyone that has been brought up on WesternArm pistols you’ll be shocked with the SIG’s trigger action. Safety: On the real SIG the hammer release lever is reversible - I’m afraid that the SIG is again a no-lefty item here, as the catches are most certainly nonreversible. One strange point of note is that there is no Airsoft safety. My understanding was that all Airsoft pistols made by ASGK members were required to have an active safety - even if it was hidden. SIG designed the P226 to be easy to use, and in their eyes a safety will reduce the time it takes to draw the pistol and get the first shot off. I can understand the idea, but the lack of an active safety does have obvious disadvantages. So this is a truly faithful copy of the real item, and in place of a safety you have a decocking mechanism (just like the real thing) that works very nicely, dropping the hammer and making the weapon safe. Do NOT - I repeat DO NOT be tempted to pull the trigger and drop the hammer down slowly with your thumb in an effort to 'decock' the SIG unless you really don't want a thumb. Dropping the hammer slowly will still result in the action being fired, and the slide going backwards, and into your thumb. Grip: The grip is made from a clamshell style plastic arrangement. Both halves of the grip bolt on either side and join at the back. They have had the foresight to add a lanyard attachment to the lower corner of the grip, sadly as there’s a split down the middle (half of the pin being from each half of the grip) the functionality is somewhat lost as I really won't trust this plastic pin to support the weight of the pistol on a lanyard cord. One good point of note is that Pachmayr’s replacement SIG grips should fit the Tanaka SIG will little or no work. More on this after I try it myself. ^_^ Sights: The P226 rail-frame features, Novak style sights, with embedded white dots, on on the foresight, and two at the rear. There's no elevation adjustment, only adjustment for drift/windage. Mags: As I've mentioned the real steel would only take 10 rounds (15 for law enforcement), this was the same number as the old Tanaka SIG copy. Here with the newly designed P226 you can get 21 in a mag. The mag features a lovely filling mechanism, and a nice easy to thumb follower. Remember I said that there was no loading rod in the box? Well you don’t need one (hooray!.. I have thousands of the blighters hanging around anyway). Here you simply pull the follower down with your thumb and drop BBs into the hole towards the foot of the mag - tilting the mag towards the floor as you do so. The BBs will naturally stack themselves tidily in the loading run.
Field stripping: For reference I have scanned in the P226RF manual for you. Slide removal is much like that of any other GBB, simply remove the magazine, lock the slide back (engage the slide lock lever) and then rotate the slide release lever downwards to the 6 o'clock position. There is some resistance to the rotation of the lever, as unlike the Beretta there is no switch to release it, so you'll need to apply slightly more force than usual to move it.
With the lever rotated, simply release the slide catch and pull the slide off towards the muzzle. As the guiderod is captive you don't have to worry about things falling or flying out (which is very nice). With the slide off you'll see that almost all the internals are metal, apart form a few pieces such as the nozzle and blowback piston. This is again nice to see. The reason for the somewhat 'gritty' trigger action is also apparent with the slide off, as there are just so many springs inside. Unlike the Western Arms leaf spring system, a lot of the mechanism for the trigger is comprised of rotational springs. This is not necessarily a bad thing it's just a different way of doing things really. Barrel swapping: Swapping the barrels around isn't as easy as you might think it would be. You'll notice that if you try to remove the threaded barrel with the blowback unit in place that there's not enough room to get the barrel out.
To swap barrels first strip the pistol (as shown above) remove the recoil spring and guiderod and then unscrew the two screws in the blowback unit - the blowback unit being bolted to the rear sight. You'll see that the guiderod is captive, and held in place by a small metal pin at the rear - simply pull the rod backwards to remove it.
Now carefully slide the barrel section away from the blowback mechanism -you need to do this to remove the metal block. You will notice that the mechanism latches onto the barrel so carefully pull the barrel towards the muzzle until it detaches.
Once you have the two screws undone all the way remove the blowback unit and carefully extract the barrel. With the barrel set extracted you need to remove the inner barrel from the outer barrel.
Remove the pin through the side of the barrel and carefully pull the inner barrel out. Do this with the barrel upright (i.e. at the same angle as if you were pointing the pistol away form yourself). I recommend you do this as there is a tiny metal ball bearing (#17) in the top of the innerbarrel/hopunit that will fall out if you are not careful.
Now simply replace the outer barrel with the one that you wish to swap it for and rebuild. To reassemble simply go through these steps backwards. Maintenance: Keeping the Sig is good nick is relatively easy. Ensure that before storage the pistol is stripped and cleaned inside, then apply a coating of silicon spray to the internals, the upper face of the mag and the gas system. The moving parts of the barrel set will benefit from a small coating of silicon lube (not spray). For long term storage (over 2 months) I would recommend keeping it cleaned and lubed inside a sealed ziplock freezer bag. This guidance not really specific to this model and applies to most GBB pistols. Grouping: I will be testing the ranged accuracy at around about 20 feet, but I'm waiting to take it out to the next urban skirmish for some proper endurance field tests - results to follow. Power: Tanaka recommend that you use HFC134a. I would recommend the same - and have exclusively used HFC134a (Abbey Predator 134a Gas) in all my tests here. The pistol may well hold up to the higher power gases, but unlike Tanaka's PEGASUS revolvers this is a GBB, so there's plenty to go wrong inside. With the lack of aftermarket parts at the moment, a broken slide or critical internal part will effectively turn your P226 into nothing more than a paperweight or a spare mag for a new P226. With my chrono done a runner on me I'm unable to perform a measured test, but the blowback and power is much the same as the MSC M9, so is in the region of 280-300fps (134a/0,2g). Upgrades and accessories: There’s not a great deal available in terms of body replacements for the P226. I have heard of a metal slide, but it does not seem to be available from the majority of places. You can get replacement O-Ring sets made by TGS for the P226. KM also make a new and stronger recoil hammer spring set for P226. The big problem at the moment is deciphering what is for this new model, and what's for the old P226. Please do be sure that your retailer knows what you are after and the differences if you order anything. Silencer: Tanaka do not sell a silencer for the P226, at least I've not seen any for export in HK shops. Whilst there's a 14mm thread on the supplied and fitted barrel, it is only suitable for light weighted silencers. If you fit a heavy silencer (such as a metal SOCOM copy) you will find that the piece will fire, blowback and then lock with the slide 5-10mm back from the muzzle. The extra muzzle weight hampers the floating barrel system. This is actually a problem with nearly all blowbacks with floating barrels. Silencers are more suited to the fixed barrels as found on the higher quality NBB pistols. On the subject of silencers I have heard rumblings of a forthcoming Tanaka RailFrame 'tactical' which comes with accessories in the box, including a silencer. Lamp units: As anyone will tell you 20mm is anything but 20mm these days, and one accessory will fit to one manufacturer’s rail, whereas another will not. I have the Guay-Guay M3 LAM copy here, and this is a nice tight fit, and it secures itself happily onto the first ridge underneath the muzzle. The look isn't quite as good as that of the KSC IA Vertec with the same lamp, but it certainly looks the part. Unlike the KSC Beretta Vertec the trigger guard is not cut away as much so the rear of the GG M3 will butt up against the guard and lever the entire unit upwards slightly, causing the lamp beam to aim slightly upwards. This isn't a huge problem, and I believe it's down to the GuayGuay unit being longer than its real-steel counterpart.
Conclusion: Well to be honest this is the best SIG GBB you can get at the moment. It’s not perfect out the box, but then again it doesn’t cost the earth, and does come with two outer barrels.
Disappointing points:
Good points:
The P226 was a best seller in Japan when it came out, and flew off the shelves. With the imminent release of the P220 from Tanaka and the 'tactical' P226 rail-frame both around the end of May Tanaka's new blowback is proving to be very popular. The P226 is not perfect yet and clearly more effort has gone into it's usability and performance than the looks. The mould seam issue can easily be remedied with a little handwork, and the lack of mass is not a huge problem. Hopefully we'll see some new metal slides coming out in the future, but in the meantime this SIG looks just lovely with the LAM on it, and I'll source some new real-steel grips to fit to it shortly. AirsoftDynamics did have reservations over this piece before they sent it out in respect to it's 'plasticy' nature, and true the external look isn't as good as that of a KSC or WA piece, but I believe that this replica can hold it's own and has a place in the toy cupboard. It is true that TM have a P226 rail-frame of their own in the works, and it'll be nice to see their attempt (when/if TM release it), but for the moment the Tanaka P226 is way up front.
Comment on this review in the forums Last modified: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 4:09 PM Copyright 2003 ArniesAirsoft
|
