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I am starting to believe the rumours that current scw3s are lower quality, I'd still say my bob chows were perfect, but other models dont seem to be holding up as older models did

 

Best stock quality WA that I've owned is the fbi trial, really amazing, and would happily smash beer bottles at range.

 

The reason I sold them both was, a) the total lack of availability of metal kits or upgrade options when I bought them, and b ) the lack of the hybrid slide for the fbi :(

Edited by hardboiledcop
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Only the limited edition SCW3 models are made in Japan anymore. The rest are made in Taiwan by KWC. You can easily tell the difference in finish, although KWC have improved a lot from what they were. Personally I think there may be a small difference in mechanical quality, but not a big one. The thing you would notice is the finish, but if you use a metal kit you won't know anyways.

 

-Sale

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No you haven't and no they haven't.

 

The image trolling the forum of a snapped WA slide is most certainly not from use of green gas, there is no way a slide could snap down the middle, if anything the front would crack around the bushing..

 

How can I back up this claim?

 

I've owned at least 20 different WA 1911 iterations, and in stock form all of them have handled green with gusto.

 

 

 

I don't dispute your experience AND I'm sure it's not a common problem, if it ever was, BUT....

 

I have an SVI slide here that is split from the chamber down to the bottom of the slide. In time, it would have undoubtedly split in half (this came from a previous owner who provided it with the gun, so I don't know how much green gas it had consumed, but they said it was caused by that and not impact damage).

 

Cheers.

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from what I've seen is the Infinity models that are the most prone to cracking the slide on green gas - typically happens on the right hand side by the ejection port. A guy at our site had his brand new Infinity Expert do this within a few mags of green gas. However the 1911 varients appear to be ok and hold up to green gas.

 

As in terms of quality, the SCW3 range I've witnessed are for the most; pretty awful, one of the ones I handled was just not nice, certainly not something I'd expect to come in a box marked "Western Arms". A far, far cry from the excellent SCW2 quality - hardly suprising if they're being made by KWC! No wonder most aftermarket companies have jumped to the TM 1911 ship.

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from what I've seen is the Infinity models that are the most prone to cracking the slide on green gas - typically happens on the right hand side by the ejection port.  A guy at our site had his brand new Infinity Expert do this within a few mags of green gas. However the 1911 varients appear to be ok and hold up to green gas.

 

As in terms of quality, the SCW3 range I've witnessed are for the most; pretty awful, one of the ones I handled was just not nice, certainly not something I'd expect to come in a box marked "Western Arms".  A far, far cry from the excellent SCW2 quality - hardly suprising if they're being made by KWC! No wonder most aftermarket companies have jumped to the TM 1911 ship.

 

Yeah, ejection port is what I meant by chamber :)

 

You need to be careful not to associate ALL SCW3 guns with Magnatechs.

 

I've not seen a recent SCW3 WA, but I'd imagine there are low cost Magnatechs (no idea if they're made by KWC, but the similarity of WA's UZI to the KWC must lead to suspicion of a tie in somewhere) and high end guns, all using the same SCW3 gas system.

 

Cheers

 

PS Mods if you want to delete this post, feel free, others have said everything I have really - I shouldn't post after a long day :)

Edited by snowman
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KWC refer to being "technically supported by our strategic alliance in Japan as an OEM", and a lot of KWC models have similarities between Western Arms, so it kind of rules out any other Japanese company. The good old KWC M92FS Super Black HW (not to be confused with the non-HW version) has a WA type GBB mechanism, and their single stackers and the Desert Eagle have a very "Western Armish" design as well.

 

KWA supply parts and manufacture entire guns for KSC, and KWA guns are understandably similar to - sometimes even carbon copies of - KSC models. So the connection between WA and KWC is a fairly safe bet.

 

It's not like I have any source for this. Just putting 2 and 2 together.

 

-Sale

Edited by Sale
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My Wilson HiCap is the most unrealistic(WTF???), but probably the highest quality WA I had, well, when it was new. No rattling, tight fitting internals, current-TM-era quality metal used, and not a single parts has broken. At the risk of getting raped by all the WA SCW3 fanboys here, I'd say the failure rate is about the same as HFC m190s.

 

Yawn :mellow:

 

TM use poo for metal in their guns. Comparing older WAs to any TM is a joke. There is simply ZERO comparison.

My P226 and DE have horrendous metal parts...they look like cheap pot-metal with a bare minimum of watery black paint.

They also wear pretty badly...my Sig trigger now looks almost white for Gods sake, and the parts all have horrible casting seams.

 

If WA can be accused of anything, it certainly isn't lack of realism, unless you mean having a real-steel equivalent.

 

The other thing they can't be accused of is poor reliability.

Unless...you run it off high pressure gasses in stock guns, with short recoil springs, and no slide buffers in Texas summer temperatures.

That'll pretty much break anything ;)

I'd almost put money on something a little hotter than Green being put into those broken-slide victims ;)

 

So, TM make good shooters that now actually look half decent.

And what do they choose to give us?

 

A Glock and a 1911... :Zzz:

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I have to agree with Pengun about TM metal.

 

It's usually better than WEs or HFCs (although TM controls are often horrible even compared with these), but it still lags behind anything I've seen from WA (Up to an including the silver railed 6" SVIs) or KSC for that matter.

 

Cheers.

Edited by snowman
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Generally agree with snowman, but I'd like to throw my increasing weight around my citing my own experience.

 

The TM metal components (trigger/sear lock works, safeties, etc) are horrible. My first GBB was TM M9 with a metal slide, and after about two years, the trigger and safety felt like mush due to parts wear.

 

My second hand WA Colt CDP 1911 is even more hard used, and all the controls still feel great.

 

BUT, a WA 6" Xcellerator Hybrid had less than perfectly casted frames and hybrid barrels. They were pitted in places and some of the edges were malformed. I don't think newer WA's are like that, but I haven't seen that in even WE's.

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Yawn  :mellow:

 

TM use poo for metal in their guns. Comparing older WAs to any TM is a joke. There is simply ZERO comparison.

My P226 and DE have horrendous metal parts...they look like cheap pot-metal with a bare minimum of watery black paint. 

They also wear pretty badly...my Sig trigger now looks almost white for Gods sake, and the parts all have horrible casting seams.

 

If WA can be accused of anything, it certainly isn't lack of realism, unless you mean having a real-steel equivalent.

 

The other thing they can't be accused of is poor reliability. 

Unless...you run it off high pressure gasses in stock guns, with short recoil springs, and no slide buffers in Texas summer temperatures. 

That'll pretty much break anything  ;) 

I'd almost put money on something a little hotter than Green being put into those broken-slide victims  ;) 

 

I meant RS equivalent. I think it should be noted that TM sears never failed on me, nothing ever fell out from the inside. My WA's on the other hand, only the older ones were able to attest to such a claim. The paint may rub off, there may be seam lines, but at least nothing ever broke.

Think about it, when was the last time some metal part broke on the P226, HiCapa, TM1911, or the Glock 17?

 

If you bet money on whether I used Red in stock WAs, you'd be out of a lot of money.

 

Speaking of seam lines, shall I post up a pic of a single sided WA safety from a SCW2 1911? There's a pretty big seam running across the flatside.

 

EDIT:

Despite what you may think, I actually love my WA's to bits. Wouldn't trade them for ANY TMs.

 

BUT, a WA 6" Xcellerator Hybrid had less than perfectly casted frames and hybrid barrels.  They were pitted in places and some of the edges were malformed.  I don't think newer WA's are like that, but I haven't seen that in even WE's.

Newer SVIs are still like that.

Edited by r.ocelot
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Generally agree with snowman, but I'd like to throw my increasing weight around my citing my own experience.

 

...

 

BUT, a WA 6" Xcellerator Hybrid had less than perfectly casted frames and hybrid barrels.  They were pitted in places and some of the edges were malformed.  I don't think newer WA's are like that, but I haven't seen that in even WE's.

 

Funnily enough I had an Xcellerator Hybrid for a while and I agree with you on the quality of casting (notably pitting) - They DID seem to have a wobble around then.

 

hyb6_021.jpg

 

That said, the later SVIs I saw were back up to top notch.

 

Cheers.

 

PS I have to admit though, the two SVIs I still own are Magnas.

Edited by snowman
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