Western Arms MEU Late model

[ruchik]

Well, I couldn't find a review on the WA MEU late model here in the forums, so I decided to go ahead and post up a review of the gun in celebration of my newest acquisition. While this gun is basically out of stock everywhere, I found it at cobraairsoft, which is where I just got mine for about $240 shipped. The early model can still be found at places such as Gunsnguys for about $180 shipped. The early and late model MEU's are functionally the same, with a few cosmetic differences, such as the grip safety, slide serrations, hammer, and sights. Other than that, if you want either the early or late model, they are both basically the same.

 

Some quick history. The MEU was the first 1911 to be issued to the Marine Expeditionary Units of the USMC. The very first MEU guns were built off of World War 2 era frames, and used various off-the-shelf parts to build up the rest of the gun. They were truly Frankenguns, sometimes with the slides being sourced from Springfield Armory, while others were built from Caspian slides. After a while, they began to develop true failures such as microfractures in the frames, thus leading to a need for new guns. The updated MEU was not able to make it in time to the USMC for the Force Recon training program, and thus the USMC needed a gun immediately that could perform up to their standards yet still be simple enough to manufacture on a large-scale basis. This is where the Kimber MARSOC came in; after hearing reports from the LAPD SWAT of how satisfied they were with their Kimber guns, the USMC sat down with Kimber and designed the MARSOC. It provided an adequate stopgap measure to the shortage of 1911's needed by the USMC, holding them over until the newer MEU's came online. Eventually, the old MEU's evolved into the newer ones that is now the subject of the review. As an interesting sidenote, Springfield Armory gave 50 of their Professional line guns to the USMC, which is identical to the FBI-issued 1911 except for rollmarks. While it worked for the FBI, it just could not meet the requirements of the USMC, it's tight fitting internals and magwell being a major pain in the *albartroth* for the Force Recon marines. IIRC, they are now being used as training tools when nothing else is available.

 

EXTERIOR: On to the gun. Upon lifting the gun, I was immediately struck by the quality of the gun compared to the SCW 1 guns. The finish was perfect, the tooling on the trigger seamless, the faux-pachmayr grip comfortable to hold. Interestingly, the gun feels longer rather than wider. I suspect this has to do with the rubber skirt that goes around the grip, and the slightly elevated MSH from the back of the grip. No weird bumps, flash or anything but smooth finish on all the metal parts of the gun. Most impressive.

One of the most annoying features on the WA guns that have ambi safeties is that the right side of the ambi safety wiggles around. I am happy to report that there is almost no free play at all on this gun's ambi safety!

I might also add that this gun was built like a tank. It was ridiculously difficult for some reason to dissamble the gun. I almost threw out my back trying to pop the slide catch out, and almost sprained my fingers trying to unscrew the outer barrel. Nice if you want to keep it stock, not nice if you want to upgrade in the future.

Unfortunately, no trades. This can be fixed with metal kits, but still, for a $240 gun, it would be nice to see some eye candy.

 

INTERIOR: As this is a SCW 2 gun, it still uses an adjustable hop. Unfortunately, it is just as finicky to adjust as the SCW 1 guns. It requires a lot of trial and error, and it's hard to tell when the screw is actually moving; there are clicks that come from the hop when you adjust it, but it can only be felt when you pull the barrel assembly out of the gun and are holding it in your hands as you adjuse the hop. You have to go by feel on this one.

 

MAGAZINE: The Wilson Combat bumpered magazine is a source of much frustration for owners of this particular type of WA mag. The bumper makes it almost impossible to fill normally without a nozzle extension on most gas canisters. Oddly enough, however, I found that if you line up the mag and canister like you are supposed to, then jab the canister down and immediately tilt it so that it is parallel with the bumper, it actually fills just fine. Hmmm. It holds about 20-23 rounds. I could get about one and half mags off from a 2-3 second fill.

 

PERFORMANCE: As with all SCW guns, it kicks like a mule on green. Almost to the point where it feels like the slide is going to fly off and hit you between the eyes. I strongly advise not running the gun on green unless you plan to upgrade it with a metal slide in the future (I have one in the mail as we speak). After just 2 mags on green, I could already notice a slight wearing of the slide notch. I also suggest a new loading nozzle and tightbore. Range is excellent, easily hitting a pie-sized target out to about 75 feet. I'm sure it can go further, but this is not necessary for a sidearm, IMHO. Punched through one side of a coke can, so about 290-310 fps. It was about 99 degrees Fahrenheit outside, which might expalin why it shoots a little hot stock.

 

Conclucsion: Damn nice piece. Buy one today at Cobraairsoft!

 

Edited August 15, 2007 by ruchik

[Bangla_Black]

Nice review!