KJW P226

[Duff Beer]

I recently purchased a KJW P226 as a replacement for my much loved (though woefully fickle) Browning Hi Power. I wanted a full metal pistol that didn't cost the Earth, was reliable, and had plenty of spares/shiny bits with which I could tinker. After a mulling over and many, many hours of net research I narrowed it down to a KSC/KWA USP and the P226. The grip on the P226 is just better, I don't like the square front of the USP grips.

 

Anyway, I bought it from Wolf in person so I didn't have any courier issues, and I was able to buy a Guarder nozzle there and then and have it fitted. I read from a number of people that the nozzles on the KJW's have a horrible habit of breaking and rather than wait for it to inevitably fail in the middle of a skirmish just when I needed it I splashed the £15 out and played safe.

 

Right, now down to the nitty gritty. First of all, fit and finish on this pistol is pretty good. There was minimal slide/frame rattling though not enough to cause concern but merely to allow the slide and frame to glide without any undue friction. The working parts (trigger, slide release etc) are well made and the only seam line is on the inside of the trigger guard. The trigger guard is serrated but the front of the grip is not, unlike the Marui P226. The slide release and de-cocker are what looks like adonised instead of the painting that the trigger and mag release have which is good as these bits will see the most abrasion when the pistol is in the holster.

 

The mag release is firm without needing thumbs like a world thumb war champion which I prefer as I haven't had the usual 'where's my mag gone' moments when drawing the pistol. The trigger is fairly heavy with the hammer forward, but then as this pistol has no safety (apart from the unrealistic takedown lever safety) that's probably a good thing. With the hammer back the trigger is really smooth and constant in tension, though there is a lot of travel before the trigger releases the hammer. I prefer this but other don't.

 

The blowback is crisp and rapid even in the cool 10-15ºC temperatures on Abbey Ultra Gas and will do nearly two mags before any serious cooldown occurs. When chrono'd the pistol was producing 265fps on the above gas at around 14ºC with excel .20's which in the summer I expect to see hit the 300fps mark.

 

Shots were fairly consistent, and about equal to a TM P226 though with perhaps slightly wider groupings at the longer ranges. The hop was consistent with no creep, but not as easy to get right on the money as the TM. I will be changing the hop rubber to a TM or better one soon, and probably a tightbore as well as although I was able to hit a torso at 20-30m the shots were not quite consistent enough (for me anyway). In CQB this pistol is exceptional and at 10-15m you can place the shots where you want to.

 

The KJW mags are okay, and seem well made. However as with the P226 mags they need to be checked after every skirmish to make sure they are not leaking around the main joint, though a quick turn on the allen key will sort it out without an issue. There is very little (if any) leakage from around the nozzle on the loading valve which I always like as there's nothing worse than gassing the mag only to have half of it freezing your hand. I was also able to try a Marui mag in my P226. It did fit but needed a bit of a shove to get it all the way in. It seemed to bind about 3/4 of the way in. KJW mags stay in place in the P226 and the mag catch is good enough to catch the mag first time in even the most hurried of mag changes. The mags do rattle in the grip a little too much for my liking, though they never came loose at any point.

 

The Good:

Fit and finish

Gas consumption and power

Reliability

Trigger pull and general controls

 

The Bad:

Could probably do with a new barrel/hop rubber

The grips are cheap; get some Hogues

 

The Ugly:

Mag lip broke on a mag after only 5 loads. Could be a lemon though all my mags will have upgraded lips put on them.

 

Overall I would recommend this over a Marui P226 as the majority of parts are interchangeable and they are already metal. The price is the same as a new Marui and if you can live with buying a couple of upgrade bits from the off you will be rewarded with a reliable, powerful and accurate pistol that when looked after will look after you. It's better than my TM Tac Master, HFC M190, TM P226, Tanaka Browning, KWA USPc and the TM 1911. I would have another one without a doubt (even with the shocking mag failure). One guy on my team who bought a TM at the same time as I bought the KJW saw it and was a little deflated about his pistol. It's possibly the best backup I've come across.

Edited March 17, 2008 by Duff Beer

[Perch]

Nice review! I got a KJ P226 as well, but have it now for half a year. the new loading-nozzles are sturdy as hell, I even tried 0.3g Alu BBs which got stuck etc and the nozzle didn't break. Only complaint on this gun are the Magazin lips, they break quite easy.

We found out that the KJ even fires in snowy conditions.

You can't get anything better for the money than this!