new Tanaka SAA with Casyopea system

[FatHammer]

I got the new Tanaka SAA today. I loved it so much that I decided to make a short video review of it for everyone here.

 

Google Video Link

 

My video camera cut me off at a few parts, but the stuttering and tripping over words was all me.

 

For those who can't view the video: This gun is amazing. If you like revolvers, get one.

 

Hope you enjoy!

-Fat

Edited August 22, 2008 by FatHammer

[elrey]

Ah, I've been anticipating this thread.

 

Sweet!

 

*chant* M29! M29! M29! M29!

[BigAl]

Cool, hope these are deemed UK Legal and if so can't wait for the inevitable Smith & Wesson M29. Might then have to spend a stupid amount on a metal kit.

[UMGuy]

Holy ######! Thanks fathammer. I know now what owns my next paycheck. I <3 Tanaka!

 

I give you a +1.

Edited August 22, 2008 by UMGuy

[danr]

Thanks FatHammer.

 

Any ideas on FPS (approximate) with the 2 gasses?

 

And how many shots of gas does each shell hold?

 

And does the "not firing on first shot" thing happen all the time, or just every so often?

 

Thanks again for the review.

[junior]

Question, The cylinder is still metal right? How is the over all look of the plastic parts? does it look nice like traditional Tanaka Black or is have a more plastic appearance?

[Jin15]

Nice review!

 

I've always had such mixed feelings about Tanaka products... on one hand their revolvers are about the best around in terms of skirmishability, but on the other hand that's still not saying much for them

 

They look great, they feel great, but I've never had a single one that shot straight for more than a week or two (owned 3 at this point, a M29 and two M500s). Either the hopup would come out of alignment and make the BB veer off after 50 feet or the internal mech that turns the cylinder for each shot would wear down so the cylinder would have to be manually turned to properly align the next round.

 

Those issues were with the older Pegasus system though, so hopefully this new Casyopea system will have those issues fixed. If they made a M29 I think I might be willing to give Tanaka another chance

 

 

One again, very nice review FatHammer!

[FatHammer]

Thanks FatHammer.

 

Any ideas on FPS (approximate) with the 2 gasses?

 

And how many shots of gas does each shell hold?

 

And does the "not firing on first shot" thing happen all the time, or just every so often?

 

Thanks again for the review.

 

I haven't brought the gun outside to test the range or fps yet (no chrono either). I found that the shells held around 3 shots worth of gas on Duster, and 2 on propane. And the issue with the first shot has happened about 4 out of the 6 times I loaded it.

 

Question, The cylinder is still metal right? How is the over all look of the plastic parts? does it look nice like traditional Tanaka Black or is have a more plastic appearance?

 

I think the cylinder is plastic, which is why they released separate metal cylinders. It feels extremely solid though. You can kind of tell that the whole gun is plastic if you look at it closely, but it still looks amazing in my opinion.

 

 

Thanks for the positive comments!

[UMGuy]

I was wondering if you can decock it? And if the hamer actually does something. I would think it should, because the shells are the same concept as grenades, but I am just checking.

[FatHammer]

I just tried decocking it, and it seemed like it worked. Gun wasn't loaded though. And yes, the hammer is directly responsible for firing the gun, as far as I can see.

[Chris North]

And the issue with the first shot has happened about 4 out of the 6 times I loaded it.

 

Does it happen with duster, only something you've only noticed with propane? If you knock the hammer when it's down without pulling the trigger, will the gun fire? And lastly, where did you get yours from?

[CrazyJ]

thanks for the video!

 

Im not a fan of the SAA though but if Tanaka makes a M29 as others have said I am sold.

 

How does it feel to shoot though? I'd tought the gun have somewhat of a kick but the video made it look like you were shooting a springer, though that may be because its a video, hard to tell.

[FatHammer]

Does it happen with duster, only something you've only noticed with propane? If you knock the hammer when it's down without pulling the trigger, will the gun fire? And lastly, where did you get yours from?

 

I noticed it with both gasses. It might be something that I did wrong when I loaded it, but I'm not certain. And do you mean decocking? Or fanning? I fanned the gun with no problem, but I haven't actually gotten to test the decocker yet. I got mine from Dentrinity. I sent the payment on the 18th and got the gun on the 21st (super fast!).

 

thanks for the video!

 

Im not a fan of the SAA though but if Tanaka makes a M29 as others have said I am sold.

 

How does it feel to shoot though? I'd tought the gun have somewhat of a kick but the video made it look like you were shooting a springer, though that may be because its a video, hard to tell.

 

There is absolutely zero recoil. I wouldn't expect any recoil from a revolver though. You only really feel recoil on Gas Blowbacks because of the slide's sudden movement.

[Jagdraben]

You forgot something:

 

Load one, skip one, load four, cock, de-cock.

 

And the reason why you didn't need to use the extractor on the gun was because the shells don't expand to fit the chamber, unlike the real thing (or even blanks. ie: 3:10 to Yuma (2007) where Ben Wade (Crowe) reloads his Colt without the use of the extractor in the beginning of the movie and Dan Evans (Bale) does much the same thing with his open-top conversion near the end).

 

In other news, I hope that they do a Schofield.... Failing that, I might buy some of those shells and see how a real (replica) Schofield likes them.

[renegadecow]

IHATECHOO!!!

And your twirling the pistol at the end doesn't help either. Now I have to figure out a way to fit one of these in my rapidly decreasing budget.

 

On topic, do you need to have the shells in the case to fill them up with gas? The Tanaka M870 shotgun featured this and I assumed as much when you filled your shells in the case.

[Chris North]

I noticed it with both gasses. It might be something that I did wrong when I loaded it, but I'm not certain. And do you mean decocking? Or fanning? I fanned the gun with no problem, but I haven't actually gotten to test the decocker yet. I got mine from Dentrinity. I sent the payment on the 18th and got the gun on the 21st (super fast!).

 

 

Cool, thanks! Might have to get one.

 

The problem with it not firing is similar to light strikes on a GBB, right? Maybe the shells need to be lubed/broken in, but I'm not sure how they work. By knocking the hammer I meant accidentally hitting it while in it's down position, and causing a round to discharge, without the gun being cocked or the trigger being pulled (as in an accidental discharge). If the hammer itself is responsible for firing (unlike the PEGASUS revolvers, where the hammer hits a plate which is attached to something that knock the valve open to fire) then i'm interested to know how Tanaka managed to avoid that issue without have an additional internal safety.

[FatHammer]

IHATECHOO!!!

And your twirling the pistol at the end doesn't help either. Now I have to figure out a way to fit one of these in my rapidly decreasing budget.

 

On topic, do you need to have the shells in the case to fill them up with gas? The Tanaka M870 shotgun featured this and I assumed as much when you filled your shells in the case.

 

I didn't have to use the case, it's just so neat and organized that I couldn't resist. And yeah, I'm a gun-spinner, which is why I couldn't resist picking up one of these guns.

 

 

Cool, thanks! Might have to get one.

 

The problem with it not firing is similar to light strikes on a GBB, right? Maybe the shells need to be lubed/broken in, but I'm not sure how they work. By knocking the hammer I meant accidentally hitting it while in it's down position, and causing a round to discharge, without the gun being cocked or the trigger being pulled (as in an accidental discharge). If the hammer itself is responsible for firing (unlike the PEGASUS revolvers, where the hammer hits a plate which is attached to something that knock the valve open to fire) then i'm interested to know how Tanaka managed to avoid that issue without have an additional internal safety.

 

The hammer won't go back into the original position without the trigger being pulled or held down.

[Nitemare1]

Cool, hope these are deemed UK Legal and if so can't wait for the inevitable Smith & Wesson M29. Might then have to spend a stupid amount on a metal kit.

 

I fear that may be a pipe dream there mate. Gas n BB in one removable shell? Brocock system? Illegal as owt..

[Cyclops-a-thon]

 

First shot not firing is simply due to the cylinder misalignment after the shells are loaded. If you set it straight manually, not a problem. Its just a small quirk and not so much a big issue once you get used to it. Havent chronoed the gun yet, so not sure of the velocity yet.

 

Shot consistency is poor. Fault also seems to lie partly with the cylinder pin; there is very slight movement, just enough to allow the inner cylinder casing to not line up perfectly to the inner barrel. I'm going to try shim it, but maybe possible to switch the cylinder sear with a real steel one; it might make a difference I hope.

 

Still like the gun though, realism is as good as it gets. I wish the shells didnt look like spent cartridges though...

 

Oh, and the pic, its fitted with the CAW Artillery metal outer barrel with non-hop inner barrel, wood grip and the metal cylinder casing. Will change out the cylinder bolt stop & cylinder sear with real steel ones shortly, and will definitly get ride of the cheapo wood grips as soon as my AJAX grips come in the mail

[Utty]

First shot not firing is simply due to the cylinder misalignment after the shells are loaded. If you set it straight manually, not a problem. Its just a small quirk and not so much a big issue once you get used to it. Havent chronoed the gun yet, so not sure of the velocity yet.

That's what I thought.

 

I must say I might buy a Tanaka revolver sometime - but it'd be a pegasus one.

[chaoswithinthed]

Nice review. I'm a big fan of video reviews, I prefer them over written ones. I like the spin you did at the end, pretty sweet.

 

DP

[FatHammer]

Nice review. I'm a big fan of video reviews, I prefer them over written ones. I like the spin you did at the end, pretty sweet.

 

DP

 

Thanks! I love spinning guns. I started on my KJW M9 many years ago, and I never really stopped. I'm best at spinning when I've got an M9 or 1911, but I try to spin any pistol that comes into my possession. Fun times!

[blokhed]

Nice reviews, Cyclops and Fathammer. I'm really looking forward to picking one of these up, despite the issues you've mentioned.

 

I, too, have thought about picking up one of those $70 Schofield replicas to see about converting it to use the Casyopea system.

[BigAl]

I fear that may be a pipe dream there mate. Gas n BB in one removable shell? Brocock system? Illegal as owt..

 

In theory yes but the Shotguns and 40mm's say otherwise. UK law is a funny bugger, might be something to do with low power and a non rifled barrel.

 

[newcomer]

Thanks! I love spinning guns. I started on my KJW M9 many years ago, and I never really stopped. I'm best at spinning when I've got an M9 or 1911, but I try to spin any pistol that comes into my possession. Fun times!

 

Hi hammer, could you show some pics of the shells disassembled? A scan off the manual page on the shells would be great! I would really like to know how these little shells work in conjunction with the revolver.