A case for WE?

[Wingman]

Quite awhile back I broke down and bought a couple of WE Hi-Powers as I had always liked the real-steel versions. In all the years I've had them, the only issue I ever had was with the barrel bushing pushing out. A little lock tight and never another issue. Still working just fine.

 

I then bought a Echo 1 Timberwolf (naturally made by WE) when they first came out. Huge disappointment, everything was jamming up internally and after several attempts to fix it (without any luck), I just broke it down and put the parts in my spare parts box and put it away. Big disappointment as I am a big fan of the Timberwolf frame. This was all in the the first week after the purchase.

 

I did'nt buy another WE until the P-38's came out. Another of my favorite real-steel pistols (had a really nice Walther P1 many years ago), I had to give it a go. I have 3 of them now and they are just plain terrific. Wish I could get my hands on a P38S version. They shoot well and after getting some advice from NonEx regarding gas fills on the very slim magazines, I've zero complaints. Fit and finish are quite good. Accuracy and range are adequate and the magazines have never leaked.

 

About a month ago I purchased a WE GP1999. Yes its ugly as sin, but I was liking the look of the frame and was thinking of bashing together a pistol replacing the slide with a Legacy SAI style slide (as the frame is basically a G model internally). It came out pretty nice looking and works well. I've still got to shoot it a lot more as the hop-up on these things take forever to break in. Still, I'm pleased with it.

 

Was on Evike website and saw the Timberwolf XTR. Liked the look and figured if I had the same issue as the first one, I'd just replace everything with TM parts.

 

Got it this week and its nothing the the first one. I got the FDE version. Fit and finish is terrific. The slide paint looks really nice and uniform.After amout 4 magazines worth the shots, even the top of the barrel wasnt showing much wear. Not a single rattle without the magazine and just the littlest bit of one with the magazine in the pistol. Accuracy out to 50ft was fine but, once again, the hop-up is going to take much more shooting to start working. The only thing I could'nt stand for was the lack of the trigger safety (not their fault, its just what we have to deal with here). Replaced the trigger with a guarder G series trigger (just a little work with a file) and done.

I also tried the inner barrel and hop-up from a broken TM G18c and was greated with much better performance in range and accuracy (kind of expected).

 

All and all, I'm more than satisfied with the purchase. Time will tell.

 

Still, I look at their offerings (getting one of the new 1911A1's and one of my sons wants the new Mauser) and you cant help but be amazed at what WE puts out to us. They bring out new models all the time. I dont hear the complaints I used to hear (and read). Quality appears to have improved in at least the latest offerings (based on what I've purchased anyway). My only issue I'm having is the hop-up (but that is something I can deal with).

 

So, has WE started to take this seriously? The Timberwolf compares quite well to my TM G17 and KJW G23's. The prices are certainly competitive and parts are not the headache they used to be.

 

Your thoughts? 

[tquilha]

My first airsoft pistol was a WE, one of their first gen 1911s. It worked out of the box and kept on working until parts started to break. After a while I just put into the parts box.

After some time, I got a new WE, the Sig P226, and it's been one of my main skirmish guns for two years now. It's partner/replacement is also a WE, the XDM. So far no complaints apart from leaky mags that were quickly fixed.

Also my main skirmish guns are WE GBBRs, namely the 416 and MP5. No problems with any of them, and they scare the *beep* out of the opposition.

So, yes AFAIK WE is definitely upping their game and making better GBBs.

Waiting patiently for my double barrel 1911 to arrive.

[druid799]

Must agree , I've a first gen 1911 and I've always cleaned and oiled it regularly, never let me down in yrs .

Had a glock for a while , think it was a 17 bought it second hand as a 'non working' sale , got it and it was absolutely minging inside think the guy I bought it off had been digging his garden with it ! gave it a good clean and oil and it ran fine no problems , swapped it with a mate who wanted one but again he's looked after it and it still running fine .

Also have a Hi-capa that I bought a very very long time ago and only recently has it failed , haven't opened it up to see yet but it's a case of rack it , pull the trigger and ? It proceeds to empty the entire mag in one burst ! Bit of a shock first time THAT happened ! Lol .

Recently bought one of there hideous inglis spec Brownings and have got rid of the big lump of a leaf sight and changed it to 'NATO bog standard' spec and it shoots lovely . So I can only speak from personal experience but basically (apart from the Hi-capa now) never had any issues with mine .

[Dimitri MdP]

I think WE has made an outstanding turnaround in the last 4 years or so. Every pistol they have released lately is outstandingly good, and imho some of the best in all of airsoft. We have moved the whole team to their Makarovs, and after fixing 1 screw with superglue (those things kick like a mule) they are all working flawlessly game after game, without a single malfunction ever. And their top, wheel adjustable hop is a gazillion times better than the old designs.

They are also listening and fixing the older designs, for instance their G18C went from the nozzle snapper we all know to a solid, reliable gun, as soon as they started making new batches with a new nozzle return spring guide 1 or 2 years ago. And now they are releasing improved 1911s, that are aparently a game changer. The crappiness in those 2 old designs, which are ironically enough the most popular, is what really hurt the company's reputation, but it seem their learnt the lesson.


As for their GBBRs, some of them are really polished designs by now (just stay away from RA-Tech and you'll be fine), and their new designs (again, for the last 4 years or so) are coming out really solid, with the MP5 series being the most reliable airsoft gun ever. Some others still require a little love, like the P90 need for a spacer behing the mag well for proper valves alignment and some spacers in the trigger bar to have a crisp semi auto. But then again, their P90 reached AEG-like consistency thanks to the internal reservoir, and that's a very clever design and a performance that I wouldn't even thought to be possible in a GBBR.

WE has made quite a journey by now. They went from cloning Marui designs, to perfecting them, to making their own designs... which are now being cloned by Chinese OEMs, like it happened with Well's clone of the WE AK. That speaks volumes of how far they have come. 

[Wingman]

Thought I was alone there for awhile. Dont get me wrong, I like my TM's (except the Five Sevens), KJW make some great ones and ASG's P07 and CZ75 are among my favorites as well. But there is something about WE's deciding to push the envelope and come out with models we all wanted and seem to improve on them as they go on.

 

Looking at their M&P model now.

[Wingmann]

Aren't many of "their" new guns made by someone else, like HK3P, or are they the same company?

[DarkLite]

Aren't many of "their" new guns made by someone else, like HK3P, or are they the same company?

 

No, Hk3p was a shell company WE started to sell models with restricted trademarks. Essentially, don't sue us, sue this tiny mysterious company that definitely isn't us *cough cough*

 

And oddly enough, HK3p don't seem to be around anymore, probably because someone sued them.

 

Same with "New Wave" and their TOTALLY NOT A WE SMG8 IN A NEW BODY MP7.

[ED-SKaR]

WE have really stepped up their game. I used to have WE hicappas and glocks given to me for repair all the time, many with only a few hundred rounds through them. The parts didn't fit well, didn't interact properly, gas leaks, broken parts, REEEEALY bad pot metal internals in the hammer units, BBU housings that scratched the cylinder to the point that it wore all the way through.

 

I think when they started on GBBRs they started to put their own R&D into it, rather than badly copying someone elses design. Their newer pistols are quite passable, fit and finish of parts are vastly improved so that they don't just beat themselves into breaking.

[3vi1-D4n]

If I were to rank the total failures to stellar quality and performance this is what it would look like.

 

WE M&P 9 (trigger sears wear after 50 rounds?)

.

.

WE HP (under powered, no hop, inwards wearing trigger)

.

WE M1911 (gas inefficient, under powered, low range,magazine catch wears)

.

.

WE Beretta (no adjustable hop, gas inefficient, spring guide breakage)

.

WE SIG (barrel off centre not accurate, barrel catch breakage,  under powered, magazine catch wears magazine - magazine a disposable item, spring guide breakage)

.

WE Glock (poor finish, poor metal quality, trigger wear)

.

.

WE Hicapa old (gas inefficient, magazine catches, hammer breakages, inaccurate)

.

.

WE TT33 (hop up ineffective, inaccurate)

.

.

.

WE Glock (new)

.
WE Makarov

.

.

WE/Armourer works Hicapa

.

.

WE Beretta M9A1

WE P38

 

 

Overall their new guns required very little work to get stellar performance.  In fact they have been so good that not much work is required to get performance or reliability.

 

Over time, WE has stepped up their game.  But then again, its about time.

[renegadecow]

Regarding hop ups needing much breaking in, it's to do with their new barrel/hop redesign. Out of the box they have hop windows on barrels which are barely wide enough for the hop mound to poke through. Just take it apart and widen the hop window to at least 4mm.

[Wingman]

Going to give that a try..Also my Hi-Power has a hop-up. It's a pain to adjust but I've not touched it after I set it for .25's and it does just fine. It's no powerhouse but it is the only Hi-Power worth looking at.

 

Whats the scoop with the latest PX4 Pistols? Have my TM but its totally stock. I'm interested in both versions. 

[3vi1-D4n]

Regarding hop ups needing much breaking in, it's to do with their new barrel/hop redesign. Out of the box they have hop windows on barrels which are barely wide enough for the hop mound to poke through. Just take it apart and widen the hop window to at least 4mm.

 

As standard practice I just bore out the WE hop up constrictor.  Doesn't need ANY wearing in and gives great accuracy without new hop rubber or new barrel.

 

By doing that, each modern WE pistol I have modded, hicapas, M9A1,P38,Makarov, have been able to hit a coke can 100% of the time at 25m.

[Wingman]

Just for kicks, I ordered a Timberwolf Magwell (the plastic one $20.00) from Lonewolf. Arrived today and after about 15 minutes withe a small file to re-shape the locking block (rounded a couple of edges to fit the large backstrap), it slid right on and looks pretty good.

[Wingmann]

Whats the scoop with the latest PX4 Pistols? Have my TM but its totally stock. I'm interested in both versions. 

Hello, twin. I had one for a while. The hop chamber needed some work, as it didn't have enough rubber in the barrel to hop 0.25s, and barely .20s at maximum. External paint isn't the most resistant, but I like some wear&tear in my skirmish guns, so I didn't care much about the safety peeling off and such.

It worked fine enough, just not as smooth as the Marui. 100% compatible BTW.

[Wingman]

I bought one when they first came out years ago and it was a real piece of junk. Basically was epic fail from day one. Stripped it down for the spares bin and still have it.

 

This one is a completely different animal. When taking it apart to do a couple of up-grades, I found pretty much everything more refined. Much better final detailing of interior parts and the outer finish, so far, is much superior to the older pistol.

 

I've compared the new Timberwolf to my TM G17 (about 4 years old) and I'm finding interior parts in the Timberwolf that appear to be better finished than the TM. Surprised the heck out of me!

 

I also find it interesting the the paint on WE magazines as being much more durable than that on the TM magazines. No wear marks that are found on the TM magazines after just a couple of insertions and drops (I do that a lot when I get a new pistol-lol). Slide paint has held up to multiple draws from holster as well (granted a UM84 but still..). The original model started losing paint on day one. That has always been a big disappointment for me in regards to TM magazines. My PX4 Storm is another good example of that as well. I have several really old HFC G17 magazines and the paint on them is even better than on the TM's (they still work and have never leaked!). So whats up TM?

 

A couple hundred shots through the Timberwolf and very little wear on interior and exterior parts. The frame is just incredibly solid and there is zero flex. No rattles. Nothing but good, so far.

 

Seriously thinking of getting another one.