Tokyo Marui M1911-A1

[Abelius]

I'm so tempted in buying this baby now that I sold my glock. The thing that bothers me is, if the surface treatment enough good to last a good time, the last thing I want is a very beautiful gun that ends up shiney and plasticy looking just after a few skirmishes.

[screamin_weasel]

i think it wil last. TM's latest GBB's are very good, the finish on my DE is holding up, and its HEAVILY abused.

 

failign that, theres gonna be a bucketload of metal kits already in development for the TM 1911.

[srider_uk]

also order one of these from TOKYO MODEL COMPANY. also at the same 109 price

[BigAl]

Colt wood grips fit, but not perfectly. Should be a simple matter to make them fit correctly though. I think the screw holes just need slightly enlarging on the inside.

 

Anyone tried fitting a Hi Cappa slide yet?

[davedawg123]

I just got mine today from RW, and I put on my WE Hi-Capa Slide it does fire and cycle properly.  So There should be bunch of upgrade parts already exist.

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[Wege]

Your post doesn't say anything...

[STARGATESG1NUT]

He was replying to the person above him with the information that he wanted.

[Operator]

Oh, and good luck Operator.

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It's here, it's very nice, I'm still alive I used the old "I ordered it for a friend who doesn't have the internet" routine!

[BigAl]

Cheers davedawk123, missed that.

[Basho]

Here they are:

 

 

Review coming soon

[BigD_SealTeamXXL]

haha that pistol events really got you now basho

[STARGATESG1NUT]

Got it today. Lovely gun. Huge magazine capacity. Great finish. I love it.

[Shao14]

I guess I can say a few words about it now that I have one too.

 

The finish is indeed quite nice. TM has finally got up with others in terms of finish and hiding seam lines though there's still a faint hint of seam on the trigger guard. There's some small chips and scratches on the bottom side of the frame. I can't see how that can be damaged, or maybe TM did that on purpose to give the gun a battle worn look and to distract the user from whatever small seam trace there is. The grip panels, however, are quite plastic looking. I'd say the TM 1911A1 springer's grip panels look better than this. The rear sight is quite plastic looking too, but luckily, it's also quite small, so not too noticable.

 

Trademarks, got to love TM's deeply engraved trademarks, only rivaled by some of the WA guns.

 

Anyways, the weight is all right, not as heavy as my WA Kimber, but nor is a real un-customized 1911A1. The tip of the hammer is widened for easier cocking. The hammer can only be manually decocked to half cocked position. To lower the hammer all the way down, one has to shoot it without gas. Didn't try to lower the hammer with gas in since I quite like my thumb.

 

The gun is fairly loud on propane, but so are most full size GBBs. The blowback on propane is really nice, quick and strong, puts my FMV KJW M9 to shame. Accuracy is what one can expect from TM. Haven't tested power yet, but seems decent on propane.

 

The gas efficiency is, well, disappointing, at least with my copy. The gun can not empty the 25 rd mag on one charge of propane. I suspect with 134a, it should be able to, but I don't have any more 134a now to try it. It can consistently shoot out 23 rd before the gas runs out completely. My Kimber's single stack can shoot around 40 rounds on a full charge of propane.

 

In conclusion, TM has lived up to or out done its standards in everyway except the gas efficiency, which may be improved with future mag release (or maybe my mag is one of the not so good ones in the batch.) I think TM has decisively won the 1911 battle against KSC although I have not personally held a KSC 1911A1, so don't quote me on that just yet.

 

[davedawg123]

AHHHHHHH. *Looks at poor never fired 1911.*

 

That's too bad about the gas efficiency. Maybe that's why KSC made the 15rd mags? How do the other attributes (such as accuracy, range, power, kick, etc) on green gas compare between the TM and WA? I'm curious which has the better upgrade potential between the SCW and TM gas systems.

[Operator]

There's some small chips and scratches on the bottom side of the frame.  I can't see how that can be damaged, or maybe TM did that on purpose to give the gun a battle worn look and to distract the user from whatever small seam trace there is.

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Mine has these as well, very small chips every few cm along the underside and the front strap of the grip, I think you might be right about the battle worn / distraction idea. I did not notice it till I read your post and checked.

 

I only seem to get 24 rounds in my mags, I am loading from the bottom, I haven't counted when using my plunger loader from the top. If I didn't have to go to bed I'd go and check now It will have to wait till this afternoon.

[Utty]

In conclusion, TM has lived up to or out done its standards in everyway except the gas efficiency, which may be improved with future mag release (or maybe my mag is one of the not so good ones in the batch.)

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The mag is probably perfectly fine - the gun was just purely designed for 134a. You usually get fewer shots with propane than with 134a.

[(V)atrix]

The grip panels, however, are quite plastic looking.  I'd say the TM 1911A1 springer's grip panels look better than this.

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Just FYI, many of the WWII era USGI 1911s had bakelite grips (a sort of plastic material). During mid-war the bakelite grips were cheaper and faster to produce than carving grip panels from wood. The TM grips are an accuarte recreation of those style of grips.

 

The gas efficiency is, well, disappointing, at least with my copy.  The gun can not empty the 25 rd mag on one charge of propane.  I suspect with 134a, it should be able to, but I don't have any more 134a now to try it.  It can consistently shoot out 23 rd before the gas runs out completely.  My Kimber's single stack can shoot around 40 rounds on a full charge of propane.

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Due to more stringent airgun regulations that just went into effect in Japan, I expect a large number of the new guns coming out may be somewhat limited in their usefulness or durability when used with green gas/propane.

[Shao14]

You need to push the last two rounds in from the top to achieve 25 rounds capacity; otherwise, you can only drop 24 rounds in from the bottom.

 

Yea, I don't think there's anything wrong with the mag, but just compare to my WA Kimber, it's not as efficient. Of course the WA mag is almost twice as expensive (so is the gun).

 

I guess the TM grip panel is a more accurate replica then.

 

I think there's always been some kind of law/regulation against using more powerful gas than 134a in Japan, and all Japanese GBBs were designed to the 134a tolerance. TM was just over-achieving their design specs in their recent guns.

 

(Come to think about it, I've been buying all the recent TM GBBs, and none of them disappoints. It seems likely I'll keep buying whatever new gbbs TM will release in the future too. )

[hardboiledcop]

They probably have the inclination that they're uber popular outside of Japan as well.

 

I wreckon the gas efficiency would probably be equally poor in WA's if they didnt use the magna-blowback system.

[Shao14]

After some more plinking, the groupings of the TM 1911A1 and my WA Kimber TLE/RL II are virtually the same at 5m. The kick is almost the same too shooting them side by side. Powerwise, both of them easily cleared both side of a regular coke can at point blank range. All shootings are done indoors at relatively warm room temp using propane. Maybe I should get another one of these. The only problem is that the safety is not ambidextrous, so it's not ideal for dual wielding.

 

I hope TM will release some modern variants like WA does. I'd certainly like a Wilson.

[srider_uk]

WoW ive actually been undercharged but the tax man on the 1911....Mircales do happen u just have to belive!

[hardboiledcop]

what colour is the ejection port?

 

hbc.

[BakaBox]

Based on Basho's picture, it's black as the night is black.

[hardboiledcop]

eww.. I was hoping that was just as trick of the light. black on parkerized. not my cup of tea.

 

hbc.

[hitmanNo2]

I hope TM will release some modern variants like WA does.  I'd certainly like a Wilson.

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TM will probably knock out a silver model in the near future, but I wouldn't expect much else unless TM change their business practice i.e. make 5 or 6 models and continue to supply them at a relatively low cost. WA make so many different models as they do limited runs, which is primarily responsible for their higher price - the cost of new moulds etc. Plus WA hold the rights to many 1911 trademarks and I doubt they would be happy with TM using them too. You will just have to wait for the inevitable surge of metal kits with cool trademarks.