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Tanio Koba USP 40 SD


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Anyone that is even vaguely interested in classic airsoft will know the name Tanio Koba and with it the almost legendary USP 40 that he designed in the mid ninties. To this day is is recognised as one of the best airsoft USP ever made and commonly fetches upwards of 300 usd on the second hand market..... that's if you can find one for sale.

 

Over a decade after the original USP 40 Tanio Kobayashi returns to his USP design to address some of the issues that the original faced and has now delivered the "NEW USP 40 SD". Many of you would want to know how this modernised USP compares to the old one, but alas I don't have an original to compare with :( if only I was made of money.......

 

tkusptwinxj6.jpg

 

Initial impressions are very good, the finish on the frame really put my KWA USPc to shame. It's completely matt all over without even the slightest hint of shinyness. The slide looks reasonably like a parkerised finish and though there is a seam line along the top, it is only visible on close examination. Unfortunately due to the surface texture the slide does seem to mark easily when it makes contact with harder surfaces.

 

The weight is high even without the mag inserted, and with the mag inserted the pistol feels very well balanced. I found that I had to get accustomed to the larger grip size of the 40 before I was able to "point and shoot" with any degree of accuracy. The molded grip surfaces do a good job of giving you a good grip on the pistol but do feel a bit sharp on the front and back, just like the real-steel.

 

The sights are metal, possible steel and have white dots to aid aiming. They are easy to use and are micro-adjustable with a flathead screwdriver. Being of the match style they're very tall compared to normal sights. In fact they prevented me from using my FOBUS holster. The only thermoplastic holster readily available that can take this seems to be the Safariland in size 93 (hammer down) or 92 (hammer up).

 

Other metal parts are the slide catch , mag catch and hammer as expected. The only let down is that the serial number plate molded into the frame and they haven't even bothered to paint it silver! But most of the time you'll not be looking at the bottom of you pistol so I don't think it's a deal breaker.

 

tkuspbarrelassemblyly6.jpg

 

Barrel assembly is solidly built with a spring between the outer barrel and the chamber block to help push it back onto the nozzle.

 

Firing impressions are also very good. Trigger pull is quite heavy in double action but breaks well in single action allowing for very acurate shooting. At room temperature (approx 20c) the USP will give a reasonable heafty kick on 134a, enough to jolt the arms a little. Slide action is quick for a large auto and the clack of the slide is quite pleasing. Using Abbey Ultra gas made the slide cycle very quickly and greatly increased loudness of the clack, as well as jolting the arms up to the shoulders. On green gas the blowback is worryingly strong, so much so that I only fire 10 rounds and then decided to release the gas from the mag. I will definitely wait for the metal slide before moving to green.

 

Accuracy is very good. With practice it would be fairly easy to reliably hit a scaffolding pole from a distance of 6-8 meters with something like a Weaver style stance. Hop was set perfect for .2g straight out of the box.

 

tkuspgassystemfi4.jpg

 

The picture above shows the gas system used in the USP diassembled. If I remember correctly this is more or less the same as the system in the original the difference being the larger diameter cyclinder for increased blowback kick. There are very few major moving parts and no long springs to bend, so I would expect a very high degree of reliability. The contact surfaces for stoping the cylinder are quite large on the cylinder itself and are metal on the housing, so I would hazard a guess that extended use Abbey Ultra gas will have little or no ill effect. Interestingly the internals of my KSC 18c look remarkably similar. The green thing is the piston cup.... more on that later.

 

tkuspslideinsiderearof1.jpg

 

This picture shows how the gas system sits in the rear of the slide. The position of the cyclinder at this point is at its furthest forward. Note the green piston cup is visible right at the back of the cylinder.

 

So it all sounds like roses doesn't it? Unfortunately, as always with airsoft, I have found something that may not be quite right.

 

tkusppistoncupaq1.jpg

 

This picture shows a mangled piston cup. I found this when I stripped down the USP after it failed to push the slide enough to load the next bb but would otherwise function. From its appearance you would guess that the sides of the cup have been torn off. "How could such a thing happen?" you might ask.

 

tkuspcylinderfr4.jpg

 

This "explanation" is purely my own speculation and analysis so if it turns out to not be correct then please correct me for the good of others that may read this thread.

 

The picture above shows the back of the cyclinder. Do you see that sharp ridge that goes all the way around the inside? Go back up to the picture of the gas assembly inside the slide. See how far the cylinder can travel forward? My suspicion is that when the cylinder is at it's most forward position, there is a small chance that the lip of the piston cup will get caught on the ridge inside the cylinder. As the slide returns forward, pushing the cylinder back to the rear of the slide, the lip gets torn off not helped by the hard rubber. For those of you that have this USP you can try this out safely by taking the barrel assmebly out, pulling the cylinder forward and the wiggling it about a bit. At some point you'll feel it catch and not be able to return to the rear of the slide without more wriggling :) If I am right about this then this will be a most unexpected oversight by one of the most respected GBB designers of all time.

 

Luckily I have a spare USPt with a broken trigger and so I salvaged the piston cup from there.

 

So.....Is it worth it? Until we get more people using this USP I won't be able to say that there is definitely not a flaw in the design. However, I also can't imagine that my anlysis of how the piston cup failed is actually correct! Something that should be so well engineered would not have such an obvious flaw. All I know is that even after the piston cup failure I am not looking to sell either USPt that I have and in fact am already planning to upgrade one for IPSC :D Does that answer your question?

 

And finally, who can resist trying to take a pic of the twist barrel hehe.

Very James Bond :P

 

tkusptwistbarrelwr7.jpg

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Thanks Sale

 

Unfortunately I don't have anywhere indoors that's big enough to do a fair grouping test, and I also don't have a chrono. However, Snowman has said that this USP is remarkably accurate, and when he puts his review on "just pistols" we'll be able to see that data as well :)

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I don't think KSC slides will fit the tanio koba mainly because the gas system is different (from my experience with the KWA USPc) so i'd imagine the dimensions of the parts will be very different.

 

With the springs, i don't see why you wouldn't be able to find a spring that can physically fit in the TK USPt. Though Jimel who sold me the USPt with the broken trigger, broke it while testing heavier hammer springs. There is also a warning on Tanio Koba's own site about not using different spring, but the google translation of it is not very intelligible.

 

For me there doesn't seem like there would be a lot to gain in changing the hammer spring as the blowback with green gas would certainly drive quite a stiff recoil spring, at least at room temperature.

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Thanks Sale

 

Unfortunately I don't have anywhere indoors that's big enough to do a fair grouping test, and I also don't have a chrono. However, Snowman has said that this USP is remarkably accurate, and when he puts his review on "just pistols" we'll be able to see that data as well :)

 

My review IS on justpistols :)

 

http://128.177.0.116/tkusp.htm

 

You'll also find a more complete review in Vol 2 Issue 5 of Airsoft International.

 

Cheers.

Edited by snowman
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If I am right about this then this will be a most unexpected oversight by one of the most respected GBB designers of all time.

(...)

However, I also can't imagine that my anlysis of how the piston cup failed is actually correct! Something that should be so well engineered would not have such an obvious flaw.

Yeah? Personally I'm not surprised - the TK piston cup for the TM Hi-Capa self-destructs too, tears itself apart after a few shots.

My guess is that Mr. Koba is simply a masochist - he likes to be dominated by his very own designs. And he thinks that over-engineering is the Antichrist. Too bad for us. :(

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That's why i have 2 - one for "wow" and one for "pow!"

 

I use it as my sidearm for skirmishing but i've deliberately been quite careful with it. It performed pretty well on abbey ultra gas.

 

The real reason you shouldn't get this for a skirmish tool is that spare mags are currently impossible to come by. That's the real reason i have two of these :P The (very real) price you pay for using what's essentially a collectors piece.

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I run mine on a mixture of 134a and green for the colder months of the year and it has shown no abnormal wear

 

As i've said above the reason not to BUY a tk for the purpose of skirmish is that you'll most likely not be able to find a spare mag for it.

 

If already own the TK and you don't mind only having one mag for your sidearm then there's absolutely no reason not to skirmish with it :) I've used mine to good effect many times hehe.

Edited by tome
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