Strayer Voigt Infinity Hybrid Comp 6" - Western Arms
Ever since I bought my first WA SVI 5" Limited, I have been a big fan of these guns.
I have had a 6" Limited ever since I swapped that 5" for one and then bought another, when I discovered that they should have ambidextrous safeties, which my original did not have.
I also own a 6" SVI single stacker (A Shibuya Custom Works limited production model) and, for a short while, had a 6" Xcelerator Hybrid, but what I really wanted was one of the Limited edition Hybrid Comp 6"s, which were also SCW limited editions, which mate the plain Limited style frame with a silver barreled Hybrid Compensatored top end.
Just before Christmas 2004, I spotted one offered in response to a wanted ad, but it was a couple of months before it was finally mine.
In the Box
The special editions from WA rarely exhibit the fact that they are and the Hybrid Comp is no exception.
The box is a standard beige cardboard box with just a sticker on one end to indicate which of the 6" or 5" versions is inside. Inside is the gun, an allen key for the hop up, the spare triggers, a tube, hopper and rod loading tool, a bag of BBs, and the usual collection of paperwork, with a standard SVI manual supplemented with a specialised Hybrid Comp parts sheet.
First Impressions
If you are not familiar with SV Infinities, they are bespoke guns, based upon John Browning's Colt 1911 design, primarily for practical pistol shooting competition.
The gun is a single action weapon, with a grip safety. The grip is an all plastic unit with the trigger guard integrated, which accomodates a double stacker .45 magazine (good for 30 6mm BBs in airsoft form) and there is a full metal frame, to which the abs slide and metal outer barrel fit.
The gun is plain black, except for the various metal accessories which are polished aluminium. These include the Hybrid compensator atop the barrel, which fits in the slot cut in the top of the slide. The slide and thumb safety are also polished.
As you pick up the SVI Hybrid, you notice all the heft and solidity common across the entire WA SVI range.
Closer Look
Other than cosmetically, the Hybrid is a WA SVI 6" Ltd, which is a very good thing.
Weight is excellent, as is build quality (WA had a slight wobble with finish on the Xcelerators, but the latest Experts show a strong return to form) and performance.
The metal frame on this gun (which has seen considerable skirmish use) has faded considerably (especially noticable against the new Shooters Design metal slide), but the unique serial number is still visible. The frame features a plain and unrailed dustcover, to me the best possible combination.
Like the 6" single stacker SVI (another SCW limited edition), the safeties are all highly polished silver on the Hybrid, as is the barrel, which is the standard cone barrel, with a compensator attached to the top of it (as with the later Xcelerator Hybrids). The compensator requires a large section of the slide top to be cut out, which probably reduces the strength of the slide, although the one which I have seen broken, broke below the ejector port, rather than near the Compensator cut-out. Replacement plastic slides are virtually impossible to obtain (I bought mine with a spare which had been modified from a standard 6" Ltd slide), but the Xcelerator Hybrid slide is identical and Shooters Design make a black metal slide, which I bought and fitted.
The hammer is skeletonised and the trigger is both interchangable and adjustable for stroke, as you would find on any similar WA SVI.
There is a full length recoil rod (SVIs never have 1911 style barrel bushings as far as I can tell) and the sights are an adjustable Bo-Mar rear and a foresight post (fitted to the compensator) without any white dots (personally I like dots, which ARE found on the latter Xcelerators).
Markings are, typically for an SVI, sparse, with only the INFINITY legends on either side of the slide and the SV markings on the frame being noticeable.
The chamber is uniquely marked "HYBRID .45 ACP"/"DANGER"/"EXHAUST PORTS"/"READ MANUAL"/"BEFORE USE"/"US PAT.5476087" and mine is quite worn through use, so I replaced it with a Guarder Stainless Steel Chamber, with the correct markings - Recent Hybrid SVI chambers bear a different Patent Number (a fake one - the one on this gun is actually refers to a WA patent for a GBB design!).
Also unique to the Hybrids is a serial number on the dustcover right side, ahead of the trigger. This gun (and its 5" counterpart) were limited edition guns. Although the exact numbers are unclear, most reports suggest 500-1000 of each type were produced. Now and then Hybrid frames appear on the market without their Hybrid slide/barrels, presumably broken in the intervening years, so there are probably a lot less than that of each type still exiiting in working Hybrid form.
Shooting Impressions
Click on image for bigger version in separate window.
Carrying out my standard 5m/6 round, off hand test, I saw typical 6" Ltd results.
All 6 shots, from both groups, were on target, although a little high, suggesting the previous owner had set the hop-up quite aggressively for their use on skirmishes (rubbishing the suggestions that WA guns are too fragile, precious or just no good for such use).
The best 5 grouping was 1.8 inches (4.7 CM) across, very much on par with older SVIs, but not as good as the latest SVIs and Experts, with tightbore barrels.
Over 10 shots, the 6" Hybrid Comp averaged 310 fps (using 134a gas) indoors (at 12C).
Experience suggests that this would equate to an astonishing 360fps at around 20C. Clearly the magazine is something out of the ordinary, as the figures were much more in line with those I normally see from 6" SVIs, when fitted with a known, standard magazine I have.
| Shot | FPS |
| 1 | 325.6 |
| 2 | 328.7 |
| 3 | 325.1 |
| 4 | 320.3 |
| 5 | 320.6 |
| 6 | 317.0 |
| 7 | 318.9 |
| 8 | 317.0 |
| 9 | 316.2 |
| 10 | 314.8 |
Trigger pull was 1160g (32 Oz), which is a medium weight pull for a GBB, however the travel is adjustable via the trigger and it is quite easy to adjust the weight of the pull, too, with some work to the leaf spring in the grip.
Take Down
With the magazine removed, the slide is pushed back until the slide lock can be pushed through the frame. With that done, the slide, barrel and recoil rod & spring can be slid forward off the frame as unit.
At this point it becomes more complex as the recommended approach is to separate the recoil rod sections to allow the front of the rod to be pulled forward from the slide.The recoil rod plug can then be pushed out of the slide and the outer barrel and chamber pushed gently out of the front of the slide.
The usual trick of unscrewing the outer barrel is not possible with the Hybrid barrel ports.
The Hybrid is slightly unusual in that there is no inner barrel support, as seen on virtually all other SVIs.
Conclusions
Overall, the Hybrid 6" doesn't offer anything over a 6" Ltd (or the latest Expert or SVIs) in terms of the shooting experience, but it is a rare, and sought after, collector's piece, which offers an interesting alternative to the usual SVIs.
The Shooters Design slide is of excellent quality and really sets off the SVI Hybrid's unique features, whilst offering longevity.
You could make something very similar with a standard 6" Ltd (or an Expert or the latest silver SVIs) and a SD slide and barrel set (which replicates the Xcelerator's differently ported compensator), but the originality of the original Hybrid 6" will always hold a certain appeal to collectors.
Weight : 1,140g
Realism : *****
Quality : *****
Power : *****
Accuracy : ****
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