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Thread: Glock 19 by KWA

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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Glock 19 by KWA

    Description

    I am sure no one would expect to see an article on a Tupperware® here, were you? Just to prove you how impartial I am, when Hawkmoon and I were designing the Airsoft Project, we decided to include a Glock in the reviews, since Glocks are widely used by shooters and LEOs, so using an Airsoft equivalent for training purposes could be interesting to some of our members.

    The pistol I choose to review and test is a Taiwanese version of the Glock 19. It is made by a company called KWA, and was kindly provided to M1911.ORG by the good folks at Airsoft Extreme. There are several Airsoft versions of the G19 in the market, made by several companies. There is a strong debate also, about if the KWA version is the same with the G19 made by KSC, which is a Japanese company. I am not going to enter into this debate, since I have no access to the KSC version, but by comparing the pistol I have in hands with the ones made by KSC, and shown at various Internet sites, I can say that there are at least some cosmetic differences and two functional differences—but more about those below.

    So let's see what you get when you buy the KWA Glock 19 from Airsoft Extreme.

    First of all, I have no idea what the box in which the G19 is usually packaged looks like, for the simple reason that the pistol was first send to Hawkmoon, who collected all the Airsoft pistols we received, and then forwarded to me for the testing. I've asked Hawkmoon to send me this one, without the box, for reasons related to the stupidity of the Greek Customs. Hawkmoon provided the photo you see here.



    The top of the box is cardboard, which slips over a formed plastic “bead board” tray designed to hold the pistol in one recess, and the accessories in a separate compartment. This arrangement appears to be somewhat the norm for pistols originating from companies whose names begin with ‘K.’ (Compare with the photo of the box in Hawkmoon’s review of the P14.)

    The KWA G19 is as ugly as the real pistol. However, when I first took it into my hands, I kind of liked the feeling (I then asked my wife to take my temperature, to make sure I wasn't sick or anything). Here is the pistol, as it came to me.



    The pistol has a metallic slide and outer barrel, all painted black in a way which imitates the Tenifer treatment of a real Glock's slide. The G19 that I got, was definitely the ... stealthiest pistol I've ever seen. It is totally devoted of any markings, except a dummy serial number in the usual location for a Glock.



    Nothing else was inscribed on the pistol: no Glock logo, no model number, nothing! I do not particularly care for the logos etc, and I actually liked it that way. Imagine how difficult it would be to remove the Glock logo and replace it with the Tupperware one?? LoL.



    Another thing that is missing, is the trigger safety found in a real Glock. The trigger is slotted to for the safety and drilled for the safety pin, but the safety is not there. This is one of the differences between the KSC G19 and the KWA one.



    Again, since this is not a real pistol, I do not care much for its omission, but if you are after a really correct imitation of the real-steel (steel? I should have said "real plastic") pistol, please be aware of this difference. Also, be aware that this difference exists only in USA, from what I hear, in Europe, both KWA and KSC pistols are sold with the trigger safety installed. The sights are consistent with the real pistol ones. A triangular front with a white dot, and a rear with a white line around the sight opening.



    The front sight is unfortunately secured in a very cheap way, the tenon of the sight is just melted to form a round patch of plastic, and this is the only thing that secures the sight on the slide. Maybe I should visit the local Glock distributor and ask for another one!



    Coming to the frame, it is nicely checkered the way the real Glock frames are, at the rear and the front strap, as well as at the trigger guard area. The sides of the grip are stippled in a more subdued way, and include two minute thumb rests, which help when gripping the pistol, without being obtrusive.



    Quality-wise, the frame has a seam all along its middle-line, which if seen on a 1911 Airsoft pistol would be a reason to totally dismiss it, however I am not sure if the real Glocks do not have this seam around their frames too. There is nothing functionally wrong with this, it is just an appearance problem.



    The front of the frame's dustcover is contoured to include a fully-functional light rail. And I say fully functional, since some other pistols I've tried had a light rail for appearance only, and I am referring to the Hi-Capa here, whose light rail is not dimensionally correct, and does not include the securing cuts. The G19 light rail is perfect, if not a little too tight a fit.




    Finally, the pistol which came to me, was customized by Airsoft Extreme with an upgraded recoil spring by Guarder, and upgraded magazine gas valve by Hurricane. The magazine's capacity is 22 rounds.

    In the next page, you can read how to disassemble the pistol and our shooting tests results.

    [BREAK]
    Disassembly

    The G19 strips to its components, in the usual Glock way. Pull the slide back to cock the striker, and let it go forward. Then pull down the two disassembly tabs, on both sides of the frame and pull the slide forward to remove it. As Hawkmoon (who is even less conversant with Glocks than I am) discovered, the magazine must be removed from the pistol in order to disassemble.



    From there, you can remove the recoil spring assembly, by grabbing its rear edge and push it forward and up. The barrel is removed, by pushing it forward too, and then lift it from the slide. The internal barrel can then be pulled off the external one. An o-ring serves as a "bushing" to accurately fit the internal barrel's front end, inside the external barrel.



    The rear of the barrel is cut in a strange, dragon-tooth fashion. Why? Well, this is arrangement is used by the supplied tool, to adjust the hop-up of the pistol.



    You matte the adjustement tool to the teeth of that area of the barrel and turn it, clockwise to increase the hop-up and anti-clockwise to decrease it.



    Reassembling the G19, is the exact reverse procedure. Just make sure, that when you put the slide back on the frame, the slide rails match the rear rails of the frame. It's not a very precise fit, and you might believe that there is something wrong with your procedure. In fact, all that is needed is to make certain the slide is aligned with the frame rails.

    Shooting

    Well, I never thought I would say that, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the Glock 19. The feeling in my hand was quite positive, and I liked how it handled. How a pistol performs when you shoot it, is however the ultimate test, and the G19 was not a disappointment.



    This is actually the first group I fired with the pistol, at 10m. A 5-shot group measuring 2" from center to center. Since I had very little experience with the pistol, and at that moment, I was just trying to figure out its point of impact, not trying for the ultimate group, I am sure that this performance can only improve as my hands become accustomed to the Glock's grip and I get more mileage behind it.

    Poor Man's Chrono Test

    The upgrades that Airsoft Extreme has done to this pistol, were proven with this test.



    As you can see, the BB went through both sides of the Coke can, without the slightest difficulty. A BB fired at the bottom of the can, broke the aluminum, but failed to penetrate, so I guess the speed of the BBs is around 370 fps, if not higher.


    Rating

    Accuracy: 3
    Upgradeability: 3
    Training Capability: 5
    Realism: 5
    Quality: 5
    Power: 3

    Overall: 24


    Overall

    Well, I have to admit, I would never thought I would say that, but I liked the G19 very much. I mean, really it is a nice Airsoft, so it would be only natural to just say so, but no, this is not what I mean. What I want to say is that I wouldn't mind owing a real G19. The pistol feels very good in my hand, points (relatively) naturally, and the trigger reach is more or less what I've used to have on my 1911s. The trigger in this sample, like on all Airsoft pistols I've tried, is quite light, maybe around 3 lbs, so it helps accurate shooting and repeating shots. If a real Glock could be made to have a trigger pull of around 4.5 lbs, I wouldn't mind at all carrying it as a self-defence gun. OK, now you heard me saying that, I do not want to here any jokes about it, OK?

    I liked the pistol enough, to want to upgrade it even more. First of all, I've ordered a trigger which features the trigger safety, like the real gun, so that my small G19 looks as authentic as possible. Next, I ordered another magazine, so that I can have two of them. Finally, I am thinking of some more upgrades, but I still haven't made up my mind. Stay tuned, there is more to come about the G19.

    Here is a short article which describes the installation of the trigger with the trigger safety.

    Finally, since I had no holster for a Glock 19 (or for any other Tupperware for that matter), I decided that I needed one, if I wanted to have some fun with this pistol. So, I contacted my friend Andy Arratoonian of Horseshoe Leather, who was kind enough to make a holster for the little plastic thing.



    As is always the case, the holster arrived and it was immaculate. It was a 22H, Andy's Covert holster, in black color. The leather is cowhide of course, and the stitching is perfect. The "H" in the model designator, means that the holster has a protective flap at the back, which is something I've grown to appreciate with my 1911 holsters, where the beavertail and the hammer dig into my skin, if the holster is not so equipped (you can tell I have some fat around the waist?). Of course, the Glock has no sharp corners there, still the protective flap keeps oil (silicone oil, do not use other oils in your Airsoft pistols) from destroying my shirts.



    If you want to order a similar holster from Andy, please remember to specify if your pistol has a lightrail or not, Andy's Glock holsters are a tight fit (like all his holsters) and if he makes you one for a non-lightrail pistol, it will not accept the lightrail equiped ones.



    The familiar upside-down horseshoe can be seen in the picture above.



    The holster supports the pistol fine, and even my tired Bianchi, single layer 1-1/4" belt is enough to hold the rig and the pistol tightly to my side.



    Even though the holster is held tightly against your body, drawing the gun from it, is fast and effortless, like it should be.



    Overall, the Airsoft Glock 19 now rests in a very handsome and functional holster. So, I can practice with it, as I do with my 1911s.



    Another interesting addition, is a magazine from a Glock 23, it lengthens the grip a little, making the G19 much more comfortable to hold.

    And now, how about a set of tritium sights, for the G19???
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org
    Last edited by John; 13th September 2008 at 08:43.


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