What are your thoughts on replicas?

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dogfood

dogfood

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Jul 26, 2020
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OH, United States
So being a firm believer in the whole "form follows function" thing, I have long been wary of air pistols that try to emulate the appearance of cartridge pistols. Always seemed to me that designing the air pistol to look like a specific firearm makes the primary concern appearance and not performance. I do enjoy shooting both air and cartridge pistols, but on the rare occasions where I've decided to give air pistol replicas a try, like the Umarex 1911, they've not performed well (failures to cycle/fire), even if the handfeel is good.
Since replica pellet pistols are obviously not my specialty, perhaps I'm not getting the right models, or having unrealistic expectations (though I do read through reviews before I buy). And right now, I really like the look of the pellet versions of the 1895 Nagant and the MkVI Webley revolvers. I'm a sucker for anything olde tyme and those are a lot cheaper to purchase and feed than the originals.

What're your thoughts on the concept of replicas in general, and, if relevant, those two replica revolvers in particular?
Cheers,
dgfd
 
I have a few. I like the WWII versions; Luger, M1A1 Tommy, M1, & MP40. One of most realistic in the. hand are the cowboy revolvers.

The Tommy gun is the one that amazes me. It will empty a 30-round magazine in about 2 seconds and it is super accurate at tin-can plinking distance. Like another here, I removed the clanky swing swivels because they were the only thing that detracted from the real feel of this "machine gun". 
 
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Like Yo, I also collect them.Vintage and new. The Umarex P08 Luger is very cool.It has a blowback toggle and a clip that holds the co2 and bbs, 18. You can field strip it like the real one.Hard to tell them apart when laid side by side.It's not very accurate though. One accurate and powerful old one is the Schimel p22 or gp22 Luger.Also a copy of the P08 Luger. They are a task to reseal and made of zinc alloy, so a bit fragile .I like mine so much I have 2. One nice in the box and one I keep in the barn. Shoot it often.So.. Also like Yo, LOVE EM!!!

Ron
 
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Love my Umarex M1A1 !!!:) And as far as accuracy goes, not bad at all from a smooth bore 12" barrel as pictured here:) Also not one single jam of any kind with over 6,000 BBs. thru it :) Only problem is, they need to come up w/a 100 BB Mag :) GREAT JOB Umarex !

1596281901_3021747005f25542dd05be3.44288385.JPG

 
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Not keen, Very low power, and power dropping off the quicker you shoot the things.

Magazines, inherently prone to introduce inconsistencies, as the pellet makes the jump from mag to bore.

Mostly Mazak parts which eventually wear and malfunction. The aforementioned Luger P08 leaks internally and terribly inaccurate.

For me, I would like to see something different. We have been spoon fed this same format for years now. What a about a break barrel single shot, based on the Ruger, or sliding breach like on a HW77...single shot...getting rid of the error inducing magazine and giving direct thumb loading into the bore. It would be super accurate and not get the rapid cooling of gas that we get with Auto models.. Leaving auto models for shooters that clearly like this type of gun..
 
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I'm no expert, but my only problem with the replicas is the usual low power with them. Of course most air handguns fit that description. I plan to get a couple out the cartridge loading revolvers myself. I'd like to have one of the 1860 Colt Army Cap & Ball replicas.
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I have a good amount of BP revolvers now, and used to collect cartridge revolvers. If you have any questions about particular models, or just about them in general, feel free to message me!
 
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I think they are popular where people aren't allowed to, or are afraid of "REAL" guns. To me, it's kinda like having a brand new Corvette that only has a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Looks neat, but ain't really neat at all. And if you own one, you ought to paint the end of the barrel with florescent orange paint, like an air soft toy. Might save your life in the wrong situation.😉
 
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Here's my only problem with BB/pellet replicas. Most are CO2 operated and suffer from extreme cool down very quickly taking the fun away from doing a 'mag dump'. IMO airsoft replicas are a heck of a lot more fun, more realistic to the real steel with blowback, breakdown just like RS, etc.

Replica pistols should be fun, I don't find airgun replicas to be that much fun.
 
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I think they are popular where people aren't allowed to, or are afraid of "REAL" guns. To me, it's kinda like having a brand new Corvette that only has a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Looks neat, but ain't really neat at all. And if you own one, you ought to paint the end of the barrel with florescent orange paint, like an air soft toy. Might save your life in the wrong situation.😉
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Unfortunately, painting the tips of barrels orange is now being done by criminals with real guns to try to prevent being shot by cops, or to offer that split second hesitation that could very well cost you your life. The "orange tip" regulation was really a horrible idea, IMO. Be safe and treat ALL guns as if they're "real". ;)
 
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I think they are popular where people aren't allowed to, or are afraid of "REAL" guns. To me, it's kinda like having a brand new Corvette that only has a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Looks neat, but ain't really neat at all. And if you own one, you ought to paint the end of the barrel with florescent orange paint, like an air soft toy. Might save your life in the wrong situation.😉
Click to expand...

It didn't help for that 12 year old kid who got shot and killed by the cops in the park. Nor did it help a kid in the Gowanus Projects in brooklyn who was shot and killed by police when I was growing up in Brooklyn. Don't want to pull this thread OT but it's a stupid regulation that doesn't work and the rest of the world's airsoft crowd just laughs at our stupid blaze orange guns.
 
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This may seem like an odd thing to say but I like an air pistol to look like an air pistol. Maybe i am alone in this.

I fully respect the Replica scene and shooters. I do get it but just not for me. I find the real joy of air pistol shooting is the precision.

Single cocking and being able to shoot that 3/8” group with slow deliberate concentration. Just blatting away with pellets scattering across 3 inches just leaves me cold.
 
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I think they are popular where people aren't allowed to, or are afraid of "REAL" guns. To me, it's kinda like having a brand new Corvette that only has a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Looks neat, but ain't really neat at all. And if you own one, you ought to paint the end of the barrel with florescent orange paint, like an air soft toy. Might save your life in the wrong situation.😉
Click to expand...

It didn't help for that 12 year old kid who got shot and killed by the cops in the park. Nor did it help a kid in the Gowanus Projects in brooklyn who was shot and killed by police when I was growing up in Brooklyn. Don't want to pull this thread OT but it's a stupid regulation that doesn't work and the rest of the world's airsoft crowd just laughs at our stupid blaze orange guns.
Click to expand...

Refer to my post above ...
Once this regulation was passed, criminals began painting the tips of their REAL guns orange.
Unless you are law enforcement and faced with this on a daily basis, I would not pass judgement.

 
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I think they are popular where people aren't allowed to, or are afraid of "REAL" guns. To me, it's kinda like having a brand new Corvette that only has a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Looks neat, but ain't really neat at all. And if you own one, you ought to paint the end of the barrel with florescent orange paint, like an air soft toy. Might save your life in the wrong situation.😉
Click to expand...

It didn't help for that 12 year old kid who got shot and killed by the cops in the park. Nor did it help a kid in the Gowanus Projects in brooklyn who was shot and killed by police when I was growing up in Brooklyn. Don't want to pull this thread OT but it's a stupid regulation that doesn't work and the rest of the world's airsoft crowd just laughs at our stupid blaze orange guns.
Click to expand...

Refer to my post above ...
Once this regulation was passed, criminals began painting the tips of their REAL guns orange.
Unless you are law enforcement and faced with this on a daily basis, I would not pass judgement.
Click to expand...

I am not passing judgement, nor am I negating the difficult decision an LEO would face when put in that position. I would not pass judgement on an officer placed in that situation, being required to make a split second decision which could mean his life or death, to look and see if the weapon pointed at him is real or not.

To the point of the thread though, the only replica I've used which I really like is the Elite Force Glock 19 BB pistol (non-blowback). For $70 you get a lot of shots per CO2, can empty mag quickly if you like. Reasonably accurate for a BB pistol.
 
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