The 1911 design was a breakthrough for auto-loading handguns as well as an iconic firearm in WWII and Vietnam. That’s why we see so many of them and their clones in airsoft and the real steel market. As much as I loved my good old KWC Tanfoglio Witness, the fact is that either of the two sub $20 spring pistols facing off in this review will out shoot it every time.

First up we have the Umarex Combat Zone Stryker which is a newer offering that can be found at stores in the US. It also features a nifty accessory rail.

19.99 + S/H
100 FT Range / 210 FPS (.2g)

I also finally picked up the classic UHC 1911. This is a long running, heavyweight spring replica with good performance for its price range.

$19.99 + S/H
100 FT Range / 200 FPS (.2g)

The first thing you’ll notice when these guns are side by side is that they’re basically identical. The packaging and trademarks are different, but these two certainly came from the same manufacturer. Nevertheless, a number of differences come up upon closer inspection.

Aesthetics -
Very similar, both guns have the classic 1911 look, open ejection port, and lack of any real licensing. Detail is still good all the way around. The faux-wood textured grips look like a bad Jersey Shore tan up close, but fine at casual glance.

The Stryker features a unique accessory rail that you could mount a small light or laser on. This adds a lot to the look of the gun and has some functionality. The rail can be un-bolted and removed, although you’ll leave two small empty holes on both sides of the pistol.

Weight/Balance -
The UHC is noticeably heavier and better balanced. This is due to the fact that both the magazine and receiver contain lead weights in them. The Stryker doesn’t feel bad, but it’s certainly lighter.

Magazine -
The UHC includes a 22 round slow load magazine, which is good capacity for a pistol.

The Stryker features the exact same exterior design, but only holds 14 rounds ready to fire coupled with a 95 round reservoir in place of the UHC’s lead weight. Same idea as the magazine included with the full metal 1911. Having this extra ammo on hand may be nice in certain situations, but I personally hate this kind of mag. They feel too light and flimsy, make a huge racket rattling around, and are still difficult to load.

Performance -
All other things equal, I like the look of the Stryker and the feel of the UHC. So it comes down to performance.

Neither have smooth slide action, but this is hard to come by for any low-end replica with an open ejection port. Both have working grip and slide safety’s.

Actual shooting performance is admirable – very good range and accuracy, good projectile speed. The only noticeable difference seemed to be that the Stryker had more aggressive hop-up, which resulted in a straighter flight path and a few more feet of range before falling.

So, neither of these 1911′s are perfect, but they both get close. Sticking the weighted UHC mag in the Stryker adds sufficient weight and is a good compromise. Overall, either of these spring pistols are a great choice in this range of econo airsofting.

• Modeled After: Sig Saur P228 (M11)
• Hop-Up:Fixed, for .12 / .2g 6mm BBs
• Lowest Advertised: 190 FPS / 80 Ft Range
• Purchased From: ShortyUSA for $20 + S/H

Big Magazine
Accuracy
Compact/Ergonomic
Low FPS
Low Power
Weak Safety

This impressive little compact is manufactured by UHC and bears fully licensed Sig trademarks. The pistol itself although relatively lightweight, feels exceptionally sturdy, balanced, and is heavier than most in the $20 price range. The frame is nice and compact and the gun is very ergonomic and comfortable to hold. Aesthetically, the outside bears numerous trademarks/serial numbers/etc. that are engraved in various places – I was impressed by the attention to detail of these and the outer features all around.

The action of pulling the slide is very short and crisp and the gun has a short trigger pull, allowing you to load a round quickly and fire off accurate shots slightly faster than normal. The piece also features a 2-piece open ejection port that adds to the detailed look of the gun. The hammer, although sort of functional, is pretty floppy and serves no real purpose. It would benefit from a stiffer spring.

The overall look is flat black plastic, not quite a matte finish. It’s decent quality though and seems more than adequate at the $20 bracket. It is quite obviously mostly plastic, and has no metal save for the necessary internals. The safety located on the left side of the gun is also very weak and a potential break point, but at least it has one!

Performance wise, this is a peculiar sidearm that may fit your needs nicely. It has a large clip, which hold 24 rounds and can either be manually or speed loaded. This is overkill for a sidearm, but works nicely if you don’t want to worry about reloading. It’s also compact, which means it will fit nicely in a holster (or even a pocket) without taking up unnecessary space.

To top it off, this gun is ridiculously accurate up to a certain range. Although the barrel is short, an aggressive hop up system lets a .2g BB fly perfectly straight out to 80-90 feet. That said, the FPS is noticeably lacking. Still, you won’t be using a compact pistol for sniping anyone. So with that aside, it’s a cheap and perfectly suitable choice for use alongside a primary – as well as a close-range marksman’s tool.

Colt 1911-A1 Military Full Metal

• Modeled After: Colt M1911A1
• Hop-Up: Fixed .12/.2g BBs
• Lowest Advertised: 200 FPS / 100 ft
• Purchased from ShortyUSA for $30 + 9 Shipped

Full Metal
Mid-Cap Magazine*…
FPS
Looks almost used n’ gritty. Straight up Platoon status.
Printed Trademarks
…*made of plastic. That’s weak sauce.
Range
Loose Safety

Being a fan of the 1911, I sprung at the chance to pick up a full metal military replica that wouldn’t cost me 4 years of daily Taco Bell. It’s hard to avoid Cybergun products if you buy a gun with trademarks, and this one makes no exception. Although the trademarks are correct and fully licensed, they are only printed on with white paint, as opposed to engraved. This detracts from the authentic aesthetic almost as much as having the trademarks would add in the first place. Still, they’re legit. The gun, as stated, is full metal. It has good balance and heft and feels pretty solid. It has a very rough sort of finish too it, and some great looking faux-wood hand grips. A prominent seam-line runs down the top and bottom of the body however. Overall, it mimics a used military sidearm well. It feels more Vietnam than most. This gun should age well, like a fine wine. Except probably not.

The trigger and hammer are metal and have some nice inertia going with them. The action is surprisingly smooth and it sounds good and solid to fire. The safety leaves some to be desired. It functions, and locks the trigger and slide, but is loose and the slide becomes locked inadvertently. For shooting, this is annoying, and for a skirmish, this is deadly. Not that people usually die during airsoft, but you know.

The clip, on the other hand, is a downer. It’s very noticeably plastic when holding a full metal gun. Not necessarily high quality plastic either. It also has very little weight, due to an internal BB well. The actual clip holds around 12 rounds, which must be re-loaded from the 50 round reservoir. Sort of like a wind up magazine without the wind up. It’s a clever idea, but in reality it takes longer than just using a speed loader, makes the magazine too lightweight, and rattles.

The performance of this gun is on par with a $20 pistol, or at least one with some unimpressive hop-up. Although both the FPS and power are both noticeably impressive, the hop-up only works decently after you warm it up. Most shots with .12g and .2 have only mediocre range.

You pay $20 for performance and like $15 for the full-metal aspect. At this price range, it’s a really cool collector’s item – not a remarkable sidearm.

KWC/Cybergun Smith & Wesson SW1911 Ultra Grade

• Modeled After: Smith & Wesson SW1911
• Hop-Up: Fixed .20g / Up to .25g
• Lowest Advertised: 250 / 220 FPS, 80 ft Range
• Purchased from ShortyUSA for $63 + $9 Shipped

Shooting Performance
Look, feel, action
Weight & Balance
Magazine Issues
Trademarks and Printed Text

Okay, so paying $70 for a spring pistol doesn’t exactly fit the “econo” airsofting viewpoint, but I couldn’t resist. The best spring pistol money can buy? I don’t know, but it’s got to be pretty damn close. Save for a few gripes, the SW1911 Ultra Grade is an example of completely unnecessary overage of springer performance and beautifulness. If it wasn’t so fun to shoot, I’d frame it on my wall.

This 1911 is heavyweight, and very nicely balanced. You get very good inertial feelings when picking this thing up. Haha, get it? The build quality is also outstanding, I can’t find a seem line anywhere… The model isn’t full metal, but it contains metal in the important spots. The plastic is also high-quality and feels good. The gun is solid, no wobblies save for the magazine, which sits a tiny bit loose.

The SW1911 is a wicked looking real steel gun. Although this is pretty much a replica of the stock version, the stock version looks custom made. A slick finish, “beaver-tail” grip safety, nice grips, vented trigger and hammer, elevation-adjustable combat sites, and forward-slide grip give this gun a mean look. The ejection port stays closed, but the metal “barrel” insert looks good and is engraved with “45 AUTO”. It also includes engraved sequential serial numbers, and (since this is a Cybergun product) it’s actually legally licensed to bear S&W’s trademarks in the US. This particular version has the S&W logo and “SW1911″ only printed on the slide in white, it looked like some other versions of the gun had this engraved, and IMO that would look better. On the ejection side of the slide you also get a nice big warning block of text printed in the same white font. Meh.

The thumb safety and grip safety both work nicely, as does the working slide-lock, which will let you know if you’re cocking with the magazine empty. Here’s when we get to a few noticeable problems. For one, after inserting a new magazine you’ll have to pull-back on the locked slide to chamber the first round – you can’t just release the slide-lock, and that’s a big part of the fun…

Secondly, the magazine is the classic speed loading design. It fills up nice and fast, but only holds 12 rounds, drops a few BBs if ejected early, and doesn’t auto-release the spring when inserting into the well. It’s very nicely constructed, and full metal, but doesn’t cut it from a high-quality airsoft standpoint. There are probably compatible alternatives out there.

Pre-shooting aside, the performance of this gun is epic. The slide action is super smooth, trigger pull isn’t super great but that’s not a big deal. Using .2g BBs, performance is superb for a pistol. The SW1911 has comparable range compared to the M14 “Sniper Rifle”, which is a low-level but full size spring rifle, although the pistol is notably less accurate and less consistent, at least with .2g BBs. Still, srlsy. It’s got a lot of power as well, rivaling the punch of the powerful Model 17.

The existence of a spring airsoft pistol at this price range is reaching impracticality. If seeking competition, you should move on to gas guns, while those looking for performance should just be buying pellet guns. Then again, there are those of us who just want to have one of the best spring pistols available. Springers are simple and it appears that this one will last, even with a good amount of abuse. Unnecessary? Yes. But completely awesome? Also yes.