Now I know that pistols are a very
personal choice but I have always found
1911s easy to use. I am able to work all the
important bits with just one hand. There is
very little to say about the right-hand side,
apart from the Vtac Pro Training logo on the
top slide and some other etching on the
frame.
The mag is a standard Socom Gear MEU
style single stack with a 15-round capacity.
The hop is adjustable and dead easy to
get to and alter. Simply push out the slide
release catch, making sure that no mag is
fitted, and then slide the entire top slide. Flip
the top slide upside down and you will see a
tiny black dial with an indicator on it. Rotating
the dial towards the back of the top slide
puts more hop on, while going the other
direction backs it off.
On Test
After familiarising myself with this 1911
(which took about five seconds!) I sprayed a
squirt of silicone into all the places you need
to lube a little. I gassed up the mag with
ASG Ultrair gas and manually fed in 13 0.20g
BBs. The first few mags were really just to
bed the pistol. It was only 5°C and I was
expecting a catastrophic failure, with lots of
gas venting out and the whole thing getting
really cold – but it didn’t happen!
048
March 2012
I set up an indoor range and set the hop to
roughly where I reckoned it needed to be.
First things first it was out with the chrono
to see what reading I could get. Using
Blaster Devil 0.20g BBs the first eight shots
achieved an average of 289fps, then a slow
drop off with the last two shots giving a
reading of 266fps. Still not bad with the
weather conditions being what they were.
Even the last shots were still accurately
hitting the target 50ft away.
If I was going to be owning one of these
babies or using it as a training aide I would
definitely be using 0.25g or 0.28g BBs and
keep decent range as well as improved
accuracy. If I was doing a proper indoor CQB
course then I would use 0.30g for accuracy
over range. Throughout the entire test the
action and workings never missed a beat,
the slide snapped back and forth with a clean
crisp action.
Summary
My aim of this review was really to see if
Socom Gear has released a gas blowback
pistol that’s not only robust and useable
enough to be a training aide, but also
skirmishable all year round for airsoft
players. Going on my day’s usage in the
temperatures that it operated in, the answer
has to be a definite yes.
Not only that but it’s a great, modernlooking 1911 that can either be kept simple
or optioned up with a suppressor. It fitted
in my Black Hawk CQC holster, so again on
the training side you wouldn’t have to worry
about changing your kit around as the airsoft
toy gun won’t fit!
All in all it’s a lovely pistol and if you are a
fan of 1911s then this one is a must. I hope
that Socom Gear expands on its training
pistol range. Let’s wait and see; KWA’s PTP
range now has some serious competition. ■
SPECIFICATIONS
SOCOM Gear Viking Tactics
PT 1911
Weight: 942g
Length: 232mm
Build: Full-metal aluminium frame and
top slide, black polymer grips, licensed
markings by Viking Tactics Inc
Hop-up: Adjustable
Power source: Green gas
Action: Gas blowback
Magazine: Single stack 15-round capactiy
Shooting mode: Semi-automatic
Price: £95
Many thanks to RedWolf Airsoft for
loaning us the review pistol:
www.redwolfairsoft.com