At SHOT Show this year I got to checkout two new 1911 CO2 Blowback BB Pistols from Sig Sauer, the 1911 Spartan and the 1911 Max Michel. A couple years back Sig introduced their (Advanced Sport Pellet) or ASP line of pellet shooting Airguns in both rifle and pistol version but interestingly enough Sigs 1911 line of airguns are not pellet shooter but rather 4.5mm Steel BB airguns.
Both the Spartan and the Max Michel 1911 BB Pistols are styled after current real steal Sig Sauer 1911's. There are some slight differences in the airgun version cosmetically, notable the added Picatinny rails on both of them but overall they are decent replicas of the real steel versions.
The Spartan and the Max Michel 1911 BB Pistols are built on the same components but have different finishings but their general specifications will be identical.
12 gram CO2
4.5mm steel BB's
16 round stick magazine
410 fps
2.06 pounds
Full metal slide and frame
Semi auto blowback operation
Single action only trigger
Cam lever CO2 loading port
Functioning grip safety
White dot sights
Both Sig Sauer 1911 Blowback BB pistols feel really solid and the single action tigers also feel really nice, what you would expect from a real 1911 trigger. As I mentioned already both Sig 1911 BB Airguns have Picatinny raise which you will not find on the original real steal versions, and I also notices that the Max Michel version has standard sights rather than competition sights and is also lacking the flared but-plate on the magazine.
I am looking forward to giving both these Sig Sauer 1911 Blowback BB pistols a good testing in the Sea Can Airgun shooting range so stay posted for my Field Test Shooting Video and also full Table Top Review.
I was a bit surprised by the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol, it actually shot a lot better than I was expecting it to perform. I did have to aim rather low since the Umarex DX-17 BB Pistol likes to shoot on the high side but if you are shooting at closer in ranges then you won't have to adjust your aim point so high.
Getting into my performance testing for the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol, I placed 5 shots through my Chrony Chronograph and averaged 210 fps which again was very close to the Umarex claimed 200 fps, even a little bit higher! he DX-17 is a single shot repeater but because of the BB reservoir you can quickly reload follow up shots by simply point the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol a little upward while pulling the slide back and pushing it forward to active the spring piston and load a BB at the same time.
As I mentioned the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol shot on the high side, at 30 feet it's a good 8-9 inches high but I have a feeling that this is about as high as the BB's will rise since they are not going that fast and gravity will start bringing them back down. At about 10-15 feet out from a target the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol seemed to shoot about 3-4 inches high so not nearly as bad and this can be adjusted pretty easy by simply aiming a bit under the target you are shooting at. In terms of a 10 shot grouping theUmarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol got about a 4 inch grouping which I have to say kind of surprised me as I was expecting a much larger spread.
So for about $20 you kind of get what you pay for but I really think with the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol you perhaps get a little more! It has a really good trigger, seemed to be built pretty tuff, shot exactly right on the claimed fps mark and was even able to keep a reasonable grouping. And to keep costs down even more you never need to buy CO2 so that's another bonus.
I had a good time reviewing the Umarex Beretta APX CO2 Blowback BB Pistol, this airgun feels really good in the hand, has some nice crips blowback action, shoots pretty hard and shot right on target at 30 feet. The trigger is a bit long but it feels really smooth with an easy release and no real friction points to it.
Getting to the actual performance testing, I put 5 round through my Chrony Chronograph with the Umarex Beretta APX CO2 Blowback BB Pistol and was able to average 395 fps which by the way is exactly what Umarex says it will do! The temperature was not too hot or to cold and I was using a brand new CO2 so it was a fair test all the way around. It's good to see accurate fps specification coming from airguns companies.
Next I preformed my accuracy test shooting the Umarex Beretta APX CO2 Blowback BB Pistol at a paper target setup about 30 feet down range while using a seated and hand rested position for stability. I was impressed with how well the Umarex Beretta APX CO2 Blowback BB Pistol shot in terms of closeness to the bullseye, it really centered well on the paper. I put an 11 round string of 4.5mm steel BB's into the paper target and was able to get them all within about 2 inches. Not bad at all.
Overall I really like the Umarex Beretta APX CO2 Blowback BB Pistol, if you're an APX owner and want a BB shooting version for some back yard practice then you may want to pick one up. I would even suggest Glock owners or enthusiasts take a look at the Umarex Beretta APX CO2 Blowback BB Pistol since actual Glock airguns are hard to come by and the APX is pretty close in terms of size weight, shape and even looks.
Also make sure to checkout my Table Top Review for more closeup video and details on this CO2 Blowback air pistol.
I was originally planning on working out some of the magazine feeding issues with the Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun as other reviewers had mentioned that the steel 4.5mm BB's can jam up a bit in the magazine. The only thing I did with my Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun was to add a little bit of dry Jig-A-Loo lubricant to the magazine feeding track and make sure all my BB's where properly double stacked.. Other than that my Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun is stock with no magazine spring mods.
I did find that my RWS Zinc coated Steel 4.5mm BB's had a tendency to bind a little in the top part of the magazine where the BB's go from a double stack to a single stack configuration. Now my RWS 4.5mm BB's are a bit older and I have found that older Zinc and Copper coated steel BB's will corrode a little which could cause some friction problems.
So for my Shooting Field Test I selected some brand new Umarex Zinc Coated Steel BB's and they did seem to work a little better for me as I did not get any magazine feeding issues during my testing of the Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun. I did notice that when I did a magazine dump that the bolt cycle started to shorten up due to some cool down effect causing the bolt to lock, a quick 5 second break and she was good to go again to finish off the mag.
In terms of feet per second velocity Umarex claims around 450 fps for the Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun, this may be possible with brand new CO2 on a warm day but I got closer to a 400 fps 5 shot average under normal testing conditions, this is perfectly fine for a blowback BB airgun.
When I performed the accuracy test from my standard 30 foot out position on paper targets I got a very tight 1 inch group shooting in semi auto. just a light bit high and to the left but very close to the center bullseye. When I opened up and went full auto the group did largen a little since the Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun does rock a little back and forth with it's internal bolt blowback operation but the remaining 40 rounds did stay within the most part within a 2-3 inch grouping.
The Umarex Legends MP 40 Blowback CO2 BB Machine Gun is a really sweet air riffle with a legendary look, blowback operation, semi and full auto capability, decent fps, great accuracy and at the end of the day is simply a ton of fun to shoot!
A quick update video talking about a Fitness Contest I am going in in a couple weeks called the Canadian Nationals Men's Masters Physique. I felt I needed to address this since part of the preparation process this last few weeks is a fairly drastic weight cut/drop that I need to do to get to a certain leanness required for contest conditioning. This calorie cut and low body fat percentage can mess around a little bit with my thought processing so please go easy on me as I may not be entirely myself.
I will still be making videos but again they may slowdown just a tad as everything takes me longer to do with my mindset not being 100%.
If you are interested in the fitness side of my life then you can checkout my other website and YouTube channel and follow me along as I prepare for my latest Fitness Show.
The Sig Sauer ASP P320 CO2 Blowback .177 Caliber Pellet Pistol is a really nice evolution to the already existing line of Sig Sauer ASP Pellet Pistols. The 30 round belt fed pellet magazine is what really sets it apart from the Sig ASP P250 and Sig ASP P226 which both share the traditional double sided 8 round rotary pellet magazines found in other CO2 pellet pistols like the Umarex PX4 and ASG CZ P-09 Duty.
The big question I had was how is the trigger going to feel and is a 30 round belt magazine going to be reliable? Will other aspects of the Sig Sauer ASP P320 CO2 Blowback .177 Caliber Pellet Pistol function and perform like its rotary magazine brothers?
During my Chronograph feet per second shooting test I compared all three blowback pellet pistols shooting five rounds from each of them using a brand new CO2 and Sig Sauer 5.25 grain Match Ballistic Alloy Pellets. It was a close race with the Sig ASP P250 averaging 413 fps, the Sig ASP P226 just under with a 409 fps average and the Sig ASP P320 coming in a very close third at 405 fps. Only about 8 fps separating all of them!
Moving on to the target portion of my testing. As per my standard Field Test Shooting Reviews I setup my paper targets about 30 feet from my rested shooting position and since the ASP P250 and P226 both have 8 rounds per side rotary magazines I decided to shoot an 8 round grouping with all three Sig ASP pellet pistols. It was really close and perhaps one could say most of the variability was because of the human factor. All three CO2 Blowback Pellet Pistols shot about 2 inch groupings with perhaps one or two outliers, again most likely my fault :) I would say the Sig Sauer ASP P250 was perhaps the most accurate with the tightest of the three groups and also the most centered. The Sig Sauer ASP P226 and Sig Sauer ASP P320 where both a close second with both of them shooting just a tad left on target but pretty close to the center.
What about that Sig Sauer ASP P320 CO2 Blowback .177 Caliber Pellet Pistol trigger and belt fed magazine? The trigger actually felt great, much lighter than I was expecting and I did not have one pellet feed error during my entire testing. At the end of the day all three Sig ASP pellet guns performed about the same, but I have to say having 30 rounds at your disposal without having to reload or rotate the stick mag really makes the Sig ASP P320 stand out and perhaps make it the winner in a very close contest.
Trigger Pull: The single action only trigger pull on the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol is actually pretty good. It's fairly short with only a little bit of very light take up and then an easy release that has no added friction. So you will have to get use to when and where the release happens but it is a really decent trigger for such an inexpensive airgun.
Accuracy: I have only shot the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol a few times to get use to the mechanical operation of using this spring powered pistol since there is a very specific order in which you need to cock and load the Umarex DX-17 for proper operation. I did find the DX-17 shot a bit high for me at 30 feet out so I had to adjust my aim point about 5-6 inches lower to hit targets at this range. For further out shooting you many not need to do so since the fps is fairly low and I would expect the BB to drop pretty quickly. In terms of power being that the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol is only rated at 200fps, well it seems sufficient enough for plinking away at targets and should have no problem getting through a pop can.
Build Quality: I was expecting this $20 low cost BB airgun to be fairly low quality in general but when I took it out of the plastic clamshell packaging I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality and how the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol felt in my hand. It has a good weight to it and the fit and finish are really good. Mechanical parts tolerances feel snug and the plastic used feels of good quality.
Realism: The Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol as far as I know is not a replica of any specific real steel gun in production but it does kind of remind me of a Browning Hi-power at least the back half and the way the frame angles up a bit in front of the trigger. Other than that it looks the part of a real gun. The DX-17 has what looks like real working parts on it with the slide catch, magazine release and magazine but plat all moulded into the airgun. Available at the:Replica Airguns Store
Pros:
At $21 Canadian its great value for a target plinker.
It actually looks and feels pretty good in person, better than I expected build quality and weight to it.
No CO2 required so very cheap to shoot.
Single action trigger is actually really decent, better than most airguns.
Accessory rail for adding a red dot or perhaps a tactical light.
15 round reservoir makes followup shots quicker and no fumbling around loading BB’s in-between shots.
Lower fps means if you do do something stupid you are less likely to have to make a trip to the doctor
Cons:
Pretty low fps so don’t expect any long range shooting or great penetration.
Sights are not adjustable and it seems to shoot kind of high.
Why not rifle the barrel and make pellets an option?
Comments:
I rarely review these super low cost airguns especially spring powered ones with low fps, it almost seems like why would you want any of that? But you know the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol is actually a great little airgun and you really can't beat the price tag. You are also going to save a bunch of money not having to buy CO2 and once you load 15 rounds into the BB reservoir you can empty the DX-17 fairly quickly. Sure the power seems a bit low but it gets the job done and like I said if there was an accident, you are less likely to break that window or require medical attention. I think this would be a great add on to an existing order you might be making with us, that way you wouldn't have to pay for shipping for this one item and you get a fun little plinker for only $20 more.
My Vimeo Videos for the Umarex DX-17 Spring Powered BB Pistol:
