Review- HFC M190 (Beretta M9) - Select Fire Edition (1/3rd complete)
I’m afraid, due to a lack of gas, that this portion of the review will be rather short- also, a lack of a digital camera (for now) makes it even worse. However, I’ll be updating constantly.
(Taken from Gazchap, as a filler until I can get some pictures up)
First Impressions
Anyways, I’ll tell you- by no long shot, is this a shoddily put together pistol. The metal certainly isn’t pot-metal- the functions of the real-steel are replicated to the best possible abilities. The slide will lock back when there is an empty magazine; the gun will take apart just like the real-steel. Considering it is an exact copy of the Marui Beretta M9 (with metal), this is understandable.
The gun is quite hefty, as well, and I must say has the most amazing sound when the slide is racked.
Pulling back the slide and letting it go, you’re treated with an amazingly loud ‘Ka-CHINK’ sound. This is by far the most realistic sound I’ve heard yet with an Airsoft pistol, so my first thoughts were ‘niiiiiice.’ The rail is a nice touch as well, so lasers and other things can be mounted at the bottom.
The gun feels very solid, and is rather hefty. I’m quite impressed with that.
The grips of the pistol are made of textured ABS, which is made to feel like a very, very solid rubber. They’re a pleasure to hold- I don’t like the HFC logo in the center, where the Beretta should be, but that’s just me. Besides, unless you’re a realism nut, it won’t affect you at all- and the grips are 100% interchangeable, other folks have put Hogues and Tac-Master grips on theirs.
The gun feels very, very solid- on par with my WE Hi-Capa 3.8, if not better. It’s certainly not KJW’s sort of metal.
The mag feels very strong, and is a copy of Marui’s, except with reinforced valves. The gun’s mag can take Red Gas without any problems, and actually feels a bit heavier then the Marui counterpart, which I also purchased a mag from.
The colour is a gun-metal grey, and I rather like it. Unlike the picture above, my gun had a nice serial number, A051125, painted in white.
The only downfall I can find, so far, is the trademarks. The ‘M190 Special Forces- Cal 6mm 2003’, and on the other side, ‘Air Model Firearms- Read Instructions Before Use’- don’t really look very good. However, the engravings are very light, and are not noticeable from a short distance- even from a few feet, you’ll have a hard time making them out. Some people, though, like these trademarks, and even colour them in white. However, I didn’t buy the gun for the trademarks- it’s a solid, full-metal pistol that is supposedly very accurate, and a very good performer, and was highly recommended whenever asked about, and whenever I looked into it all I got were good comments. So far, I find these comments were true- the gun is a tank.
The gun takes apart just like its Marui counterpart, and is compatible with parts from the Marui series of guns (silencer adaptors, tightbores, et cetera). So, there are many replacement parts in case something goes wrong, or if you want to upgrade.
The sites are fixed, yet are rather nice. Also, upon close inspection of the gun, I found pretty much no mold lines or creases- only a small one on the bottom area of the hammer, yet that didn’t matter.
So far-
Pros-Full metal
Rugged construction
Hefty, feels realistic.
Plenty of aftermarket parts, and replacements
No mold-lines
Not pot-metal, like the KJW counterpart
Single-action/Double-action
Cons-Trademarks are unrealistic
No working decocker (but the Marui doesn’t have it either, and I decock the gun using my thumb)
This will be updated constantly- within the next few days, I’ll PM Madmax about a Propane adaptor and some silicone, and get a digital camera to take some snapshots with. It fits right in with my holster, and personally, I love it. The WE Hi-Capa 3.8 it came with is quite nice as well, however, I choose this as the first. It’s very solid, and has a ‘no-nonsense’ feel to it.
My overall verdict, right now, is ‘excellent’.
Another thing-
The Manual
The manual was fairly comprehensive, and had all the safety warnings, instructions, takedown, and explosion diagrams you'd expect. However, there was one thing I noticed.
When comparing the manual next to my WE Hi-Capa 3.8's manual, it was almost the same- done in the same format, with the same pictures (generic safety pictures are reused), and the same texts. The only difference was the gun it was for...
I have a suspicion that WE and HFC are related in some sort of way.
EDIT- Yay, pics! Scroll down.