If you only have budget for just one pistol as a start, go for a TM High Capa 5.1 or 4.3. Stock gun is good enough, accurate, good range, little cool down problem, can take green gas, high magazine capacity.

You can try other brands after your start but TM should be the choice of your first airsoft pistol.

A 4.3 frame will not fit in a 1911/2011 holster because of the blocky shape on the end.

So aside from a select few of people commenting on the various guns they've owned and can atest to the one they prefer the most, this thread has been all about ...... "this is the gun I own and I Love it" thread. People that have only oiled the barrel and pulled there slide on only a few and very few guns. Look, there is allot out there to choose from. Read, read and do some more reading.

It's really disconcerting when someone asks what the best hand gun out there is. Because it's like asking someone who was the best "insert anything in here" out there. It's about as subjective as naming your favourite music or anime character.

Just get what you're comfortable with and what you can afford. Or just get what you visibly like. Once you buy a pistol and you don't like it, come back on here and sell it. Than buy another one and try that one. Or just go to your local airsoft store and try them out there. You're really only going to know once you've tried it. Cause nobody knows you like you. I can't tell you what you're going to like.

As far as company ....... nothing ever bad gets said about TM.

Cheers,
FACE

^very true.

kwa seems to have some very nice guns with mostly/all-metal parts and the training pistols are designed just like the real guns. I dont have much experience with other brands, but for me, a heavyduty metal frame and solid blowback are the most attractive features.

hey guys, quick question
would you go for an kwa 1911 mark II or a Tm hi capa 4.3?

4.3 any day of the week

Kjw m9 vertec if you can find one
I swapped the recoil and hammer spring (tho its not needed)
I drag it through mud swap sand and all sorts of assorted crap and it still shoots hard n far and accurate 4 years or more ive had it

No experience with KWA.

Two teammates had KJW 1911: both sold them and got TM G17 and TM 1911 mk IV respectively. Excellent comments on both.

The new M9A1 looks and feels really nice, can't comment yet on reliability though...

From experience, WE 1911 MEU seems to have brittle metal for the slide.

I had 5 TM 1911/hicapa variants: great performances, no issues. Played a little bit with cheap metal kits. Lessons learned: (1) get a good metal kit or (2) upgrade patience level because fitting is not always trivial or (3) stick with the TM slide and frame.

So, I would go with the TM 4.3 and if you ever decide to swap hammer, let me know! I need one for my latest custom 1911 :)

It fits the clone hicapa holster Huang sells, there is no molding for the guide rod cover, it's just a square hole.
It fitted a WE Dragon 7.1, so yeah, a 4.3 with a comp is no issue.

Do you happen to have a link to that holster? Got something similar to this (http://arniesairsoft.co.uk/news2/17713) but with the original 4.3 frame

+1 I love my KWA M9 PTP.
I also have the Black hawk drop leg holster that horto put a pic up of on the second page of this thread. I had to cut a small piece of the holster out as it was hitting the mag release. found that out the hard way.
also the extended mags seem to shoot A LOT harder than the regular 25 rounder. I can't confirm with a chrono but I'd say the 25 round mag shoots ~350 while the 50 rounder shoots closer to 390

Here:

http://airsoftdepot.ca/catalog/produ...roducts_id=535

Thanks!

Well I went with Tm hi capa. Thx guys!

My vouch goes to my TM G18c and KWA P226.

TM is one year old, and if you're looking for accuracy it's a laser beam. Crisp shooting. Only BS problem I've had is it can't handle high pressure gasses like propelene. Not that it damages the pistol, it's the RWC model, but on a warm day with a full tank the hammer isn't strong enough to release any gas. That was a bit of a piss off as I had heard TM was designing their newer pistols to handle green gas +. It fires better near freezing temperatures, no joke.

The P226 won't die. I've had it since 2007, thousands of rounds through it. Mags have never leaked, even after leaving them dry for months. Nothing has ever broken, and it's taken a severe beating over its lifetime. Only complaint is accuracy. It's good, but don't expect to hit anything over 40ft away.
I even picked up another one last month, I love it so much. Fits serpa's like a glove, rock solid pistol.