KJ Works KP-05 Hi-capa Update

[Shaun655]

This review is merely an addition to other reviews to help you decide if this gun is right for you as a user. First impression with the KJ Works KP-05 Hi-capa is its solid weight and feel. I have weighed the gun with magazine at roughly 2 ¼ pounds. The upper and lower receiver of the 1911 are black metal, while the only clear (smoked) part is the grip frame and trigger guard. In one review I read that the finish on their KP-05 had somewhat of a sparkle to it, and I was happy to find that on mine its just pure black. Once you have this in your hands it becomes very hard to distinguish the clear grip. Although the grips are clear they have one very positive attribute, they are Tanio Koba 45 grips. You may see these grips on certain sites that sell premium airsoft guns and accessories. They normally come in an OD green or Black and sell for roughly 50.00USD, but since we are Canadian we have these Japanese made grips in clear smoke, and after holding them I have zero complaints in the feel of the the grips or the very smooth operation of the grip safety. The best example of this gun compared to a real world 1911 I believe is the the Springfield Operator. Many Kimber guns fail to grab as many visual similarities as the Operator does. The only thing missing to make it the Operator is the the Springfield markings on the gun and grip.

The magazine on the KP-05 is full metal and currently I am still breaking mine in. At the moment it is able to get through a full magazine on a single charge of gas, but out of the box this magazine needs a little time, and a lot of gas to break in. This I have also found in other KJ Works magazines such as the ones used in the Beretta's. Those who are new to gas blow back be patient with your mags, give it some extra time to break in. In most cases if you are not going a full mag on a charge of gas it will not be defective, but simply new. Some tricks I have found while breaking in the magazine for the KP-05 and the Beretta is using extra oil for the first few fills, as well as leaving a charges of air in mag for a half hour to an hour, then simply purge and repeat as necessary. One Berretta mag though did need to be taken apart as it was assembled incorrectly which corrected the problem after a rebuild. I also purchased a second mag for the KP-05 and it required no break in at all, I was able to charge it once and it was good to go.

After the gun had repeated mags run through it I dissembled the gun, which breaks down just like a real 1911, and then gave the barrel a thorough cleaning to get the excess silicone oil out. The KP-05 has an adjustable hop-up, but I found on mine that I did not have to adjust it with .20 gram BB's since it was shooting very level. I was shooting at 20' to 30' and was able to get very tight grouping, although there were the occasional round that jumped up and wide by almost 5-10”

I have had this gun for a little while now, and took it off to get a chrono reading. I was having a propane adapter issue where it was leaking liquid propane once it was getting near a full charge, hence stoping me from getting a full charge into the magazine, so please keep that in your mind, as you may get a different reading. Anyway I was able to fire roughly 18 to 20 rounds on my charge of air and my highest FPS count was the first few shots at 305FPS with a .20G BB. The lowest reading I had was the last charge of air that was strong enough to fire and cycle the gun and it was 253FPS. Manufacturer predicted an FPS of roughly 310 which on a full charge of gas I may have been able to achieve, but as a said I had an issue with my propane adapter.

Some people may not enjoy recoil in an airsoft handguns, but I am not one of those people. I enjoy recoil as it enhances the challenge and realism of the game. The KP-05 did not disappoint me as it has excellent recoil that is very crisp, and offers a very nice snap with each shot. When I first broke the KP-05 down I found that upper and lower frame had no lubrication. Now I suppose this is fine for most, but I have noticed a slightly grainy feel in the slide action, and increased wear and tear on the KJ works Beretta on its upper and lower frames without having lubrication. To fix this problem on the Beretta I used a product called Buzzys slick honey and after seeing the improvements with it I made sure to use it right out of the box on my KP-05. My main motivation for this lubricant is to ensure the smooth operation of my slide, mainly due to my love of recoil, but also to protect the metal surfaces from any extra wear it might go through. If you are interested in Buzzys slick honey its a lubricant made for mountain bikes, but also paintballers use it in some of their guns.

Pro's – Appearance, great looking example of a 1911
- Tanio Koba grips have an excellent feel.
-Heavy weight, and solid feel.
- Crisp recoil
- Respectable accuracy for dead stock.
- Manufacturer said 310FPS I tested it at 305 pretty close
Con's - I had one magazine that required break in for the KP-05
- Price, we pay nearly twice as much as any other country.
- Poor instruction manual.

Verdict - The gun may cost a little extra vs the other KJ Works line up, but if you are a fan of the 1911 I highly doubt that you will be unhappy with this gun, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone in the market for a gas blow back pistol.

[Thenooblord]

Its not a 1911, its a Hicapa, totally different in most ways other than the general appearance and basic shape and design, but anyways, i have one of these too, and apart from a broken sear connector, ive had no major issues with it.

[m102404]

Thanks for the write up...I like a review with more substance than pics.

What do you mean by breaking in a GBB magazine?

"...using extra oil for the first few fills, as well as leaving a charges of air in mag for a half hour to an hour, then simply purge and repeat as necessary"

I do get that oiling the mag and leaving gas in the mag would lubricate the o-rings/seals...but if the mag is not leaking to begin with, is there a problem with a new mag that hasn't been "broken in"?

I apologize, I must be missing something.

Tys

[Thenooblord]

Ive had the opposite of him, when i got it brand new i could get 60+ shots off one mag, now i can just barely get 35

[Shaun655]

I thought the only true hi-capa is the Para series of 45's, and the only real mechanical difference was the fact that they off set stack the ammo allowing up to 14 rounds vs the Springfield Operator which is a single stack of ammo up to 7 and classifies it self as a 1911-A1. Otherwise I thought the term Hi-capa in airsoft started with Tokyo Marui and its 1911 hi-capa series in order to avoid using trademarks from companies such as Springfield, and any other airsoft company follows suite for the same reason.

If you have anymore info on it though please post it, can't get enough information on 1911's

[Thenooblord]

well my undersyanding is that the para started as a modified 1911, then diverged to its own design, well anyways it doesnt really matter, because the frame, grip, recoil rod and alot of the other internals is all not compatible with a normal 1911, so i just dont consider it a 1911, kinda off topic though,

(talking airsoft here, not real steel)

[Shaun655]

I wrote this in because in both cases with the metal KJ works mags in the KP-05 or Beretta they were only getting a third of the mag through before running out of gas, but the more gas I put through the more charge the mag was holding. In one case the Beretta was hissing out air from even a short charge, but then it began to hold the charge of air longer with additional refills. The KP-05 didn't leak out air, but wasn't taking much of a charge either, but like I said for some reason the additional air pressure must have helped to extend the fill. A few people that I have played airsoft with had some of the same issues and those too were fixed by simply using the mags. I imagine though that this isn't always necessary, but if this does happen to someone they should try my recommendations before just trying to return them.

Also I hope to to add further information to my review once the gun is broken in and I have a chance to chronograph it.

[m102404]

Oversimplifying...

HiCapa's (TM/WE/other) are replicas of STI/SVI pistols. 2 part lower...a frame component and a grip. For real steel double-stacked, hi capacity magazines.In that sense...the TM HiCapa is quite an accurate replica. They are also known as 2011-style pistols.

1911's tend have integrated grip/lower frames as one piece. Their airsoft replicas may still have double stacked magazines for 6mm bbs, but are usually very slim when compared to a TM HiCapa. The grip (removable grip panels with most all 1911's and not so with 2011's) of 1911's tends to be much slimmer overall than the 2011's.

The KJW that you reviewed is more similar to the HiCapa than anything else.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Shaun655

I thought the only true hi-capa is the Para series of 45's, and the only real mechanical difference was the fact that they off set stack the ammo allowing up to 14 rounds vs the Springfield Operator which is a single stack of ammo up to 7 and classifies it self as a 1911-A1. Otherwise I thought the term Hi-capa in airsoft started with Tokyo Marui and its 1911 hi-capa series in order to avoid using trademarks from companies such as Springfield, and any other airsoft company follows suite for the same reason.

If you have anymore info on it though please post it, can't get enough information on 1911's

The term "Hi-Cap" first occurred with the Western Arms "Hi-Cap" series, which were replicas of real steel 2011 type pistols by Strayer Voigt Infinity Firearms. STI International (Strayer-Tripp International) was another real steel firearm manufacturer that created similar 2011 type pistols.
Tokyo Marui later released the "Hi-Capa", slightly different name to identify itself from it's Western Arms competition, but it still did create some confusion.

The Tokyo Marui release did not identify itself as either an STI or SVI type gun, but more of a tactical hybrid, which STI was known to create. However, for all intents and purposes, the design of the pistol, the way it broke down was very similar to an STI 2011, regardless of the markings on it.

Although the original simplified identifying feature that stood a 2011 apart from a 1911, was the shape of the trigger guard, where the 1911 was round and the 2011 was square. Now that manufacturers of real steel 2011s are creating grips that also have rounded trigger guards, the line has been blurred, and the only REAL way to differentiate the two was to look at the basic fundamental difference between the two pistols - how the receiver and grip integrate:

1911
Receiver and grip are all integrated in to one piece. Grip panels are then attached on to this integrated frame:



2011
Receiver (upper frame / mid frame) and grip are two separate pieces. The grip does not utilize grip panels, and instead, is one complete piece that includes the trigger guard assembly.



These differences all carry over to airsoft as well.

The KJW KP-05 is an unmarked hybrid replica of the Kimber Custom TLE/RL II, that takes similar styling of the mid-frame and the slide and merging them to a 2011 platform. The style is quite familiar to me, as I was designing the components for such a build before KJW released them on the market. Here was a prototype:

[Thenooblord]

I filmed this today of my KWJ hicapa, the ping you hear is an empty spraypaint can Im shooting at
YouTube - Test Firing KJW KP-05

[MADDOG]

Will TM Hicapa mags fit in this gun?

[Thenooblord]

yes, i have 2 that i use with this, they fit fine

[MADDOG]

Originally Posted by Thenooblord

yes, i have 2 that i use with this, they fit fine

Looks like I am getting a new pistol!

Thanks

[ShadowNet]

I took photos of mine a while back for those interested: http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=81417

[m102404]

A buddy brought one by the other day and I got a bit of time to take a look at it.

All in all and on a superficial level...pretty good bang for your buck.

The "clear/smoke" plastic is more "blue-ish"...reminds me of looking into pool water. With a mag in it...there's not a whole lot of clear left.

Blow back is pretty stiff...lots of gas being used. Compared to my "seasoned" (aka beat to crap) field HiCapa...it gets fewer shots, but still quite a few.

Non adjustable rear sight...very 4.3 Novak-ish. A big laid down rectangle blade front sight (I can see that getting snapped off if your bashing around).

Hicapa mags do fit/function.

The mag catch on the one he brought over (very new still) was a little snug when seating hicapa mags. If you "positively" insert a TM Hicapa mag, it'll catch fine. I swapped in one from my TM Hicapa and it worked fine/better...so it's just a little tolerance variance. By the time KJW mags are too loose...TM ones will fit just right.

With the extended front frame rail...it will NOT fit a serpa holster...although with the rounded trigger guard it's close.

There was a nasty little squeak when thumbing the hammer back...not noticeable with regular racking/operation. Just a little noice from the main spring. No big deal.

The spring guide had a metal washer over a rubber washer...nice touch.

The corners of everything were a little soft...almost like the molds were "old". I suppose that a lot of real steel pistols have their edges "melted"...so there you go...non-custom custom work right out of the box.

Forgot to check the barrel/slide lugs...D'OH!

I'd definitely pick one up and swap the grip right away if I needed another skirmish gun.

Something about it though...if I was going for a race gun build...I wouldn't start with this one unless I needed all the little fiddly springs/screws for a build.