Review - Gas KWC Colt Python 6" Chrome Revolver - With Pictures

[Mr Jon]

Introduction

So you like revolvers, not only that but you are a cheap bastard as well! Let me introduce you to KWC’s 357 Python Revolver. KWC makes several revolvers in a variety of sizes raging from 2 to 6 inches and in finishes such as black and chrome. The revolver I will be reviewing in particular today will be the 6” Chrome variant.

What’s in The Box

The outside box is rather flashy and presents the contents quite nicely. Inside the box you will find the lovely gun itself loaded with 6 brass shot shells, a shell loader, a shell un-jamming pin, a small box of 100 count .2g KWC branded BB’s, an adaptor for KWC’s “Power Bombe” external gas rig, some shooting targets, a hop-up diagram, and a well illustrated manual in English.

Build Quality



Texture and Finish
This isn’t a Tanaka or Marushin, but surprisingly the finish is better than I expected. The entire gun is covered in a decent chrome finish. However it’s not completely smooth as the plastic underneath has a slight texture to it and on the barrel it is tad rough with some minor pitting and bumps along the way. Not a big deal, but I don’t expect something in this price range to be completely flawless. Other things to note are the obvious seam lines which haven’t been refined in the design. Not a big deal, but again it’s worth mentioning. As for the sighting system it is pretty cheap as well.

Sighting System
Expect your standard front ramp site which is fixed to the frame and the standard notch styled sights for the rear. What is interesting is that the rear sights are fully adjustable for windage and elevation!

Weight and Feel
This gun doesn’t feel cheap, but it does not compare to higher end revolvers made by Tanaka or Marushin, though it does not feel like a cheap toy either. The revolver weighs in at a decent 500g which isn’t disappointing at all and feels pretty solid in the hands. Amazingly it falls 180 grams below the Tanaka Colt Python 6 inch! There is no barrel wobble and remains solid even if you shake the gun from side to side. However the grips do feel a tad cheap and plasticy as they are made of a soft material.

Final Remarks
There are however no actual real trademarks present on this gun. On the barrel it is marked “Model 357” and on the grip there is a small brass colored KWC emblem.

Metal parts on this gun are hard to find because some parts feel like metal and look like metal and I honestly cannot tell which I guess is good! I have a feeling a majority of the internals are metal, the extractor, trigger, the inside of cylinder, shells, and possibly the hammer.

Function and Usage



Loading Up
Like all revolvers they are straight forward in terms of usage. The first thing you want to do is release the cylinder which is done by pulling the cylinder release backwards and pushing on the cylinder from the right side out. It’s a bit hard to push out and requires a bit of a nudge, but once its out it’s easy to slap it back in. Since this uses shells all you have to do is tilt the gun back, or use the extractor lever at the front of the cylinder to eject the shells. Once the shells are loaded up, simply pop them back into the gun, and slap the cylinder back up and in. This also sometimes requires a bit of a push, you simply can’t just flick your wrist and slam it shut. Push it in until you here the click of the cylinder release snap in place.

The removable shells on this gun are a joy and really add to the realism. A pack of 6 shells will run you about $33.00 CAD and are readily available from Red Wolf Airsoft. Each shell is made of what appears to be brass and has the words “Super Magnum MM357” are stamped along the bottom of each cartridge. Inside the shell is a spring which retains the BB’s. Each shell holds 4 BB’s for a total of 24 shots (4 shots x 6 shells). To load the shells all you have to do is grab the loader they supply you with, roll in 4 bb’s and press down to seat the BB’s in the cartridge. You can also pop in 4 BB’s using your hand by just pushing them in one at a time. All that is left is to gas up which is done by filling up a small tank which is located in the grip. Turn the gun upside down and fill it just like any normal GBB magazine. Gas will spray out once full. This gun may use either duster or propane! It takes roughly 3.5 – 4 seconds for a fill. Each charge can fire up to 48 shots as claimed in the manual.

Firing
Of course this is the best part of any Airsoft gun! There are 2 ways you can operate this gun. Your choices are Double Action, or Single Action. Double action is the process where by your simply pull the trigger to fire once the BB’s are loaded up. It automatically rotates the cylinder for each trigger pull requiring you to do nothing more. To do this, you do not have to pull the hammer back after your load up your BB’s. Just a squeeze of the trigger will fire and rotate the cylinder. The other way to operate this gun is through single action. Single action requires that you pull the hammer back for every shot. To do this once you close the cylinder and have loaded up, you must pull the trigger back. It will rotate the cylinder and be ready to fire. Then it takes a squeeze of the trigger to release the hammer and fire a shot. You must pull back the hammer for every shot.



Each shot lets out a rather loud “puffbt” sound. Since this is an Airsoft revolver there will be absolutely no recoil or blowback of any sort, so don’t expect something spectacular. For each trigger pull 1 of the 4 BB’s loaded per shell will fire off and rotate the cylinder to the next shell. The gun will not stop to signal when all your shells are empty. You will have to periodically check or remember how many shots you have popped off because you can still fire if it is empty. For realism sakes you could load 1 bb per shell. On a final note KWC recommends that for maximum power and accuracy you should operate the gun in single action mode.

Power and Accuracy
This gun has been advertised as being able to achieve 210 FPS. I am unsure what gas they used to perform the results and may perform higher on propane gas. I have not had a chance to field, or clock this gun yet but judging by the manual you will get distances up to 40M before drop off using .2g BB’s. The hop-up is fixed for .2g’s. It appears that .25’s will begin to drop off at around 35M. It does seem to pack a decent punch when fired. Once I get more results on how it performs I will post it. But at 210 FPS it doesn’t seem very reliable or useable. However since I am unsure under what conditions it was tested I won’t give a definite answer.



Conclusions

After much thought, I would recommend this gun to collectors, people with a few bucks floating around, or somebody that’s a cheap bastard. Now this gun I highly doubt will be field worthy but indoors might hold up quite well in shorter distances. It has a great finish, feel and it generally just fun to operate. While it falls short of higher end revolvers from Tanaka and Marushin this is still a great piece to have in any Airsoft collection. For $230.00 it’s definitely affordable for anybody on a budget!

Tru has a silver one comming in on his next order I believe so YOU BUY NOW

[BC_K]

Originally Posted by PhrozeN

Firing
Of course this is the best part of any Airsoft gun! There are 2 ways you can operate this gun. Your choices are Double Action, or Single Action. Double action is the process where by your simply pull the trigger to fire once the BB’s are loaded up. It automatically rotates the cylinder for each trigger pull requiring you to do nothing more. To do this, you do not have to pull the hammer back after your load up your BB’s. Just a squeeze of the trigger will fire and rotate the cylinder. The other way to operate this gun is through single action. Single action requires that you pull the hammer back for every shot. To do this once you close the cylinder and have loaded up, you must pull the trigger back. It will rotate the cylinder and be ready to fire. Then it takes a squeeze of the trigger to release the hammer and fire a shot. You must pull back the hammer for every shot.

You have Single & Double action mixed up. " Double action is the process where by your simply pull the trigger to fire once the BB’s are loaded up." One pull, sounds like SINGLE to me.

Single action requires that you pull the hammer back for every shot. To do this once you close the cylinder and have loaded up, you must pull the trigger back. It will rotate the cylinder and be ready to fire. Then it takes a squeeze of the trigger to release the hammer and fire a shot.

WOW!!! TWO actions!!

Wicked review other then that.

[Mr Jon]

Well I do thank you for clearning that up. It says what I typed otherwise in the KWC manual. Looks like KWC has no idea what the hell the difference between DA and SA is, lol. Unless it was right... and your terribly wrong

[the_griffinator]

Originally Posted by BC_K

You have Single & Double action mixed up. " Double action is the process where by your simply pull the trigger to fire once the BB’s are loaded up." One pull, sounds like SINGLE to me.

Single action requires that you pull the hammer back for every shot. To do this once you close the cylinder and have loaded up, you must pull the trigger back. It will rotate the cylinder and be ready to fire. Then it takes a squeeze of the trigger to release the hammer and fire a shot.

WOW!!! TWO actions!!

Wicked review other then that.

umm... a double action revolver does not need to have the hammer pulled back to fire. You can just squeeze the trigger, and it will cock and fire all by it's self. on a single action revolver, the hammer must be cocked for each shot. Just thought I'd clear that up.

[pokey]

Nice review Phro. I was considering picking one of these up along time ago. but spent the cash elsewhere. Kindof regret it now haha.



--Keenan

[Optik]

All I can think of when I see a gun like this is...

"Are you talking to me? Are you, talking to me.... you must be, cuz there's noone eles here" - Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver 1976

Nice Review!

[Kwokwai]

Just a quick note or two. The only difference between the different length models (2, 4, 6") are the barrel portions. Everything else is identical. You can even swap barrels if you wanted to change between the different lengths. Also, if you get the non-US market versions you'll get full trades including the little Pachmeyer (sp?) button symbols on the grips instead of the KWC buttons.

[humbo]

What Phrozen originally said in his review and what Griffinator said are correct.

Single and Double Action refers to what the gun does when you pull the trigger. Double action means with a pull of the trigger, the gun cocks the hammer back and then fires, single action means pulling the trigger will only release the hammer if it has been cocked.

[tomsoderman]

Did you have to buy a propane adaptor for it?
And where did you order yours from?

[Mr Jon]

A propane or duster adaptor is required depending on what gas you choose to use. I ordered mine from SpecArms. However Tru is capeable of getting these in as well if you are intrested.

[tomsoderman]

i emailed him to see if he has any instock i also emailed spec arms but niether of them has replied yet.

[BloodSport]

I think Aquamarine has a Python for sale.

[tomsoderman]

i just decided to get a kjw p14.45 full metal instead because it will work properly with propane and it is full metal for only 250!