This is a very brief review of the Tokyo Marui Colt Hi-Capa. The much-awaited Colt Hi-Capa shipment arrived at Guernsey yesterday (02/08/04)! It was bought in by Battletech in Guernsey who tend to get stuff a few weeks before the mainland. They offer excellent prices and get the best gear in first. Now I was trying to save this month but damn it these things are so cool! So I, along with a few other guys, became the first people in the UK to own one of these beauties!
Despite its mainly plastic construction the Colt feels sturdy when you first pick it up. As with all other Tokyo Marui GBBs the construction is top quality with no noticeable seams or rattles. The magazines are large and are of all metal construction and they hold a large amount of gas, similar to the Desert Eagle's capacity, and hold 31 rounds.
The pistol itself features blow-back (obviously), adjustable hop up, dual safety and adjustable sights. It fires with a very crisp action and this is probably down to the lightweight top slide. The blowback action is stronger than a TM Beretta's but not quite up to the arm wrenching action of the TM Desert Eagle. The box claims "Hi-Kick, Hi-Grouping", yes, well they're right about the first part but I'm not to sure about the "Hi-Grouping" claim! Saying that the double tap with this pistol is very controllable and you can keep the grouping quite close but if you start hammering the trigger you can expect to suffer slightly in the accuracy department! Obviously this is no different from any other gas blow-back.
I have not messed around with the adjustable hop yet because it is hopped perfectly for 0.2s out of the box. The hop up can be adjusted by removing the top slide and adjusting a wheel, not as easily accessible as the TM Desert Eagle's system but still fairly simple to use. The rear site is also adjustable through 2 turn screws built into it but I have not needed to adjust mine, as they are pinpoint out of the box.
Power is impressive and I would guess it’s at about 300-330FPS. It will penetrate one side of a coke can and crack the other side. You can download a video from this site of me firing the pistol through a can. Despite this power the magazine has enough gas capacity to last about two and a half mags, which is impressive when you consider these magazines hold 31 rounds! You will also find that you get no noticeable power fade till after you've fired off at least 2 mags worth of bbs on one gas charge. This is very impressive as most gas pistols start to lose power before you've even got to the end of your second mag. It will even maintain its power when you rattle off a whole mag as quickly as you can!
The trigger is light and sensitive and you can fire off a whole mag exceptionally quickly due to the short trigger pull and quick cycling action.
There are a couple of problems with the Colt Hi-Capa. Firstly the magazines seem to jam up every so often although this is due to their newness and another owner claims this can be cured by giving the mag a quick clean with silicone (amendment- The magazines do wear in after having been used a few times and mine no longer jam up). The other issue is that the top slide release is a long way from your thumb so you have to take your finger away from the trigger to release the top slide, when it locks back, or use your other hand. I normally run a tac master and I find them better ergonomically, although the safety is very well placed on the 1911 frame. The other slightly more severe problem is the O-ring that sits on the piston head like to go walkies!
