Tokyo Marui – SIG P226 Gas Blowback
The Marui SIG P226 was a highly anticipated gun when it was released in the early part of last year, and for good reason too. At the time there were very few SIG gas blowback models on the market, and those that did exist were fairly poor quality. Then Marui brings out their version, which took the Airsoft world by storm. Airsoft retailers across the UK sold out very quickly, with the majority of sales being placed on pre-order, and at a bargain price you could see why. I bought one back in February of last year, the only reason I sold it, was to fund the purchase of my Glock 18C AEP.
The real steel SIG P226 is manufactured by Sig Arms, originating in Switzerland. Chambered in a variety of calibres including 9mm, .40 S&W and .357 the 226 is in use today by Special Forces across the world including the SAS and Navy Seals. It also holds 15 rounds in 9mm, and 12 in .357 and certainly is a pistol designed for business, yet being something of an eye catcher at the same time.
Tokyo Marui have done an excellent job in recreating the SIG 266 for the Airsoft scene, and the replica is very close to the real steel indeed. If you take a look at this image here (some information on the real thing) and then take a look at some of the images on this page, you’ll see the two look virtually identical. All of the markings are present and in the correct places, the only give away is the wording ‘Tokyo Marui Co, Ltd – Made In Japan’ on the right hand side of the frame, near the rail mounting. Other markings that appear on this model are the SIG trademarks (which may cause problems with our friends in the US, Customs), 9mm para markings on the cartridge ejection port and a serial number which appears above the trigger guard.
The gun itself has a nice weight to it, 797g, around 50g lighter than the real thing (with an empty magazine), and the quality of construction is of the usual high quality we can expect from Marui. The metal parts on this gun are pretty much standard across the Marui pistol range, which includes the trigger, fore-sight and rear sights, slide take-down lever, slide lock-back lever, de-cocking lever (more on this later), spring guide, magazine release and the hammer. Most of the weight in the gun is found in the full size metal magazine which also carries SIG trademarks, and the calibre ‘9mm’. I feel that on this model the plastic is slightly shiny in appearance, and doesn’t have the same matt qualities that appear previous guns I have reviewed such as the Tactical Master and the Colt 1911. It is however the same quality high impact ABS, and having thoroughly tested my Sig P226 in skirmishes, it certainly holds up to the test. The top slide can appear to be a little flexible upon removal, but stood up to Cybergun Winter Gas, throughout the entire year.
One of the reasons why I like this gun so much are the ergonomics. It is a really comfortable weapon to hold with all of the controls easily accessible. The three primary controls, the magazine release, slide lock back release and the de-cocking lever all appear in a kind of triangle that is in easy reach of the right hand thumb, bad news for lefties however! The trigger is nice and wide although the gap between the trigger guard and the trigger itself is a little small, which may pose a potential problem if you’re wearing fairly thick gloves. I tested it with standard driving style leather gloves, and it didn’t cause an issue. The hammer is also nice and easy to cock as the back-strap of the pistol grip does not stick out so much that you can easily move your thumb upwards, this is something I found difficult on the Colt 1911. The magazine release button is also in the exact position of your thumb when gripping the pistol, and it becomes apparent that SIG put some real thought into producing this weapon – everything is in the right place! The magazine release button is also flush with the highest point of the side grip, which means it shouldn’t be accidentally activated by removal from a holster, something which happened frequently with my old Glock 17 in a thigh rig.
The sights on this pistol are also fairly well crafted, nice and chunky with white dots to aid in target acquisition. It is possible to have this replaced for tritium (glow in the dark) sights, which make using this pistol in low light conditions much easier. Or you can use the 20mm rail located on the underside of the frame to mount an M3 style tactical light or laser, something which I’ve done and it certainly does look the business.
The magazine holds a respectful 25 rounds, which are loaded by pulling the BB follower down and loading each round into the front of the magazine. I found this slightly difficult as the slot on the BB follower is fairly recessed and as I bite my fingernails, well, you can guess where I’m coming from. A much easier way is to use a speed loader, that way you only have to hold the follower down for a few seconds to fill the entire magazine. Inserting gas into the magazine is the usual affair and on test we found that it holds enough gas for two complete reloads. So that’s 50 rounds per gas fill.
Out of the box the hop-up is extremely accurate (coke can test…) to about 10 metres, beyond this you need slight adjustment incrementally depending on the range you are shooting at. I only had to adjust it roughly 2-3 clicks to achieve chest sized shot accuracy at 25 metres, which is perfectly adequate for the purpose of this weapon, a side-arm. For hop-up adjustment and maintenance the slide is easily removed by first removing the magazine, cocking the weapon, rotating the slide take-down lever downwards and the pulling the slide forward. To re-assemble, just follow in the reverse.
So with a fully loaded magazine, lets take a look at the operation of the pistol.
Racking the slide, it springs back with a nice ‘ker-klunk’, the slide return spring on this model is quite powerful. Coupled with the comparatively light weight slide, the pistol has quick a kick on it. This is a double action model, meaning it will fire with the hammer being pulled back, or from the relaxed position, once the gun has been initially cocked. Now this is a very good thing because it means the gun can be holstered quite safely, yet drawn and fired quite quickly, always a plus in my books. On most Airsoft pistols, to de-cock the weapon you have to hold the hammer on place, pull the trigger and then gently return the hammer to the relaxed position. This can be quite dangerous to do, because if you get it wrong, the gun will fire causing the slide to slam back onto your fingers – ouch! The SIG P226 comes with a very handy ‘de-cocking’ lever, which does all this for you in a very safe way. Simply pull the lever, and ‘click!’ the gun is de-cocked and now in a much safer state – an excellent addition and a real selling point for this gun. The hammer doesn’t particularly stick out much either, so there is less to catch on your holster rig or webbing. Marui have included a manual trigger safety on this model, it is activated by pushing in the slide take-down lever in from the right hand side of the frame. This blocks the trigger from being pulled, but was something I rarely used.
With the gun cocked, it’s time to fire it. Like I mentioned earlier the gun has a very good kick to it, and a nice crisp bang. The trigger pull is nice and smooth, and the gun cycles rapidly with ease. It seems the gas expansion is very consistent as firing the weapon as quickly as possible does not seem to show any apparent drop in power. At 10 meters the gun is very accurate, hitting a coke can each time, and on paper the groupings are around 4 inches in diameter. At further ranges, with slight adjustment of the hop-up, chest sized targets are easily obtainable whilst maintaining a good all round accuracy. Unfortunately I do not have the facility to chrono this gun at the moment, but I would guess it is outputting around 300fps with Winter Gas, with an ambient temperature of around 10-15 degrees centigrade.
The Pros of this pistol are very noticeable. High quality construction, very nice aesthetic features which are entirely practical, good gas efficiency and accuracy and well.. it’s a fairly sexy gun too! The de-cocking lever is also a very useful feature which I’d like to see on more guns. The Cons, as far as I can see are limited to the slightly shiny qualities of the plastic used, but in my opinion, not the end of the world.
There are also a host of accessories for this model including metal frames which really complete the entire picture. Guarder manufacture a metal frame and slide set for £90, Creation produce a metal slide, outer barrel, stronger slide spring and piston head for £100. G&P produce a metal frame, slide and outer barrel set for the bargain price of £80… it all depends on what route you want to take. True you can buy a full metal P226 from KJ Works for £85.00, but I’ve heard bad things about the gun, and personally with the trusted Marui internals and hop-up… I’d rather buy a Marui and upgrade it.
If I was going to buy another Gas Blowback for skirmishing use, it’s be the Sig P226, it’s extremely practical and functional. And for collection purposes, it’d be a Colt 1911… but then if you going to spend £100 on a pistol, make it one you’re actually going to use, and love.
