Tokyo Marui P226R Review
Current Status: Beta 1
Last Edited: 20:00 PST, 07 August 2008
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[Updates And To Do List]
I am still undergoing tests and fine tuning the gun. Sorry for the delay.
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Hey AP. This review will cover a great deal of parts, tools, guides, experiences, and comparisons in addition to the overall review of the finished TM P226. Please be patient as this extensive review will take a great deal of my time to write and organize. Please check back from time to time as I will edit and update this review without notice. I would appreciate any help or suggestions from you guys. If I am missing details or if you want to suggest something, please let me know. I want this review to be as informative and in depth as possible.
Note to reader: Please do not quote the entire post as it will lag up the server and nobody likes tiring out their index finger on the scroll wheel. If you need to quote, please select lines or small sections at a time. Thank you.
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[Parts List (tentative)]
[Base Parts]
Tokyo Marui P226R (black)
[Aftermarket Parts]
Carom Shot steel hammer
Carom Shot steel trigger
Dytac night sights
Guarder enhanced loading muzzle
Guarder enhanced valve blocker
Guarder recoil spring guide (**short-term substitute for the Firefly recoil spring guide with bearings**)
Hidakaya floating valve spring
Hidakaya hammer spring (130%)
Hidakaya recoil spring (130%)
King Arms floating valve
King Arms piston head
KM high flow release valve
Laylax hop up chamber
PDI 6.01mm palsonite inner barrel
PGC P226R aluminium slide, railed frame, outer barrel
Proud enhanced magazine lip
Shooters Design valve knocker
Sigarms factory grip panels
Tanio Koba loading muzzle return spring
[Tools, Supplies, And Accessories]
Airsoft Innovations propane adaptor ver. 5
AMSOIL silicone spray
Blade-Tech IWB holster
Coleman propane
ICS 0.20g pellets
Pelican 1400 case
RC 10 weight pure silicone oil
Shooters Design valve key
Shooting Chrony F1 Master chronograph
Sigarms armorers tool
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[Packaging]
Here is the box to the P226. Tokyo Marui never fails to amaze me with their presentation. The box art displays the stylish, yet serious Sig backed by a moody background. It would have been worth keeping, but US Customs went through the box and blacked out each of the "Sig" trademarks. A little warning sticker on the corner warns us only to use duster gas in this gun.
Upon opening the box, there is a stack of papers inside a plastic bag. They contain paper targets, the product manual, and a bunch of other information I will go over later on in the review.
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[First Impressions]
Finally, the gun itself laying so innocently in its polystyrene bed. Further inspecting gun, I found the trademarks to be accurate and in the correct position. Though I already know how a TM P226 feels like, I took it up in my hands just to refresh my memory. It is quite balanced and it does not dead-weight in my hands, unlike my nose-heavy KJW P226. Weighing in at precisely 815g total, 305g being from the magazine, it is still a little on the light side for me as most of the pistol is plastic. The gun's finish is a dark matte black, elegant in all its respects as a "strictly business" service pistol. You can really see TM's quality control shining here.
The trigger has a fine grit texture from the painted finish and has a butter smooth long pull in DA, and a short pull of about one cm in SA. However there is a little bit over-travel after the trigger fires the gun, but I do not think it is noticable enough to hinder the user's shooting speed. To note, while I pulled the trigger, I kept the hammer from striking the firing pin to preserve the condition of the gun.
The decock has a bit more resistance compared to the KJW P226 decock, but it is smooth and springs back once it lowers the hammer. The hammer itself seems to be very solid and pulls back smoothly when being cocked.
The three-dot contrast sights are sharp and bright and the dots are centered correctly. This is the first Sig replica I have owned that has the dots perfect and not offset or too big or not perfectly round. As much as I love the perfection of the dots, I have replaced them with even better Nitesiters night sights.
The plastic grips feel a bit hollower than I am used to, but the texture is nice and rough. The trademarks on the grips are also correct. I will be swapping out the grips with the real deal later on in the review.
The magazine is all metal, with the exception of the loading lips, and feels a lot more solid than the ones found on my KJW magazines. I believe the magazine can load up to 24 pellets double stacked, but like the rest of my Sigs, I only load a maximum of 20 rounds. I am looking forward to loading a few mags and testing it very soon.
Tokyo Marui decided to replicate the latest generation of the P226 as the rail is ever so popular amongst shooters as it gives them the ability to mount torches and lasers. Overall, it is a very solid gun made from a combination of metal and remarkably durable plastic.
Like all other TM pistols, the P226 comes with a handy red muzzle plug if one is to ever remove the orange paint from the barrel to transport the replica. As much as the next guy, I wanted to load it and shoot it right away, but I kept it virgin as it is only stock. For the record, nothing has really been touched yet: the gun has not been dry fired or further taken apart past removing the slide. Also to note, you can see to the left of the hop up tag that the Sig logo has been shaved off by Customs. I ordered the P226 with a spare magazine as I may need a backup in the near future. Dentrinity has honored my request to put the spare magazine in the gun box instead of in its original plastic bag. Also I thank them for putting this black "playdoh" putty over the very delicate trademarks on the slide as Customs will whip out the dremel and blowtorch if they see the trademarks.
The gun comes with a handy cleaning rod as well. It is good for pushing cotton swabs down the barrel to clean it. Toilet paper works well too, but will leave a small amount of paper lint inside of the barrel that can easily be blown out with compressed air. A pack of free 0.20g pellets is also included.
Unfortunately, I will not fire this gun in its stock form, so iI will not know how it performs out of the box. Secondly, I do not want to stress the stock gun under propane. After I finish upgrading the P226, I will mothball the plastic slide, frame, and outer barrel.
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[Aesthetics]
Now for a few photoshoots.
Here is the putty. It is not as bad as it looks; it is soft and easy to remove. Just slowly roll it off and savor every moment as the trademarks unfold before your eyes.
There is also putty on the right grip panel.
The fake serial number is engraved quite nicely. You can see the mold lines on the inside of the trigger guard.
9mm Para, also beautifully etched into the chamber in italics.
Tokyo Marui. Obviously these are not genuine Sig trademarks, but they are engraved perfectly into the frame.
Three-dot contrast sights. Perfectly round.
The front sight dot is not as prominent as the rear dots.
Left grip panel.
The orange painted muzzle. the paint can be easily removed with rubbing alcohol.
I thank Dentrinity for only putting paint and not primer along with it. Both my KJW P226 and P229 barrels, ordered from Airsplat, had primer painted on first with orange paint over it. The alcohol removed the orange paint, but the white primer stayed on untouched. I tried using brakefluid, paint thinner, 99% alcohol, and nail polish to remove the primer but they would only remove a very minute amount at a time, and that includes very heavy and delicate scraping. I do not have the time to spend hours removing the primer so I ended up taking the shortcut and cutting off the extended barrel, which I should have done in the first place. I personally dislike extended barrels anyway. I recommend using 70% alcohol on plastic barrels and 91%+ on metal barrels.
The gun and the magazine.
The magazine is all metal with the letters engraved clean into the sides.
The buttplate tucks away the fill valve and the long hex-head screw that holds the two-piece magazine together.
The release valve.
The magazine loading spring.
The decock and the slide stop are both metal despite being painted in a plasticised black paint.
So is the take down lever.
The trigger.
And the hammer.
Here is a close up on the grip panel texture, and the metal grip screw and magazine release. You can also see the texture on the grip panel.
An undershot of the frame where you can see the mold lines on the Pic rail and along the rest of the trigger guard.
The frame grip serrations.
Mock extractor and roll pin.
The right grip panel and magazine release plate.
Lanyard post.
Inside of the slide
Recoil spring
The blowback mechanism.
Hop up adjustment wheel.
Trigger assembly.
The housing for the hammer assembly.
Four free targets. These are my favorite targets so far. I recommend making several copies of them.
Tokyo Marui catalog.
The P226 manual. Sig has been blacked out here as well.
A little flyer for how to not handle an airsoft gun. The pictures explain it all.
I believe this is a mailing survey of some kind. Please correct me if I have misinterpreted.
Here are some instructions on how to properly put the take down lever back to a locked position. You need to push the barrel inward so that the lever can flip back to position smoothly.
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[Take Down Procedure]
(replace entire section with finished p226)
To properly take down the P226, first remove the magazine.
Then lock the slide back. Turn the take down lever one-quarter turn clockwise.
Disengage the slide stop while holding the slide and slowly move the slide forward until it is free from the frame.
Remove the recoil spring.
(insert pic)
Remove the outer barrel and the inner barrel. The P226 is now fully stripped.
(insert pic)
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[Upgrade Parts Overview]
Individual reviews for each item will come soon once I start building the gun and testing it.
(**all part descriptions are obsolete and inaccurate. please wait for the final write up on each part. thank you.**)
(**note to self. rewrite entire parts section and order them to master parts list**)
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The new second generation KM high flow valve with a spare o-ring. A user on another airsoft forum has done a very compelling review on this valve and tested it with a bunch of other valves for the TM P226. The outcome was that this valve brought the most consistancy and increased power. I took the valve out of its original packaging and put it in a bag and sprayed silicone in it so it will not dry out during storage.
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(rewrite. include firefly hop up chamber, drop KM rh55)
I was choosing whether to get this one or the KM RH55. But I quickly decided on the Laylax chamber as I have read that this chamber does wonders in TM guns. I also put this in a bag with silicone so that it will not dry out as I wait for that spring guide to come back in stock.
(replace with firefly hop up chamber pic)
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(rewrite. include laylax, action, pgc, pdi piston head)
Action floating valve and piston head. This is a new product recently released this year by Action. I believe this is a copy of the King Arms floating valve and piston head set, but nonetheless it is still quite solid.
(replace with laylax piston head)
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Here is another new product recently released this year. This is the PDI 6.01mm palsonite anodized SUS304 stainless steel tightbore barrel for the TM P226. The palsonite treated barrel is much smoother to the touch than the standard stainless PDI barrels. I feel that it will look a lot more flush when looking down the barrel because it does not catch the eye like the brighter brass colored stock barrel, or PDI's standard silver colored barrels.
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(rewrite with hidakaya spring)
Hidakaya hammer spring. Stronger hammer springs stiffen the trigger pull in DA, but causes the hammer to open the release valve wider and for a slightly longer period of time resulting in more gas being injected into the loading muzzle. Many people say to avoid installing a stronger hammer spring on the P226 because it is not necessary. I agree with the other users because the P226 has no problem opening the release valve with the stock spring. The reason why I put the Hidakaya spring in anyway is to get the most performance out of the gun, even if the performance gain is minor. Compared to the Proud and Guarder hammer springs, the Hidakaya hammer spring is the softest, followed by Proud at about 140%, and Guarder at 150%. The Proud hammer spring may not present any issues, but the Guarder spring will pose cycling problems. I highly suggest staying away from the Guarder hammer spring.
(replace pic)
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(rewrite with hidakaya spring)
Hidakaya recoil spring. Stronger recoil springs reduce the amount of felt kick when the slide retracts, but allows the slide to return to battery faster. This recoil spring is rated at 130% of the stock spring's strength, which I feel creates the perfect balance between kick strength and cycle speed. Compared to the Proud, Guarder, and Action recoil springs, the Hidakaya recoil spring is the softest of the four with the Proud spring being stronger at, what I estimate to be, 140%, then Guarder at 150%, and then the Action recoil spring being the strongest at 160% rated strength. The Guarder and Action springs may pose issues with cycling so I do not suggest getting either of them as an alternative.
(replace pic)
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(rewrite)
Proud floating valve spring. This spring slows down the floating valve before it seals off pressure towards the barrel. This allows more gas to pass towards the barrel before the rest of the gas is used to power the blowback mechanism.
This spring may cause problems with the stock floating valve and the Shooters Design floating valve as both the plastic valves do not have enough mass to push the strengthened spring and seal off pressure towards the barrel. This results in less blowback power and may hinder the slide from stroking fully and locking back after the last round. Metal floating valves, made by Action, King Arms, or Hidakaya, will balance out this problem and distribute the gas pressure proportionally again.
(replace with proud floating valve spring)
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Shooters Design loading muzzle and valve blocker. I left out the floating valve because I will be using the metal Hidakaya valve. The valve that comes in the Shooters Design set is in my KJW P229.
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The legendary indestructible Shooters Design valve knocker. Out of all of the upgrades, I think this is the most important one. The stock valve knocker is reported to be fragile and brittle. This valve knocker will solve that problem and certainly liven up the action on the pistol.
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Proud magazine lips for increased durability. This is a must upgrade for those who are shaky with speed reloads.
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Carom Shot trigger. My god, this trigger is so smooth its scary. Personally I like a little resistance to my triggers, but the Carom Shot trigger action is so slippery smooth that I am beginning to take a liking to it.
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Carom Shot hammer. This is a very nice steel hammer. I doubt that this hammer will degrade over time when it hits the valve knocker.
The striking pad on the stock pot iron hammers will slowly lose its shape as it hits the valve knocker, especially if it is the steel knocker from Shooters Design. The deformation is quite evident as the stock hammer on my KJW P226 is wearing down from striking the Shooters Design valve knocker.
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Pelican 1400 case to store the pistol.
I have several of these cases for my other pistols. The "pick 'n pluck" foam is quite versatile and fun to customize.
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[PGC Metal Kit]
So far, I feel that the stock TM P226 is built very strong and sturdy. But it is still light and made of plastic, so I decided to get me one of these. This is the PGC/Pro-Win second generation metal kit for the TM P226.
Black slide on black rail.
PGC really took the time to pad the frame in bubble wrapping. The slide and the outer barrel are inside of the long rectangular box.
The kit comes with small brass rings that serve as grip hole spacers for whatever kind of grips you throw at the gun. Thankfully, PGC has included three sets of rings of different sizes; the bag marked with the red dot contains the rings to fit the original TM grips, the yellow dot for Hogue wood grips, and the green dot for Hogue rubber grips. Fortunately, genuine Sigarms grips do not need the grip hole rings.
The kit also comes with a few neat details to add to the gun: an extractor and roll pins. The cd contains directions on how to mod the stock P226 parts going into the new kit so that it may properly function. I will post those pics with the directions later.
Black frame, slide, and outer barrel; all of them flawlessly produced from PGC's CNC machine. Absolutely no mold lines or imperfections.
The frame comes with even more bubble wrapping inside of it.
This comparison shows the finish between the KJW p226 on the left, and the PGC frame on the right. the KJW has a darker shinier finish, but the PGC has a nice matte finish.
And here is the comparison between the TM finish and the PGC.
Finally the frame is out of all that plastic.
The grip screw base is considerably smaller than the ones on the TM frame allowing you to fit real grips on it without having to bore out the grip panel holes.
This is the hammer spring seat on the back of the frame. It replaces the bulky silver seat so that real grips can be fitted without being modded.
More shots.
The fake serial number is actually the model number.
100% accurate trademarks.
No mold lines to be found.
Flawless serrations.
Here is where the trigger assembly will sit.
And for the hammer assembly.
Moving on to the slide. The slide is also well protected in bubble wrapping. WGC humbly accepted my request to apply lacquered grip tape onto the trademarks.
The tape is quite sticky, but can easily be removed nice and slow with no residue. Underneath the tape lies the trademarks unscathed by Customs.
The trademarks look extremely clean after removing tape.
Here is a comparison between the TM slide on the bottom, and the PGC slide above it.
And the KJW slide on the bottom with the PGC slide on top.
Perfectly cut. The insert for the roll pin, seen a few pics above, goes in that hole.
The ejection port and the slot where the extractor goes in.
The muzzle.
The inside of the slide is just as pristine as the outside.
The outer barrel.
Very nice detail on the waving.
9mm Para.
The top of the barrel.
Inside.
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[Sigarms Factory Grips]
I got these grips from the guys over at Topgunsupply. They are an extremely reliable gun store for Sigs and I always buy stuff from them for my real 9mm P226 with no hassles. They are the Dentrinity/WGC of real steel pistols. Excellent customer service and selection. They have a bargain flat rate shipping too.
The genuine Sigarms grips are a lot rougher and tougher than the KJW or TM grips.
Here is an up close shot on the textures and the trademark.
Here are the insides of the grips.
I think you can tell which one is the real deal.
This one is real obvious.
Comparison between KJW grips on the left, Sigarms on the right.
Notice how the real grips have a smaller grip hole. This is why the PGC frame has a smaller hole base so that you will not need to bore out the grip hole.
And this is why PGC sculpted the real hammer spring seat into the frame.
(insert image for right grip on pgc frame)
You will need the proper screwdriver if you want to preserve your grip screws. This is the Sigarms armorers tool for real Sig pistols. Notice how the driver properly fits in the slot. I primarily use it more on my 9mm P226 as it remove grip screws as well as the magazine catch, the sear spring, and the hammer spring seat.
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[Nitesiters Night Sights]
Meet Nitesiters, the do-it-yourself night sights kit made by Mr. Dave Presley. These little guys are the most cost-effective and practical alternative to factory or aftermarket tritium night sights for pistols. I decided to buy another set of these as I was so satisfied with them on my KJW P226. Though this time I had to buy a new pack from Mr. Presley as I gave my "leftovers" to my buddy down in Los Angeles so he can put a set on his Glock.
Nitesiters comes as complete package with eight night sight dots, installation instructions, and all the necessary tools to install them; alcohol pad, cotton swab, hobby blade, and toothpick. The night sights are kept in a really nice blue portfolio for convenient storage and to protect them from being lost or collecting dust.
The dots are about 1.6mm (1/16in), which are pretty much the same size as the dots on the P226. You can see that they are a bit feathery around the edges. That feathery material is only the residue from the dots being "hole punched" during the manufacturing process. The residue can easily be removed after the dots are installed. The dots are basically like stickers, and impressively sticky ones at that.