WE XDM review

[Loose Hand Luke]

Hi all.
Just a quick post on the new WE XDM.

Basically:

Bloody fantastic! A mate of mine bought the TM item for around £160 and I'll be honest, the quality on the face of it isn't that different imho.

Came in a nice box, better than my other WE pistols.



Open it up and there it is, sat in some while poly, one mag, 2 grip inserts and a manual.



Pick it up and it is a nice weight and wonderful to point. I've swapped on all three grips and settled with a medium thickness for myself. The thinner one suits my wife and they're easy to change.




Spare mag because its rude not too...


Magazine in the gun came with this small clip in the front, I guess to keep the bb feeder away from the loading nozzle during packaging or something.



But anyway, some pros and cons:
(ALL these are first impressions, I will use the pistol over the next month or so and report back any findings)


Cons:
- Its not a TM
- Ambi-mag release may feel stiff, but I'll see if it wears in
- Came dry, needs lube, use, then strip, clean and re-lube before you file any opinion. Performance increased massively after applying basic maintenance practices.


Pros:
- Its a clone of a TM so the design is good
- Lovely weight to it, slightly heavier than my TM G17 with metal slide fitted
- Metal slide is strong but light so cycles fast and the paint finish on it is wonderful
- Poly lower frame is lovely quality, better than TM Glocks, has some small seam lines but so does the TM 5-7...
- Mags are lovely chrome finish, better than my TM MEU mags, and they don't leak and have also have silent filler valves (unlike ALL my TM pistols)
- Shoots like a trooper, 320fps on green gas (will take a chrono pic)
- Adjustable hopup is good, its not a TM but with 0.3g bb's in it you'll get over 40m range and hit a man-sized target.


Overall, its a lovely lovely pistol and for the money its one that you won't mind using a lot and possibly scratching in holsters etc.
All upgrades meant for a TM should fit.
For a test I've already tried:
- Tight bore barrels and hopups (anything VSR hop rubber based, as per TM's latest line of pistols)
- Mag seals (anything that fits hi-capa, P226 etc, but the originals are good quality)


Accuracy test, standard target at 5m and shot two full mag loads, each time getting all the bb's into the target and also slide lock (good gas retention)




Try one guys before you judge. WE have upped their game in my opinion.

[crasstoe]

Re: WE XDM review

Nice to see WE have pulled their finger out!

[ca556]

Re: WE XDM review

Thanks for the review, its been really helpful! Now to start saving!

[madwelshman]

Re: WE XDM review

the little nubbin thigymagig allows you to lock the mag to fool the gun into thinking its got bb's, so the slide doesnt lock back when firing dry

[crasstoe]

Re: WE XDM review

Ideal for lubing and checking all is working as it should

[madwelshman]

Re: WE XDM review

bingo!

[Olphy]

Re: WE XDM review

Would be interested in some accuracy comparisons between this and the TM it's based off.

[Loose Hand Luke]

Re: WE XDM review

The loading nozzle in the TM XDM that my friend owns has broken. Apparently the Nineball uprated one will be released soon and priced around £40!!! Half the price of a whole WE pistol!
As soon as his is fixed I'll do a comparison between the two and post the results. Mine is still working great though.
I've done a full strip and rebuild. Here is some info and results:
- Magazines are almost exactly the same as size as TM P226 mags, so they work perfectly in my Fobus Mag holsters
- Hi-capa 4.3 length barrels DO fit, but they are around 5mm shorter than the XDMs and don't seat perfectly in the centre of the outer barrel (5.1 barrels do, but need shortening or compensator fitting
- VSR hopup rubbers fit perfectly
- Piston head is around 1mm larger in diameter than the Hi-capa based pistons (5.1, 4.3, G17, P226, 1911 etc)
- Sights are metal and can be removed from the slide

Am trying to get a nice holster meant for a RS XDM so I can see if the WE and TM versions fit.
That''s all to report really.

[Loose Hand Luke]

Re: WE XDM review

Quick addition to my review.
Skirmished it fully over the weekend and it performed brilliantly! Used it on Abbey Ultra Predator (a gas normally too weak for my other WE pistols), used site Bio 0.25's and it cycled/shot/slidelocked perfectly.
Both my WE mags are working perfectly and neither leak.
The paint on the very top of the chamber is starting to be worn off by the slide, but its not a big thing, I'm guessing the outer barrel just doesn't drop fast enough during the cycle causing the slide to skim it slightly. This in no way effects the shooting action of the pistol.
One thing I did notice was the rear sight screw had loosened slightly but that was probably my fault and I'd not nipped it up enough after a "tinkering" session.
Wear and tear isn't really showing anywhere else, the guide rails on the slide/frame are obviously getting a shine on, but with regular maintenance it seems to be keeping any other issues at bay, as it should.
Great pistol.

[Hebdex]

Re: WE XDM review

Just have to say nice review and I got myself one off the back of it.
Took it for a skirmish sunday and its brill :D

[Loose Hand Luke]

Re: WE XDM review

Thanks mate. Glad yours is as good as mine! As I have said, I think WE have really upped their game in terms of Quality recently. Still very pleased with mine!

[AtR]

Re: WE XDM review

Bought mine, so far so good, going to skirmish with it on Sunday.

Question, do your mags come with spring catchers? I find it a little irritating holding the spring down while loading the mag up.
Because I would assume if you load it at the top of the mag instead of the bottom, the plastic lips would wear down faster due to not being metal?

[AtR]

Re: WE XDM review

P.S. Did you ever had problem with your lever not going back to horizontal position to lock the slide? I've managed to get the slide off but for the life of me I can't get the lever back down to fix it in place.

[Loose Hand Luke]

Re: WE XDM review

Firstly, I load my mags from the top with a TM speed loader with the pistol attachment. Loads fine, every time.
Hand loading can be done from the bottom, but as you say, its a pain to hold the feeder down with your nail, plus its difficult to make all the bb's double stack properly.

Secondly,
Not really had a problem with the slide release. Check the recoil spring and guide are fitted properly, also that the hopunit and inner barrel are pushed home in the outer barrel. It may also help if you pull the slide back and use the slide lock to retain it while playing with the lever.

Otherwise mine still works great.

Few minimal issues that seem to be reoccurring are:
Mag release pin works its way outwards on the left hand side of the frame during use. Don't know why but will try a very small amount of loctite on it.
Rear sight/blow back unit screw, and the hopup unit screws slowly come undone, but again, bit of thread lock will sort that.

Otherwise no mechanical problems with pistol or mags. Very happy.

[AtR]

Re: WE XDM review

Okay, sent the pistol back to the retailer I bought it from since the slide lever wouldn't budge to lock the slide to the frame. They filed a bit of metal inside the frame and now it works like a charm.

Not sure if I got a lemon or the hop hasn't settled in, but I was not getting very consistent shots(approx 30m)

Using .3g and hop all the way down it was still lifting them...
Used .4g were random.

Shame I forgot to try out .36g ones.

Used the Guarder gas(the one in black bottle).

Will see how it gets on when I play a couple more skirmishes and decide either to pimp or bin it.