KTW Winchester Randall Review

[The Airsoft Lad]

Hi guys; the internet seems to lack a review of this weapon and as mine arrived today I thought i'd do the honours.

I bought the winchester from a well known retailer for £180 including an extra mag and postage. All I can say is that it was well worth the money!

Externals:

The gun itself is amazingly well finished; the metal used on the body is outstanding and the cocking leaver has no wobble what-so-ever. The faux wood furniture was what originally worried me; I was expecting a shoddy looking plasticy light brown fuax wood but this actually looks remarkably realistic! It does however have the slightly unsolid feeling of most plastics. The cocking arm is very nicely finished and stays in place when not cocked. When cocked there is a slight amount of play whereby the lever comes away from the grip with a distance of about 1.5cm in-between; Nothing major.
The one thing that slightly annoys me is the gaping hole in the top of the gun. This, I imagine, is where the ejection port is on the real weapon but it is a bit of an eyesore for those wanting it to look as accurate as possible. This problem however can be partially remedied as there is a dust cover that is able to be slid across the hole; problem being that every time the weapon is cocked the cover returns to open and does not close again. I imagine it would be possible to perform a mod to make the dust cover always return to cover the gap using a spring or two. The trades on the gun are very nice with 'Model 1873' and 'Winchester' clearly written on the handguard. The safety catch is a little fiddly on the randall version of the winchester but this is barely ever needed as half the fun of it is cocking it before shooting at anyone/anything (of course. safety catches are always needed for safe-zones though) The sling mount on the gun looks sturdy enough although I am not likely to use this as I will be seeing if a Viper adjustable holster will house this lovely gun. The method of adjusting the hop at first perplexed me but I have discovered that the hop adjustment is housed under the forward ring holding the foreguard on. Once you remove the two screws you can slide it forward and adjust it with the alan key supplied. (I shall point this out in one of the pictures with an arrow)

Internals:

If I'm honest I know naff-all about the internals of airsoft guns but do know that the winchester internals are mostly plastic. Do not let this put you off as this thing is perfectly good and with a well adjusted hop up can reach about the same ranges as a TM Desert Eagle (around 70-110 feet i'm told). the FPS for the gun is around 250 which should not put you off either; FPS isn't everything! The only problem internally is that when it comes to upgrades there are hardly any spare parts and the plastic parts are not likely to take the stress of a stronger spring that well.

Performance:

I was pleasantly surprised when trying it out in my garden; the range was better than expected once the hop was properly adjusted. I was originally thinking of installing a tightbore barrel but there is no need, the guns performance is absolutely brilliant for its size! The lever action is a little stiff at first but takes a matter of minutes to get used to; you'll be spinning it round like Schwarzenegger in no time! All I recommend is to use with gloves over a long period of time as it doesn't half hurt your knuckles after a bit of cocking :p

Conclusion:

Overall I would highly recommend this gun to anyone who's looking for something different and wanting to stand out from the crowd. It's a beautiful looking piece of kit and would be the perfect addition to any armoury.

Attached should be some pictures; PM me if they have not worked and you wish to see them

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