WE Toucan (M&P) GBB Pistol review by Booligan
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Table of Contents:
Introduction
Ordering
Basic Gun Information
First impressions/Packaging
Included
Gun Specifications
Externals
Trademarks
Magazines
Performance
Internals
Modifications
Pros/Cons
Overall
Introduction:
WE, as most people already know, makes a LOT of different GBB models, and the "Toucan" is one of their newest to hit the market. Modeled after a certain pistol that is popular with "Military and Police" users, this gun is incredibly comfortable and well designed for shooters of all shapes and sizes. I'll go over this pistol and all of its quirks in this review, so keep reading for more information!
Ordering:
I was sent this pistol for review through Evike, who has it available HERE, priced at $100. It is available in black, tan, blue, or purple, and they have a compact model as well which includes an extra mag, giving it a $110 price. Today we're going to be reviewing the full size black model, however, much of this information will be valid for the different full size models.
Basic Gun Information:
The "Toucan" is a full size GBB pistol modeled after the M&P, but devoid of any trademarks that could be problematic. It features glow in the dark night sights, interchangeable back straps, and an ambidextrous slide catch system, a very unique feature that I haven't seen on other GBB pistols. The gun is designed with the shooter in mind, and has a very high grip position relative to the barrel to reduce felt recoil and allow you to get on target quickly for follow up shots. Long story short, it's a damn comfortable pistol with a great trigger and a customizable fit for nearly any shooter.
First impressions/Packaging:
My Toucan came in a plain WE marked box with a molded styrofoam inner liner to keep it safe and secure during shipping, and it did that job pretty well. The foam is a little flaky and a bunch of it flaked off onto the gun, requiring a few minutes with a can of compressed air to clear out. Some actually ended up inside the inner barrel, so be sure to check it out before using the gun. Once I pulled the gun out of the foam, I compared it with my daily carry gun, the S&W SD40, and was really happy with how close they felt, both in the weight balance and the grip design, as I intend to use this as a training weapon.
Click on the individual thumbnails to see the full size photos
Generic WE box art
Included:
Along with the pistol itself, WE includes a total of three interchangeable backstraps, and for some reason, a manual for their full auto Glock series. It's a pretty bare bones pack, but it's kind of normal for WE.
Everything included
Gun Specifications:
Weight: 1.5 lbs (24 oz)
Length: 7.7"
Width: 1.2"
Height: 5.5"
Sight Radius: 6.4"
Barrel Length: 4.2"
Externals:
This pistol features a polymer frame with a metal slide and barrel assembly, as well as rubber, interchangeable backstraps. This combination works really well to give the gun a great balance and feel in your hand. The gun I chose to review is the all black model, and the pistol has a nice matte black appearance on the frame and slide. The frame actually looks and feels better than the one on my real S&W SD40. Unfortunately, there is a visible seam line on the bottom of the frame, a problem I encountered on my real pistol as well, but it's easy to shave down with a razor blade if it bothers you too much.
Overview, left side
Overview, right side
As I always say, the grip is the most important part of any pistol, and I'm happy to report that WE did a great job on this one. The front and back straps have a nicely textured finish, with the rear being made of rubber. The interchangeable backstrap system is one of the biggest selling points of this gun, and it is a very simple process to swap them out. You simply have to rotate the plug behind the magwell 90 degrees counterclockwise and pull it out, which allows you to pop the rubber backstrap off of the gun and replace it with a new, one by pivoting it in from the top. The gun includes three different sizes of backstraps, marked small, medium, and large, with the large one coming up the beavertail a bit. The grip feels good in your hand, and I personally use the medium backstrap. The top of the grip has an extended backstrap to prevent slide bite, and the high shooting position in relation to the slide and barrel makes it very comfortable to shoot.
Grip
Rotate this plug and pull it out
Different backstraps ready for install
Lock the top in first, then pivot the bottom in
The controls are pretty simple, consisting of a trigger with a centrally hinged safety system, a magazine release button with a matching textured finish to the front and backstraps, an ambidextrous slide catch system, and a takedown lever located on the left side of the frame. Some real steel M&P pistols come equipped with a side mounted safety lever, and it looks like the pin and markings for it are there, so I'm not sure if WE will be replicating this feature down the line. The trigger pull is one of the nicest I've felt on a GBB pistol, with a short take-up and a clean break, all with a light overall pull weight. The rest of the frame has a mildly textured finish that matches the real steel counterpart.
Controls
Right side slide lock
Frame texture
The front of the frame has a 20mm rail for mounting lights, lasers, or other accessories. Thankfully, WE didn't put a wonky safety system in the rail like they did with their Glock series of pistols. The rail is nicely manufactured and fit all the accessories I tried on it.
Front rail
On top of the frame, you'll find the metal slide and barrel assemblies. The slide has a no nonsense look to it with aggressively scalloped cocking serrations at the rear for easy cocking even if you're wearing gloves. The slide really looks realistic, especially with the separate extractor held in place with the pin, like on the real pistol. The matte black finish looks great as well, and seems to be quite sturdy.
Metal slide
Scalloped cocking serrations
The outer barrel is made of metal and has a slightly glossy finish compared to the slide. It is marked with 9mm at the top of the barrel, similar to the real firearm. The muzzle features the standard WE inner threading, so if you want to add a muzzle device, it's easily accomplished. The gun comes with an orange metal tip screwed into the muzzle, so if you want to add a threaded adapter, you'll have to unscrew it first.
Barrel markings
Inner threading visible in outer barrel
The Toucan features 3-dot tactical sights which are painted with a glow in the dark coating on the dots for low light use. My issue with this is that the green color, when not glowing, is kind of dark and not great for low light use. When you charge it up with a flashlight, it stays illuminated for 10-15 minutes, tops, so it's not the best paint that I've ever seen. The sights appear to be removable, however, they are glued in place. I'll be trying to mount some real steel M&P Tritium sights soon.
Rear sight
Front sight
Glow in low light
Trademarks:
There are no real steel trademarks on the gun, however, there are WE markings as well as a unique serial number located on the right side of the frame.
WE markings
Unique serial number
Magazines:
The included magazine holds 21 rounds, plus 1 in the chamber. It features a plastic plate at the bottom with a hole for the fill valve and the WE logo molded in. It fits into the gun very well with very little freeplay. It drops free once released using the magazine release button. Spare mags will be available soon at most airsoft retailers.
Magazine
Feeding end
Base plate
Performance:
Chrono results using Matrix .20g BBs and propane, shot through a Madbull V1 chrono, after a 100 round break in period:
High FPS: 323.4 FPS
Low FPS: 308.2 FPS
Average FPS: 315.7 FPS
Range and accuracy were quite good for a pistol, especially after loading it up with some Echo 1 .25g BBs and spending a little time dialing in the hop-up. The gun is perfectly capable of 100' torso shots with this ammo, and I'd even feel comfortable taking a 110'-120' shot if I really needed to. The new WE tightbore barrel seems to do a great job keeping things consistent with the accuracy.
Gas economy wasn't too bad, as I would average a magazine and a half of BBs for every gas load, if I took my time while shooting. If I blasted through the magazine as quickly as possible, I'd still manage to have enough gas to lock it back on empty most of the time.
Internals:
Disassembly is a very simple process, and thanks to the pistol's design, it doesn't require any tools. First, you'll want to remove the magazine and ensure that the gun is unloaded. You can then pull the slide back and rotate the disassembly lever which is located on the left side of the frame, above the trigger. It will rotate, following a groove in the slide, and you can then pull the slide off the front of the frame.
Rotated disassembly lever
Split into the major components
Inside the frame, you'll notice the metal trigger frame as well as the roller equipped hammer assembly The gun fires very smoothly, and I've got to assume that a lot of this comes from that roller. You can also see how the ambidextrous slide catch works, with a connecting linkage from the magazine to both sides of the magwell.
Trigger and takedown lever assembly
Hammer assembly
Disassembly of the slide is easy, only requiring you to pull the recoil rod off of the outer barrel assembly, which allows you to pull the outer barrel assembly out of the slide. The hop-up uses a bottom mounted dial to adjust the hop-up effect, and the gun is fitted with WE's new blue anodized 6.03mm inner barrel. The blowback assembly is pretty standard as far as WE pistols go, with a polymer blowback piston head and housing. I gave everything a good lubing with silicone oil to make sure it ran smoothly.
Barrel components
Hop-up and inner barrel
WE's new 6.03mm inner barrel
Hop-up dial
Blowback unit
Modifications:
There aren't really too many modifications out for this gun currently, however, internally, it uses a standard cut inner barrel and hop-up rubber, so accuracy upgrades are a snap. Externally, it appears that the sights are removable, but glued in place. I'm going to experiment with mounting up some real M&P tritium equipped sights and will update this review accordingly. Otherwise, it comes with the parts you need to customize it to fit your hand size and grip style, so making it work well for you is a quick process. I've tucked it nicely into a holster designed for the M&P, so finding a way to carry this should be a piece of cake.
Pros:
Accurate replica of a very popular pistol
Low price - $100
Interchangeable backstraps allow for customized fit
One of the nicest trigger pulls I've ever felt on a GBB pistol
Includes WE's new 6.03mm tightbore barrel
Glow in the dark iron sights are a nice touch, although, the glow effect doesn't last long
Great performance out of the box
Very snappy blowback action
Cons:
Visual seam lines along the bottom of the frame
Magazine catch doesn't appear to be switchable from left to right
Paint on outer barrel can scratch easily
The gun shot a little inconsistently until it broke in after 100 or so rounds
No real steel trademarks
Overall:
I've been a fan of this real steel pistol design for quite some time now, and I'm glad to see that WE did such a good job replicating it. The design, from the high grip position to the interchangeable backstraps make this a very easy and comfortable gun to shoot accurately. It fits your hand very well, and is able to be fine tuned to fit your own anatomy and shooting style easily. Frankly, the thing looks awesome too and it fits with a wide range of loadouts, especially LE themed ones. If you're interested in a new pistol that's different than the normal Glocks that are ubiquitous on the field, I absolutely recommend the WE "Toucan"!
Many thanks again to Evike, and of course, Airsoft Retreat!
