Pellet Power!

Dave Barham enjoys some fun in the winter sun whilst testing the Umarex Colt Government 1911 A1 pellet pistol

- Dave Barham

It’s always nice when I have a new CO2 pellet pusher land on my desk. Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting BBs, but there’s definitely something a bit special about shooting actual pellets, isn’t there?

ROTARY MAGS

As soon as you open the supplied hard case, you’re confronted with two, .177, 8-shot rotary magazines. That’s always a bit of a bonus, having two mag’s, because it doubles your shooting time and makes for a more enjoyable experience, especially when aiming at targets rather than plinking at cans etc.

They’re really easy to load, too. A press of the slide release button shoots the slide and barrel housing forward by an inch to reveal the magazine loading bay, and a quick glance tells you which way the mag’s face to be operable. There’s a small circular recess toward the back of the action, which is where the protruding ‘cog’ on the mag’ sits.

Once loaded, the mag’ simply drops in, and then with a single movement you pull the front of the slide back and a locating pin locks the mag’ into place.

CO2 LOADING

It never ceases to amaze me just how many different methods of loading a 12g CO2 canister there are in these replica guns, and this 1911 is no exception, with a completely new (to me) system.