It is definitely not a Marui . . . . it is not even a KSC . . . .  but it is the only Five-seveN around. And to match the anticipation it generated, this treasure box unpeels like an onion.

 

After you peel off the box layers and put the accompanying manual, Marushin catalog, courtesy BB pack, push rod, and small allen key aside, this is what you get ....

 

The Marushin Five-seveN USG GBB has an accessory rail on the frame. The takedown lever is in the usual place but the ambidextrous safety lever is a little bit more forward than is usual for auto pistols and the magazine release a little bit more rearward than usual. The metal rear sight is adjustable for drift and elevation but the elevation adjustment is done through a standard uncalibrated screw and the rear sight assembly feels a little flimsy.

FN trades are incribed in prominent blue on both sides of the slide.

 

Field disassembly is also a bit unusual -- you take out the magazine, pull the slide rearward until you hear the hammer click into firing position, and then diengage the takedown lever by pushing it towards the rear. Push the slide forward. When you hear the slide disengage from the frame, pull the slide up. The process is described and illustrated in the accompanying manual but the text is in Japanese.

 

     Instead of a barrel guide rod, the Five-seveN has a metal guide bar fixed to the frame by two hex screws. The front tab that interacts with this bar is plastic.

     Because this replica lacks the loaded indicator of the real steel, Marushin has featured a slot cut into the rear face of the slide to allow the operation a peek into the hammer position. The inside of the slide, however, is much too dark to see the top of the hammer when it is in fire mode.

 

 

     There are minimal metal parts inserted into the plastic body. The magazine is metal and has a distinctive red plastic insert for gas outflow. Like my well-used KSC Mk23, it will activate the slide release if you slap it in too smartly. Like the old TM M92FS, it suffers from some cooldown, especially after rapid firing.

 

     Gas economy is fair. In the lower temperatures of tropical December in the Philippines, a 15-second gas fill powered three full magazines or a total of 54 shots; warmer temperatures a few days later brought gas usage to only 2 1/2 magazines for the same 15-second fill. When I tried a 20-second fill, excess gas vented out during the first five shots.

 

     Pointability is poor. Most of the pistol's weight sits in the palm of the shooting hand. Cycling is crisp and blowback force is heavy enough to cause significant muzzle flip. Since the only counterweight to this is the metal guide bar, it takes constant concentration to keep the front sight blade on target. The sighting spots on the front sight blade and on the sides of the rear sight ramp are not painted a distinguishing color so maintaining a good sight picture also made maintaining a good sight picture a very taxing chore.

 

Trigger pull is long, especially when compared to that of the TM 1911 Government. Trigger break is a bit heavy and comes right after an audible trigger reset. Like my KSC Mk 23, fast and successive double taps sometimes resulted in weak shots.

 

Redwolf says the Five-seveN delivers 240 fps with 134a. Subjectively, it feels less powerful than the three previously mentioned GBBs although shooting at dense PC packaging foam I had lying around produced satisfying thwacks with some bbs successfully embedding themselves into the foam.

 

Of ten .2g black ICS Competition Grade bbs shot at 15 feet, six got into the black rings. The four outflyers were probably due to the operator concentrating more on feeling for the blowback action rather than on maintaining the proper sight picture.

 

Overall, I would give the Marushin Five-seveN USG 6mm 8.0 - 8.5 out of 10 -- and that's being a bit generous.

• The build is good but there's too much that's plastic instead of metal -- even the trigger is plastic (grrrr).
• The blowback action is crisp but you can hardly feel it because of the lack of metal parts and the sound that normally accompanies gas expansion in the chamber and the barrel is barely heard.
• Accuracy is so so but not bad.
• Gas economy is below TM standard.
• The magazine can only load 18 shots max (or 19 with one in the chamber) -- why, oh, why didn't Marushin find a way to have 20 just like the real steel?

But my satisfaction factor is 10X-- because it is my long-awaited Five-seveN and I have to live with its warts and quirks till the Marui version comes out.