Daisy "SoftAir" Replica Airguns?

Briefly, during the mid-80's, Daisy and a subsidiary manufacturer in Japan designed and manufactured a series of ultra-realistic "SoftAir" guns that were chambered for 6mm plastic ball ammo, not unlike the airsoft ammunition of today.
These Replica Airguns were perfectly designed for indoor target practice since they were rather accurate from 15 feet, and had a low muzzle velocity around 200 fps.
Unfortunately, I have heard that there were some incidents of Police shooting youths or children because they mistook these Daisy "SoftAir" guns for the real thing, and Daisy halted their production and importation, to avoid potential legal trouble.

This means the Daisy "SoftAir" series are very, very collectable, and their prices are many times their original cost.

Here is a pair of review articles by Trevor Adams in New Zealand from the late 80's:

EKOL ES 66, ES P66C & ES P66 Turkish made Co2 pistols

I have had an EKOL ES-66 .177cal/4.5mm Co2 pistol for a few years.

They are made in Turkey by a company that primarily makes blank firing replica guns, and this Co2 pistol is converted into an airgun from a blank gun.

It is a very realistic heavyweight pistol.

I have the shiny chrome finished pistol, which wasn't by choice, it was the only finish available.

The EKOL ES-66 has a heavy trigger pull, which makes accuracy difficult, but in time and with practice I was able to shoot straight enough to enjoy this pistol.

The EKOL ES-66 has a full size magazine which holds the Co2 & valve system and the spring fed BB mag.

4.5mm/.177cal. Gamo lead roundball ammo cycles perfectly in this pistol, and shoots straighter than the smaller BB caliber steel airgun shot(.175") thanks to a rifled steel barrel.

    i  think that it  resembles the Browning Hi-power 9mm, except for the wraparound plastic grips, and was thrilled to discover that EKOL was bringing out a new version that looks even more like the Hi-power 9mm!!!

The new pistol is the ES P66, as well there is a compact version and both have grips that look identical to those found on Browning Hi-Power 9mm handguns.

Walther/T4E PPQ M2 .43 caliber Co2 Air Pistol

This is a .43 caliber Co2 powered replica  airgun that is designed to shoot paint ball, dust balls, pepper balls, rubber balls & nylon riot balls.

I have ordered 500 rounds of the black .43 caliber PVC/nylon "RIOT-Balls" for my recently purchased Walther PPQ M2-T4E Co2 pistol.

500 rounds of .43 caliber Riot-Ball ammo cost $125 CDN (25¢/round) 

   

It is intended as a training tool and "less lethal" self defense weapon.
Michael at "replica AirGuns" tested his PPQ M2 and with T4E brand .43 cal. rubber ball ammo, he got chronograph results as high as 330 fps, and an average around 315 fps.

I don't know how much the ammo weighs, so I have no way of calculating the muzzle energy.

I just bought the last black finish Walther PPQ M2 from replica AirGuns, so I will do some of my own testing once it arrives.

I bit the bullet and bought myself a Walther PPQ M2 T4E .43 caliber Co2 pistol from replica airguns dot CA and 500 rounds of black "Riot-Ball" ammo from Amazon for 25¢/round.
I tested it to make sure there were no leaks and shot a few rounds through my AceTech ac-6000 chronograph, with a high of 423 fps and a four shot average of 412 fps.
I will eventually see how accurate this Co2 pistol can be.

A few of my favorite battlefield replica Co2 guns (that I own)

Air Venturi HellBoy M4 Tactical .177 cal. Co2 BB Rifle

H&K USP 4.5mm Steel BB Co2 pistol

This is the Mauser M712 Select-Fire 4.5mm Steel BB Co2 GBB Pistol from Umarex...

I was lucky to be able to have added a few nice replica  Co2  air rifles and pistols over the past year!

At the top is my Hellraiser HellBoy M4 semi-auto .177 caliber Steel BB Co2 air rifle with a UTG M16 carry handle rear peep sight in place of the stock sights.

Next is my H&K USP .177cal/4.5mm Steel BB Co2 semi-auto air pistol that I bought from Cabela's while on sale for $39.99!

The last five photos are of the Mauser M712 replica by Umarex which I recieved yesterday from the excellent Western Canadian online surplus store "camoflauge.ca"!

I tested the M712 earlier today, and it shot great!
Full auto is novel, much like my Crosman PFAM9B/Taurus PT-92 Co2 pistol's full-auto mode.

This black battle rifle is my Crosman M4-177 multi-pump pneumatic air rifle.
It is not terribly powerful, only shooting lead free 5.4 grain Crosman fast-flight penetrators around 450 fps, and 7-8 grain lead pellets between 370-400 fps.
However, it is a surprisingly accurate air rifle from 10-15 meter ranges.

The M4-177 is easily upgraded with different real steel AR15/M4/M16 iron sights and vaious other accessories like the US Army rubber buttstock that I installed on my M4-177.
I have UTG M4 mil-spec rear peep sight and UTG front sight with an assortment of different KNS precision front sight posts.
The upgrades cost more than the air rifle, but its accuracy made it a worthwhile endevour.

Sig wasn't the first to make a hi-capacity belt fed air pistol pellet magazine!

In 2014 there was a "Kitchener Gun Show" event held at a German heritage type of Club nearby my apartment.
I attended because Mr. Marvin "the airgun guy" was going to be there with a few tables of vintage, and new air rifles & pistols.
More importantly, he was bringing the Crosman Trapmaster 1100 .380 caliber Co2 Shotgun for me to pick up, instead of shipping it after I purchased it from his website the previous week.

It was no quick in-and-out for me once I laid eyes on the  4 or 5 tables of airguns, specifically all the marvelous air pistols!

After picking up a few rarities, I noticed a somewhat compact looking pistol, that reminded me of the Walther P22 and I asked Marvin about it.

The pistol was a Russian made Co2 semi-automatic .177cal/4.5mm pellet or BB pistol that came in a case with two 28 round belt magazines, and a cleaning rod plus a pellet seating tool.

It was an Anics "skif" A-3000 that was made in the late 90's to early 2000's in Moscow, Russia.
The slide is metal, and the frame is a heavy duty ballistic polymer.
The Anics skif A-3000 really feels like a firearm in your hand.
It looks very realistic as well.
The rear sights are fully adjustable, with a fixed front ramp sight, and the action can be cocked by racking the slide. You can also cock the hammer to shoot in single action
Double action is heavy, since the trigger pull moves the 28 round belt magazine before releasing the hammer to fire the pellet, lead roundball, or steel BB.
The Anics skif A-3000 is field stripped for cleaning & maintenance just like the Glock, by pulling down the two switches on each side ofothe frame in front of the tigger guard.

When I first saw Sig-Air's "belt magazine" for their P320, I recognized the system immediately, and thought that someone at Sig-Air must have seen or owned an Anics skif A-3000 at one time!

The last two photos are of my Anics 'skif' A3000 Co2 pistol.

I generally only shoot 4.5mm Gamo lead roundball ammo since I prefer how roundball ammo cycles compared to lead pellets.

Steel BB ammo will also work, but the lead roundball fits the barrel tighter, and interacts with the barrels rifling.

Coming soon...

I was thrilled a few days ago when I was browsing through a myriad of air pistols sold by an army surplus store in Vancouver, and they claimed to have a Gletcher TT-33 gas blowback 4.5mm BB pistol, this is an excellent replica of the the Russian Tokarev  TT-33 pistol!!!
I immediately ordered one and was waiting to receive a tracking # once they had shipped the replica Co2 pistol.
Sadly, it just wasn't meant to be, and instead of a tracking #, I received and apologetic email, explaining that the webpage was wrong and the pistol was "out of stock" and they didn't know if it would ever be in stock.
The stores sales manager generously offered me 10% off on whichever airgun I wanted to receive instead of the Tokarev TT-33 replica, which I gladly accepted.

There was another replica in stock that was on my airgun replica bucket list, the Mauser M712/C96, or better known as the "broomstick Mauser".

I ordered the Umarex Legends M712 full/semi automatic 4.5mm steel BB pistol in place of the out of stock Tokarev, and for the same total price as the Tokarev, including $15 of steel BB ammo!

I still hope to find a Tokarev TT-33 Co2 replica pistol and will not stop looking.
This is nearly an obsession for me now!
I can't believe that I cannot find one anywhere and that includes 4.5mm steel BB & 6mm airsoft versions by 3 or 4 different companies:
-Baikal mp-656k(4.5mm)
-Gletcher TT & TT-NBB(4.5mm), plus the TT-A(6mm)
-KWC TT(6mm)
-KWA TT(6mm)

You'd think that the odds were in my favour to find one from someplace in North America, and on the used airgun market, but no such luck as of yet.