• Saturday, February 26th, 2011
UTG Combat Tactical Metal Heat Shield Shotgun airsoft gun
- caliber: 6mm
- velocity: 330.00 ft/sec
- Warranty: 30 Day Limited Warranty
- Combat Tactical Full stock
UTG M87T Combat Tactical Shotgun with Full Stock and Heat Shield, Complete with Spare Magazine, Speed Loader, Factory Quality Sling, Color Box Packaging
List Price: $ 41.97
Price: $ 34.99
Category: Hunting
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TSD, UTG…same shotgun, same high-quality,
Based on initial inspection of the two airsoft shotguns using Amazon’s photos, they don’t seem to be very much different at all. The only reason I bought this particular one was because Amazon seems to be running in and out of the TSD shotguns (not that it really makes a difference either way). With that said, any reviews for the TSD shotgun also apply to this one (just FYI).
As with the TSD shotgun, it comes with two 14-rd magazines (which interchange with the TSD ones), a cleaning rod, a decent sling, and a pistol-style speedloader (in case you aren’t familiar with them, they look like a pistol magazine with a plunger sticking out of the “bottom”; you load up to 90 BBs in through a port on the “bottom”, line up the “top” end with your magazine, and force the plunger down as many times as necessary to fill a magazine to maximum capacity).
It’s solid, and its heft is realistic; it’s roughly five pounds (guess-timate), and the heat shield/magazine tube are full-metal (the sling swivels are also full-metal, and this comes with a nice sling as well). The shotgun is primarily ABS, but it’s a special kind of ABS that’s much more rugged than, say, Crosman ABS; I liken it to the plastic used in the newer DirecTV remotes, but with a rougher texture. There’s a real rubber/rubber-like synthetic buttpad, or at least it acts like one. It’s very grippy and has a subtle pattern to grip your shoulder when you bring it up to bear. The pump handle is ABS (this one has more prominent texturing and even has a corrugated grip area to further assist your grip), but glides across the action bars; despite being a little wobbly, it does the job well (it’s practically too easy to prime it, compared to other spring airsoft rifles or even a Red Ryder). The hop-up is your standard sliding bar, and isn’t exactly a precision instrument (you basically have to drag it just gently enough with your fingertip to fine tune it; otherwise, it just clicks into whatever notch it can once you stop applying enough force to push it); for .20 gram BBs, it pulls it up about 3/4ths of a foot at 15′.
The trigger isn’t anything amazing (it’s heavy enough to make precision aiming somewhat of an effort, not to say that it can’t fire consistantly). The safety toggle is right behind the trigger in a semi-awkward position (you have to pull the shotgun in front of you and nudge it “Safe” or “Fire” with your trigger finger).
It’s powerful enough to roughly exceed the velocity of a Red Ryder with .12 gram BBs or to have a decent range with .20 gram BBs and higher (.25 is where I’d draw the line, at least for sufficient range in an airsoft match), but note that it does like to go high and to either side at close range. You almost have to pull the muzzle up high enough to see the orange tip to get it on-target at >30′, but from there, it gets spot-on somewhere between 30′ and 70′, depending on the hop-up. I just use Kentucky windage and eyeball its shot placement, though it might help to improvise some kind of front post sight (like drilling a small hole in the top of the muzzle and inserting a black pin with white contrast at the end, securing it with Locktite) if you really need some sights (this one has no provisions for a sight, not even with the UTG Tri-Rail barrel mount; the magazine tube would get in the way). Magazine capacity is only 14 rounds, but you do get two with the gun, and spare 14 round magazine for TSD Tactical Series Law Enforcer Style Shotgun are only $4.99 (with the Amazon Super Saver Shipping). You could also see the capacity as semi-realistic, in that most real-life shotguns cannot hold more than 9 shells, much less 14. If you have the skill, you could take on AEGs with this (although the Commando/pistol grip version would probably be better for all of the tactical rolling and dodges you’d need to do so).
Overall, it’s a nice airsoft shotgun that could easily hold its own against other guns (other than the 3-round burst shotguns, but those are generally prohibited in skirmish locations anyway). Buy it if you want a reliable, spring-powered primary weapon (for the more wily players), a fun plinker, a good-looking wallhanger/prop, or something to repel squirrels with high-velocity plastic pellets without worrying about breaking your neighbor’s windows.
*EDIT*
Used the hop-up to adjust it for .20 gram BBs; centering the slider to the point of the arrow puts your shots on a 7×7 inch target 7/10 times and will hit a person-sized target 9/10. Take off the heat shield with a Philips head screwdriver; it adds weight and does nothing to help you (it even pops up sometimes and blocks your sight picture). If you’re using this against squirrels, wear quiet shoes and tape the sling swivels down; they rattle a…
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|Good buy & Not a rip off,
good shotgun it was my first one and i like it so far…. it is a reasonable price. the fps is like 330 to 350 it is full metal it looks authentic. i like it so if u r looking 4 a shotty this is the one
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|awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,
this gun is the best! shoots 310 fps with.12 bb’s mostly ABS plastic. great gun for the price and great for backyard battles and CQB.
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