Top Value Guns: KWC M11

Tim Finley rates the Remington Outdoor UK’s smaller calibre brother to the MAC 10

Based on an Ingram M11 machine pistol, this CO2 version uses a large, stick magazine in the pistol grip, but this one houses a standard 12 gramme CO2 bulb and a linear, spring-loaded magazine for the 4.5mm steel BBs.

The M11 is very small, only 252mm long, and even including the stick magazine it’s only 2mm taller than it is long. It’s of mainly plastic construction, but feels sturdy. The pull-out, collapsible stock has a closed and open position and is the only steel/alloy on the gun, apart from the smoothbore brass barrel and various internal parts of the action.

It extends by 125mm and the steel wire butt section folds up and over the rear of the action, and it fits over the raised rear sight, so you can see though it. You have to be sure to raise the butt up clear of the sight to pull it out to its extended position. The locking button for the sliding stock is under the rear of the square action.

I found the length of pull really short, at 265mm. However, this is not a long-range sniper rifle, and the M11 CO2 is a close-range plinker. As such, the M11 scores a quite a few points. It’s small and so easy to secure and lock up when not in use, and it’s got a massive 39-round magazine.

It has the usual faux elements of copycat guns, including the faux ejection port on the right-hand side, a non-moving selector switch on the left, which is set to semi-automatic. It has a 10mm hole in the front of the barrel section, and the brass barrel sits back 15mm from the end.

At the base of the barrel is a faux-threaded section – on the real M11, a large moderator would be screwed onto this. One non-faux part is the safety catch, in the same position as on the real M11. It strips down like an M11 too: remove the safety catch, take out the rear stock and the disassembly pin at the front, and the top of the action comes out of the bottom section.

In the box, you get a CO2 bulb-piercing Allen key, an instruction leaflet and a small bag of 4.5mm steel BBs.

Over the chronograph, it gave me 60-odd shots, I loaded the magazine with 30 BBs and shot two magazines-worth, then changed the 12 gramme CO2 bulb. The M11 has a semi-auto, non-blow-back action, which explains the high-ish shot count, and with 4.6 grain steel BBs it shot from 350 to 380fps or 1.25 to 1.47ft.lbs.

My usual gripe with manufacturers and distributors is that spare magazines seem to be as rare as a sensible gun law, but the magazine holds a whopping 39 rounds, which will be discharged as fast as you can pull that trigger. You can get a lot of shooting in before you have to reload the magazine.

You can dry fire to bleed off gas from the CO2 bulb by firing the gun empty, and you can empty the bulb by turning the Allen key very, very slowly, and undoing the piercing screw until small amounts of gas escape. Be careful – the gas is freezing!

The sights are a bit odd in that the short front post and the peep sight at the rear are fixed and have a sight base of 178mm. I had to put my head back on the stock to keep the front post in focus, but I just use the M11 as a pistol most of the time, to be honest.

The faux cocking handle on the top is cut out to allow the shooter to get a sight picture as on the original M11, but this bolt does not move. The grip is ambidextrous and the rear section is covered in a stipple pattern. The magazine release catch is at the base of the grip at the rear, and as you grab hold of the magazine to pull it out, the thumb naturally falls on the catch, so it is quite easy to use.

Accuracy testing was done at six yards with 4.6 grain steel BBs. The trigger pull on my electronic gauge was 3.14kg, which is not light for a CO2 pistol.

It proved to be surprisingly accurate, despite my misgivings on the sights, around 30mm being the group size it spat out on a regular basis. The Remington BBs proved very accurate and the tub has a clever, speed-loading opening – rotate the lid and a hole opens up in the middle of the large raised ‘R’ for Remington.

Verdict

The KWC M11 is a cool CO2 plinker. Get over the fact that it is mainly plastic and you will love shooting it. At under 60 quid, this is a real top value gun.

SPECIFICATIONS

Distributor: Remington Outdoor UK Sportsmarketing

Model: KWC M11

Action: Pistol

Type: CO2

Capacity: 39 steel BB

Length: 252mm

Weight: 560 grammes

Barrel length; 135mm

Calibre: .177 (4.5mm)

Sights: Open fixed (Sight base 178mm)

Features: Manual safety catch, removable magazine

Price: £59.95

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