To Help answer the question in the title I’m going to give you a rundown of my favourite pistol the Tokyo Marui P226 E2 Gas Blow Back pistol.
As you can see from the picture my P226 is a little battered and war torn but I’ve taken this pistol to every single game over the last 2 years and its never let me down, slinging .40g bbs up to 70m. The reason I choose this model in the beginning was on recommendation from Kicking Mustang he had the original model P226 for a lot of years with zero issues which sold it for me.
I cant remember where I purchased the pistol from but after searched the internet I went for the newer model the TM P226 E2 which was around the £120 mark. When the pistol arrived first impression of the packaging were that Tokyo Marui pride themselves on branding this was also present inside the box the pistol is displayed as if you were in a prestigious gun shop beautifully laid out and not just put in a plastic bag and chucked in a box like other brands of pistols and rifles.
My box is a little battered now but you get the picture
The newer model P226 E2 is more ergonomic the original, slightly smaller grip which was awesome for me. The trigger shape is updated from the previous model and the top slide is a dark grey which differs from the original p226 that being solid black. The pistol also has a front rail for torches etc and the magazine itself holds 26 rounds which is common among most pistol mags.
What Makes this gun so Special
To begin with its upgrade ability there’s loads of options. lets strip mine and show you what’s inside.
To start lower the slide release lever, slide the upper forward to remove the slide
Now the upper and lower are separated place the lower to one side and lets get started on the upper slide
Now we slide the recoil pin forward to the muzzle to release from hop chamber, then apply the same method to the hop chamber and barrel assembly.
From here we remove the 2 screws in the chamber with a Zero phillips head screwdriver.
Now we are into the hop chamber as you can see ive got some crude DIY upgrades in here, and god knows what bucking I have in here I thought I fitted a Nineball.
Let’s get back to the point of this review
one of the big contributing factors that makes these pistols so good is the hop arm. Its a real sturdy arm with no flex so this gives yo the ability to add loads of pressure to the bucking without it bending and causing hooking.
in instances where the hop arm is made of thinner gauge steel when you apply hop via the wheel the arm opens out and pulls itself around the side of the bucking and all the pressure is then being applied to the left side of the bucking causing the bb to hook.
On my hop arm I’ve super glued an electrical cable sheath to the nub on the arm itself, what this does is it bridges the gap so when the bb shoots under the bucking patch/mound the bucking won’t flex through the gap. Also the added depth the cable sheath adds, enables you to lift them glorious heavy balls long ranges.
Here is another method I done on a friends TM HICAPA. I Epoxy putty filled the arm then added thick Gorilla tape underneath this combined with a Nineball bucking give him the option to sling .45g bbs a bloody long way easily 75m
These Upgrades will work for the majority of TM pistols.
So if your in the market for a new TM pistol buy what pistol takes your fancy and have piece of mind knowing they all perform great with some basic upgrades.
Whilst i’m talking about other TM pistols The Glock 18c combined with Hadrons TDC and H PLATE , Maple Leaf Crazy jet barrel, Maple leaf autobot bucking, Mag full of .48g bbs and switched to FULL AUTO = BRING THE RAIN
The HK45 Tactical with silencer , the HICAPA in its various forms, M&P9 the list goes on all superb pistols with great upgrade capability.
Maple Leaf make complete pre assembled drop in kits. These I know perform great just pop out the barrel and hop chamber assembly and drop the maple leaf unit in, it’s that easy.
Here are some of the upgrades I mentioned above
Hadrons H Plate (white ) and Maple Leaf I Key (Anodised Red/Pink)
Maple leaf Hop chamber, barrel, bucking Complete drop in kits
Onto the Mags
The P226 Mags are another great feature to this pistol unlike the shitty TM MK23 that have that crappy 2 pin design this mags are held together via long Allen wrench bolt/screw. This is awesome, why aren’t all TM Mags aren’t made this way.
Ive only had 2 mags leak from the base plate but all that was needed to fix it was to nip up that bottom screw and it sealed what a relief.
What Else
As with all TM’s they are pretty much all plastic except the trigger, catches, hammer, sights and internal components that take the brunt of the recoil are metal ive had mine for 2 years and its going strong.
When you fit these upgrades don’t be worried about the low FPS and Joules using heavy balls currently my P226 is 195.8fps on a 0.40g bb (0.78J) and I have no issue ranging AEGs
Do I care the P226 is plastic Hell no, I couldn’t care less im happy its not metal I carry enough gear all day at skirmishes and milsims having less weight is good for me.
The P226 E2 doesn’t kick super hard, again for me that’s a plus im back in target quicker for that follow up shot but I have friends that do like that harder kick and the latest line up of TM pistols I find do kick harder.
Gas Efficiency: my god how many times have I come up to someone wielding a WE pistol in winter and as they fire a shot the gun mis fires vents out the entire contents of the mag don’t get me wrong all pistols suffer in winter but the TM’s with the light weight plastic slide normally operate well in winter using a stronger blend of gas
Double action pistol: which means I don’t have to remember to rack the slide like Glocks and 1911’s so I can draw my pistol and spam the shit out that trigger and its gonna shoot.
Retention holsters: I paid around £18 for my Cheap Blackhawk clone from eBay I think
Around £125 is the current price for the P226 and I think its worth every penny
Final Words
In a Nut Shell I love this pistol it performs superbly across the board its –
- Accurate
- Great range
- Upgrades – DIY Mods and even better results with the Maple leaf setups
- I love the way it handles
- Gas Efficient
- Double action
- Great build quality
Seriously what more could you ask for.
For a great selection of Tokyo Marui Pistols hit the link below
For pistol upgrades I’ve mentioned and more visit
discount code: smithy