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The WinGun M87 Sport 301L is reportedly one of the hardest hitting airsoft pistol on the market. It is commonly reported that it shoots 450 FPS with 0.2g BB's. And with a top rail built into the gun slide, it give ma an idea to "Build a Futuristic Sniper Rifle" out of it. You can read about my sniper rifle build adventure in that link. But in this article, I will review this CO2 airsoft pistol.
The pistol came in a colorful box (see photo below). Much like many computer accessories box, it has a flip-top box that is reusable. So you can take the gun out and put it back in the box for storage.
Including in the packing is the gun, the magazine (inserted into handgrip), the instruction manual, and a bag of BB's (see photo below).
The WinGun M87 is loosely based on the Beretta 87 Target firearm. Both guns have a stylish squared styling that can be associated to scifi airsoft guns. However, the oval trigger guard and the crooked handgrip betrays its angular shape (see photo below). The left side is relatively clean with "M87" in bold characters.
The right side only has the addition of the safety switch above the trigger, but this small change seem to give it a look of complexity. The perception is probably caused by the small letters on the side of teh gun. Photo below shows the right side of the gun.
The safety switch is on the right side of the gun, so it is to be activated with the index finger for a right-handed shooter. To unlock, you push the switch forward, then upward (see photo below). It feels somewhat awkward to activate, but not difficult.
There is a fake switch on the left side of the gun (see photo below), which I feel is totally unnecessary. Behind the trigger is the magazine release. The magazine release is in the same location as many other well known guns. It's activation is straightforward.
The trigger curves too far forward compared to many other airsoft guns that I own. The trigger can be pulled when the safety is on, but does not fire the gun. Only when the safety is off will the trigger fire. I have found the trigger pull to be extremely heavy and long. I have never feel such a hard pull from any airsoft gun before. This heavy pull could hamper by desire to use it as a sniper rifle.
The WinGun M87 is a hefty beast in my hand. Although I never had a Desert Eagle, the WinGun M87 reminds me of it whenever I pick it up. It probably weighs about the same as a real firearm.
The WinGun M87 is a non-blowback airsoft pistol. The slide will not move back and forth. Beretta 87 Target is a blowback pistol. However, its slide doesn't move either. Only a small section of the slide on the back of the pistol blows back. These similarity between the two guns allows them to have a top tactical rail, which we will review in a later section.
The WinGun M87 uses a stick magazine (see photo below) that is common on many WinGun and its many re-brand airsoft pistols. The stick magazine is made out of metal, which feels robust and reliable. The BB follower automatically locks into place when you slide it all the way down, allowing you to load airsoft BB's. The magazine can hold 16 rounds of BB's.
We found that the WinGun M87 magazine is exactly the same as the Umarex Combat Zone Enforcer magazine. Both magazines work in both guns just fine.
Magazine Confusion
WinGun M87 shares the same magazine as many other CO2 airsoft pistols on the market. However, there are several types of this magazine and they all look the same. Not all of them work in the WinGun M87. See our "Air Mag C11 Spare Clip $7.47" article for more details.
Compared to other CO2 airsoft guns, where the CO2 canister is in the magazine, the WinGun M87 magazine is extremely slim and small. In a way, it makes the pistols even more science fiction like, because there are no real-life magazine today that is this small.
The WinGun M87 uses CO2 Powerlet (12g canister that contains compressed CO2 gas) to propel the airsoft BB's. The CO2 Powerlet makes it easy to use the airsoft gun, because you don't have to spend time charging the gun with gas. Just drop in the Powerlet, screw it down, and go.
The Powerlet compartment is concealed by the handgrip cover (see photo below). After sliding the plastic cover backward, you will see the Powerlet-shaped compartment. You can load the Powerlet from the left side of the gun.
The other side of the pistol grip lets you see the Powerlet, but does not allow you to insert or remove it. A thumb-screw at the bottom secures the Powerlet in place.
A unique feature of the WinGun M87 is that it comes with a tactical rail on the top and the bottom of the gun. That's very rare on handguns. Most handguns only have a tactical rail on the bottom, if it has any.
The top tactical rail is a Weaver hybrid rail. It does not meet the Picatinny standards in two areas: 1) the screw slot distance; 2) the height from base. However, most accessories for pistols should fit. In the photo below, I installed two rifle iron sights as an example. A small red dot sight would be more useful, because the WinGun M87 already comes with built-in iron sights.
Cross-Reference
See our "Weaver Rail vs. Picatinny Rail vs. NATO Accessory Rail" article to understand the practical differences between the tactical rails.
The bottom tactical rail is closer to the Picatinny standard because the screw slots are the right distance apart. However, it is still a Weaver hybrid, because the height from base is not based on spec.
So far, I had been unable to verify its projectile velocity to the reported values. The first time I fired the gun through the Fidragon ST08-1 Chronograph, it broke the chrono's plastic passage. That kind of indicates the power of this airsoft pistol. However, I have shot 480 FPS with my VSS Vintorez through that chrono before, during the summer. I wonder if the mild winter in southern California could have made the plastic brittle.
Next, I tried to measure its velocity with a Swiss Arms Pro Chronograph. But, so far, this chronograph hasn't given me any good readings with this pistol. For some reason, I haven't successfully used this chronograph with any of my gas guns, even though it seems to measure all my electronic guns accurately.
Because the velocity spec is so high, I haven't tried to take this pistol to any airsoft field yet. After I have built a sniper rifle out of this pistol, then I may give it a try at the field and provide more detailed thoughts on it.
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