Wow! This P698 Glock 26 Style Spring Pistol is just a nice little piece and features a lot opting for it, especially in this budget range of spring airsoft guns. First, the entire appearance is pleasing, or even entirely accurate pertaining to the surface texture variations between the slide and molded grip-frame which would be typical of the true Glock. There are very noticeable molding lines on the trigger, slide, frame and magazine base, but in this budget range this is to be expected.
Also, the gun is pictured having an orange colored muzzle end slide face, but as supplied includes a full length black slide and orange barrel extending approx 1/4 to 5/32 inches beyond the slide, which I at the very least find more attractive. The picture also indicates ‘COMBAT DELTA’ and 9×19 indented to the left slide face, but mine arrived ‘smooth’ ;.
So….how does it feel and shoot. In a word – good. It’s no wonder Glock’s are so popular. It really naturally fits, at the very least in my own hands. GLOCK 19 The grip contouring and thumb indentation, even like the ‘pinkie rest’ on the magazine extension, the trunk strap shape and radius, trigger and trigger guard notch are all ergonomically correct for an intuitive ‘grip’, site picture & target acquisition. What I find remarkable is how the leading site blade visually indexes so accurately within the ramped Novak style rear site blade (and on this kind of inexpensive pistol), allowing a really precise site picture which minimizes the aftereffect of the short site radius.
I’m sure this makes sense to people who appreciate such things. The magazine holds 9 BBs, and is fed by manually retracting a spring loaded ‘follower’, thus allowing the insertion of BBs to the ‘ammo well’ ;.The follower incorporates a detente notch allowing the user to lock the follower spring in the beds base position while loading – a nice touch – though perhaps not really necessary. Just remember to produce the follower to make certain proper feeding ahead of reinsertion of the loaded mag. Depressing the magazine release when the pistol is vertical will immediately drop the mag – there’s no binding – the mag catch clicks and holds securely. Being that it’s a spring airsoft gun, the slide should be manually retracted to compress the spring and cock the pistol for every single discharge (shot). By the way, I’m certain this really is ho hum stuff to most of you, but for those new to Airsoft, it’s not bad info., especially since this really is such a great ‘starter gun.’
Anyway, the spring feels really firm, perhaps because this really is such a small pistol, and I found it necessary to grip the slide pretty much along it’s length between the four fingers and thumb of my left hand. I suppose one ‘can’ cock this pistol by gripping just the cocking serrations on the rear of the slide, but I don’t recommend this process, as doing this needs a grip tight enough to dimensionally compress the slide. After a few times though, it becomes second nature. The first shot was a genuine surprise. This thing shoots hard for a low priced springer, and I highly advise proper eye protection, particularly if there’s any chance of a ricochet. I didn’t ‘bench’ this thing for accuracy, however it will be interesting to observe how it groups and at what distances.
Trigger action was also a nice surprise, without any take-up similar to real Single action/double action Euro wonder nines. Apply pressure and the trigger moves rearward about 1/8 – 3/16 of an inch and releases crisply (on my example). Trigger pull is tactile but not as stiff. By the way, I didn’t subject the pistol to any torture tests or put a gazillion rounds through it, but however, it still impresses me only at that price. The gun comes in a cast Styrofoam box with a printed cardboard cover and an example pack of.12 gm. BBs, that were quickly dispensed through my example, without a hitch. So….there it is. I really like the P698, to their education it’s type of hard to place it down. I recently wonder if any real Glocks could be sold as a result of someones discovery of this fun little thing?
Addendum thoughts: To start with, why such a lengthy overview of an inexpensive spring pistol? First, there isn’t always a distinct and technically measurable correlation between the price of a product and the enjoyment one experiences in experience of it’s use. Quite simply, it doesn’t always take a bundle to have a lot of fun. Sometimes, there’s an an inverse expenditure/benefit correlation (more money, less fun). Besides, Airsoft customers seem to be very passionate regarding their opinions of everything Airsoft, and no wonder.