Airsoft International – July 2018

064 WWW.ZEROONEAIRSOFT.COM

SAI EMG 1911

Ignoring everything I have just written,

as I want to look at this without a biased

perspective, I’m going to start with the

externals, build quality, and overall aesthetics.

The first thing I noticed is how rigid this thing

is. Even the box it arrived in is robust and

solid, but the 1911 itself looks bomb proof right

from the off. The pistol is full metal, and when

I say full, I mean literally everything apart

from the fibre optic. The slide, frame, controls,

trigger, and even the stippled hand guards are

alloy. My immediate thoughts were positive;

I mean this thing is seriously going to stand

up to pretty much anything you can throw

at it. With that level of robustness comes a

downfall though, and that is the weight. To be

polite, she’s a little on the heavy side, nothing

to drastic, but enough to immediately feel the

difference between this and the plethora of

replica 1911’s on the market.

The slide, frame, and magazine end cap are

a dull flat black through and through, with the

controls and rear sight being a slightly darker

satin black. The subtle colour differences

between the 2 complement each other and

add depth to the overall look of the 1911. The

hammer and trigger are skeletonized and

silver in colour, and cut to a form that echoes

other features on the pistol, and the outer

barrel is gold. Sticking with the outer barrel

for a second, I’m not sure how I feel about

the colour. On the one hand, when you hold

the pistol at arm’s length, I really like it. The

gold contrasts against the black, and it looks

different and somewhat special. However, up

close, it looks like the same colour gold you

would find on a ‘good luck cat’ that you may

come across in the local Chinese takeaway.

Now either I eat way too much Chinese food

and it’s clouded my judgement,

or I may just be onto something.

Regardless, that particular feature

is redeemed with “SAI” and “.45 ACP”

being scribed into the outer barrel, and the

overall appearance is unique, and actually, I

believe it to be quite desirable.

Trademarks, take your pick, there all over

the place, and with logos to match too. You’ll

even find the Salient logo on the bottom of

the magazine, just in case you’re grasping

the pistol grip with both hands but your

enemy wants to know what they’ve just been

shot by. There’s even a serial number on the

dangerous end of the frame, which I thought

was a nice touch. The pistol grip features

a more than adequate amount of stippling

on all four sides, in fact even the magazine

release button is stippled. The pistol grip

itself is actually quite chunky, being fairly

deep and wide. I would say I’m reasonably

average in dimensions, and I found it a little

cumbersome. It feels more than comfortable

to shoot, and operating the safety lever

wasn’t an issue, but when it came time to

insert a new mag and release the slide I found

that I couldn’t do it while pointing at the

target as my thumb wasn’t long enough. This

probably won’t be an issue for most, and to be

fair, it may well just be a habit I have got into

through using my own pistol which allows me

to release the slide while aiming.

I found that after around 30 minutes, muscle

memory took over, and I kept the 1911 canted

over throughout the process of changing the

magazine and releasing the slide, and then

re-aiming at the target. The trigger guard has

a 90 degree squared shape to it, and combined

with the straight trigger, gives plenty of access

when using the pistol with gloves. I have to say

it, it looks pretty cool too! In terms of safety,

the Salient 1911 features a beavertail switch on

the rear of the pistol grip, so that it can only be

fired if held, and the main safety leaver itself

is ambidextrous so both left and right handed

shooters are catered for, until you have to use

the slide release that is. Lastly, racking the

slide is made easier with the serrated ridges

on both the front and rear of the slide, and the

magwell is flared for easier reloading.

This 1911 by salient arms, In a nutshell, is

externally solid, looks aggressive but keeps a

professional and sleek appearance. despite a

slightly heavier than average feel, I’d give the

externals a solid 9 out of 10.

PISTOL RE VIEW SALIENT ARMS SAI EMG 1911 - IN ASSOCIATION WITH ZEROONEAIRSOF T.COM

THIS 1911 BY

SALIENT ARMS, IN A

NUTSHELL, IS EX TERNALLY

SOLID, LOOKS AGGRESSIVE BUT

KEEPS A PROFESSIONAL AND SLEEK

APPEARANCE. DESPITE A SLIGHTLY

HEAVIER THAN AVERAGE FEEL,

I’D GIVE THE EXTERNALS A

SOLID 9 OUT OF 10.

TRADEMARKS...

THEY 'RE ALL OVER THE

PL ACE, AND WITH LOGOS TO

MATCH TOO. YOU’LL EVEN FIND THE

SALIENT LOGO ON THE BOT TOM OF THE

MAG, JUST IN CASE YOU’RE GRASPING

THE PISTOL GRIP WITH BOTH HANDS

BUT YOUR ENEMY WANTS TO

KNOW WHAT THEY ’VE JUST

BEEN SHOT BY.

IN A SSOCIATION WITH

063-066 PISTOL.indd 64 29/05/2018 11:58