Marksman 1010 Review

Overall Rating

Its hefty, make no mistake
Only external plastic is the slide catch, trigger, breech block, and safety
Fun to shoot
Not difficult to cock
Aside from slide, accurately modeled
Slightly muzzle heavy
Short break-in time

Not too powerful
Not too accurate
Not a great trigger
Not very high-quality paint
Not very high quality metal
Plastic stands out
Sights cannot be adjusted in any way, not even drifted
Joint is painfully obvious from the back view
Injection molding seam very obvious on breech block
not too ergonomic; hands get sore

Lets make one thing clear. in Canada, this is a $40 dollar air pistol. in the USA, its a $20 air pistol. Please, keep these price figures in mind. What can you buy, that shoots projectiles, at that price? All that comes to mind is the cheapest, of the cheapest, of the CHEAPEST airsoft pistols. all plastic. You are getting a nearly full metal pistol here, and regardless of how poor the quality is, metal is tougher than plastic. Period. Remember this, as you read through other's reviews.

The packaging is plain; a blister package houses the pistol, a manual, and a seating tool. Not that it mattered; i bought a pistol, not packaging. One gripe, though, even though necessary for safety, the zip-tie that goes around the trigger is very difficult to remove without marring the paint. I managed only a small scratch, with some careful work. The first thing that struck me was how hefty it was. It was my main reason for buying it. I tried out a friend's and knew i had to have one. When you first get it, the action will be incredibly rough. So rough, in fact, that you may think the slide is jammed. Whack it, and it should move. Same goes for the slide catch, and trigger. These parts wear in eventually to a pleasant state. The trigger, when worn in, is extremely unexpected for any gun of this price. We are not discussing crispness; this isn't a match pistol. Rather, smoothness of the pull. In that respect, it gets pretty good. It stays a little on the heavy side, but its smooth. During the break in period, its very inconsistent. You may get pulls raging from an estimated 4 lbs to an estimated 8 lbs. As said, you may think it malfunctioned, but if you really strain to pull, the trigger will move.
The firing behavior is nice. It has the familiar forward kick of a springer, but is is very mild. Such that the recoil introduced some fun into shooting the pistol, like blow-back airsoft pistols, only in reverse. And the sounds it makes, while firing and being cocked, are very convincing (excluding the spring noise), nice, solid and hefty clicks.
Upon first shooting it, i suggest you shoot atleast 150 bbs. This lets any vaseline still trapped in the compression chamber to come out onto the barrel. then just clean it, as you would any other barrel.
If you skip this "conditioning", your dart's skirts will become impregnated with vaseline. Not much fun loading one of those. Out to 7 meters, you can hit pop cans on every shot with bbs.
Dart accuracy is a little better, extending your range to about 15 meters. The barrel is a smoothbore. It is short, but that isn't why its inaccurate. Length means absolutely nothing to accuracy. Its inaccurate, because it's a smoothbore. Simple. Remember, this is a plinking pistol, not a target pistol.
It's low powered, making construction of a back stop easy. A single layer of most carpet will easily absorb the energy and safely deflect bbs to the floor. Heck, a few sheets of cardboard will stop a bb from this pistol. It's no magnum, making it easy to cock.
You can do one cocking cycle in about 1-2 seconds, once the action breaks in and you get good at it.

You must consider what this pistol was made for; plinking. It does a great job, and on top of that it looks sharp and feels heavy and solid. Don't use it for serious target practice, and you will be very happy with this pistol. It's very well built for the price, and I'm sure you will get many hours of enjoyment from it.

Members' Comments onstarling death's Review

• pelletgunhunter on 12th Jul 2007

  I'm 14 and already know enough to NEVER buy a marksman regardless the price!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!They're rubbish!

• starling death on 13th Jul 2007

  What is it that you dislike about the 1010? If you can point out to me ANY airsoft gun for under $30CAD or $10USD that will perform better than the 1010, point taken. Thing is, though- NO/NONE/NADA/ZILCH airsoft gun under $10USD will last HALF as long or perform HALF as well as the 1010. For 10 bucks, you are talking full plastic door stoppers (if they stay in one piece when you lay it down). it is not a good pistol; but for the money, NOTHING comes close. It's ten bucks! People are much too critical. You pay ten bucks for many hours of plinking fun. I say, its not only worth the money- its fantastic value. Raw cost of labour and materials is probably half the cost!
  you need to appreciate the pistol for what its for. As said, go out and buy a $10 airsoft pistol and see how they compare.
  The airsoft pistol will not last for more than 500 shots, not in one piece. Hell, i bought 2 airsoft pistols for $80 CAD, and neither made it past the 200 shot mark! It is a plinker and a great intro to air pistols. If you end up breaking it, theres nothing to cry over.
  
  Its ten bucks, people!