Tokyo Marui M9 Military Chrome Version Review

By Brandon
March 01, 2009

So lets face it.  The M9 is potentially the most commonly owned sidearm in airsoft.  Sure, you may have competition from a few other well proliferate models like Glocks, and more recently 1911s.  These pale in comparison to the sheer size of the airsoft catalog of M9s, from all different manufacturers (TM, WA, KSC, KWA, STTI, KJW, HFC, Bell, and the list continues infinitely…) and all different variants (Western Arms alone offers more than 45 variants of this single pistol).

As such, I feel safe in saying that the M9 replica is something that most airsofters will come across sometime in their lifetime.  Today we’ll take a look at the Tokyo Marui M9 Military model in chrome, and find out if it’s up to snuff.

A Brief History of the M9 Handgun:

In 1980, the United States Army began to look for the eventual successor of the famed – but aged – Colt M1911A1 series of pistol as the standard and primary sidearm to it’s forces. The Italian firm of Beretta already had developed their Model 92 series enough to enter it into competitive trials, to which the US Army showed elevated interest.

After being selected as the primary developer of the next US Army sidearm, Beretta took it’s 92SB model back to the drawing boards with some added US modification requirements. The resulting design produced the 92F, which was accepted into US service with the designation of Pistol M9.

In The Movies:

With the widespread use of the M9, its quite logical that it isn’t at all hard to find in the movies.  I’m going to limit my discussion to the use of chrome/stainless M9s, because that is after all what I’m reviewing.

One noteable appearance of a chrome/stainless M9 is as the preferred sidearm of Jean Reno in the action classic ‘Ronin’

In the ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remake, a chrome/stainless M9 is used by Mekhi Phifer’s character in many scenes.

Jason Statham’s character uses a chrome/stainless M9 through most of the first transporter as well.

This gun has other impressive movie credits as well, including appearances in Enemy of the State, Babylon A.D., A History of Violence, Rush Hour, Resident Evil and many other movies.  If you’re watching an action movie, it’s likely you’ll see one of these.

The Replica:

Now we’ll take a look at the replica in question.  The replica comes in fairly standard Marui regalia, a standard black box with well composed photographs of the box’s contents and Marui Logos.  I didn’t have the box handy to take a photo of, so I apologize but that will be added later.

First Impressions:

Opening up the box, you’re greeted with this:

A shiny chrome M9 replica.  I will be the first to commend the faux chrome finish on this gun, as it makes the gun feel very svelte and stylish.  I know some people out there don’t like the ‘plastichrome’ idea, but really they’re just haters.  In my opinion, this thing simply looks good.  Everything good has a trade-off though, and the trade off here is that the smooth shiny surface of this gun shows fingerprints at the slightest touch.  Also, as evident from the pictures, the chrome finish has begun to chip away from the slide in a few high wear areas, like the slide lock.  The finish seems to be relatively delicate, and I can only imagine what holsterwear would do to it over a long period of time.

The magazine looks just as good as the rest of the gun, with an excellent looking brushed metal finish.  As for markings, CAL 9mm PARA MADE IN JAPAN is stamped into the mag.  The only niggle I had with the mag was a large “M92F Military Model, Tokyo Marui” stamp on the baseplate of the gun.  In all though, the magazine looks just as good as the rest of the gun.

Externals:

One advantage to having a Marui over a KJ or an HFC is the reasonably accurate and well done trademarks.  The below photograph shows the markings on the front left side of the slide.  The real M9 is marked in a variety of fashions, all beginning with US 9mm M9, and then continuing either as P. Beretta, Beretta U.S.A., or Military.  Looks like Marui did a good job on this one.

The manufacturer’s proof stamp however is incorrect.  Behind the trademarking on the real gun is PB stamped in an oval.  On this however, the mark says MB.  So it isn’t 100% accurate, but then again at least they replicated the mark so only the most scrutinous eye can tell it isn’t correct.

The top of the barrel is stamped with the stainless marking to denote the silver finish.  This is another detail from the real one that has been faithfully reproduced on the marui.  There is however no matching ‘stainless’ marking on the front of the slide, as there should be.

On the right side of the gun, the trades read US 9mm M9 TOKYO MARUI Co.,Ltd. 29598 MADE IN JAPAN.  This differs slightly from the real deal, as it simply says Mod M9 and the Caliber.

Here one can see a few more various proofing stamps, as well as the ASGK markings.

The grips are nicely textured in a decent rubber material, and they do have the Beretta trademark stamp, however it does not have the P. Beretta marking found on the real deal.

Overall, you wind up with an extremely nice replica with a good finish, and a ton of reasonably accurate trademarks.

Operations:

In terms of functionality, the gun operates quite nicely.  The slide fitment is perfect, with no wiggle-room.  The the single/double action trigger of the real gun is faithfully reproduced.

The slide lock also works quite well, always locking the slide on the last bb, even when low on gas.

The safety is accurate to the real deal, and fully functional.  Leaving the safety up leaves the gun ‘hot’ and ready to fire.

When pushed down, this disconnects the trigger, and the hammer can no longer be released.  One difference however between the replica and the real M9 is that when the safety is activated here, the hammer is not de-cocked.  This is inaccurate, as this also serves as the de-cocking lever on the real gun.  Another small niggle, but again, not a deal-killer.

Another interesting aspect of this gun is accurate field stripping.  Granted most of the other M9 style pistols have this feature, it is still noteworthy.

To disassemble the gun, begin by pushing in the button on the right side of the gun’s frame, and swing the disassembly lever down to the open position.  You can then pull the slide forward off of the frame.

To remove the spring and the barrel, pull the recoil rod bushing back from the front of the slide, then pull the whole recoil spring, rod bushing forwards and out of the gun.  The barrel can also be removed after you do this.  At this point, the gun is fully stripped.

Shooting Impressions:

So we’ve seen how it looks, but how does it shoot?

Loading the gun up with propane, I brought it out to my backyard to put it through its paces.  Before shooting the two targets, I shot a few practice mags to get a feel for how the gun actually performs.

The gun holds 27 rounds in the magazine, which is a relatively large capacity amount for an airsoft magazine.  Filling the mag is simple, as the baseplate has the hole for your gas source drilled.  While it doesn’t have a silent fill valve like some of the more recent guns, as long as the angle is right, very little gas escapes.

Stepping up to shoot, I popped off a magazine with slow concentrated shots.  The blowback on the gun is very quick and crisp, but the gun is not loud, and due to the lightweight plastic slide, the kick is rather anemic.  The trigger is also relatively vague, with it being very difficult to get a good feel for the actual break point on single action, and nigh on impossible in double action.

Also, worthy of mention on this gun is that it has a fixed hopup.  While this is a plus in that you don’t have to worry about fiddling with it, its also a downside as one loses adjustability.  Shooting straight out, .25 BBs have a loping arc out to about 75 feet.  The gun chronoed (on propane and .25s on an extremely cold day) right around 255, with a few outliers.

Next, the handgun was shot at targets at 25 and 50 ft respectively.

At 25 ft, everything appears as one would expect, with a very tight grouping around the center of the target.  Only 2 or 3 were fliers, and none missed the target completely.

At 50 ft, the gun actually outperformed my expectations, leaving a reasonably good grouping.  22/27 bb’s hit the target, with the other 5 flying to the left or to the right, with a bias to the right.  This is still a decent grouping for a GBB at 50 feet.

In all, the blowback is good if not convincing, and the gun is reasonably accurate.  In all tests, the gun shot a full load of BBs on one charge of gas to the mag, and locked the slide.  On the actual performance side of things, this is a pretty decent little pistol!

Update:

Feb 7-2009: After leaving the gun hanging on the wall for a year, the seal on the bottom of the mag would no longer hold gas.  I fixed this by soaking the O-Ring in silicone for an hour.  The next week however, the mag was failing in the same manner.  I then soaked the O-Ring in silicone for 24 hours, and the mag now holds air.  I’m not sure how permanent this fix is, but signs are positive as it gassed properly when it was time to shoot for the review.

Overall:

Performance: 4.5/5

This is another demonstration of Marui’s excellent GBB manufacturing capabilities.  The gun cycles well even when low on gas, and the blowback is quick and crisp.  Accuracy is good if not excellent, only slight downside is weak feeling blowback.

External Design: 4/5

A triumph of style over substance, the chrome finish wears easily, and reflects a ton of light, yet I still love it.  Not really skirmish friendly due to the fragility of the finish, but still, gorgeous nonetheless.

Value: 2.5/5

Available in the $130 range overseas, this doesn’t really present super value for a plastic pistol.

Overall: 3.5/5

In this gun, you wind up with a relatively reliable (with a bit of basic maintenance) plastic replica.  While the TM’s performance cannot be argued with, it can be argued that a better gun can be had for the money.  What it comes down to is an argument of aesthetics. That is; do you need trademarks? and do you want to go for a lower quality pistol just to make it full metal with a manufacturer like KJ or HFC?  What you get here is a good looking, but ordinary pistol with average build quality and pretty decent shooting characteristics.

The Final Verdict: Depends on Perspective.

I can’t come down with a solid recommendation that fits everyone on this gun.  I’d recommend it as a keeper to the trademark lovers out there, and the collectors, and even the customizers who are going to dump a bunch of metal bits into it anyways.  I would however recommend people steer clear of it who are new to the sport and want a good knock around skirmish gun that will get minimal maintenance.  Thus, before you consider this gun, really think of your application for it, and whether it fits your needs.