I've been a staunch supporter of Western Arms' SVI line for some time now. My last WA SVI purchase was the Expert 5" and I thought that might be the topping on the cake for me. Until I saw this pistol. It was reminiscent of the SVI Xcelerator hybrid I always wanted to get, but not so flashy in color. It was perfect. A member of AirsoftForum.com who is a practical shooter in Japan, put me on the Classic Hybrid long before it was available at Hong Kong retailers. Needless to say I had set out to make sure I got one of these before they sold out and went into the dreaded "out of production" list that so many awesome SVI's have fallen into.

As you can see from the photos, the Western Arms SVI Classic Hybrid is a bit "flashy". Some would say VERY Flashy, but I have owned a WA SVI Xcelerator or two. She's pretty enough to make people smile and wow, but mean looking enough to make them shudder if you were to take it into competition or out on the skirmish field.

The consctruction materials are the same as the majority of the rest of the Western Arms SVI line, that is to say: Metal Frame, "Heavyweight" ABS plastic slide, plastic grip and trigger gaurd, Metal outer barrel and port cover, metal spring guide, metal hammer, metal trigger, metal takedown lever, metal ambidextrous safety. Magazines are metal with a plastic "replaceable" feed lip and plastic foot.

Safeties:

As with all the SVI's (except the Prokillers) this gun has ambidextrous thumb safeties. A hammer safety and a palm (grip) safety. The thumb safeties can only be engaged when the hammer is cocked back all the way in the ready to fire position. The hammer safety can be engaged without the gun being cocked, but I don't ever use it. You simply pull the hammer back slightly, then release and it goes into safe, which prohibits the trigger from being squeezed. Then again, the palm safety, which is along the back of the grip, must be depressed or the trigger can not be engaged. (Making sure it cannot be fired unless you are holding the pistol properly.)

You can see the palm safety in this picture:

Slide action:

My first use of this Pistol was in TAPSS competition in a cool basement (Guessing about 66-68 degrees F.) Even given the cool temperatures, I was taking no chances with green gas in this new gun. During a break in practice rounds I took advantage of a clear course to test the cycle time. My first magazine was filled with half HFC134A and half Green Gas. I shot 30 rounds in a series of 3 round bursts over a period of about 20 seconds. The slide cycle time was quick, clean and crisp on every shot.

Next I filled with ONLY HFC134A and repeated the same 30 round, 20 second test. Again, cycle time was quick, clean and crisp on every shot. The new SCW3 gas system performed flawlessly, with plenty of blowback strength using HFC134A (The "low power" gas) in low temperatures.

Trigger pull:

This has the sliding trigger like all 1911 style pistols have. (As opposed to pivot triggers on other types of pistols) and the trigger pull (Trigger squeeze) is less than average. I would say its about 2-3 pounds, with about 3 mm of slack before you feel the resitance of the action. Without measuring equipment though, that is only a guess.

6 Inch Barrel:

The SVI Classic Hybrid model, while advertised as having a 6 inch barrel, the internal tighbore barrel actually measures out at just about 5.5 inches in length. The extra 1/2 an inch being lost in the distance from the end of the cosmetic rifled outer barrel to where the end of the inner barrel actually is. After checking with my 5" SVI Expert, the same 1/2 inch loss exists there as well, making the SVI 5" models actually have 4.5 inch inner barrels.

I don't consider that any sort of problem, considering the accuracy this pistol, and my other WA SVI's have shown.

Sights:

A return to the classic Bomar sights, with a white dot on the front post, but no dots on the rear sight. This did pose a problem for me while shooting in dark areas. I may end up painting some white dots on the rear sight to fix this problem, if I don't ultimately put a rail and reflex sight on it for competition.

Magazine release:

If there were one thing I WISH the SVIs had, it would be ambidextrous magazine releases. (And slide release, to use when going Dual Pistol) But those are very rare anyway. That aside, the mag release is very easy to reach and the magazine drops out smooth and quick.

Slide catch:

The slide catch is very crisp and catches solid on the last shot, yet it is easy to release when you slap the next magazine in. One thing I will need to watch for is wear out of the slide catch. My older SVI has shown a pattern of wear making the slide not always catch on the last shot after many overall shots fired. If there would be ANY reason to replace the stock slide with a metal slide... the slide catch wear issue would be the reason.

Fixed Hop Up:

One of the worries people had when this model was announced was regarding it not having an adjustable hop up. Well I would have to say Western Arms did a GREAT job with the setting on the fixed hop up. Using .25 gram bbs this baby has the perfect rise and fall over range. Although I have not yet tested the idea, I am guessing that using a .29 gram bb will flatten out the rise just right for short range competition use.

Accuracy:

The following accuracy test was performed with the Western Arms SVI Classic Hybrid SCW3 in 72 degrees F. using HFC134A gas. The target used was the TAPSS official target with hostage enhancement, printed at 8.5X11 on plain paper. The range from muzzle to target was 10 feet. My shooting stance was a two handed 45 degre stance. 10 shots total were fired. 7 in slow consistent fire followed by 3 in rapid fire.

The 7 slow fire shots had a grouping size of 1". The 3 rapid fire shots showed my usual drift to the upper left, taking the overall grouping to 1.5 inches. I have since learned what it is that causes this drift to the upper left. Its a problem with my own technique, one I am working to fix. Fortunately, I didn't kill the hostage.... Needless to say, the SVI Classic Hybrid is a VERY accurate gun.

Compeition results:

After using this pistol in the TAPSS event held at Aggressive Sports Joliet in January, I have found it to be a dream to shoot and handle. While I did not win the competition I did well enough to be proud of my attempts. I would guess that If I were paying more attention to my own competion runs, rather than running the competition, I would have done better on my own runs.

I have not yet used this gun in any skirmish event. Though, based on my experience with other Western Arms SVI pistols. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this pistol can stand up to combat conditions.

The SVI pistol line is one of the most upgradable pistol lines in the airsoft world. You can get any number of custom metal slides, custom hammers, custom grips, custom magwells, custom triggers, upgraded recoil springs, hammer springs, hi flow valves and anything else your heart desires. One thing I DO recommend any SVI owner look into is the various brands of Feed Lips for the magazine. Made by Gaurder, PGC, Shooters Design and a couple others. The number one thing that wears out fastest are the stock feed lips. The Shooters design feed lips are actually made of stainless steel instead of plastic, but cost a hefty 25 bucks.

As with all my previous Western Arms purchases, this one did not dissapoint. Its pretty, tough, accurate, and LOUD.... The inclusion of the compensator lowers the slide weight over that of a normal 6 inch autoloader, making the blowback faster than expected. Even