ASG CZ Shadow 2 4.5mm CO2 Air Gun Pistol

"Fantastic fit & finish, usual high quality ASG pistol. Expensive, but worth it! Very accurate at 15-18ft, consistent POI, very few flyers, you will blow out your bullseye! NOTE: Not in manual, but Rear Sight adjusts for elevation (click-stop screw). Four magazines on one CO2 capsule. Added the new black grip panels (ID: 97904 ), looks even better! NOTE: the grips and magazines work on ALL: CZ 75; Shadow SP-01; and Shadow 2. Mix and Match - I have successfully swapped magazines on all three pistols as wall as swapped out grips. This BB pistol sparks much joy.

"The Good: the look, the weight, full blowback, functional slide catch and ambidextrous safety, and full size mag. Realistic field stripping.

The Bad: low power, unreliable cycling, and incorrect mag capacity.

ASG did an excellent job replicating the look of the Shadow 2. The CZ markings on the slide and the grip are nice and clear. The outer barrel has a glossy plastic look (it's probably plastic, but I'm not 100% sure since the description says "full metal construction".) The full metal frame and slide gives it a hefty weight. The slide and frame fit well with very little rattle.

Despite chambering the 4.5mm BBs, it seems this was designed and intended as an airsoft. The airsoft version was released first. I suspect ASG just swapped out the mag and the inner barrel to make this airgun version (but I don't own the airsoft version to confirm if the rest is really interchangeable). The power, rated at 1.35 j, is slightly above the airsoft's 1.0 j, but with the heavier 4.5mm steel BB, the muzzle velocity is 13% slower (285 fps vs 328 fps). The hop up is necessary for anything beyond 5 yards.

The hop up adjustment requires field stripping the slide to reach, which is a hassle for the initial tuning, but once the hop up is tuned, it's not a big deal.

A separate allen wrench (included) is needed to load the CO2 cartridge. There are some CO2 airguns that have some creative ways to buildin an allen wrench in the gun for convenience.

Gas efficiency is about 4 mags (or about 60-70 paced shots at room temp) per cartridge.

Trigger pull is smooth. The SA is pretty light. It is supposed to be a competition gun after all. The hammer also has the half-cocked position, and the safety can be engaged in either half or full cocked position. The half cocked trigger pull is as light as SA since it does not actually raise the hammer to the full cocked position before dropping it. For the DA pull, there's a audible click when the hammer passes the half cock position, and if one let go the trigger at this point, the hammer would stay half cocked.

The grip panels are thin. It feels slimmer than an M9 grip. The undercut trigger guard and the high beaver tail are all faithfully replicated. The checkering in front and back of the grip are very aggressive. They are good for preventing slipping in the hand, but they can bite into un-gloved hand.

The rear sight is adjustable as on the real steel, but I have not find the need to adjust it once the hop up is tuned.

The mag has a 17 capacity, single stacked, unlike the airsoft version that doubled stacked a dozen more bigger BBs in it. One can argue that the real steel standard mag has a 17 rd capacity, so this is more realistic, but the mag uses the "Plus 2" base plate, which would make the real steel version 19 capacity.

Finally, out of the box, the gun fails to cycle properly on the first test shot, and every a few shots. After lubing the rails some more, and manually racking the slide a dozen times to break it in, it works better, but the failure still occurs every other mag or so. It does not jam, the slide is not locked back by the slide catch, but the slide doesn't return completely. Maybe it needs a stronger recoil spring, or maybe it just needs more shots to break it in.