Airsoft Canada - HK3P Versus Marui Samurai Edge Mod. Standard.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge Resident Evil/ Biohazard buff. Shortly after getting into airsoft, I found out there were replicas of several Resident Evil firearms. Years later, I've obtained quite a few of them. None are as iconic as the Samurai Edge.

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A Brief History
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For those of you unfamiliar with it (and I doubt you'd be reading this far into my block of text if you aren't), the Samurai Edge is a Beretta 92 found in the RE universe. Designed at the Kendo gun store in Raccoon City, the Samurai Edge was ultimately accepted into service for the newly formed S.T.A.R.S team, partially funded by the Umbrella Corporation. At the time, Umbrella's more nefarious activities were unknown, and the company was simply Raccoon's largest benefactor.

The Samurai Edge is basically still just a fancy custom Beretta. The grips are wood, with textured surfaces and the RPD medallion inserted into the center, where the standard Beretta logo would be found. The gun has been equipped with a Bridagdier slide, and the grip extend far down enough that the lanyard loop had to be removed. Other features include the stainless steel barrel, night sights, and silver recoil rod. The gun made it's first official game appearance in Resident Evil 3, appearing again in more detail in the remake of the first game, and the rail shooter Chronicles games.

Tokyo Marui makes several Samurai Edge variants, with limited editions replicas of the guns used by Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Barry Burton. Note that the Barry Burton version is NOT the same gun as the standard Samurai Edge.

The replica I'm reviewing today is the "standard" model. This is closest to the Rebecca Chambers model. It has all the custom features of the Samurai Edge, but none of the personalitzation that each of the main characters requested.

The two models being compared are the Marui Std. Editon, and the HK3P standard edition. HK3P and Marui have since both realeased the Barry Burton version for the 15th anniversary of Biohazard. Hk3P also makes an (inaccurate) stainless version of the Samurai Edge.

Appearance
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On first appearances, both guns are exactly the same. They're both fairly good replicas of our favorite zombie buster. When you pick it up, however, the differences become apparent.

The HK3P Beretta is considerably heavier, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it weighs twice as more, even unloaded. Having handled and shot a few real Berettas, I'm tempted to say that it weights more than the real deal, but I can't confirm this.

When you start to pick at the finer details, the price point comes into play. The Marui is considerably more expensive, but almost completely plastic. The HK3P, however, is almost all metal, and about 100 bucks cheaper overseas. One of the first things you will notice is the thickness of the trigger guard.

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This image shows it all. The lower gun is the HK3P. As you can clearly see, the trigger guard is considerably thicker on the HK3p. In addition, the serrations on the front of the grip are more prolific on the Marui.

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These serrations never helped me grip the gun before (indeed, the Marui flew clean out of my hands and down a hill at my last zombies game), but it's nice to know that they're there. The sights are exactly the same on both models, although it's interesting to note that the Maruis aren't set quite as deeply as the HK3P.

The guide rods and barrels differ dramatically between the two.

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The HK3P model has what appears to be threading on the inside of the outer barrel. I don't have a suppressor to check, but it sure looks like you can screw on a silencer to it. Note that this is inaccurate to the game, as only Albert Wesker's Samurai Edge had a custom silencer-enabled barrel. The Marui features a textured, but unthreaded out barrel. What I like about the HK3P is that the inner barrel is also silver, whereas you can see the brass on the Marui's inner barrel.

Also note that the guide rods are different between both guns. The Marui's has an ugly, two piece faux-metal guide rod. The HK3P has a black guide rod. The Marui's is accurate, but it's incredibly ugly. This is where both guns fall a bit short.

Finally, note that while the Samurai Edge is supposed to have wood grips, NEITHER of the companies used real wood. They're both faux-wood plastic, however, the HK3P at least has a wood grain texture. The 15th anniversary Marui Chris Redfield Samurai Edge reportedly uses real wood for the grips. Fans will be happy to note that the trades and marks on both guns remain accurate to the game.

Performance
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Even before you do a live fire test, you can tell there are differences between these two guns. The Marui's trigger is unforunately two piece and there's a MASSIVE seam line running down the trigger. It's distracting and uncomfortable, but that doesn't detract from the performance of the shooting. The HK3P has a much nicer trigger, although the trigger pull is considerably heavier on it. The Marui seems to be more responsive overall, and the accuracy is incredible, as expected from a TM gun.

The HK3P is considerably louder during firing than the Marui. In a comparison between between four mags from both guns, the HK3P was found to be slightly less accurate than the Marui at 15 feet, room temperature, but only by such a small margin that it wouldn't matter at pistol range. The HK3P burns through gas, however, and only manages to squeeze out a mag and a half, versus 2.5 or even 3 from the Marui.

The HK3P's controls are stiffer than your grandmother's joints. The safety almost requires a considerable amount of force to move, and the take down lever is no different. The Marui's controls are smooth and efficient, but seem to be made of a lighter metal than the HK3P's.

Verdict
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It's difficult to say which gun is better. Obviously, the HK3P feels better, and as a gaming gun it does it's job. I'm rather impressed with the quality, having been a Marui fanboy for the longest time. It's not exactly going to win any gas sipper awards, but it holds it's own against the Marui in terms of accuracy. I'd recommend the HK3P for any RE fans looking to game with an SE. The Marui is fine as a gaming gun too, but incurs dents and scuffs just a bit too easily for my taste. They're both great shelf pieces. The choice is your own, although you won't go wrong with either one.