Vorsk Pistols

It’s really exciting for any writer to be intimately involved with the development of new models, but luckily I’ve been around for long enough not only to get the nod on new development projects, but also to have a small amount of input on a personal level. Airsoft pistols are exciting things due to the fact that we (with certain explicit exceptions) cannot own the real deal in the UK, so if you enjoy handgun shooting (especially with some of the excellent new reactive smart target systems becoming available) then gas airsoft models are the way ahead!

I have been privileged to have been aware of the VORSK project since its very inception. I’ve seen sketches become 3D renders, and witnessed those renders become design drawings. I’ve in turn seen those design drawing wing their way off to the manufacturing plants in the Far East and seen the development pictures as parts came free of the all-new moulds.

I’ve been lucky enough to hear the passionate back-and-forths over the importance of a trigger design or hammer style, of how weight can be saved whilst maintaining durable structural integrity in a slide, and how the angle of a cut will have a profound effect on overall design and durability. Every tiny change has been brought to my attention, not for any kind of approval, but just so that I knew just how much attention there was to even the tiniest detail, and just how much love was going into creating something that didn’t even exist as an idea a few short months ago. In essence I’ve been privy to the process of creation of a totally new range of pistols from the seed of an idea, and to me this has been insanely satisfying.

A new direction

Following IWA 2019 my good friend Ross at NUPROL contacted me to discuss a new range of airsoft gas blowback pistols that were being discussed following the highly successful introduction of the RAVEN range (which by the way is set to continue growing!). In his mind, and indeed the mind of in-house technical boffin, Mark, was the seed of an idea, and that idea was to create a totally new range of handguns inspired by the finest and most innovative modern combat and competition designs.

Of course we all know the RAVEN pistols these days (although there are some cool new models which I’ll come back to at a later date!), and they are solid, workmanlike designs that have become popular amongst the users that know, understand, and love them, but time and taste moves on, and more and more we are shown handguns not only in the movies and in games, but in real life that are being produced not only to work perfectly, but to look darn good whilst they do so! Virtually every manufacturer, both real and airsoft, wants to stamp their own identity onto their creations and know that shooters get it. Of course, many of the design tweaks and fettles are driven by performance at the end of the day, so this is definitely a case of form meeting function.

Ross explained to me that the idea of the new range of pistols to be known collectively under the brand name of VORSK was to bring some unique and exciting concepts to life in the form of a totally new range of GBB pistols perfect for whatever the user’s airsoft adventure might be, from skirmish to training, from target to competition. Input was gleaned from airsoft pistol shooters around the world, and several fundamental principles were added to the concept brief.

Shooter-led

The VORSK models needed to come from a completely blank design-page to incorporate all the design form feedback received from shooters, with premium materials and parts married up to fresh looks which of course meant completely new, purpose-built moulds. Fit and finish had to be better than anything he and his team had ever created, and the look needed to be instantly and utterly recognisable as VORSK, as well as being recognisable as the models from the real shooting world that we know and love.

From this point onwards those designs I talked about earlier began to take life and shape, and those renders and design drawings started to become proof of concept pre-production samples. During the summer months of this year I started to see those “in the flesh”, and in my mind I knew that VORSK was going to be a winner. Every part has been meticulously chosen and tested to ensure fitness for purpose, every item from the new moulds scrutinised and re-checked for durability and longevity; what does happen when you start to add venting to a slide? Will that have an effect on the strength of the slide itself? Where can you mill out material, what effect does that have, and where do you need to add material to mitigate that?

I’m pleased to say that all of this, all the months of concept work, design, and development has resulted in VORSK pistols combining direct input from shooters around the globe with the experience of the best factories in the business to create a family of pistols that are equally at home on the skirmish field as on the range.

Now although Ross has provided me with two VORSK pistols, a Hi Capa 4.3 and an EU18, for long-term evaluation, I have shot the entire range; yup, that’s right, I’ve shot ALL of them! Starting with the snazzy new Hi Capas, my steels were a’clangin’ at 15-metres for quite some time! Although there is some cool down (as you would expect), the pistols keep on shooting, and with the EU models, although these seem a little less “punchy” than the Hi Capas, they still happily ring the steels at the same distance. I have tried a couple of walk-downs along the range, firing on the move and both variants keep things on target nicely. Mag changes are also a breeze as the extended floorplates on the mags and the flared magwells really help to push things along efficiently and smoothly.

Conclusion

Thus far with the long-termers both have performed well as new at 15m on steels, and at 10m on the Attack Sense Smart Target System using .20g RZR BBs, even on chilly winter days. In terms of the chrono, things are exactly where I hoped and expected; the VORSK HiCapa 4.3 recorded a high of 1.01-Joule/330fps using .20g RZRs and settled nicely in the 320’s on the same weight BB. The VORSK EU18 was highest at 0.78-Joule/290fps on a .20g RZR, settling in at 272fps. Both were efficient on NUPROL 2.0 Gas and accurate beyond the 10m combat distance I would normally use them at. Out of the box I can honestly say they performed as well as I expected.

You can keep fully up to date by following the VORSK page on Facebook, and with the range now on sale I’ll leave the final words to those found on the new VORSK webpages, and I can’t help but wholeheartedly agree: VORSK: Effective, Elegant, Mission Ready.