Type: BB air pistol
Manufacturer: Daisy
Model: 5501
Materials: Mostly metal
Weight: 1.44 pounds
Barrel: 4 inches, smooth bore
Propulsion: CO2
Action: Semi auto, blowback, single action
Ammunition Type: Steel BBs 4.5mm
Ammunition Capacity: 15 rounds
FPS: Up-to 430
Trigger Pull: The trigger pull on the Daisy Powerline 5501 is about average, a bit long but fairly smooth and about a medium pull weight. The first part of the action loads a BB into the chamber and the second part releases the hammer which give the pistol a bit of a creepy first stage.
Accuracy: I was not impressed with how my Daisy 5501 performed in the accuracy portion of this review, it got about a 3 inch 8 shot group from 20 feet out in a semi rested position, in comparison many of my BB pistols can easily get a 1 inch grouping shooting this way. I may try a different brand of BBs even though the RWS BBs I used where of high quality, they just may have not suited this pistol? FPS velocities where a bit under the manufacturers claimed ratings but very close at a respectable average of 386 fps with my 8 shot test shooting on a somewhat cold day. Not bad for a blowback pistol!
Build Quality: The Daisy Powerline 5501 is a pretty much all metal pistol with what looks to be very good build quality. The 5501 is made in Japan, I have found most Japanese made guns to be well made in the past. The frame, slide, trigger, safety, slide catch, CO2 screw, and de-cocker are all metal and of course many of the internal parts too. The only plastic parts to speak of are the grips and the magazine. I would have liked to have seen the magazine with more metal in it but for the most part it is protected within the gun so you should be OK.
Realism: The Daisy Powerline 5501 is loosely styled after the Sig Sauer in combination with a Walther semi auto pistol. It is lacking a cut-out ejection port that would have added greatly to its realism. I would have also liked to have seen a metal magazine as it's seems a bit cheap compared to the rest of the pistol. I do like the fact that the barrel tip has a large diameter opening making the gun look more like the larger caliber weapon it is styled after. It's also one of the few BB pistols with a working de-coker on it.
Pros:
Cons:
Comments: All in all I liked this Daisy Powerline 5501, other than the poor results I got in terms of accuracy using my chosen zinc platted RWS BBs, the Powerline 5501 was really very good in all other aspects. I think it is a rather nice looking gun with excellent build quality throughout with lots of metal giving the 5001 a nice 1.5 pounds weight. The Daisy 5501 had very heavy and snappy blowback while retaining decent shots per CO2 and respectable close to 400 fps real world velocities.