FAQ for Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa, 2011, 1911, MEU & Detonics type variants

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by intinerious

The strong, weak, strong, etc. recoil phenomenon was with the stock spring...nonetheless, could cuting off 2 tiny pieces of plastic from the stock valve really make it too light for the stock spring to work properly?

Not really sure. It's just a theory. You would need to test more to figure this out. I have not looked in to this myself. Cutting off the two prongs could also affect structural integrity in such a way that it is causing the back "plate" of the valve to flex, and thus, not achieving a proper seal for full blowback strength.

Originally Posted by intinerious

Do you mind telling me what your hi capa's FPS is?

It is not a fair comparison, because that particular Hi-Capa is highly tuned, also with 7" 6.01mm tightbore barrel. Power output with 0.30g BB (1.5 Joules) makes it equivalent to almost 405fps with 0.20g BB.

[intinerious]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

It is not a fair comparison, because that particular Hi-Capa is highly tuned, also with 7" 6.01mm tightbore barrel. Power output with 0.30g BB (1.5 Joules) makes it equivalent to almost 405fps with 0.20g BB.

I'm an idiot; should've asked you what's the highest FPS you managed with green gas/propane for an MEU setup (and what aftermarket parts you used)!

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Not really sure. It's just a theory. You would need to test more to figure this out. I have not looked in to this myself. Cutting off the two prongs could also affect structural integrity in such a way that it is causing the back "plate" of the valve to flex, and thus, not achieving a proper seal for full blowback strength.

Ah I see. Well, I'll rather not mess with the valve then...it could be due to flexing as you described since it's much more easier to bend the floating valve after cutting off 2 prongs. I guess I'll need to spend some money on getting the Action floating valve for highest FPS.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by intinerious

I'm an idiot; should've asked you what's the highest FPS you managed with green gas/propane for an MEU setup (and what aftermarket parts you used)!

Like I said several posts back, I was not successful with 9ball floating valve spring in MEU.

[intinerious]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Like I said several posts back, I was not successful with 9ball floating valve spring in MEU.

Ah sorry, I missed what you said earlier.

In that case I believe that since the hi capa mag holds more gas, the volume per second into the nozzle is larger than that of the MEU mag, the hi capa build would be able to compress the stiffer floating valve spring quicker and hence less gas being wasted shooting out of the barrel once the bb has left; more effieciency than the MEU set up.

I'll wager that the problems you had with the MEU were weak blowback and only able to shoot around 10 bbs out of a fully charged mag, am I correct?

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by intinerious

I'll wager that the problems you had with the MEU were weak blowback and only able to shoot around 10 bbs out of a fully charged mag, am I correct?

The problems were similar/same as P226. Weak blowback was not always, but the constant was huge clouds of excess gas waste (seen blowing out the back of the slide near the blowback unit), quick depletion of all gas reserves, and quickly dropping FPS output on each successive shot. And yes, reduced shot output (sometimes as low as only 6 shots.) This was very typical result of using this spring on any single stack setup (P226, 1911/MEU, etc.)

[intinerious]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

The problems were similar/same as P226. Weak blowback was not always, but the constant was huge clouds of excess gas waste (seen blowing out the back of the slide near the blowback unit), quick depletion of all gas reserves, and quickly dropping FPS output on each successive shot. And yes, reduced shot output (sometimes as low as only 6 shots.) This was very typical result of using this spring on any single stack setup (P226, 1911/MEU, etc.)

Thanks for the info! This'll really help me when I start upping my FPS on my MEU!

[Boyso]

Hello everyone.

I'm looking into upgrading estheticly my Hicapa 5.1

It's currently fitted with a Tanio Koba grip and the rest is stock.

I want to use it with my WWII kit, for its game-ability, but also try to make it a bit more "1911ish"

So I've been searching around a bit and I came across these two slides.

PGC Springfield (http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/pgc-sprin...5-1-black.html)
AND
Guarder Sprinfield (http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/guarder-a...ringfield.html)

I am hoping to change the slide, outer barrel and to add a bushing up front. Thing is I've read the PGC couldn't be used with a bushing.

What about the Guarder? I know they seems to have pretty loose tolerances on their slides, but I'm really into gaming, not into pratical shooting. If it can take a beating and still work, I'll be happy.

About Outer barrels, I'm really new between the one-piece, two-piece, fixed, rotary and all. I just thought it needed to be changed with the slide to ensure propper fitment, and also the slide not chewing the stock outer barrel. Amirite?

Except that, would I need to change also to a 150% spring and High flow valves?

Thanks!

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by LastSpartan

Hello everyone.

I'm looking into upgrading estheticly my Hicapa 5.1

It's currently fitted with a Tanio Koba grip and the rest is stock.

I want to use it with my WWII kit, for its game-ability, but also try to make it a bit more "1911ish"

So I've been searching around a bit and I came across these two slides.

PGC Springfield (http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/pgc-sprin...5-1-black.html)
AND
Guarder Sprinfield (http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/guarder-a...ringfield.html)

I am hoping to change the slide, outer barrel and to add a bushing up front. Thing is I've read the PGC couldn't be used with a bushing.

What about the Guarder? I know they seems to have pretty loose tolerances on their slides, but I'm really into gaming, not into pratical shooting. If it can take a beating and still work, I'll be happy.

About Outer barrels, I'm really new between the one-piece, two-piece, fixed, rotary and all. I just thought it needed to be changed with the slide to ensure propper fitment, and also the slide not chewing the stock outer barrel. Amirite?

Except that, would I need to change also to a 150% spring and High flow valves?

Thanks!

1. If you want to do a WWII impression, then get a Colt M1911A1 Government. Don't half ass it with a Hi-Capa hybrid. That's just my personal opinion and your own tastes may differ so I won't knock you for it. To each his own. I'm just saying that's what I'd do. With that out of the way...

2. PGC Hi-Capa slides will not accept barrel bushings. In fact, almost all Hi-Capa slides will not accept 1911 barrel bushings, with the exception of ILLusion Kinetics.

3. If you want to use a straight barrel & bushing setup, you'll need to get either:
a) ILLusion Kinetics slide with custom shortened barrel bushing locking spring plug. No Military Model markings/styling exist at this time for this brand.
b) A Shooters Design slide that has a barrel bushing notch, Shooters Design barrel bushing set, & Shooters Design straight barrel setup. All of these parts use proprietary dimensions, so you can not use parts from other brands/guns. No Military Model markings/styling exist at this time for this brand.
c) A slide that's actually made for the Marui Colt M1911A1 Government Military Model. At this time, I only know of such slides that come in full metal upgrade kits with frames. Depending on what set you get, you may also need to source out 1911 sights. These are not easy to find on their own.

I've noted some issues you may encounter with either of those options.

4. Guarder die cast slides are crap and I don't like them for a myriad of reasons. But suffice it to say: Guarder is crap. And oh yeah, it doesn't accept barrel bushings either. Oh yeah, it's also really crap. Not just in regards to precision/practical shooting... but more for engineering craptasticness, machining craptasticness... so yeah, it's crap. Oh yeah, it's really cheap so you get what you pay for: Cheap crap. On the upside, if you lose that pistol you won't cry so much because that cheap crap slide was a cheap piece of crap. Same goes if you scratch it, ding it, get sand inside it, or take a crap on it. It'll still be crap. It'll probably work after you put in a couple hours of work on it, though, and again it's really cheap. If that's all you need, then by all means, go for it.

5. Get an outer barrel that fits with your slide, if you want the least amount of headaches. If you're getting a Guarder slide, then you should probably just throw it out and get a new slide, because you'd be surprised at how many barrels DON'T work with Guarder slides right out of the box. SURPRISE! Even Guarder's own outer barrel won't work with their own slide! What was it that I said about their slides again? Oh, right. They're crap.
But yes, you will need to change your outer barrel when you upgrade to a metal slide. Otherwise, the metal slide will chew up the chamber.

6. Along with metal slide upgrades, and a metal outer barrel to support that upgrade, I'd also recommend an enhanced recoil spring, otherwise the heavier metal slide (heavier than the plastic one) will slow down blowback speed. Also, an enhanced nozzle is highly recommended with all these upgrades on propane use. The stock one's not meant to take that much pressure and is known to crack/explode.

High flow valves are not necessary, unless getting a big FPS boost and hard kicking blowback are also a requirement.

[Boyso]

Thanks for the reply!

I would invest in a proper TM 1911, but money is tight right now and I could game the same pistol between loadouts. But to me, it's still more about functionnality than look and as long as it looks like a 1911 in a leather holster from like 20 meters, I'm fine with it for now

But thanks for the comments on the different slides! I'm into aircraft conception program right now so I see what you mean about tolerances and machining.

If we forget about the barrel bushings, PGC is good?

But thanks, much appreciated!

EDIT : Just had a look at WGC. I see SD and 9Ball also have the Springfield slide. I've read bad things about 9B internals in this thread but not much about externals. SD seems to be good from what I understood. (I'm still unfamilliar with all the internals of the Hi-Capa)

EDIT 2 : Dang, just noticed the 9Ball slide is actually plastic. Nevermind!

[m61a1]

Dang, just noticed the 9Ball slide is actually plastic. Nevermind!

did anybody ever try the 9ball plastic slide ? is it stronger than marui plastic slide ?
in here, 9ball pastic slide were on the same price as guarder slide, about 75 USD

[RacingManiac]

Remember most 9Ball parts are made for Japan's low power gas, so its not fair to assume that they are made for any more powerful stuff.....

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by LastSpartan

If we forget about the barrel bushings, PGC is good?

They're decent, but may require a bit of work. I'd prefer SD if you had to get an off-the-shelf product that had the Springfield markings.

Originally Posted by LastSpartan

EDIT : Just had a look at WGC. I see SD and 9Ball also have the Springfield slide. I've read bad things about 9B internals in this thread but not much about externals. SD seems to be good from what I understood. (I'm still unfamilliar with all the internals of the Hi-Capa)

Wouldn't recommend 9B because it's plastic.

[m61a1]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

Remember most 9Ball parts are made for Japan's low power gas, so its not fair to assume that they are made for any more powerful stuff.....

Wouldn't recommend 9B because it's plastic.

Thanx racingManiac and illusion, im gonna get the more durable AS or SD slide now....

[ILLusion]

The exception to that suggestion, is that if your goal was to have ultra fast slide cycle speed. If that's the case, then you want a lighter slide, and plastic wouldn't be a bad idea in that scenario...

[StrikeFreedom]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

The exception to that suggestion, is that if your goal was to have ultra fast slide cycle speed. If that's the case, then you want a lighter slide, and plastic wouldn't be a bad idea in that scenario...

I agree wholeheartedly.