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

[juicy]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

Guarder nozzle as was tested over at Airsoft-Barrack when compared to SD and stock, actually decreases the fps in most cases, its probably oversized and other issue might be cause by that...

LOL, yeah, so it may seem. Decreases FPS? Interesting, didn't notice that before, but air seal seems to be sub par anyway. Might be the cause?

[Slono]

What about the o-ring on the SD piston head that fits really tight against the inside of the SD nozzle? Anybody experience that?

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Slono

- SD nozzle
- SD piston head
- PDI 6.01 tightbore
- Stock floating valve

Question: Is the Nine Ball Dyna Piston Head better than the SD Piston Head? The SD one doesn't have vents and I'm wondering if the vents reduce the power by venting out gas instead of utilizing it for power.

Ah, yeah. The 01 barrels make a huge difference. I have access to 00 and even 99 and 98 barrels for ultimate fps increases.

I'd choose the Dyna piston head over the SD. There's no unique features about the SD piston head. I'd rather use an Airsoft Surgeon piston head over an SD one.

The ports on a ventilated head cause the o-ring to expand during compression, giving it a better seal. It basically provides greater efficiency.

Originally Posted by Slono

In earlier tests I had the exact same set up, but instead of the Nine Ball piston head and enhanced floating valve and floating valve spring, I had the SD piston head and stock floating valve and spring. My shots were more consistent, and I also achieved more power. The results are on page 35 of this thread.

The problem you're having with huge FPS drops could be caused by the Nine Ball floating valve spring. Change it back to the stock one and try again. It's a bit too strong for many setups, causing gas inefficiency due to excess waste.

[Slono]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Ah, yeah. The 01 barrels make a huge difference. I have access to 00 and even 99 and 98 barrels for ultimate fps increases.

I'd choose the Dyna piston head over the SD. There's no unique features about the SD piston head. I'd rather use an Airsoft Surgeon piston head over an SD one.

The ports on a ventilated head cause the o-ring to expand during compression, giving it a better seal. It basically provides greater efficiency.



The problem you're having with huge FPS drops could be caused by the Nine Ball floating valve spring. Change it back to the stock one and try again. It's a bit too strong for many setups, causing gas inefficiency due to excess waste.

Yeah that's what others have been telling me too, but I figured that my gun was shooting strong enough to be able to use it. I suppose I figured incorrectly.

Here are updated infinity pictures:

[Tsotsi]

Hey guys! I've been reading the thread and a few others and think I am just about ready to start building my very own Custom Hi-Capa.

I'm going to use the TM 5.1 as my base & I'd like to use Propane as my gas of choice.

Just to clarify would using Propane add wear and tear to the TM's stock Slide, Frame, Inner and Outer Barrel?

I'd like to upgrade the Slide, Frame, Inner and Outer Barrel whilst doing the MINIMALIST of modifications.

I was advised that I should stick to the same manufacturer for ALL parts. So I'm going to use Shooters Design and get all my parts through RedWolf. If anyone has any other suggestions for a seller, please let me know.

So far I have chosen:

Shooters Design Infinity Slide

Shooters Design Xcelerator Frame

Do I need to change/mod anything else for the Pistol to work?

Where can I get a Shooters Design Inner Barrel, can I use any other Inner Barrel from RedWolf?

Do I still need an Outer Barrel?

Apologies for all the questions.

TIA <3

[Slono]

Originally Posted by Tsotsi

Hey guys! I've been reading the thread and a few others and think I am just about ready to start building my very own Custom Hi-Capa.

I'm going to use the TM 5.1 as my base & I'd like to use Propane as my gas of choice.

Just to clarify would using Propane add wear and tear to the TM's stock Slide, Frame, Inner and Outer Barrel?

I'd like to upgrade the Slide, Frame, Inner and Outer Barrel whilst doing the MINIMALIST of modifications.

I was advised that I should stick to the same manufacturer for ALL parts. So I'm going to use Shooters Design and get all my parts through RedWolf. If anyone has any other suggestions for a seller, please let me know.

So far I have chosen:

Shooters Design Infinity Slide

Shooters Design Xcelerator Frame

Do I need to change/mod anything else for the Pistol to work?

Where can I get a Shooters Design Inner Barrel, can I use any other Inner Barrel from RedWolf?

Do I still need an Outer Barrel?

Apologies for all the questions.

TIA <3

There is no such thing as Shooters Design Inner Barrels simply because shooters design does not produce them. A few other great brands for inner barrels are: Nine Ball, PDI, and Tanio Koba (TK). I highly recommend getting a metal outer barrel for your gun if you are going to run a metal slide with the use of propane because the stock plastic barrel is not strong enough to take repeated abuse from anything stronger than its own material (plastic).

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Tsotsi

Hey guys! I've been reading the thread and a few others and think I am just about ready to start building my very own Custom Hi-Capa.

I'm going to use the TM 5.1 as my base & I'd like to use Propane as my gas of choice.

Just to clarify would using Propane add wear and tear to the TM's stock Slide, Frame, Inner and Outer Barrel?

I'd like to upgrade the Slide, Frame, Inner and Outer Barrel whilst doing the MINIMALIST of modifications.

I was advised that I should stick to the same manufacturer for ALL parts. So I'm going to use Shooters Design and get all my parts through RedWolf. If anyone has any other suggestions for a seller, please let me know.

So far I have chosen:

Shooters Design Infinity Slide

Shooters Design Xcelerator Frame

Do I need to change/mod anything else for the Pistol to work?

Where can I get a Shooters Design Inner Barrel, can I use any other Inner Barrel from RedWolf?

Do I still need an Outer Barrel?

Apologies for all the questions.

TIA <3

If you've never built a GBB before, I'd recommend against jumping head first in to a complete frame conversion, unless you are a skilled machinist. The Shooters Design frames, in particular have several fitment issues that would give even skilled gunsmiths a headache. If you want minimal mods, I would avoid the frame for now. The frustration of screwing up such jobs is enough to sour anybody's experience with GBB's enough to turn them away from them altogether.

The frame is also a prohibited device from importation by an individual. Consider the risk of having it seized if you decide to order it in to the country.


Using propane with the pistol in bone stock form will not harm it drastically... only the slide will see increased wear. The wear points would include the slide catch notch, as well as the potential for the slide to crack around the rear sight.

Upgrading the slide to a metal one should also include several other upgrades to support the heavier slide weight, such as:

- Enhanced recoil spring: Increases slide cycling speed. Otherwise, the heavier slide will move more sluggish.

- Enhanced nozzle: The stock one has a tendancy to crack (explode) when a heavier metal slide and enhanced recoil spring are all combined with propane. The stock nozzle is designed only for use with the lighter recoil spring and plastic slide.

- Steel outer barrel (and chamber, if sold separately as SD is): The plastic barrel/chamber will get smashed to pieces by the metal slide if you do not upgrade the chamber.


It's always recommended to stick with same manufacturers for parts as a basic rule of thumb, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Only experience and asking around will yield the answers you'd like. Fortunately (or unfortunately), parts selection for the Tm Hi-Capa series is so vast, that you could get 50 different answers for the same question unless you know very specifically which parts, brands and models you are asking about. There are even differences in production run batches for an exact same product brand/model, so you'll have to consider that and take some answers with a grain of salt.



SD inner barrels don't exist, so nobody can help you find that. There are other excellent options out there made by other companies.

[Tsotsi]

Thanks again guys for the indepth and awesome advice. I'm going to leave things stock for now, at least until I know and feel competent enough to tinker with my Pistol.

Aah that would explain why I couldn't find any SD Inner Barrels. Thank you very much for your advice. I'm going to read up on Inner Barrels and Chambers and then make my decision.

Wow, thank you for the indepth reply. I think you're right about holding back on the slide for now.

I had no idea that there was so much involved in customizing.

I'd love to learn how to how modify my own pistol someday...

[ILLusion]

Well, that's the whole thing. You'll never learn to modify it until you actually try it, OR have someone beside you to guide you through it. It comes down to how comfortable you are with filing down say.... a $400 part, with the risk of rendering it useless. LOL. We all start somewhere...

[Leang]

Hm, I seem to be having a problem with my MEU. The propane adapter arrived maybe 2 weeks ago, and worked perfectly fine the first time I used it. Shot maybe 2 mags full with no problems. But now, a full gas fill will allow 1 shot before running out. It seems like there's a gas leak, but searches for 'MEU gas leak' doesn't return any useable results. Has this happened to anyone else?

Edit: cratch that. I figured out how to dismantle the mag, and there's a few places where gas might be escaping. When I get a chance, I'll get some silicon lube and try to make sure it's all sealed properly.

[juicy]

Does it fire one shot and then go "hssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss "? Or does it fire one shot and cycle normally? Or maybe something in between?

[JourneyMan]

I have a TM 5.1 with the Airsoft Surgeon hammer kit and leaf spring along with a Tanio Koba grip.

I'm getting an issue with the hammer not being able to actuate the knocker under certain circumstances. If I'm holding the gun in a natural, upright shooting position, the hammer will go to a half cock and won't move the knocker, however, if I'm holding the gun on its left side everything seems to work fine. This is really baffling me.

[turok_t]

Here is a question for Brian and all you hicapa experts. Here is what Im using:

TK twist barrel
SD POM air nozzle
stock floating valve
IK BBU
nineball lipseal for my mag
KM cyclinder bulb for my mag

My hicapa 5.1 on green gas using 0.25 bastards is shooting:

286
287
283
271
272
274
282
280
283
279

With 0.20g I get:

295
302
299
301


I know that my FPS is supposed to be MUCH higher than that... Anyways, do any of u have any suggestions on what I should be looking for when attempting to diagnose my problem?

[RacingManiac]

Doesn't seem that low....the temperature has a huge effect on FPS anyway....

[turok_t]

Originally Posted by RacingManiac

Doesn't seem that low....the temperature has a huge effect on FPS anyway....

Are u sure? Shouldnt i get at least 300fps? I recall brian posting something similar to this on this thread... i fired this indoor at Velocity Arms.. since i have these upgrades shouldnt it give me greater FPS?