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

[pitivier]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

I'm not aware of any replacements available on the aftermarket.


You'll probably have to order in an OEM one. I can order one for you, but it'll be a couple months till I can run my next order.

thanks, I must if I want to repair it. Send me a PM I can order and pay now to reserve it
thanks

[TaroBear]

Originally Posted by StrikeFreedom

@TaroBear: Is the nozzle in the forward position touching the hop up chamber? If it is, just push the slide forward and inspect the piston head and o-ring.

Unfortunately, not possible. I gave it a shot anyway, though.

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Well, let me know if you need me to look at it for you. It's hard for me to diagnose it for you over the forum like this. I bet I can find the source of the problem in less than 2 minutes of looking at it.

Cool. I'll bring it over when I get my rifle. Also, I'd like to bring some of my mags over to you, if that's okay. I've been having some issues holding gas on some of them. I know two of them have leaks, but the rest just aren't taking on gas efficiently. They don't appear to have leaks, though. Maybe you can fix them up.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by TaroBear

Cool. I'll bring it over when I get my rifle. Also, I'd like to bring some of my mags over to you, if that's okay. I've been having some issues holding gas on some of them. I know two of them have leaks, but the rest just aren't taking on gas efficiently. They don't appear to have leaks, though. Maybe you can fix them up.

It's extremely rare for a Marui magazine to actually develop a permanent leak. Chances are, the main bolt that runs through the body has just loosened itself (it happens when you store the mag without gas pressure in it), which gives the main seal enough room to allow gas to escape. Try tightening the bolt at the bottom of the base.

[anthon]

Hey guys,

So I got my first 1911 (Meu) in November and its been an amazing experience. Im currently in the market for another 1911 (Or 5.1) and I have narrowed it down to two choices. I want to get some opinions on both choices as I have very limited knowledge on these two models. I will be gaming these guys on a weekly/by-weekly basis so durability and parts availability is important

Top Three Preference:
1 Durability
2 Accuracy
3 Overall Performance


Things Im curious about:

-Which of the two handles propane the best?
-Are parts interchange able with other models of the same gun (1911 & 5.1 Cappa series)
-Can I put a metal slide on the Match Custom 5.1?
-Over all performance of the two guns


1. Tokyo Marui HI-CAPA 5.1 (Match Custom)
Reason I like - metal lower frame, fast double tap action for CQB, 900g overall weight. ! Q: will my flashlight mount on the rail out of the box? Does lightened slide take away from blowback feel/action

2 Tokyo Marui 1911 Custom Night Warrior Pistol
Reason I like: Its a custom version of the 1911 MEU which I love, and I can mount a flashlight for low light settings.
Q: Are replacement parts (slide ect) direct replacement with 1911MEU

All your opinions about these two guns would be greatly apreciated.

[ILLusion]

1. Both guns handle propane well, however, the MEU is a bit more durable.

2. *some* parts are interchangeable between the Hi-Capa platform and the 1911 platform. Not all! I would say about half. Regardless, you shouldn't have a hard time finding parts, but if you're planning on doing a COMPLETE overhaul of the gun, go with the Hi-Capa. You can replace almost every single known component of the gun with something off the aftermarket, unlike the single stack series.

3. You can put a metal slide on the Match Custom 5.1 if you wanted. Internally, it's the exact same slide as regular Hi-Capa 5.1 - the only difference, is the speed ports cut in to it to lighten it up.

4. The Hi-Capa performs better, due to the vastly larger gas capacity of the double stack magazine. It suffers less from cool down effect, and you can get a lot more rounds out of each gas fill.


As for your other concerns:

• an MEU can be tuned to double tap just as fast as a Hi-Capa. After all, the basic trigger system is EXACTLY the same between the two platforms. If the Match has had work done to it to lighten the pull or shorten the pull, the exact same can be done to the 1911 series (I have a few 1911's here that have smoother/lighter/shorter trigger pulls than stock Hi-Capa's...)
• Directly "out of the box", there is no rail to attach a light to any Hi-Capa, but IN THE BOX, there is a rail you can screw on to the frame so that you may attach a light.
• A lighter slide means less potential energy. Less potential energy means less kinetic energy, thus, you won't feel a blowback kicck as hard as a heavier slide. This is why metal slides are highly coveted.
• Replacement parts for the Night Warrior are pretty much direct replacements with the MEU. The only part I do not have an answer on, is the rear sight area and the blowback unit. It's been a while since I've handled a Night Warrior.

[anthon]

Thanks Illusion. I don`t plan on doing anything to the gun until it breaks. I am just looking for a reliable gun for games.

[turok_t]

For all the hicapa enthusiasts, ive been having this FPS problem for the longest time and i cant seem to figure it out. My hicapa it shooting either 330fps OR 200fps... its always one of the other. I cant for the life of God get it to fire consistently at 330fps, and i figure there must be something loose if the FPS fluctuates between the two numbers. Anyone experience this issue before? Here is what I tried so far:

1. Manually pushed the magazine up while firing to ensure good seal between mag lip and air nozzle.

2. Swapped an SD air nozzle with Action and guarder air nozzle to ensure no cracks.

3. Changed the piston o-ring to a slightly thicker one (custom made myself) to ensure that gas doesnt escape rearward when gas is initially discharged to propel the bb.

4. Ensured hop up rubber forms a tight seal with inner barrel by wrapping the two together with teflon tape.

5. I also tried various hop up rubbers (King arms, nine ball, stock) to see the effects...FPS goes up and down depending on the rubber.

6. Tightened the hop up dial (tightened the hop up chamber screws all the way) so that the hop up position doesnt change when bb is discharged.

Is there anything else I shouldcheck? floating valve? hop up arm? I have a strong feeling it has something to do with the hop up arm, any slight deformities to it will affect the hop up applied, and hence the fps.

[ILLusion]

As far as I can tell, you've covered all the bases... when I come across a gremlin like that, the only recourse I have, is to get a bone stock gun that is known to function 100%, and slowly upgrade and test it one part at a time from your "upgraded" gun, and see which part is the offender.




I've had a couple guns come in to me with this "Teflon mod" to the hop up rubber now, and I've found in all cases, that it actually depreciated the performance output in the form of inconsistent and lower FPS.

I'm not sure if the proponents of such modification technique ever bother to test this modification empirically.

Further, I recently had a gun come in, where the user had teflon taped EVERYTHING in the gun, including the inner barrel (where it contacts the outer barrel), hop up rubber, fill valves and the output valves. This resulted in the following issues:

- Inconsistent and low FPS (220fps)

- Inconsistent to non-existent hop up effect

- Worn slide lugs due to restriction of movement between the inner barrel and outer barrel

- Worn chamber lugs due to restriction of movement between the inner barrel and outer barrel

- Complete fouling of all internal mechanisms related to gas flow due to the pieces of Teflon tape breaking free from the valves and smearing themselves through the internals. After removing all the tape from the valves, I filled the magazine again, and found no leaks. Why the user taped these valves - I have no idea. It offered no benefit.

:P

[Lone_Bullet.be]

My dear sir, Illusion.



I have a few questions myself, if you don't mind.
I have read though all the pages and thus I know you're not familiar with KJ Works GBB. I myself own a KJW KP06. A TM MEU made CO2 compatible.

2 year old, cleaned thoroughly every time by completely disassembling it, washing it in soapy water ( I use degreaser which you use to wash the dishes ).
Then wipe everything as dry as possible and blow-dry with a hair-dryer to remove last remnants of moisture. I re-oil everything with Tamiya silicone shock oil as per instruction by the KWA 1911 PTP vids online ( they're good ).
Any recommendation to clean a GBB otherwise?

Now, I don't use the GBB very often, as it's my sidearm, but already I see the barrel lugs to hold the inner barrel into the hop chamber wear down quickly. I'm very positive that is because of the CO2 usage. Other wear is noticeable on the following parts: The threads of the outerbarrel/hopchamber. The barrel lugs on the hopchamber. Slide as a whole ( slide was quite wobbly at the beginning ). Ambi safety ( Getting hard to engage and lots of wobble on the right safetylever ). Sears.

I'm seriously thinking of rebuilding it as a whole with quality parts.
Now, I'm looking at reliability. As a sidearm it needs to work when I need it.
I figure, since you don't own the gun, you can't really tell me what wrong. But given the faults, what does your instinct tell you to replace, look at?
Can you contact me by PM or Email for the build? thank you.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Lone_Bullet.be

My dear sir, Illusion.



I have a few questions myself, if you don't mind.
I have read though all the pages and thus I know you're not familiar with KJ Works GBB. I myself own a KJW KP06. A TM MEU made CO2 compatible.

2 year old, cleaned thoroughly every time by completely disassembling it, washing it in soapy water ( I use degreaser which you use to wash the dishes ).
Then wipe everything as dry as possible and blow-dry with a hair-dryer to remove last remnants of moisture. I re-oil everything with Tamiya silicone shock oil as per instruction by the KWA 1911 PTP vids online ( they're good ).
Any recommendation to clean a GBB otherwise?

Now, I don't use the GBB very often, as it's my sidearm, but already I see the barrel lugs to hold the inner barrel into the hop chamber wear down quickly. I'm very positive that is because of the CO2 usage. Other wear is noticeable on the following parts: The threads of the outerbarrel/hopchamber. The barrel lugs on the hopchamber. Slide as a whole ( slide was quite wobbly at the beginning ). Ambi safety ( Getting hard to engage and lots of wobble on the right safetylever ). Sears.

I'm seriously thinking of rebuilding it as a whole with quality parts.
Now, I'm looking at reliability. As a sidearm it needs to work when I need it.
I figure, since you don't own the gun, you can't really tell me what wrong. But given the faults, what does your instinct tell you to replace, look at?
Can you contact me by PM or Email for the build? thank you.

The first problem I noticed, is that you're using dish soap. It's not ideal, as many will leave a residue. Palmolive, for example leaves palm oil residue. Others, leave a lotion behind to keep your hands soft when you wash a lot of dishes. If you really want to clean, use a citrus based degreaser.

Second, you are using silicone oil for "oiling". I'm not sure what you think you'll achieve by doing that, but you're not going to get much lubrication from it. Silicone oil is actually one of the worst lubricants you can use in terms of actually reducing friction between metal-on-metal components... and this is besides the fact that it's messy as hell. It creeps and runs everywhere. No wonder you feel the need to always completely disassemble your gun and degrease it. At best, silicone oil is used to keep o-rings and rubbers moist. That's all. If you want actual lubricating power - ESPECIALLY with metal components, use a quality grease. Not only does grease not creep and run like silicone oil, but when used sparingly, it won't sling or fling, and won't attract as much dirt and grime as oil running all over the gun.

Properly cleaned and lubricated with a quality grease, you shouldn't have to open your gun at all for at least 10,000 rounds.

As for the lugs in your hop up chamber wearing down - I have no idea what that cause is, unless there is something striking/pulling/rubbing your inner barrel to cause it to resist against the hop up chamber. I've only seen this happen with a Marui pistol once, and the inner barrel was being struck by the slide due to a compensator adaptor setup. I can't even imagine this happening under normal conditions with CO2, unless a lip in the outer barrel is catching the muzzle of the inner barrel.

As for wear on the threads of the outer barrel/hop up chamber... sorry, no idea what you're referring to. Marui's don't have any threading between these two parts.

As for wear to the slide and sear (singular - there is only ONE sear in the gun): I would bet that the majority of your wear is simply because you're trying to use silicone oil as "lubricant" for metal-on-metal contact. In essence, you're not lubricating anything at all... which is why it's wearing so hard. You might as well be using water to lubricate it. It'll be cheaper and you'll get the same result. :P

[Lone_Bullet.be]

Oh damn. I've been misinformed then. You see, With every KWA pistol I've bought ( 3 by now ) I've received a little flask of 100% silicone oil. Tamiya shock oil is also 100% silicone oil. KWA has a few youtube vids about maintenance on GBB using... well... thats silicone oil . Let me link it for you and give me your thoughts please. I've really just done as instructed .

As for the degreaser, you might be right. I use Dreft ( quite powerfull ) but find no real residue afterward, but I just might not have noticed it. I do rinse quite good afterwards, but no matter.

As for the CO2 usage, I think it's not ideal as the tolerance of the parts in this GBB are quite wide. So much pressure ( force ) and loose tolerance gives wear afaik. But I'll try giving it a good lubrication non the less .

I might sound defensive, but that rather starting a discussion on possible faults than denying your advice and insisting I do everything correct . If the gods bless the next day with good sunlight I'll get me some pictures what wear I actually mean. Be warned, they're cellphone pictures as the money goes to airsoft .

The links:
- GBB Maintenance Part I - The Basics - YouTube
- GBB Maintenance Part II Deux - YouTube

So again, your thoughts?

[ILLusion]

As a simple "all use" application, silicone oil could possibly substitute as both a lubricant as well as a cleaning compound, as the KWA videos suggest.

But my point still remains, silicone oil is NOT the ideal compound for lubrication of metal on metal contact. It does very little compared to a quality grease. Try a proper grease once, and you will immediately notice a difference, not only in the slickness of the movement of the parts, but over time, you will notice decreased wear.

KWA recommends the oil, simply because it's cheaper to supply a single product with their guns, versus two separate ones. Silicone oil is more suited to organic and synthetic compounds such as elastomers, and rubbers (which is why it's recommended as a base compound for "personal lubricants"...), but it still creeps and gets everywhere. It doesn't stay where it's applied, like a grease does.

Conclusion: Metal-on-metal contact - your best choice for a lubricant, especially for high wear components, is still a quality grease.

As an additional note, I've also found that users are more apt to improperly use grease. You don't need huge slopping piles of it slapped against your parts. All you need is a very thin layer. A small dab of Super Lube on your finger is enough to take care of your slide, the contact against the receiver, chamber lugs, hammer hooks, sear, and all pivots. Apply, and wipe off with your finger. The remaining film of Super Lube is more than sufficient for lubrication needs. A bottle of Super Lube will last me over 10 years and allow me to upgrade, and modify hundreds of guns. Besides making a mess from flinging grease and attraction of dirt, adding too much will also increase viscosity.

At the other end of the spectrum, I'd recently sold a bottle to a customer, and the next day, he called me exclaiming "this stuff is great! I'd like to buy another bottle! I loved it so much, I'm already finished using it!"

In a state of disbelief, I asked him how many guns he'd used it on in that single night, and how he used so much of it. His reply was "just the one pistol I was talking to you about before... why?"

Once I explained he only needed it as a very light coating, his only reply was "oh. oops..."

True story. I'll leave his name anonymous. If he wants to expose himself, to tell his story, feel free. I know he reads this thread.

[Lone_Bullet.be]

I have done exactly the same as in the vids. Exactly. I can't see what I have misunderstood about that. Seeing them first cleaning the sliderail and then smearing a tiny drop of the included silicone oil ( It's been asked on the KWA forums, It's a thick 100% silicone oil ).

I see your point that metal on metal musn't be lubed by siliconeoil, but when it's asked on the KWA forums, they agree it is indeed silicone!

>.<

Okay... well, you know what, I must have missed something in translation as English isn't my 1st language. I'll just look for a thick liquid lubricant for metals.

I hope you keep no grudge after this misunderstanding. Would you mind me asking further questions?

[ILLusion]

There is no grudge. I'm not upset in any way by your post, if you somehow took it as such, then I apologize. I'm merely hoping to educate users on the matter. I don't believe I posted anywhere saying that I was disallowing any further questions. I thought that's what the point of this thread was? To ask questions...

Curious, where are you posting from?

I don't know what the background is of those guys in the KWA videos, but I have a background in machine tooling and automotive, and we sure don't use oil for lubricating metals. We use GREASE in non-submerged applications. Using the automotive analogy since you may be more familiar with it, the only time oils are used, are to either allow it to creep in to a space (such as your door hinges, for example... and it's exactly why it's so messy in those areas), or when the components requiring the lubricant are submerged (and need low viscosity) - components such as your engine, and the transmission.

Pretty much everywhere else that requires lubricant in an automobile... is grease. Axles, joints, bearings, differentials... etc etc. Almost all use grease.

I've used very thick silicone oils before (even ultra viscous 10,000 weight), and even those do not match the friction reducing capabilities of a simple grease like Lithium grease.

I'd like to think I know a thing or two about metal on metal lubrication... but I've been proven wrong before. If anyone here knows any better from proven industrial experience... prove me wrong.

[Lone_Bullet.be]

Allright. I see you sell SuperLube. That would be a good lube then?

And just to point out I'm not talking out of my behind:
- http://kwausa.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3157

Thanks for clearing that out. I'm an electrician myself so my mechanical fixing limits to ducttape for fastening things or WD40 for loosening things .

I'm going further into research in how to make my GBB better compatible with CO2.
You'll be sick of my question in a hurry otherwise .

Again, thanks! ( perhaps it's worth pointing out the ussie to KWA users )