we hicapa

[takealap]

I wanted to get one of these over the TM so I don't have to buy metal. I was wondering what parts I would need to buy in order for it to be as reliable as a TM. This is the 3.8 size so are all tm parts compatible?

[Daiviet]

Originally Posted by takealap

I wanted to get one of these over the TM so I don't have to buy metal. I was wondering what parts I would need to buy in order for it to be as reliable as a TM.

You'd have to buy a full TM for it to be as reliable as a TM. The amount of money you'd probably end up pouring into it just to make it as reliable, would probably be the same as buying tm and upgrading a metal slide.

[kalnaren]

In order to make it that reliable, you'd need a TM. The cost would be more expensive than getting a TM outright.

[pusangani]

Waste of time and money, if you are buying to save money on buying metal, then don't put any more money into it. Just use it until it breaks. WE hicapas have very heavy slides and are horrible on gas as a result.

To get the kind of reliability that you want, it will cost more than it would have cost you to do a FMU TM capa

[m102404]

Tempting though...isn't it?

Go the cheap(er) route and add a couple of parts to spruce it up...right? Lots of guys have thought the same thing and gone down the same road.

The simplistic statement, "then buy a TM"...is completely right, but doesn't really say much about why.

Cheaper guns are "sloppy". There's a lot of jiggle and wiggle between the frame and slide, between each part and when it moves/locks up things aren't in close tolerances. That slop helps it work...but it shoots like a loose gun (i.e. not great...but it'll shoot).

So...you think, "maybe I can swap a bunch of good parts in and it'll be better". Well...maybe. Maybe not enough to notice, maybe quite a bit.

A hiflow valve might work well, a reinforced nozzle might work as a replacement, a stronger recoil spring seems to make things "snappier". Sears/hammers might make for a nicer trigger pull.

But the wall you're going to hit is where you're trying to get more accuracy out of it...the built in slop between the frame/slide..or outer barrel/slide...etc. You can toss in a tightbore and a uber cool hopup rubber...but the hopup unit is still sloppy and the resting position of the inner barrel is still variable with each shot. So in the end, you're really not seeing the effect of your upgrades/$.

The other wall you'll hit is wear and tear. Soft metals and loose tolerances might work at first...but as the gun takes a beating with each shot, you might find it isn't shooting quite as well down the road. Even a good pistol eventually loses it's edge...they just last longer.

Those kind of things are "built-into" the frame/slide (and the internals)...the exact parts that you're trying to "get cheaper by buying them straight off the bat in this gun or that gun".

If you just want a metal gun that'll shoot...they'll shoot. If you want to take a cheap gun and built it up into a reliable world-beater...start with as good a gun as you can.

Also...fiddling with a perfectly working gun is often a quick way to destroy/break it. Guys spend $$$$ on pistols and still never have them working quite right.

Either way you go, best of luck,

Tys