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

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Wepeel

I'm wondering, will a steel slide stop wear out the notch on an aluminium frame?

I use the slide stop a lot for releasing the slide instead of slingshotting and I can only find steel aftermarket slide stops.

I'm assuming you made a typo, and that you're asking about the slide rather than the frame, correct?

Whenever you have a harder/tougher material bearing against a softer/malleable material, the weaker material will always give way to the harder material. In this case, an aluminum slide catch notch will give way to the tougher steel slide stop. Also, the stiffer your recoil spring, the faster this wear and deformation will be accelerated.

There are a number of machined aluminum and die cast zinc-aluminum slide stops available... sadly, they generally run around the same price (if not more expensive) than the aftermarket steel options. The best cheap option, is to get an original Marui part.

[Wepeel]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

I'm assuming you made a typo, and that you're asking about the slide rather than the frame, correct?

Yes, I meant the slide and not the frame.

Who makes these aluminium slide stops? I never liked using steel parts that make contact with the aluminium slide because the slide is rather expensive to replace.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Wepeel

Yes, I meant the slide and not the frame.

Who makes these aluminium slide stops? I never liked using steel parts that make contact with the aluminium slide because the slide is rather expensive to replace.

Die cast aluminum: Nine Ball (for Hi-Capa), Tanio Koba, or the OEM part.

Machined aluminum: AIP

Why not slingshot the slide to release it? It's the exact same issue with real guns. Slides are considered to be a consumable item due to wear in multiple areas. The slide catch notch is one area that suffers from a rate of attrition. Certain factors will speed up the rate of wear, such as the recoil spring weight, the materials of the two parts, and more importantly, how the user engages the two components.

As long as you're disengaging the slide lock via that catch, you should fully expect to replace your slide over time.

Slingshotting is one great way to reduce wear.

Even with an aluminum slide stop, because of the way the slide stop is engineered relative to the slide, you will still get a deformation of the notch over time, as you are forcing a square corner to ride over the slide stop. This now takes in to account geometric engineering. Switching to an aluminum slide stop will slow the rate of deformation down, but it would still occur. You will just experience a more balanced rate of wear between the two parts.

Swapping the slide catch to a softer material will NOT completely resolve your issue. I know for certain it will not completely solve your problem. It just slows it down.

The best solution, is to fix the actual source of the problem, which is the user (ie, YOU.) Slingshot the slide. Minimize releasing the slide by the slide stop, or else you should completely expect to have to shell out money to for replacement slides.

Otherwise, start saving pennies for replacement slides when the notch is completely worn to the point of being unusable.

You can extend the life of the slide further, by filing the catch portion square again, when it's become completely worn to the point of no longer catching. This fix has a finite limit of repeatability, as there's only so much you can file off, till the slide sits too far forward to properly strip the next round off a fresh mag and load it in to the chamber. This will force you to manually slingshot the slide anyways.

[Wepeel]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Why not slingshot the slide to release it?

The reason I prefer not to slingshot is because I found it to be really inconsistent. The slide stop would very often not drop down even when lubed up causing me to rack the slide once or twice really hard to make sure it drops free. And it's a much smoother and faster reload for me if I just press the slide stop but I just need to get used to slingshotting.

I guess I could try a heavier slide stop so it will will drop more consistently.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Wepeel

The reason I prefer not to slingshot is because I found it to be really inconsistent. The slide stop would very often not drop down even when lubed up causing me to rack the slide once or twice really hard to make sure it drops free. And it's a much smoother and faster reload for me if I just press the slide stop but I just need to get used to slingshotting.

I guess I could try a heavier slide stop so it will will drop more consistently.

Mass of the slide stop isn't the issue... you should actually be looking at the action between the plunger and the slide stop.

First, the slide stop should be able to move freely between itself and the frame, as well as against the slide as well.

Second, the slide stop should have a steep enough ramp machined in it to allow the plunger to push it down under spring power.

Third, the plunger spring should have enough weight on it to allow it to push the slide stop down, WITHOUT overpowering the follower spring in the magazine. Overpowering that spring will prevent the slide stop from engaging when the magazine is empty.

These are the three conditions that should be met for a well functioning slide stop that functions under its own power. The slide catch notch in the slide actually has a secondary ramp built in to it to physically push the slide stop down when you rack the slide. It should not require an excessive amount of force for this to occur. If you are short stroking your setup to the brink, where you are required to rack it extra hard to get this ramp to disengage the slide catch, then you may want to consider reducing your short stroke a few millimeters.

Otherwise, if you are having issues with the slide stop dropping on its own, then there is a problem with your setup.

What pistol are you using, anyways?

[Wepeel]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Mass of the slide stop isn't the issue... you should actually be looking at the action between the plunger and the slide stop.

First, the slide stop should be able to move freely between itself and the frame, as well as against the slide as well.

Second, the slide stop should have a steep enough ramp machined in it to allow the plunger to push it down under spring power.

Third, the plunger spring should have enough weight on it to allow it to push the slide stop down, WITHOUT overpowering the follower spring in the magazine. Overpowering that spring will prevent the slide stop from engaging when the magazine is empty.

These are the three conditions that should be met for a well functioning slide stop that functions under its own power. The slide catch notch in the slide actually has a secondary ramp built in to it to physically push the slide stop down when you rack the slide. It should not require an excessive amount of force for this to occur. If you are short stroking your setup to the brink, where you are required to rack it extra hard to get this ramp to disengage the slide catch, then you may want to consider reducing your short stroke a few millimeters.

Otherwise, if you are having issues with the slide stop dropping on its own, then there is a problem with your setup.

What pistol are you using, anyways?

I have a KJW KP-07 at the moment but I have a TM on order.

The slide stop seems to either have a lot of wear or to be poorly machined, the ramp very low and flush.

There's a rubber buffer on the spring guide but even with that off the slide wouldn't travel back far enough for the front part of the notch to interact with the slide stop.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Wepeel

I have a KJW KP-07 at the moment but I have a TM on order.

The slide stop seems to either have a lot of wear or to be poorly machined, the ramp very low and flush.

There's a rubber buffer on the spring guide but even with that off the slide wouldn't travel back far enough for the front part of the notch to interact with the slide stop.

Ah... I don't have that much experience with the KJW pistols to know how their slide stop is.

You shouldn't experience this problem at all with the TM.

You can always modify the slide stop to put in a steeper ramp.

Have you tried removing the rubber buffer from the recoil rod? That may help.

[Wepeel]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

Ah... I don't have that much experience with the KJW pistols to know how their slide stop is.

You shouldn't experience this problem at all with the TM.

You can always modify the slide stop to put in a steeper ramp.

Have you tried removing the rubber buffer from the recoil rod? That may help.

Yes, I removed the buffer but it still doesn't travel back far enough. Anyway, I'll probably ditch the KJW and if the stock TM slide stop works good I'll just stick to that instead of getting an aftermarket part.

[Artyrules]

HI,
I am new to working with GBB's. A buddy gave me his G&G Xtreme 45 GBB to take a look at. With a fresh CO2 cartridge it will fire about 14 rds then the slide will fail to cock the hammer. Manually cock the hammer and it will get 3-5 shots off. eventually the slide will not cock the hammer every time. If the gun sits for 5-10 mins using the same mag the cycle will basically start over again. is this a cool down issue and if so is there a fix.

[Styrak]

That gun is not a TM Hicapa/1911 variant. It's a completely different design and isn't even a standard blowback pistol.

[Artyrules]

sorry was mistaken as this is variant of a 1911 just not a hi capa as I said new to the GBB pistols, But I think i have found the issue anyway just seems like i will have to go to G&G to get the part

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Artyrules

HI,
I am new to working with GBB's. A buddy gave me his G&G Xtreme 45 GBB to take a look at. With a fresh CO2 cartridge it will fire about 14 rds then the slide will fail to cock the hammer. Manually cock the hammer and it will get 3-5 shots off. eventually the slide will not cock the hammer every time. If the gun sits for 5-10 mins using the same mag the cycle will basically start over again. is this a cool down issue and if so is there a fix.

Sorry, I'm completely unfamiliar with that gun. As the title of this thread indicates, this thread is focused only on Tokyo Marui 1911/2011 variants, and only loosely covers clones.

As far as I understand it, the G&G 1911 series isn't anywhere close to being a clone of the Marui platform... it's not even a decent replica of the real thing. At best, it *might* be a clone of a Para Ordnance High Capacity.

But from what it sounds like, you are suffering from massive cool down issues. My best guess would be that you have a major leak in the system somewhere. Check the nozzle, piston head, and floating valve. Like I said, I'm not familiar with this system at all, so I don't even know how it operates inside - particularly, being an NBB.

[TaroBear]

So last night, I took apart the gun for it's routine cleaning, which I haven't done in a few months. I take the slide off as usual, unscrew the guide rod, and set the pieces on my work cloth. I get up to go get my silicone oil, and when I come back, I see a tiny metal ring sitting on my chair. I don't mean bushing thick, it's almost paper thin. I don't ever recall seeing it in/around the pistol before. When I finished oiling as usual, I put the gun back together as usual, and I didn't see anything that stood out to be missing. So...I'm sort of wondering if it fell out of something when I was taking the slide apart...or if my chair is falling apart. If it IS a part from the gun, my best guess is that it's some sort of buffer between the spring and the rubber bit on the end of the guide rod. It doesn't seem to fit anywhere else.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by TaroBear

So last night, I took apart the gun for it's routine cleaning, which I haven't done in a few months. I take the slide off as usual, unscrew the guide rod, and set the pieces on my work cloth. I get up to go get my silicone oil, and when I come back, I see a tiny metal ring sitting on my chair. I don't mean bushing thick, it's almost paper thin. I don't ever recall seeing it in/around the pistol before. When I finished oiling as usual, I put the gun back together as usual, and I didn't see anything that stood out to be missing. So...I'm sort of wondering if it fell out of something when I was taking the slide apart...or if my chair is falling apart. If it IS a part from the gun, my best guess is that it's some sort of buffer between the spring and the rubber bit on the end of the guide rod. It doesn't seem to fit anywhere else.

A photo speaks a thousand words... otherwise, I can't identify what you're referring to, based on your description.

[TaroBear]

As a side note, I think the guide rod came loose. Is that an issue? It's quite a pain trying to get it together as one piece and hold the spring back with your finger at the same time.