Glock18C: Metal Slide and Barrel Mod

This is my first time to disassemble and modify a Tokyo Marui Glock. At first I was kind of nervous or anxious but remembering how other people say that it's very easy, I went on with it.

Just like the 1911, the slide must be taken out of the frame first. The Tokyo Marui Glocks have the same field stripping process as the real Glocks. The slide lock must be pressed down first on both sides of the gun. Then, while holding down the slide lock, pull the slide back, and push it out front.

After that, the recoil spring guide assembly and the barrel assembly can be taken out from the slide.

The inner barrel assembly can now be taken out from the outer barrel.

The screw that joins the two halves of the chamber was undone to access the inner barrel and hop up rubber.

The PDI 6.01 Raven inner barrel and NineBall hop rubber replaced the original Tokyo Marui parts.

The inner barrel assembly was then put together again with the new parts installed.

Then it was oiled on the sides and inserted into the PGC metal outer barrel.

Now the slide was turned upside down and the screw that keeps the selector mechanism, blowback unit and the rear sight was undone.

The part that keeps the selector switch and mechanism in place was then taken out.

Also the selector block (I'm just making up the part names here depending on their function on the gun) and its spring.

Then the selector switch can be removed. This is a bit tricky to do so it's ok to take your time.

After that, the rear sight will just fall off on the other side. The blowback unit can be removed the same way in 1911s. The sides of the slide must be widened and with use of a finger the blowback unit can be pushed out from the slide.

Now the PGC metal slide was prepared by installing its small parts like the dummy extractor plug and the small circular part on the inner rear of the slide (I have no idea what they call it in real steel, I suppose it's an extractor pin. It's a dummy part in airsoft anyway).

The NineBall Tritium sight was screwed into the slide and the blowback unit and selector assembly parts were installed. Everything is just a virtual drop-in.

Now to finish the custom work, the new barrel assembly and the recoil spring guide assembly were put in place. (In the photo below, the recoil spring is still the original Tokyo Marui recoil spring).

Kimber Tactical Entry II: The Slide

I had a bit of hesitation on doing this custom work because of my experience building the Custom Covert II. Before I worked on this gun, I built two other pistols (they're not 1911s) just to take away my mind off the Covert. It helped doing just that. After the Covert, the next two custom builds I did were very easy. I'm not telling yet which model of pistol I worked on -- I'm not a fan of them then...but I am now!

So after those two other builds, I felt I got my confidence, momentum and groove running again so I decided to sit down and get back to action with the Tactical Entry build.

Being a 1911, and basically using the same brand/kind of kit -- only a different design/model -- the process is just the same  as what I did in the Custom Covert II. But this time I'll try to make it simpler and less detailed.

To sart off, the gun is stripped by removing the slide stop lever and the slide is taken out from the front.

The barrel plug, recoil spring and the spring guide rod was removed from the slide assembly. These were put in a pouch, labeled, and put away in the storage box.

The barrel bushing and the outer barrel assembly was then taken out of the slide. Notice that the barrel bushing is the 1911A1 bushing and not the original Night Warrior silver barrel bushing. I replaced it to get the exact look of the Tactical Entry II.

The hop chamber-inner barrel assembly was pulled out of the outer barrel.

By undoing the two screws, one half of the hop chamber can be removed to access the hop mechanism and the inner barrel.

The hop bar and the inner barrel-hop rubber assembly was then detached from the hop chamber to be replaced by the Nineball inner barrel and hop rubber.

The whole inner barrel-hop chamber assembly was put back together.

The stainless steel outer barrel and chamber was assembled with the o-ring that comes with the kit.

The inner barrel-hop chamber assembly is now inserted into the outer barrel assembly.

By removing the screw at the rear of the slide, and the screw on top of the rear sight, the blowback housing can be taken out of the slide. With a bit of a force to widen the gap in the slide cavity, the blowback unit can easily come out.

The photo below shows the blowback housing and the loading nozzle already separated. The blowback housing, screw and loading nozzle spring will all be kept in storage and replaced.

This is now the replacement blowback housing. It is an Airsoft Surgeon BBH and it comes with its own screw and loading nozzle spring. Also shown in the photo is the loading nozzle spring guide that came in with the Tactical Entry conversion kit.

After positioning the rear sight in the slide, the whole blowback unit was then installed into the aluminum Hurricane slide. It is again a simple drop-in fit. The BBH was then screwed into the slide to keep it from moving.

The outer barrel assembly was then put into place.

And after placing the new full-length guide rod and barrel plug assembly along with the 1911A1 barrel bushing and the upgraded recoil spring that was included in the Hurricane kit, here now is the finished Kimber Tactical Entry slide.

Wired out.

Kimber Tactical Entry II: Internal Parts

I have already discussed the internal parts that I usually would replace in customizing an airsoft 1911 so I'm just going to do some sort of recall on these parts for the Tactical Entry build.

The first major component that I would replace is the blowback housing or blowback unit. Just like the Covert, I used the Airsoft Surgeon Super Lightweight Speed Blowback Housing for the Tactical Entry because it is about 50% lighter than the original BBH of TM.

The next internal part I replaced is the hop-rubber. I used the Laylax-Nineball hop rubber because it is believed by many to provide better sealing. Based on the Covert that I built, this hop rubber works like magic as just a small turn of the hop towards the "on" position from the "zero/off" position gave me a very straight, consistent BB flight.

Now here comes the interesting part. When I built the Covert, my M.E.U. was already using a PDI 6.01 Palsonite inner barrel. After finishing the build and testing the gun out, the Palsonite barrel-Nineball hop rubber combination works wonders. In this Tactical Entry build, I planned to use the Nineball 6.03 inner barrel to see which combination works better. (I will post the results in a different entry)

Again, like the Covert, this custom build used other internal upgrade parts that are already included in the kits. The upgraded recoil spring is included in the Hurricane conversion kit and the steel sear is included in the Nova hammer set.

In my next post, I will discuss the steps in building the slide!

Just a special thanks to all my readers, followers, and supporters...even though there's not that many of you yet. Thanks!

Wired out.

Kimber Custom Covert II: The Slide

It has been exactly a week since my last post, and in my previous entries I have discussed all the different parts that would be used for my Kimber Custom Covert II airsoft build. This time, I'm going to show the process of building the slide from stripping the Tokyo Marui M.E.U. Pistol up to the finished slide - step by step. I know most airsoft players, gun enthusiasts and gunsmiths already know this process, but I am posting this especially for those who doesn't know and for those interested to know how I did it.

My work desk as I begin the custom build

First, I removed the slide stop from the M.E.U. by pulling the slide back and pulling out the slide stop lever.

Then the barrel assembly was removed by taking out the recoil spring and spring guide assembly, removing the barrel bushing and barrel plug, and finally, pulling out the barrel assembly from the front of the slide.

I kept the barrel bushing, barrel plug and the spring guide for later use with the conversion kit.

After that, I pulled out the inner barrel and hop chamber assembly from the outer barrel. As shown in the photo below, I already had a PDI Palsonite 6.01 inner barrel installed.

The chamber was then opened in half by undoing the two screws. Generally, one doesn't need to open this, but in my case, I am also planning to install the NineBall hop rubber and clean the inner barrel so I disassembled the chamber.

The hop mechanism was removed and the hop rubber separated from the inner barrel.

After cleaning the inner barrel, the new NineBall hop rubber was installed. I also re-oiled the hop-up adjustment wheel.

This is the chamber now after putting it back together.

After I set the chamber assembly aside, I removed the screw from the rear of the slide using an allen wrench. 

This is now a photo of the rear of the slide with the screw removed. The small part where the hammer strikes was removed also.

By opening up the plastic slide using two thumbs, the blowback unit assembly can be taken out. In the photo below, the blowback housing can be seen with the parts where I filed to fit the Dytac luminous sight before. Please note that there is a spring on top of the blowback housing and that it can drop anytime after removing the BBH from the slide. Be careful not to lose it, although, replacements can be bought in most airsoft shops if you did.

The loading nozzle was now removed from the blowback unit.

Notice in the photo below that I had installed the nozzle spring improperly when I replaced the original Novak sights with the Dytac sights before so there was deformity on one end of the spring. 

The photo below shows a look inside the M.E.U. plastic slide. Visible are the file marks when I did a mod on the rear sight to have it properly fit with the BBH.

The next photo shows the new loading nozzle spring (good thing the Airsoft Surgeon BBH I used has one included in the set!) and the rather unexpected (at least for me, in a good way) loading nozzle spring guide that came in with the Hurricane conversion kit.

After doing the reverse to assemble the blowback unit, it is then placed to the metal slide. The Airsoft Surgeon BBH is a drop-in fit for the Hurricane Kimber slide!

Next thing I did was put a little silicon oil on the metal chamber thread and the o-ring that comes with the kit. The chamber and  the metal outer barrel was then assembled together.

The metal chamber slot is shaped and designed to easily accomodate the inner barrel and hop chamber assembly.

The new barrel assembly was now inserted into the slide.

I then placed the barrel bushing and the barrel plug. At this time, I had set aside the original recoil spring and replaced it with the stronger and stiffer recoil spring included in the conversion kit.

The recoil spring and spring guide assembly is installed.  And here's the finished slide in different angles.

Well, of course, my next post will feature the longer - and more difficult - process of building the frame. Until then!