My Armory...So Far

I didn't know when and where to put this group shots of my guns, so here goes.

This is not all of them. I still have a Tokyo Marui CQB-R (Dark Earth version). Actually, it's my wife's. She is also now the owner of the MRP, which we rarely use now. Not in the photos is my KJ Works KC02, also known as the Hawkeye. Also not in the photos above were my Tokyo Marui 1911A1 and Hi-capa 5.1.

Kimber Custom Covert II: The Frame

Almost a month ago, I posted the steps on building the Kimber Custom Covert II slide. I'm now posting the build process of the frame. I know I should've posted this sooner but, well...no excuses. Here it is.

Before I begin with the actual steps on building the frame, I'm going to show and tell you a bit of a backgrounder. When I got the parts and the kit needed for this project, I immediately test-fitted the different parts like grip safeties, thumb safeties, and the main spring housing, into the frame. I found out that Nova parts are not drop-in fit with the kit unlike the TM original parts. So I did a lot of filing on the frame (which was supposed to be just a little had I known where to file). In the photo below, the parts filed off the frame were clearly shown.

I've filed a significant amount of that bar between the tangs of the frame to fit the Nova KBR grip safety.  Also seen in the photo is the inner part of the frame where the thumb safety slot engages and because of the thick powder coating on the frame, it needed to be filed, as well.

This top view of the frame shows just how much of that bar was left after the filing.  I should've just sawed it off and saved lots of time!

Now, on to the build itself. Again, I followed LaZouche's video in his YouTube channel on the step-by-step process of disassembling a Tokyo Marui 1911 or MEU pistol.

First is to put the thumb safety of the MEU into the "safe" position and pull the left side part out of the frame and then do the same on the right part.

Then, by removing the pin at the bottom of the grip, the main spring housing was removed.

The hammer spring was then released from the housing by pushing the plunger down with a pin and nudging the retaining pin to the side.

And the plunger and the hammer spring was placed inside the Nova main spring housing. This housing is identical to the real steel main spring housing as the retaining pin is inserted from the rear and not from the side like the TM's.

The next step is to remove the grip safety from the frame.

And then the three-finger spring.

Using an allen wrench, the screw that holds the frame and the inner chassis on the side is removed.

And the screw inside the front frame is removed, as well.

The Hurricane conversion kit includes a screw for the front of the frame. The original screw from TM and the one from the kit have different thread pitches, thus the TM screw cannot be used for the Hurricane frame.

Comparison between the two frame screws (Hurricane on the left and TM on the right)

After the frame screws were removed, the pins behind the grip can be easily pushed out.

With the pins out, the inner chassis can be freely taken out of the frame itself.

By following the video linked above, the chances of losing the tiny spring on the side of the chassis is minimized. This spring is very important and one must make sure not to lose it.

The chassis was turned to the other side to keep the spring from flying out of its slot.

While in this position, the screw that holds the part that locks the hammer assembly can be removed.

In my desire to get the most realistic look of the Custom Covert, I replaced the hammer with a Nova Kimber type hammer.

Comparison between the original TM MEU hammer (left) and the Nova Kimber hammer (right).  Notice the difference, especially the protruding part, at the bottom of the hammer.  That part is there for the half-cock feature to work -  which is not really important in airsoft guns.

The hammer strut was removed from the hammer.

All of the parts not used for my projects were kept in plastic pouches and labeled before storage.

The next step is installing the hammer strut into the new hammer. This took me a very long time as the pin is a bit bigger than the hole. I really had a hard time punching that pin into the hole.

After about an hour of hammering the pin, the strut was installed.

The plastic cylinder that holds the hammer into position is placed.

The Nova hammer set comes with a steel sear so I replaced the original sear.

I put a small amount of silicon oil on the surfaces of the chassis for easy installation into the frame later. The slide spacer that comes with the kit was also placed in its slot on the left side of the chassis.

Going back to the MEU frame, the magazine catch was removed by turning the screw clockwise and slowly releasing it. It was then slowly pulled out of the frame and about half-way through, turned 180 degrees, then taken out of the frame completely.

With the magazine catch out of the way, the trigger assembly can be removed.

By taking out the top pin, the trigger and the trigger bow ca be separated. In the photo below, the two pins were removed out of the trigger. As I mentioned, only the top pin should be removed to separate the two parts. I have taken out the bottom pin by mistake. And I learned from it.

Here now, the magazine catch screw and spring were taken out.

And then installed on the magazine catch that comes with the conversion kit. The original TM mag catch is a very tight fit for the Hurricane frame.

Then inner chassis was then inserted into the frame and locked by the two pins.

The side frame screw was replaced.

As well as the front screw.

The  three-finger spring was also installed along with the main spring housing inserted just to keep the three-finger spring from becoming loose and coming out.

Again, back to the original frame, the grip screws and the grips were removed to gain access to the plunger assembly.

The plunger set was taken out once the grips are off.

The plunger was installed on the new frame.

The Lasergrips were screwed with a hex screw to hold the plunger set in position. I didn't use the original flat-head screws to achieve the realism I want.

The new magazine catch was installed.

The grip safety was then held into position.

Then the new main spring housing was installed along with the Nova Kimber type thumb safety (left side only).

And now, the slide and the frame are both ready. I had done lapping of the slide and the frame and they now fit perfectly.

Presenting now, is the finished product of my first airsoft custom work: The Kimber Custom Covert II.

Watch out for my next project! Thanks!

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!