Glock 18C Slide & Frame Replacement

This entry will discuss the process of how I built my "Ti-Tan-ium" Glock18C. And because I just previously posted an entry showing how to change the plastic slide to metal slide, I will skip the major parts of that process.

Now, after dismantling the slide, I replaced the original barrel and hop rubber with their NineBall counterparts. I mentioned in my previous post that the reason for using a NineBall inner barrel is to compliment the color of the outer barrel and slide. Another reason is that I had planned on experimenting which barrel (PDI Raven or NineBall) will work better with the NineBall hop up rubber. I will post the results in the future.  

With the inner barrel/chamber assembly reassembled, it was inserted into the outer barrel.

In the photo below, you can see that the front sight screw is already thread-locked into the slide. The screw is included in the set of the metal slide along with the front and rear sights. Originally, I had planned to have the NineBall Tritium sights installed in this Titanium slide but apparently, the Shooter's Design slide has a screw slot that will accomodate only the screw that came in with the whole set. As much as I really wanted to have the tritium sights in the titanium slide, I can't really do it. So I made do with the black iron sights.

After everything has been installed in the slide, it is then reassembled together. The NineBall recoil spring was replaced by a RCC 130% recoil spring. The two spacers that came with the recoil spring guide was removed.

Next is replacing the frame. This was the exciting part for me. Again, I've heard and read lots of good things about the Tokyo Marui Glocks, especially the 18C compared to its KSC counterpart, so I was really excited to see how this will turn out.

The first step is to remove the screw at the rear corner of the frame.

Then punch out the pin that holds the rear chassis in place.

Next up, the slide lock was removed from the frame. It's really easy to figure out how to remove it once you've seen the internals.

The main frame screw was then undone.

The magazine catch was removed from the frame. Again, it's easy to figure out how to do this. In case you still don't know how, just unhook the wire/spring from inside the frame that keeps the catch in place.

You can now remove the main frame pin from the mid-section of the frame.

With all the pins and screws removed, you can take out the whole chassis.

Working on the new frame, undo the screw that was included in the frame set.

Notice that the original screw and the one that comes with the frame has different thread pitches. You can't use the original screw with the new frame. And vice-versa, of course.

Place the magazine catch spring/wire inside the frame.

Install the magazine catch.

Put the serial number plate/safety into place.

The front chassis can now be installed in the frame. It was then held tight by the main frame screw and the mid-section pin. The tricky part in here is to align the holes of the chassis with the parts of the magazine release lever and the frame holes. It's tricky...but not hard to do.

The next step is to install the slide lock.

The rear chassis was now installed into the frame and it was then kept in place by the rear frame pin.

After that, the chassis was finally firmly held into the frame by the rear screw.

Based on my 2 experiences of customizing a Tokyo Marui Glock, I can say that there is totally no lapping needed to make the slide rack smoothly on the frame. I can also attest to the articles I've read, videos I've watched and people I've talked to: It is very easy, indeed, to customize a Tokyo Marui Glock. I had encountered no problem at all doing both my Glock custom works.

Glock18C Ti-Tan-ium Custom

This is another Glock18C project of mine and I used a somewhat different color scheme. I saw this Shooter's Design Glock18C metal slide that is Titanium in color and right then and there I pictured this cool (at least for me) Glock18C machine pistol. It turns out, after I bought the metal slide and barrel set, it was actually greenish in color. Somehow different in the photo shown in the website where I saw it. Nonetheless, I remained optimistic about this custom build.

I bought a Guarder Glock17/18C frame that is colored tan/dark earth and when I tried to test fit the metal slide and this frame, I immediately liked the color combination for it resembles the multicam colors. (Multicam is my airsoft team's favorite camouflage pattern).

I wanted to get rid of the original Tokyo Marui recoil spring and spring guide and replace it with a NineBall Recoil Spring Guide Pro set which perfectly compliments the titanium color of the slide. Although the NineBall set includes a recoil spring, I'd decided to use a RCC 130% recoil spring. I just thought I worked better.

Of course, my custom work wouldn't be complete with an inner barrel upgrade; this time I used a NineBall 6.03 Inner Barrel, also to compliment the metal slide and barrel color.

I also used a NineBall hop up rubber in this project, as usual.

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).