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TM 1911 efficiency upgrades


Stuey

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OK so I've got a Marui 1911 and it's a wonderful pistol in most ways, but the small gas capacity is getting me down!

 

I've already tried the Nine Ball and Guarder gas routers, both yielded a similar small improvement to the number of shots I get but seeing as I have 8 mags I might not roll out the upgrade to all of them just yet!

 

What other upgrades are there that are worth it? I've seen the Nine Ball Dyna piston head, the PDI Winter piston head, lightweight blowback assemblies from 5KU and Nine Ball...are they any good?

 

Cheers!

 

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What gas are you using?

 

I have only thrice had an issue with my mags and that was when it was quite cold. Often I find the best reason is to 'go a few rounds' as they say and fill to 21-23 rounds (saves on springs too).

 

Also making sure the pistol is well lubed and that you use good quality gas is a good idea. Always checking the seals on the mags helps too.

 

'FireKnife'

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Propane is my gas of choice, unfortunately with the tiny 1911 mags the amount of gas I can in them is a bit marginal. Like I said the improved gas routers made a difference, I just don't fancy shelling out for all my mags just yet :/

 

Underloading is my current strategy yes! And I have so many mags it's not too much of an issue...I'm just wondering which of the existing upgrades are the best.

 

I just went outside with 3 of my mags, and only the Nine Ball gas router was able to get all of its rounds off (with enough gas for one more shot). The mags with the Guarder had one BB left and the normal mag about 5. It's 27 Celcius outside!

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i have a tm 1911 with 2 spare tercel mags. all 3 of the mags will fire 28-29 shots per fill with either abby ultra or asg ultrair with no upgrades, but i only load 22 bbs per mag/fill so that it still has plenty of kick for the last shot. i have replaced the original grips/weights with real steel wood grips which might help with cooldown and mag efficiency.

 

i knew what i was gettin into with the slimmer 1911 mags, so if i wanted more gas capacity i would have bought a gbb with a substantially wider magazine like a sig or hicappa etc

 

i think u have already identified your best option, which is more spare mags on hand, are u taking gas with u in games as well?

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You may find using gas router shims instead of complete replacements may be a cheaper alternative for you especially if you cut them out from plastic folders yourself.

 

Yep, that was going to be my next move I think!

 

 

i have a tm 1911 with 2 spare tercel mags. all 3 of the mags will fire 28-29 shots per fill with either abby ultra or asg ultrair with no upgrades, but i only load 22 bbs per mag/fill so that it still has plenty of kick for the last shot. i have replaced the original grips/weights with real steel wood grips which might help with cooldown and mag efficiency.

 

i knew what i was gettin into with the slimmer 1911 mags, so if i wanted more gas capacity i would have bought a gbb with a substantially wider magazine like a sig or hicappa etc

 

i think u have already identified your best option, which is more spare mags on hand, are u taking gas with u in games as well?

 

Yeah I knew what I was getting, a friend had an MEU prior to me owning my 1911. It's not a problem per se, I'm just trying to gather information on which of the many upgrades are worth it and might improve my efficiency. And yes I run around with a bottle of propane.

 

I'm tempted to try the Dyna piston head.

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Best bet I find is:

 

Use Ultra, gives the best efficiency to power balance.

Shim those mags, can be done very cheaply as RC has said.

Look at other upgrades but balance it out and try to get test videos. From what I have seen most ugrades offer little for the cost save tightbores and sometimes hops.

 

'FireKnife'

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so what you're saying is that your tm 1911 with 8 mags (160+ rounds) + a bottle of propane isnt quite enough firepower for the situations that u find urself in. ?? and that you'd like a bit more 'shot count' per fill

 

or is it that u cant get the full 24+ rounds per fill that seems usual for a standard tm 1911 set up at 20'c ?? i am curious that ur standard tm 1911 cant empty a full load of bbs, esp in this weather 

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TM 1911 with TM mags, the only upgrades are a TB barrel and a hop rubber (not sure which one) and using green gas if you consider that an "upgrade" or just standard practace.

 

I get 35 shots per mag.

 

My secret? I clean my gun.

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FireKnife I just can't afford Ultra gas. I get through quite a lot of gas and propane is the only economical choice.

 

so what you're saying is that your tm 1911 with 8 mags (160+ rounds) + a bottle of propane isnt quite enough firepower for the situations that u find urself in. ?? and that you'd like a bit more 'shot count' per fill

 

or is it that u cant get the full 24+ rounds per fill that seems usual for a standard tm 1911 set up at 20'c ?? i am curious that ur standard tm 1911 cant empty a full load of bbs, esp in this weather 

 

I get about 24 shots from my mags on propane. And while that's fine, I'll underload them, it just bugs me that I can't empty my mags on one charge. I swear some people can! (see Ed above for proof).

 

TM 1911 with TM mags, the only upgrades are a TB barrel and a hop rubber (not sure which one) and using green gas if you consider that an "upgrade" or just standard practace.

I get 35 shots per mag.

My secret? I clean my gun.

 

See this is what I mean. It is possible!

 

All of my GBBs get pretty rigorous maintenance with regular stripping and cleaning (I like to keep things squeaky and I run dry propane so it's kind of necessary), but to be fair the 1911 is a relatively recent acquisition so it hasn't had the full treatment yet.

 

Any areas you recommend need particular attention? A near 50% improvement on what I get now would be nice!

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Must admit, a detailed maintenance / cleaning guide for the 1911 would be handy. I've not measured the efficiency of my TM 1911A1, but sometimes it does struggle to finish a mag, even with propane in the high high heats of the MA7 weekend.

 

I've given it a basic clean but I'm at a bit of a loss as to what else to do beyond spraying silicone over everything and wiping off the excess.

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Any areas you recommend need particular attention? A near 50% improvement on what I get now would be nice!

Start with the BBU for one,as obvious as that sounds, but also the frame/slide rails are vital but often forgotten. You need to use a cloth(or kitchen roll) to wipe all the old oil and dirt away, then re-apply the right kind of oil.

When I used to play CQB regularly I would completely dismantle the slide every few games, (even the bits inside the nozzle) and scrub them each part with washing up liquid, then rinse dry and re-oil them before re-assembling. I would also do the same to the frame every few months.

 

Generally the usual airsoft silicone sprays are rather good, you want an oil that is thick enough to stay on the parts when the gas is flowing, but thin enough not to stick.

 

 

Although you have to remember that the 35 round figure comes with the stock piston cup, rather than the 0-ring type piston head. I generally prefer the o-ring type, because of the practicality of function (they almost never jam) but I've never found one that gave as good gas efficiency as the stock TM piston cup.

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Hmm, strange. I'm getting just under a full mag load with mine. one of my mags runs dry with about 4 bb's left, the other two with one or two bb's. 

 

Whats strange is its completely stock. I have bought an o-ring type piston head, but never got around to instaling it...

 

... Maybe it's just Tinked... :<

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I had a PDI piston head (twas fitted to a WE 1911, but that has the same cylinder and smaller gas reservoir) and managed to get about 60 decent power shots out of one magazine.The unfortunate thing was the O ring was so tight the nozzle wouldn't always reset properly and jammed loads but there was a theoretical 4 magazines worth there!

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OK so I just cleaned my 1911 and tested it again, I got 33 out of the mag with the Nineball router and 28 out of the normal mag. Both locked back on empty.

 

Having to keep my pistol squeaky clean is something I can deal with, I tend to anyway...I might give either the Dyna or winter piston heads a go, although Ed you said that O-ring piston heads actually decreased your efficiency?

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OK so I just cleaned my 1911 and tested it again, I got 33 out of the mag with the Nineball router and 28 out of the normal mag. Both locked back on empty.

 

Having to keep my pistol squeaky clean is something I can deal with, I tend to anyway...I might give either the Dyna or winter piston heads a go, although Ed you said that O-ring piston heads actually decreased your efficiency?

 

When I speak, I sound like an annoying internet know it all. But if you listen, you realise that although I talk a lot, I also listen, and I pick up a lot of information, and I think, so I work out what's true and what isn't.

 

TL;DR version, you're welcome.

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Thanks, I didn't think it would make that much difference but I guess when the gas capacity is so marginal every little helps! Shimming the mags is my next job, can only improve matters!

 

Have you actually used either of the O-ring pistons I mentioned?

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I have no idea how it did 60 shots, but it cycled it 61+ times didn't lock on the last few shots and the slide was a bit sluggish. It was average temperature indoors freshly gassed. I didn't believe it and I was holding it in my hand counting the shots!

To clarify though it was dry firing (sorry should have said that in the first post) and the cylinder jammed like hell the moment I got BBs near it if it wasn't freshly lubed that day (never reset properly because it was so tight) so it wasn't a viable upgrade, a team mate had the same model piston head and had nothing but trouble with jams in his TM Hi-Capa...

Great seal for efficiency, not if you want a working gun though :-p

 

Edit, Oh and it was about a shot a second, maybe with a couple of pauses for the gas to come back to pressure...

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The way the floating valve works, it uses a LOT less gas if it isn't loaded.

 

Simply put, the BB in the barrel creates a high pressure area that keeps the valve open, only once the BB has left the barrel and the pressure drops does the valve close and the gas is routed back to cycle the slide.

Without the BB, the valve will close immediatly and will only cycle the slide, using much less gas.

 

60 dry fire rounds is more believable.

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I must have writen this a bunch of times in here now.

All TM pistols are leaking the *suitcase* out of them when they leave the factory.

Tm 1911 and meu love the guarder mag rubbers, 5ku aluminum bb housing and some teflontape arround the hop-up rubber.

And if you dont want to buy the aluminum bb unit, take the original bb unit apart, gake the piston out, rubber off, take some teflontape 2 times arround the aksel the rubber is placed on and put it back together again.

With theese small mods i get arr 1.5 clip of full power at 15' celcius

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I must have writen this a bunch of times in here now.

All TM pistols are leaking the *suitcase* out of them when they leave the factory.

Tm 1911 and meu love the guarder mag rubbers, 5ku aluminum bb housing and some teflontape arround the hop-up rubber.

And if you dont want to buy the aluminum bb unit, take the original bb unit apart, gake the piston out, rubber off, take some teflontape 2 times arround the aksel the rubber is placed on and put it back together again.

With theese small mods i get arr 1.5 clip of full power at 15' celcius

 

Erm, wha?

 

Either way a clean gun with shimmed mags seems to be the best bet. However with my 1911 I still just go a few rounds down to 21 as it is more personal choice and it clocks in at 3x7rds which is fine for me.

 

Though I have noticed that with the TBB I have it seems to get perhaps one or two extra shots off over it not being there. I will have to look into it and do some more testing to come to some sort of conclusion.

 

'FireKnife'

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