TM HI-CAPA stock vs mods

[MacEntyre]

A friend and I purchased Tokyo Marui HI-CAPA pistols in May. I got a full size, and he got the 4.3. We decided to use propane. He wanted to upgrade his with a metal slide, metal outer barrel and hi flow valve, because people recommended those mods for use with propane. I left mine stock. He doubled the cost of his. Still, the stock gun seemed to be higher quality. We figured time would tell.

Last week, we each used our airsoft pistols to set up IDPA classifiers in our backyard. I have never had a problem with my TM pistol. I shot the classifier, stopping only to reload. He reported that he spent more time tweaking the pistol than shooting. He has feeding problems.

So far, I have no problems using my stock TM HI-CAPA with propane.

[John]

Buh, you do not need to alter anything to use propane. It's the same thing as the Green gas, minus some silicone lubricant. Add a drop or two, on the top of the magazine, when you load it with propane, and you got the same thing. And since TM pistols are made to work with Green gas, there is no purpose to upgrade them for propane.

[MacEntyre]

TM pistols are made to work with 134, not green gas.

[John]

Sorry Mac, you are right. My version of the Hi-Capa was not the TM one, it was the Wei-Tech. So when I read Hi-Capa, my mind doesn't go to TM. My bad Sir.

[MacEntyre]

Hey, no problem Commander!

BTW, the dealer told us that the warranty would be void if we used propane... :nono:
but he recommended green gas. :confused:

He said that he and a bunch of his customers shoot TMs, and they all use green gas, without any problems! I pointed out that green gas is propane, and he repeated that the manufacturer specifies 134, and propane would void the warranty, so use green gas. :sleep:

It was because he said a lot of his customers, and he himself, use green gas in their TMs without any problems, that I decided NOT to upgrade my pistol. Since green gas is propane, he has basically field tested TMs with propane for several years by using green gas. :D

What puzzles me is that the Korean WEs are licensed from TM, and they specify green gas, not 134. Is that because they use more metal than TM?

Or does TM build their pistols to use propane, but market them for use with 134, so as to appear more concerned about, er, correctness?

[John]

Interesting, doesn't he know that Green gas is propane? LoRL, some dealer. Next time, get in touch with Andrew @ Airsoft Extreme, he is a great guy.

I do not know what the differences are between TM and Wei-Tech, never saw a TM up close and personal.

[Plastic]

Interesting, doesn't he know that Green gas is propane? LoRL, some dealer. Next time, get in touch with Andrew @ Airsoft Extreme, he is a great guy.

I do not know what the differences are between TM and Wei-Tech, never saw a TM up close and personal.

Deftly skirting the Green/propane debate I must confirm that TMs are only designed to work with 134a and no other gasses. The WE models are clones of the TM original and feature more metal but this does not make them any more capable than a TM in handling high pressure gasses.

WE's R&D is all about repetition, not innovation so most people will tell you that a WE will never be as accurate or reliable as a TM.

High pressure gasses do more damage to your pistol than simply killing the slide release notch and potentially cracking the slide and upgrading with parts designed to increase the pistols ability to deal with these high pressures only puts other parts under stress.

My tip? Get a TM, use 134a, be happy. :)

[Sniper2160]

What puzzles me is that the Korean WEs are licensed from TM, and they specify green gas, not 134. Is that because they use more metal than TM?

Or does TM build their pistols to use propane, but market them for use with 134, so as to appear more concerned about, er, correctness?


TM Pistols over time well be under more stress with Propane and Green Gas, The Reason the dealer wants you to use Green Gas is Probably so youll buy it from him for 15 dollars a can as opposed to 3 Dollars at a supermarket for propane.

Now WE Tech Pistols cannot use 134a because it uses a Heavy metal slide which 134a is unable to cycle. As far as your friends feeding problems it sounds like he installed the slide wrong and the Loading nozzle isnt making contact with the magazine right.

[hkssr20det]

I have shot a number of my TMs on plastic slides (including both 4.3 and 5.1 Hi Capas) on green gas no problem. While some of the older models are not designed for green gas use, the latest generations are more than capable of handling it just fine.

A WE is a Chinese clone of the TM Hi Capa. They use the same design (well a copy of the TM design) for the Hop Up and blowback mechanism.

A properly upgraded TM will not require any fiddling to operate efficiently and accurately. I agree that there is something wrong with the slide to mag interface. What slide and upgrades is he using?

[shawnhiga]

You are right about the metal slide on the WE. You'll need the green gas to operate the heavier slide on the WE. a stock TM Hi-Capa will work on green gas, but over time, it'll wear some parts, particularly the plastic slide. As far as using propane to charge your gun, yeah its the same as "green gas" except no silicone. The trade off would be more time stripping and lubing the gun, but it'll work. I also remember being told that those propane tanks are at a higher pressure, thus increasing the pressure in your magazine. I figure you'll get a few more FPS out of it, but I would you have make sure your gun is modified to handle the increased pressure release.

As for the WE, is design is based on the TM Hi-Capa, so TM and WE parts are interchangeable, though I am not sure to the extent of the compatibility. My son bought a WE Hi-Capa recently and I was impressed with the construction. It was a pretty tight package. Very little play in the upper slide and pretty good kick in the recoil. But after shooting it, that where things got messy. Accuracy was less to be desired and grouping at 15' was pretty loose, (didn't bother to measure), I would think changing the inner barrel to tighter tolerance should fix the accuracy problem. I also read somewhere the stock upper slide was on the heavier side, so recoil action was a bit slower than is should be, though i have not confirmed this.

[martinlb]

I was under the impression that in Japan airsoft guns are government regulated - required to be (???) somewhere around 300 fps limited, and that 134a gas supplies low enough pressure to keep guns within the legal limit there. That has led me to the supposition that Japanese guns may tolerate green gas but have to be sold to use 134a. ???

[hkssr20det]

Yeah, that is true. A new set of laws came into effect recently (in the last year) since before that is was more of a gentleman's agreement. Tokyo Marui, KSC and some Tanaka and Western Arm's guns are "designed" for use with 134A, but since the build is pretty strong in general, they aren't going to blow up right away with higher pressure.