Welcome to M1911.ORG
The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site


John needs your help
Please read this message.


Sponsors Panel
If you intend to buy something from the companies advertising above, or near the bottom of our pages, please use their banners in our sites. Whatever you buy from them, using those banners, gives us a small commission, which helps us keep these sites alive. You still pay the normal price, our commission comes from their profit, so you have nothing to lose, while we have something to gain. Your help is appreciated.
If you want to become a sponsor and see your banner in the above panel, click here to contact us.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 16

Thread: Hi Capa 5.1 by Wei-Etech

THREAD CLOSED
This is an old thread. You can't post a reply in it. It is left here for historical reasons.Why don't you create a new thread instead?
  1. #1
    Join Date
    29th May 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece, Earth
    Posts
    28,076
    Posts liked by others
    204
    Blog Entries
    2

    Hi Capa 5.1 by Wei-Etech

    Introduction

    Saturday August 6th, was a day full of surprises for me. Upon returning home around noon, I found a box waiting for me. Greek Post Office usually does not work the weekends, so this was the first surprise of the day. Upon examining the labels, I saw that it was coming from our Sponsor Airsplat, from whom I was expecting a new, all metal pistol for testing. The Wei-ETech HiCapa 5.1. But since it had not arrived by Friday noon, I had given up hope for it, expecting it to be delivered on Monday.

    Now remember, this was my first Airsoft pistol I was going to handle, so as you can imagine I was quite anxious to see it and play with it. So I opened the box and start taking out its contents. Here you can see them:



    One large, flat box, which contained the pistol, another long small box, which contained a second magazine, a bag of BBs and an Airsplat sticker.

    As I already said, this was the first time in my life that I handled an Airsoft pistol. So you can imagine my (second) surprise, when I picked up a quite heavy STI-alike pistol. A full metal pistol (meaning that the upper frame, barrel and slide are made of metal), weighting more or less the same as a high capacity 1911, loaded with rounds!



    This particular pistol, looked very much like a standard STI pistol, the Eagle 5.0. There were some differences of course, but the first impression was "Oh, here is an STI". The pistol had the silly (but necessary for some countries) orange tip at the muzzle, adjustable sights and one standard length , high capacity magazine. The second magazine, that you see above, is an extended one, with a hidden feature, more about that later.

    The first thing I did, was to remove the magazine and rack the slide back. Oooops, the slide went back almost before I touched it. Of course this is not a .45 ACP pistol, so the recoil spring is very light. I let the slide forward, and decided to do something about the orange barrel tip, right then and there. Very soon the tip was in the garbage can, in my office.




    Features

    With that minor annoyance out of the way, I started examining the pistol. Typical STI look-alike frame, with a metallic upper frame and plastic grip, huge magwell, ambidextrous thumb safety, a light rail, and Bomar rear sight.



    While I was removing the orange tip from the muzzle, I noticed the first thing which didn't impress me. The barrel/slide fit, leaves a lot to be desired. The barrel's outside diameter is quite small compared to the internal diameter of the slide. Even though the reverse recoil spring plug is a very nice unit, which supports the barrel the mismatched diameters of the slide and barrel make me skeptical, as to what accuracy one can expect from this pistol. We will see.



    Here you can see the ... shooter's view. Wide (really wide) but perfectly shaped ambidextrous safety pads (I wish I had such a safety on my real 1911), a very nicely fitted beavertail, a false extractor and a dummy firing pin.

    The thumb safety is one of the best I've laid my hands on, it's shaped with a slight downward angle to the side of the pistol, and the shape is perfect for quick manipulation. However, it suffers from what I am afraid every ambi-safety can suffer from. Mismatched movement of the right and left parts, due to a loose connection on its axle. This means that if you use the right side of the safety to make the gun fire, the left side does not exactly follow the movement, and the gun is still on safe. Not very encouraging, if this was a real gun.

    I removed the safety and had a look inside. The left part is shapped in a triangular shape, which mates to a female triangular shape on the right side. A little crazy glue could fix this issue but then I won't be able to fully strip the gun. And since I never use the right side of the safety, I left it as it is.

    The extractor is of course a dummy one, since there is nothing to extract, so it's just a half-circle shape engraved on the rear of the slide.

    Finally, the firing pin is a dummy too, because the real firing pin (whose role is to let gas out of the magazine to propel the BB down the barrel) is actually in the frame, not in the slide.



    I played with the controls a bit, and the plungers spring is very light also. This makes the safety snap on and off quite easily, more easily than I would have liked. I thought about changing the plungers spring with a normal one, but I am afraid that this might affect the last-shot lock back feature, so for the time being, I didn't touch it.

    The hammer is also made of metal, but this one is a poor quality casting, with several imprefections. A new hammer might be required in the future, if this one snaps.



    What is a clear winner though, is the rear sight. A very precise immitation of our well-known Bomar adjustable sight, with both elevation and sideways adjustements. The sight is burried almost perfectly on the slide (at least better than the sights Colt installs on some of their pistols). Also, the slide is serrated on the top.



    The front sight is dovetailed on the slide, and it is a little strange, since it is thin at the front, and becomes thicker as we move towards the rear. In a real gun, that would allow the shooter to trim its width, according to how much light he likes to see around it, when he centers the front sight in the notch of the rear on. The front sight also has a circle on its face, as if the same sight is used on another model, with three-dots. On this particular model though, the sights are flat black, as they should be on a "target" pistol.



    The frame is not checkered, but stippled, offering a nice, secure grip. The front of the grip is checkered, much like the STI's grips are and so is the mainspring housing.

    Another touch I liked, the magazine release is checkered (not just serrated, which is the usual thing found on almost every 1911). I love checkered magazine releases, so I thought this was a very nice detail.



    The pistol's dust cover incorporates a light rail, which is becoming a trend lately (so that holster makers have more work to do). However, this one is next to useless, since it does not have the cross-cuts which are used to secure the item you will mount there. Of course, with the recoil of an Airsoft pistol, you do not have to worry too much about the cross-cut safety, but still if you install a light there, you do not want to see it hitting the floor, when you lower your pistol. Also, this light rail seems to be too wide to mount a light on it. I tried it with a M3-clone I have, which attaches fine (if not a bit tight) to other pistols, and I just could not make it go in this rail. I am not fond of these light rails in any case, since they do not allow you to use your existing 1911 holsters, and also destroy the very harmonious lines of the pistol, but on this particular case, I didn't care much, I do not have an STI holster anyway, so I didn't care much for holstering it. As for its lines, the hi-cap pistols were never particularly attractive in my eyes.



    Here is what the pistol looks like with the slide locked back. As you can see, it features a full-length guide rod.

    Finally, what is significant for shooting, the pistol's trigger breaks like a glass rod, no creep and very light. Actually this pistol has a trigger pull, lighter than the one of my real pistols, so it is ideal for target shooting.

    In the next pages, you can read how to disassemble the pistol and our shooting tests results.

    [BREAK]

    Disassembly

    Just like in any ordinary 1911, make sure the pistol is empty and push the slide back until the slide stop aligns with the semi-circular cut of the slide. Push the slide stop out, from the right side of the frame. The slide stop pops out easily. Then push the slide forward and off the frame.



    With the slide removed, you can see some of the internal features of this pistol. First of all, there is no barrel link, to cam the barrel down during recoil. Instead there is a hole, through which the slide stop pin passes. Right above that hole, there is a geared disk. This is used to adjust the HOP-UP feature of this pistol (check the Terminology thread, in the Introductory Forum).

    To further disassemble the slide, you have to remove the recoil spring and guide rod. To do that, grab the reverse recoil spring plug with your nail and pull it back, until it is almost at the end of its travel. Hold it there, and remove the complete guide rod assembly from the pistol. Since the recoil spring plug is under the pressure of the recoil spring, make sure that it does not fly in the never-to-be-found-again land. Now you can remove the barrel from the front of the slide.



    Here is a picture showing you the major components of the pistol. Of course, just like with any other 1911, you can go ahead and completely strip the pistol of all its parts, but this is not recommended at this moment. To reassemble the pistol, just reverse the procedure.

    A Unique Feature



    The second magazine which Airsplat send with the pistol, is something that you won't find for any other Airsoft pistol. Actually, even if you decide to buy this particular pistol, but you do not buy it from Airsplat, you will not get this magazine. So, what's so unique about it?



    Well, for once, it is a hi-capacity one, taking 37 BBs instead of 30 that the standard magazine can take (not a big difference). But what makes it really unique, is the fact that this magazine takes a standard CO2 cartridge, instead of Green Gas!

    Pull the small button, at the bottom front of the magazine, and slide of the magazine pad, to reveal a shiny metal cap. Unscrew this cap and you find a long hole, in which you can insert a standard CO2 cartridge.





    Now, this means two things (a) that you can take advantage of the higher pressure CO2 gives, and (b) you can have some small CO2 cartridges with you, instead of a large Green Gas (or propane) tank, to fill your gas pistol.



    Neat idea. Also this magazine, has this round small button, you see at the top right corner of the picture above, which is used to hold the magazine follower at the compressed position, so that your thumb does not get soar, from holding down the follower, as you load the BBs. I liked that and I wish the standard magazine incorporated that feature too. Remember, you can get this magazine only from Airsplat.

    In the next page, you can read about our shooting tests results.

    [BREAK]

    Shooting

    After playing with the gun and taking the pictures for this presentation, the time for shooting had come. Unfortunatelly, since the pistol didn't arrive on Friday, and I could never think that it would be delivered on Saturday, I hadn't gone shopping for any Green Gas or CO2, so it was impossible to test fire the pistol over the weekend. So first thing Monday morning, I visited the local hunting supplies shop and came home with about 15 CO2 cartridges. Unfortunatelly, Airsoft is not wide-spread in Greece, so no Green Gas, unless I was willing to drive to down-town Athens, which I definitely was not.

    So, for the first time in my life, I loaded the extended CO2 magazine with some pellets. Darn, what a boring job, you have to put the pellet in the small opening of the magazine, and push it in, while you are, in the same time, holding back on the magazine follower. This being a two-column mag, means that you have to make sure that the pellets (BBs) are inserted in a staggered fashion, if you want the to feed properly.

    With the mag half-full, I inserted a CO2 cartridge in the appropriate opening and tighten up the cover. The folks that make this magazine, have slotted its bottom cover, so that it can be used as a plyers, to tighten up the cap that holds the CO2 cartridge in the magazine. Nice thought.

    I inserted the mag in the pistol, racked the slide and fired my first few BBs out of it. At about 5 meters (~15 feet) the BBs hit the target a bit lower and to the left of my point of aim.

    Here is the first target I destroyed.



    Some adjustment of the Bomar-look-alike sight and the shots were now nicely centered.



    The shots on that pink styrofoam piece, were three groups, one towards the top, one in the middle and one at the bottom. I still need to bring the point of impact a bit to the right.

    I didn't try any longer shots, since I didn't feel confident with the accuracy of the pistol, and I didn't have a large enough target to use.

    In the afternoon, I tried some more target practice within the appartment. Here are the targets.




    This time, I got brave enough to fire from 10 m distance. The target you see is a standard A4 paper size sheet, with two targets created on it. The one on the right was shot, as the pistol was from the morning session, in other words adjusted for 5 m. The one on the left was shot with the pistol re-adjusted for 10 m, with some more elevation and adjustment for the left drift of the POI.

    I believe that this pistol's accuracy is not yet fully exploited. I'll try to improve it a bit, by adding a copper ring around the front end of the barrel, so that it can better lock up with the slide, and I'll report back to you.

    One thing I noticed during this firing sequense, was that the pistol lost power, after 6-8 continuous shots, possibly due to the cooling of the CO2 cartridge and hense the loss of pressure that this caused. As a result, the slide didn't cycle and the hammer stayed at half-cock. You had to let the pistol warm up a little and cock the slide again, before you could continue firing.

    Shooting, some more

    I got so impressed by this pistol, that I just had to see how it performs in some real, IPSC-style scenarios. First of all, I needed some targets, and these were made by downloading the IDPA target from www.ammoman.com and printing it on A4 size paper. Then I stick those targets on a similar-sized box, in which I also put a folded newspaper and voila! I created three of these targets and I arranged them in my yard, in the following pattern.



    In the above image, red rectangles are the targets (T1, T2, T3) and green rectangles are the Firing Positions (FP1, FP2 and FP3), the distances between the targets and the firing positions being shown on the arrows.

    The purpose of this setup was to evaluate how capable was the pistol, in training for IPSC-style shooting, in ranges which are usually found in such exercises.

    After firing a few test shots at the maximum distance, and doing some adjustments in the elevation of the rear sight, I proceeded to shoot this course a few times. Two things need to be clarified. I have no chronograph, so no time was registered. Also, I have no holster for such a pistol, so starting was performed with the Hi-Capa in the rear pocket of my jeans, hardly an ideal way to start a string. The following scenario was shot:

    From position FP1 I fired two shots at T1, T2 and T3. Then I moved to FP2, from where I fired two shots to T2 and T3 and then I moved to FP3, from where I fired two shots at T3.

    I was amazed to see that even though I was shooting as fast as I could (which is not blindingly fast, mind you) the accuracy of this pistol was enough to keep all shots within the target boundaries. This means that it is quite possible to practice IPSC exercises, within your house or back yard. Even the longest shot, which was at 16m from my firing position, were very consistent.

    I still want to play a bit with the Hop-Up adjustment of the Hi-Capa, because in order to make the 15-20m shots possible, the Bomar-look-alike had to be adjusted a little too high for my liking, but overall, I was quite impressed with the accuracy potential.

    I also noticed that during these scenarios, the time between the shots was enough to let the gun warn up, from the previous shots, so the loss of power was not observed during this test, as it was when I fired continuous shots for a rest.

    Poor Man's Chrono Test


    This pistol proved to be the least powerful of all I've tested so far. The shot fired with the standard magazine, penetrated one side of the Coke can, and just dented the other side. I run out of Coke cans, so I haven't yet tested it with the CO2 magazine.

    OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

    I would say very favorable. The cost of this pistol is 125 US$, and that of the CO2 magazine is 45 US$, so with about 170$ you get a nice set to play with, with the added convenience of CO2 cartridges. With the exception of the barrel/slide loose fitting, and the loose connection between the two parts of the grip safety (which was corrected finally with a drop of nail polish), this pistol is a fine shooter. Remember though, that if you want to get the unique CO2 magazine, you'd better get your pistol from Airsplat.

    I wouldn't suggest this pistol for bullseye training, due to the loose fit barrel, but it can serve very well in the role of "in-house training" for IPSC practice.

    In this thread you can read my modifications to improve the accuracy of this pistol. Quite successfully I would say.

    Note on Gas

    This pistol is supposed to be used with Green Gas.

    However, I am testing all pistols using ... propane. Green Gas is in reality propane, with a little silicone oil added, to lubricate the pistols. So instead of paying for Green Gas, I bought a canister of propane, like the ones sold in US for the camping stoves, or flame torches, and a special valve adaptor, which allows me to use the much cheaper propane instead of Green Gas. In this site, you can read more on this issue:

    http://www.airsoft-innovations.com

    The reason I am ignoring the manufacturer's recommendation, as far as gas is concerned, is two-fold. First, I want to have consistent environment for all the tests (some of the pistols we'll test here use HFC 134A, some use Green Gas), and second it's plain difficult to find HFC 134A in Greece. Also, I plan to upgrade all the standard pistols (like the Western Arms ones) so that it is safe to use Green Gas (and thus propane) with them. Of course, this pistol does not need any upgrades.

    Rating

    Accuracy: 2
    Upgradeability: 2
    Training Capability: 4
    Realism: 4
    Quality: 3
    Power: 1

    Overall: 16
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org
    Last edited by John; 13th September 2008 at 08:52.


  2. #2
    Join Date
    1st July 2005
    Location
    Montana
    Posts
    274
    Posts liked by others
    0
    Great report. I am curious about the differance between CO2 and Greengas. Do you use the same mags for greengas? If so I assume it comes in the same type of container as the CO2 you show in your pics.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    29th May 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece, Earth
    Posts
    28,076
    Posts liked by others
    204
    Blog Entries
    2
    No, the CO2 magazine is for CO2 only, the Green Gas magazine is a different one, only for Green Gas, or Propane.
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org

  4. #4
    Join Date
    1st July 2005
    Location
    Montana
    Posts
    274
    Posts liked by others
    0
    I have bben looking at airsplat and they have a heck of a selection of guns. Is the CO2 a better way to go vs the greengas?
    S&W 1911DK
    Para LTC 1911
    Kimber AEGIS ll

  5. #5
    Join Date
    29th May 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece, Earth
    Posts
    28,076
    Posts liked by others
    204
    Blog Entries
    2
    The CO2 is more convenient, in the sense that you do not have to carry a GG canister around, if you just want to go out for some fun. Actually, I do not use GG at all, I got a Propane Adapter (Airsplat sells these for less than 30$) and I use the propane canisters that you use for torches or barbeques. A lot cheaper than GG and exactly the same thing (OK, GG has some silicone additives to lubricate the pistols, but you can do the same thing by adding a couple of drops of silicone oil, in the propane tank valve, before fitting the adaptor on it, this is enough to lubricate your pistol for the next 5-10 magazines you shoot).
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org

  6. #6
    Join Date
    29th May 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece, Earth
    Posts
    28,076
    Posts liked by others
    204
    Blog Entries
    2
    As far as propane is concerned, here is a link:

    http://www.airsoft-innovations.com/
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org
    Last edited by John; 22nd September 2005 at 04:20.


  7. #7
    Join Date
    15th November 2005
    Posts
    4
    Posts liked by others
    0
    Good pistol. With ICS green gas very good power & hard kick.

    My impressions: http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/74/101359.html

  8. #8
    Join Date
    29th May 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece, Earth
    Posts
    28,076
    Posts liked by others
    204
    Blog Entries
    2
    Hi Eros, welcome on board. Good to see another Airsofter, especially one from Russia. I was just watching a TV program on a Russian channel (I think it is called Armory), a few days ago, about Airsoft in Moscow.

    When my wife returns from Odessa tomorrow afternoon, I'll have her translate that page for me. I speak very little Russian, to figure it out.

    Rgds
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org

  9. #9
    Join Date
    15th November 2005
    Posts
    4
    Posts liked by others
    0
    Hello
    Others my rewiews (russian):


    WESTERN ARMS & SCW U.S.M1911A1 Military Model
    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=63 full dissasembling: http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=64 http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=65

    WESTERN ARMS & SCW (version 2) COLT M1911 U.S.Army
    http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/74/100989.html

    M1911А1 KJW (full metal)
    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=16


    Tanaka Luger P08:
    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=20
    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=150

    Tokyo Marui Desert Eagle:
    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=55

    KWC No.KG-251H (SIG SAUER P226)
    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=27

    Beretta 92 series
    HFC M190 Special Force (full metal)
    http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/74/78786.html

    KJW M9 full metal
    http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/74/97857.html

    KJW Glock 27 (metal slide & outer barrel)
    http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/74/73565.html

  10. #10
    Join Date
    29th May 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece, Earth
    Posts
    28,076
    Posts liked by others
    204
    Blog Entries
    2
    Eros,

    Thanks for those links, quite nice.

    I need to ask you something though, in this page:

    http://www.airgunlib.ru/page.php?id=64

    You are using an image from M1911.ORG, the last picture in that page. I would appreciate if you could at least add a reference to my site.

    Tnx
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  



Sponsors Panel
If you intend to buy something from Brownells, please use their banners above. Whatever you buy from them, gives us a small commission, which helps us keep these sites alive. You still pay the normal price, our commission comes from their profit, so you have nothing to lose, while we have something to gain. Your help is appreciated.
If you want to become a sponsor and see your banner in the above panel, click here to contact us.

Non-gun-related supporters.
Thank you for visiting our supporters.