Tokyo Marui G18C - Metal Slide Upgrade

[Old School Punk]

Hey guys; I have a TM - G18C that I am considering putting a metal slide on. I have never done this sort of thing before, so I am a bit hesitant to just jump in with both feet.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has put a metal slide on a TM - Glock G18C, to hear how it worked out for them, and if there is anything that I should know before I attempt to do this upgrade.

I would also like to hear hints and tips from anyone who has put a metal slides on any of their pistols, to find out what other upgrades they did to help this slide to operate properly. (ie High Flow Valve, springs etc.)

Thanks in advance for any info that you can give me.

Gord

[cellulose]

I haven't done the upgrade though I have look into it extensively.

First you should choose your slide brand, personally I was going to go for the GunsModify set with the barrel and tritium sights but there are a few other good ones such as PGC and Shooters Design. For PGC apparently there may be minor fitment issues so you may need to do some slight filing, as for Shooters Design it should be a good fit from the factory.

If your doing the slide there are a few upgrades that should be done as well:
- Recoil spring guide/spring, you will need a 150% spring and a stronger guide to support the new slide, for this I recommend the Shooters Design stainless/150% spring.
- High flow valve, definitely a must you will need an increased gas flow to get the heavier slide moving, there are a couple brands but I prefer Guarder.
- Hammer spring, with the high flow valve you should also put in a 150% hammer spring, Shooters Design also make a replacement.
- Valve knocker, seeing as you're putting in a stronger spring the valve knocker will be stressed much more thus I recommend also picking up the Shooters Design steel valve knocker.
- Frame, the screw post at the front is already highly stressed as it is and with the increased weight of the slide you're only looking for trouble, luckily Guarder make a very nice replacement frame with the front screw post reinforced and as a bonus the frames are much nicer than the stock and even have proper trades.

Other upgrades that can help a bit but are not necessary:
- Full auto sear, again with the increased weight and stress that will be put on this part it is recommended to pick up the Shooters Design steel sear you can probably get away with the stock one for a bit but I would change it.
- Piston lid, check your stock piston lid as on my Glock 18C the piston lid was missing a chunk and there were not that many rounds through it, Guarder make a good low cost replacement, it's even worthwhile to pick up a couple.
- Hop-up rubber, to get the best air seal possible you should upgrade the rubber as well, I've only tried the Falcon and RA-Tech ones and out of those two I prefer the Falcon I got the 70 degree but I think the 55 degree would be better.

From there it's up to you, on my planned build I was going to upgrade everything that had a replacement part available. If you're doing all that stuff you might as well get a tight bore and a couple other things such as the Guarder nozzle but it's all down to how much you want to put into it. Hope that information helps a bit and good luck on building an awesome Glock 18C!

[ShadowNet]

I've had no troubles with the PGC slides at all in terms of fitment. And a new reinforced frame is a MUST in my opinion. At about 500 rounds in my upgraded glock, the stock Tokyo Marui frame cracked at the front screw post as well.

[cellulose]

Awesome, that's good to hear, I just read in a few locations that PGC needed a bit of work.

[RacingManiac]

SD one is pretty much drop in, though the engraving looks a bit goofy...it also includes machined sights, separate piece for extractor, and the decorative rear selector pin piece.

You need stronger recoil spring and hammer spring, one to help the slide return and one to deal with propane. Stock frame really does not like propane and mine cracked with about 2 long mags worth of shots BEFORE I upgrade to metal slide.

[MrBond]

You guys should really put some recoil buffers on the spring guide, it really helps absorb the shock of the metal slide and propane use on the frame. I went with the bare essentials:

- PGC Metal slide (wich was a ridiculously easy drop-in/perfect fit on mine)
- Nine Ball steel spring guide w/recoil buffers (the spring is a bit weak tho)
- Steel mag catch (a must with the long mags)

The rest is cosmetic stuff but that's pretty much it, shoots around 290-300fps w/20g BBs, in at about 800rnds as for usage and still going strong. I have ordered a Guarder frame in case the original one eventually breaks but the concensus on other forums is that the post is just as weak on that frame. Some people reinforce it with cold-weld and it seems to solve that problem in most cases.

Valves, hop rubbers and such are mostly to enhance performance, not necessarily required. The original hammer spring is good enough on propane but with time and wear will need and upgrade and the valve knocker will eventually wear out no matter what, no reason to change them prematurely tho IMO.

[Old School Punk]

Hey Cellulose WOW that is quite the response thanks for taking the time! Much appreciated.

Mr. Bond and the rest, thank you for your replies too, you guys Rock!

I am taking all this in, and coming up with a plan of attack!

I will keep you posted on how this all comes together.

Thanks

Gord

P.S. Keep'em coming if you have something more to add!

[Reckless]

my G18C didn't like the SD slide.. while it was a drop in install .. it was really loose. the PGC on a friends required some filing .. but it was a much nicer fit after a little work.

springs are definately needed... as for the frame .. I filled/reinforced the void at the front screw post and mine was fine after a few thousand rounds.

[phloudernow]

PGC or Shooters Design, stay away from guarder, those are mostly for show and wall hangers not for excessive use on the field

[Old School Punk]

So I completed installing a PGC Metal slide on my TM Glock G18C last night and it worked out Great!

I installed the slide, which is really nicely made BTW, with absolutely no modifications needed.

I also installed an upgraded nozzle and I swapped out most of the springs for 150% versions. Lastly I installed a high flow valve into the magazine and the thing works prefectly!

I think that the biggest change came when I upgraded the hammer spring. I think that the stock one that Marui supplies with the gun is just too weak, even for the stock slide. If your doing any upgrading on your pistol, I highly recommend doing the hammer spring upgrade.

I was quite tentative about doing this work myself, but with the help of a couple of Youtube instructional videos, it was really quite easy.

Anyway thanks again for everyones help and advice on this one.

Cheers

Gord