WE/Socom Gear Lower Frame Modification

[faithless]

Searched on google and here and came out nothing, just thought start a new thread.

In short, I am thinking about doing some modification on my socom gear lower frame to allow it to accept TM 1911/MEU magazine.

I understand WE/Socom gear pistol is no where near the quality of TM ones, but it is full metal, it is cheap, it is nice to use as a side arm that you could throw around with. BUT THE MAGAZINE JUST SUCKS. I mean, it leaks on a day to day basis, the feeder breaks in pieces on a day to day basis. Now one of them is used as a door stop, and it still sucks.

Anyways, have anyone done any modification on their we/socom gear pistol to make them fit a TM 1911 magazine?

From the look of it, the slide assembly is identical to a tm hi-capa/1911/MEU, but lower has that black pieces (just above the valve knocker) blocks the tm magazine from going in completely. I will post up a picture soon.

[ILLusion]

I'm comparing the two magazines right now, and I've noticed a few things that may go beyond simple modifications to the lower receiver, but I think with some effort, it can be done:

1) WE magazines are thicker than Tokyo Marui magazines by 1mm. I would recommend WE lower receivers to have the magwell shimmed to prevent wobble, but this may not be necessary. It may just be a minor annoyance at most.

2) Flow valve is in the same loccation. No adjustment to location is necessary.

3) Mag catch notch is a different size. The Tokyo Marui notch is thinner (top to bottom) than the WE notch. The bottom of the notch is in the same place, but the top (where it holds the mag up) is lower on the Marui mag. Thus, the WE mag catch needs material removed from the top, in order to be able to hold up a Tokyo Marui magazine.

4) The magazine guide that inserts in to the notch at the top rear of the magazine protrudes too far to allow a Tokyo Marui magazine to insert all the way. (You've already noticed this.) You would need to file this down to allow a Tokyo Marui magazine to seat completely.

5) The gas route rubber on the Tokyo Marui magazine sits a little bit higher than the WE magazine. Without being able to seat the shell in to the receiver, it's hard to tell what effect this would have. I'd say to take care of the other issues first, and worry about this part once you get to this stage.

Besides that, the feed lips seem to be in the right place, as well as the slide catch trigger.

[Danke]

That's kind of the opposite of my WE magazine experience (I have the Wilson copy). Not a hint of a problem other than a pain to fill.

What about doing the usual fix with Teflon tape/silicon to address gas leaks and transplanting the feed mech from a TM mag?

[faithless]

Thanks a lot Brian. The information is very useful.

Maybe I am not doing it right, but the magazine leaks after 4-5 mag worth of shooting, while my tm mag, even the army one does not have any issue so far.

I use Teflon tape/silicon to seal the mag if it first leaks, then use the gasket maker to do a complete seal. I seen people glue their we mag. =/

[juicy]

Feed mech won't work as a TM 1911/MEU mag has a double stacked BB follower/spring, as versus the single stacked WE.

[Danke]

What I do when I'm sealing a mag is I use a lot of silicon gasket, and then put a hair of gas in to pressurize the chamber.

I have had a few that needed a few tries to get a positive seal.

I let it sit for a few days in a warm spot to let the silicon cure and then give it a full charge. You can tell right away if it's working, just bump the flow valve and see if it's still holding gas.