Building Up an IPSC Race Gun

[m102404]

....I really shouldn't do this.....but....

After the phenomenal time at the last CAPS (formerly IPSC) shoot, I'm really tweaked about converting my 5.1 HiCapa to be a race gun. It's stock other than the swap of a Guarder Springfield metal slide. Listening to both MadMax and Illusion shoot the sh*t after, there are at least two polar opposite opinions...

Ideally, any upgrades would be incremental (i.e. spread them out over time to ease the pain) or in phases.

For those with experience building a race gun, would you please post your comments re.:
1. What you would do to a stock (internal) 5.1 to get it to your idea of an excellent IPSC race gun (keeping in mind that price is a factor and sometimes what would be the ultimate bling bling...is not always necessary).

2. Function over power over form.
What changes would noticeably improve functioning/handling. (i.e. mag changes, sighting, etc...)? The ranges will be quite short, so power is not such and issue. If it improves functioning/handling I'm all for it, but if it's just shiny but serves no purpose, it'll stay on the shelf.

Unrelated:
I'm not much of a gear guy...but could those who know also post (or PM me) a note about what holsters/mag holders/belts are best?

Thanks!

PS.. I secretly hope that the overwhelming authorities just recommend to leave it alone.... . And yes, I do know that just because it might be a great build doesn't mean that it'll make be shoot better!

[ILLusion]

If price is a concern, there isn't really any major issue with leaving it bone stock...

Me personally, I just have this "twitch" that leaves me unable to leave things bone stock. A lot of my guns get completely modified before a single shot has been fired from them. :P

But I practiced reloading drills with both stock grips as well as guns with both minimal as well as large mag wells, and as ugly as some of them look, I have to say - they work REALLY well and reduce chances of slamming your mag in to a finger or worse: breaking off your feed lip. Something that I've considered for a while but never got around to it (and MadMax has done this to his gun) is filing a tapered edge in to his mag well to ease entry of magazines. Best of all, it's free!

Putting in a strong recoil spring would almost be a pre-requisite, whether you're shooting the gun stock or modified, especially when running propane - not only to save your components from the rearward slam, but also to improve your recoil speed. Allows for faster follow-up shots too!

As for holsters/mag holsters, Huang has an okay one for sale - $70 gets you the holster and one mag holster (I'm harrassing him about getting more mag holsters), but it works really well for the price. I picked one up last night and it's worked great so far, although the quality is a bit on the softer side. I am a stickler for quality and there's a possibility I may ditch it and go with a real setup rather than poorly manufactured replicas. It's about double the price, but again, I'm after quality and reliability more than price.

[Endymion]

As far as gear goes, comfort goes a long way toward optimal performance. While it's a given that your gear should be durable, reliable (= consistent) and not cause your weapon to snag, you need to find it comfortable in order for it to become natural in short order. Try out as many makes and models as you can, including both dropleg and hip - the difference in draw height can make a big difference, but so can the presence (or lack thereof) of something attached to your leg.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for the chat between Brian and Carl, but I can pretty well guess how the discussion went lol. I fall into both camps – I have a hard time leaving any piece untouched once I start modding, but I'm just as content to do only what it takes to make performance enhancements without much consideration of form.

If you're on a budget, a stock Capa with a recoil spring and minor do-it-yourself mods can go a long way. Paint dots on the back of your iron sights for faster recognition/acquisition. A stock slide is light – light = faster cycling when coupled with an enhanced recoil spring. Look up Colin's tape mod for reducing inner barrel play. Consistency and reliability are the prime factors in any well-tuned weapon. It doesn't matter how cool the pistol looks if you can't rely on it to punch holes in the same place with every shot (had this reinforced to me the hard way last Friday).

[m102404]

While I said price was a concern...it was more so to dissuade people from posting, "buy this STI trigger, it's completely sick.." and quickie answers like that.

I'll spend what I need to spend to get a solid, useful upgrade.

I've got the "can't leave it alone" syndrome as well....thus this thread. I'm sure that my shooting ability is not maxing out my equipment.

So:
- enlarged mag well
- enhanced recoil spring (snappy return to battery and less wear and tear)
- holster/mag/belt - I'll take a close look at Huang's clone. I've "bought cheap = bought twice" more than enough to know better, but I'm a sucker for a cheap price.

Q. Are extended mag releases worth their expense? Any significant issues with swapping to one? I do have to shift my grip to actuate the mag release.

Re. mag holders...will any/every mag holder that will hold a double stack mag (i.e. berretta's, glocks, etc...) fit the HiCapa mags? Are there any 100% fit ones that you've come across?

[ILLusion]

Practice reloading and sighting drills - once you have it down pat, you don't really need an extended mag release. The drill will involve swinging the muzzle of the gun to the left a bit to hit the button and bringing it back in to the web of your hand and picking up the sight picture again.

But... extended mag release is sooo soo nice... if you need to question it, I'll let you molest mine on the 27th. Come out.

The Mag holster that comes with Huang's IPSC holster is a replica of the CR Speed mag holster. The gun holster is also a replica of the CR Speed model. The Mag holster is highly adjustable through the use of shims and a tightening system that allows you to fit Hi-Capas easily. I think I may have to grab a couple more mag holsters off him.

[ILLusion]

I'm sure you'll find this read to be interesting, if you haven't seen it yet - it covers a couple of "do-it-at-home" mods that you can do to your trigger for free:

http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwol...l?reviewID=168

The overtravel mod is what adjustable triggers take care of. You can get finer tuning with an aftermarket trigger, but if you're short on cash and have some time on your hand, you can do it with the mod as well.

[RacingManiac]

Just some points that might be interesting. Since IPSC requires rapid shooting and sometimes shooting on the move. The "hard kicK" that lots of GBB sells is not necessarily what you want. Which is why parts like AS' BBU exist, because killing that weight will reduce the disturbance slide cycling causes. At the same token this is a good point to NOT use metal slide, as they are inevitably heavier that the stock plastic slide. However I think wear and tear is an issue especially for us who uses propane primarily, so metal slide might be better if you don't wanna replace a plastic one down the road. My thinking is(and if I were to build another Hi-Capa, I'll try to follow this path, and it'll have to be an open gun), is to use Hi-Capa 4.3 as a base. Smaller slide, so regardless a metal or plastic slide it is lighter, and try to loose as much weight as possible on the moving components. So light weight BBU, and probably porting the slide(or buy one thats ported). Then run longer inner barrel with comp to hide it and to get that accuracy and range of the 5.1 back.

I think power is still important though, as by my understanding, if neglecting the hop-up effect, more fps should mean that the bb's trajectory is straighter for longer time when not using Hop-up? So having a more powerful gun should also be more accurate no? As mentioned with the longer barrel, I'd probably run a tightbore as well, which will help both power and accuracy.

Then there are upgrades for reliability, Hi-Capa nozzle is pretty weak, so replacing that IMO should be a must. And after doing the hammer and sear on my gun I find it helps lighten the trigger pull, and at the same time uses better components(stainless sear and hammer)...

I used to think big magwells are ugly until I start practicing reload, and realized what they are for(lol). I don't think you "need" to have it, but having it probably will help quite a bit. I did file the taper edge to my Hi-Capa and the 1911 though, and it does help....mag catch I am not so sure. I am running the short 9-ball magcatch, and between that and the stock I am not finding it that different to use...

I think a lot of the thinking should also be done about what class you might want to build you gun for. And that can be your artificial budget cap...

[Shooting Chef]

All the above points are great Ty. In my opinion, I find that the mods you should think about are the ones that will get you the hits. But there is another class which are the ones who don't care about the hits, they just look SEXY!! LOL all joking aside, since I have been shooting IPSC the mods I find that will impact you shooting the most are the following:

1. For quicker target aquisition:
a. Replace front sight with a fiber optic sight. Do not paint your rear sight, leave it black.

2. Pin your beaver tail safety. It is useless! Makesure that you do not pin the slide safety cuz that'd be a violation. (unsafe gun)

3. Magwell helps in split seconds of reloading.

4. Tape your grip with skateboard tape. It helps your grip.

5. Extended mag release helps so that you will not have to change your grip inorder to reach the mag release.

6. A lighter trigger definately helps to reduce trigger pull which could add a few degrees to the bullet trajectory and make an Alpha into a Charlie.

Those are the ones I can think of at the moment. About the slide, I chose to play AS IPSC with a metal slide cuz I can get a little more feel of the recoil. This would add just that realism that I would get from real IPSC.



6. A competition holster because if you get stuck drawing your gun, it would add precious minutes.

[huang]

Here is a basic mod.



More AS IPSC parts coming soon.

[RacingManiac]

huang, will you have a optic mount for Hi-Capa that's light rail mounted?

[m102404]

Awesome info, thank you guys!

I'll let this digest a bit. This is going to be quite a mod in the end.


*****EDIT*****
After an evening repairing AEGs....here's what I think I'll do so far:
1. Enhanced recoil guide
2. Holster, some proper mag holders and a stiff belt
3. 1 more mag, maybe 2

After a couple more CAPS with the 5.1 as is, I'll zero in on sights/manipulation/functioning mods.
*************

BTW, I noticed there was only the token attempt to suggest leaving it stock.......excellent...

[RacingManiac]

the way I see it, owning a Hi-Capa is like driving a Honda Civic, you can leave it stock, and it'll do all the things it was designed to without complain, and get the job done. But then you can also slap on all the pretty bits to make it look spiffy, with little performance gain, or do up the motor and make a sleeper. Or you can go all out and make a monster of it......really depends on you....

[m102404]

Update:

Picked up another 5.1 to fiddle with.
- TM 5.1 lower
- some kind of lanyard mainspring cover (nine ball?)
- SD "stock" MRP slide
- SD SS .45 chamber
- SD SS cone barrel

Picked up a "can't remember what brand" 226 150% spring kit and just used the recoil spring. Installed a washer and a thick rubber o-ring on the guide..."feels" like it cushions the recoil of the slide a bit...we'll see.

The loading nozzle was cracked. Replaced it with another stock one, it lasted 10-12 mags before it cracked again. Replaced it with a SD POM nozzle last night...we'll see.

Slide is a bit tight mid way along, working on it. Chamber is a little tight, we'll see how it works in.

My mags are seriously messed up...I was filing and cleaning them out like a madman with 30min to go until last night's CAPS event.

Saving up for SD mount and Burris Fastfire Optic

[ILLusion]

Tys, I know you want to get an upgraded hammer/strut/sear/striker kit now.... pwuahahahaa...

I sold myself on the super buttery smooth break and lightened trigger pull they provide. I'm going to have to get it for all of my guns now. :P

[m102404]

Brian,

I sold my soul a long time ago...I'm down to selling my blood for airsoft...still a couple of pints to go before I can get a new hammer/sear combo.

Maybe next up is the PDI barrel compensator thing we were talking about. I still have to figure out the barrel lengths an bits that I'll need.

But the spanking new CR Speed rig is soooo nice. With a little tweaking the holster is really secure but lightning quick (I'm not...the holster is).

The change out from the CR Speed mag holders to the Ghost holders rocks!

The mag holders are really sweet. The positive grip but quick release of a mag is super smooth.

Like I said...I'll have one completely tricked out 5.1...and a stock 5.1 that I'll shoot the CAPS tournaments with while the upgraded pistol is forever not working quite right!

PS. Just like the CIRAS...the wife was NOT impressed with me adjusting the holster and rig while she was sleeping...there's a lot of velcro on that belt!