Tired of your single-stack WE 1911 running out of gas after 5-10 shots? Here is your answer. I learned this trick from Jesse (shogun), the tech at Airsoft Outlet NW.
What you'll need:
Your single-stack WE 1911 pistol.
1. Small phillips head screwdriver
2. Small flathead screwdriver
3. 5/32 hex/allen wrench. (Its probably a metric size, but I couldn't find my metric tools, and the 5/32 worked.)
You will also need:
Two small #4 lock washers (the screw is the piston head screw... its just there for size comparison, you'll see it later). I like the spring style lock washers, as they are less likely to work loose.
STEP 1
I'm assuming you already know how to field strip the pistol, so there are no detailed photos of it. Remove the magazine, pull the slide stop out the side, remove the slide. Set the frame, magazine and slide stop aside.
STEP 2
Remove the barrel bushing, spring plug/recoil spring/guide rod, and barrel. Set them aside.
STEP 3
Remove the small flathead screw on the rear sight (only on the 1911s with target/tactical sights, the government style 1911s only have the rear hex screw) and the "5/32" hex screw from the rear of the slide. Drop the blowback chamber out the bottom of the slide, being careful not to lose the long spring that goes along the side of it. You should have a collection of parts that looks something like this:
STEP 4
Remember not to lose/forget that spring. It's important. Pull the nozzle/cylinder forward, and then angle it up as shown to remove it from the chamber. Once you flip the chamber upside-down, it will look like this:
STEP 5
See how wobbly your piston head (the silver plug with the black o-ring around it) is? It shouldn't be that loose, and that's the root of your problem. Remove that little phillips screw from the front of the piston head. Hey! Its our old friend the piston head screw! We remember him from earlier, don't we?
STEP 6
Put your two washers around the screw, and then put the screw back into the piston head and reattach it to the piston (there's a depression in the piston head that they should fit into with no problem). It's important that the spacers (washers) are BETWEEN the head of the screw and the piston. Adding them to the back will move the piston head forward, and reduce the size of your gas chamber.
STEP 7
Reassemble your pistol. Just do it all in reverse, more or less. I didn't take pictures for this because you should be able to figure it out.
I've done this or had Jesse do this on five of my pistols now. All of them have shown dramatic improvements in blowback and gas consumption. It works on both 1911s and Hicapas, but I have seen some Hicapas with a nylon spacer already installed. Give it a try and let us all know if it works for you, and if you have any questions, post them here.
