Hi-Capa fail to return to battery?
 

Picked up a used TM 4.3 Hi-Capa recently, was very happy with it, but it started to have a little problem. When firing, it sometimes doesn't return to battery, needing a little push. Something to do with the loading nozzle it seems. It has a stock slide and outer barrel, but I think the recoil spring was upgraded.

When field stripped, the loading nozzle moves very very smoothly, and snaps back perfectly, no friction at all. There is a slight point that it can catch on if you push it to the side a bit, looks like it's part of the slide design though.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...p/DSC05327.jpg

Any tips?

Thanks,
Alex

Hey thats the same problem I had, I believe its just a dry Rubber O-ring

Loading Nozzle sticking out right?
Has to be pushed back to correct seating?

Well Solution is

If you can dissassemble it and go to the blowback Unit and apply some G&P Cylinder Grease to the that rubber O-ring in the blowback unit and within the loading nozzle, I went crazy on it and now it works like new.

You can either take the whole blowback unit out and apply it. or you can pull the loading nozzle while its still in the slide a little bit and just squirt some of that cylinder grease in there and move it about to make sure it goes all around

If you are not too sure what to do, at the next Defcon game remind me to bring my cylinder grease and I'll help ya

Or use silicone oil on the same part.

Yup that too and you are good to go

I tried the silicone oil but it did not seem as smooth

Thats the thing, when its field stripped, the nozzle works smoothly, and is clearly well oiled. Only during firing, sometimes it doesn't allow the slide to return all the way as the picture shows.

We should compile all the recent Hicapa threads...there's tons of good tips in them.

When it sticks going forward into battery...if you gently push on the muzzle of the outer barrel...does the slide then snap forward completely?

Is your inner barrel getting stuck/hung up on the hole in the outer barrel, right at the muzzle?

To me...it seems as if the barrel is going up and forward too soon, jamming/wedging into the top of the slide.

Hey Tyson,

Yes sir, pushing on to the barrel a little lets the slide return fully forward. The problem was gone in the morning, but now it started up again, and even so, it might do it for several rounds, then stops for a while, then starts up again.

Any tips?

Thanks,
Alex

Hey I am having that problem now too bargghhh, even after solving my other problem

Same thing too, I shoot and it sticks back with a little push it snaps back into place, does not happen all the time but every so often, I believe its the metal Outer Barrel, it looks a bit loose at times and can go left and right too easily

Aftermarket Parts

- Shooters Design Metal Outer Barrel
(Perhaps thats the cause of my mishap?)

I remember Illusion saying that if you have the wrong Slide to Outer Barrel match then that is the problem, I wish I could find a Stock TM Outer Barrel even if its plastic, it shouldn't jam up

my other Hi-Capa at the moment is using a SD outer barrel(chamber too) in a stock plastic slide with no problem. Though I am not using a stock frame...

Mine is stock slide, stock frame, and stock outer barrel, and yet it does this.

That is definitely weird....

This looks like a job for the Hi-Capa God - Illusion to figure out

But I think thats the sign a TM Hicapa is near its ending life as the Hi-capa I got has a lot to tell from all the use and scars, it looks like its been used for years and smells like it too.

I guess when it starts performing like ours (Ancorp and I) its probably time to replace some parts.

Possible Solution
I heard that after while of years of use the Plastic Slide starts to deform, so perhaps that is why its not seating back right anymore.

Illusion has some metal Hi-capa slides coming in so I am going to lurk his thread for the weeks to come

Only use it in the morning? Sorry...not really helpful. My latest hicapa is taking a dump on me at the moment and I'm brain dead thinking about what's wrong now...should have left it stock.

I do have a bunch of stock parts if you want to start back at ground zero and just change one thing at a time.

Tys

Thanks for the offer Tyson. I think I may have something going here. I picked up a WE 5.1 mag. Everything was fine until I tried the WE, which would constantly fail to return to battery when firing. Switching back kept the problem with the TM mag, but slowly disappeared. Thus it was working fine today until I tried the WE mag again.

Ran outta propane, will have to continue testing tomorrow night once I replenish my supplies.

Thank you for your advice, I'll update once I figure something out.

Got propane, problem still there with TM mag once again :S

Dryfiring seems fairly fine, but regular firing still causes the barrel to move forward early...anything specific I should look at?

Cheers,
Alex

I got a TM 1911 now that has this issue, I think its definitely more barrel related than anything else since I changed the barrel and this problem occurs....doesn't help that the barrel is different(SD to PDI) in several aspect... It also is more prone to happening with the muzzle tilt up vs purely horizontal.

if when you push back on the outer barrel from the front of the gun, the slide returns to battery, check the bottom of the winglet on the outer barrel.
A stronger recoil spring causes increased wear on that winglet, eventually wearing it down enough that the outer barrel doesn't return to battery, which will then jam the slide, and during shooting, will cause damage to the side of the outer barrel.
If you have a problem like that, replacing the stock outer barrel with a metal unit may fix it.

Note: damage was caused with: TM hicapa, guarder 150 recoil spring, AS 6061 (or was it 7075) slide, running on propane from a TM mag, damage happened about 2000 rds after all upgrades were installed simultaneously (I think).

P.S.: yes, that's a pink ipod. What's your point.

Here, you can see that the black area on the winglet was worn off by the notch in the hop-up chamber.
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/DSCN0602.jpg

As a result, the metal slide I had damaged the side severely
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/DSCN0603.jpg

Just to show how scary the coating on TM plastic is, here is the notch on my hop-up unit, noticeably worn down
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...g/DSCN0600.jpg