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While many pistols exist in the airsoft world, non quite have the same modularity or raw functionality of the Hi-Capa platform. True to their name, these handguns outclass their peers in ammo capacity, holding a total of 30 BBs in each relatively inexpensive and widely available magazine. What began as Tokyo Marui's take on a double-stack 1911 style handgun quickly took off into one of the most prevalent pieces of equipment in the entire airsoft hobby. Like the lego of handguns, the Hi-Capa has a wide sea of available parts you can buy to upgrade and modify your pistol to your particular preferences. No other airsoft pistol allows you to express and represent your personal airsoft character quite like the Hi-Capa. With so many ways to mix and match parts, you can create a unique handgun stylized to the kind of airsoft you like to play.
If you're here, odds are you have a Hi-Capa. Don't already have one? Pick one up now! They're fantastic when stock and can be endlessly upgraded if you dream of having a glorious pack-a-punch handgun!
For best fitment with aftermarket parts, I recommend the original Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa 5.1 Gas Blowback Pistol (Color: Black).
For best value out the box, coming pre-equipped with a full metal design and threaded barrel, I recommend the WE-Tech Hi-Capa T-Rex Competition Pistol (Model: 5.1 / Black). Do keep in mind, it may be incompatible with certain parts until certain modifications are done!
Before diving straight in to buying a ton of parts and not being all to sure what some of them even do, feel free to reference the guide set aside below! Each individual part and upgrade for the Hi-Capa will be bullet pointed and referenced. In each section, I'll elaborate on the function of a part, then give my own advice and recommendations on what upgrades to choose for it. Be sure to keep in mind that improper installation of parts can disrupt your pistol from performing optimally, and installed parts cannot be returned. If you're unsure about working on your own pistol, our expert technicians at EPS (Evike Performance Shop) are available as an option to get your handgun properly assembled. Always feel free to contact us at https://www.evike.com/contact/ for inquiries about having your airsoft gun professionally worked on. Without further hesitation, let's get upgrading!
The Ultimate Hi-Capa Upgrade Guide
While cosmetic upgrades are super eye catching, making sure your Hi-Capa shoots straight and far is typically first priority. Some upgrades can definitely count as cosmetic and functional, so I'll be sorting them by what factor I think they ultimately contribute to more.
Functional Upgrades
Inner Barrel
Not to be confused with the outer barrel! The inner barrel is the actual piece of tubing that your BB is shot through. Reason would dictate that a smoother inner barrel with better polish would yield better accuracy, and that reasoning is wholly correct! Debate on whether a tighter inner barrel (6.01mm or 6.03mm?) is more accurate is fairly controversial, though a tighter barrel should yield ever so slightly higher FPS. If you're looking to tighten up your accuracy a tad, try these inner barrels!
Bucking
When people ask me what they should upgrade first on their Hi-Capas, I always direct them to the bucking. These $10-15 little pieces of rubber make the biggest difference in your pistol's range and accuracy, and aren't too difficult to install so long as you have a small phillips screwdriver. This piece both holds your BB in the barrel and imparts backspin upon it, making it the center point aspect of contact with your BB before the trigger is pulled. Bucking choice can vary depending on what BBs you prefer to use, but I generally recommend 60-70 degree buckings for most instances. Here are my top picks for Hi-Capa buckings!
Hop-Up Unit
This little trinket is the chamber that holds your Inner Barrel and Bucking. What you're looking for in an upgraded hop up unit is something that can more consistently level pressure to the bucking and be durable enough to withstand heavy play. Some players also find that a heavier hop-up unit helps to give the handgun a more realistic feel, and others go for aluminum construction to drop any grams that they can. Newer hop-up designs have a centered TDC pressure system, evenly distributing the force put onto the BB. I highly recommend one of NexxSpeed's hop-up units!
Hop-Up Wheel
Though small and easily overlooked, this part is the dial that allows you to adjust your Hop-up setting. Certain upgraded dials have a wider degree of hop-up configuration, allowing you to more easily dial in your Hi-Capa's range. I recommend this one:
Recoil Springs
Underneath your barrel, you'll find the spring responsible for your slide returning to position after being pulled back. A stronger recoil spring will increase the amount of force needed to rack the slide back, as well as increase the speed at which it returns to its original position. Additionally, the added stiffness will stop your slide from slamming into the rear position as hard, reducing overall felt recoil. Too stiff of a spring can reduce gas efficiency, and too soft of a spring can make for a sluggish cycle. Recoil springs may also come packaged with an additional smaller spring; This is the Hammer Spring, and is located in the base of your Hi-Capas grip. Using the improper recoil spring for your specific build will increase wear, so for most instances I recommend using an 120-130% rated spring. I recommend these ones!
Some players prefer to exchange the realism of their slide locking back on empty for a faster cycle time through the use of rubber recoil buffers. These colorful rubber washers can be added to your spring guide to make your pistol's cycle time considerably quicker. Check these ones out if you're curious about them!
Nozzles
When you pull the trigger on a freshly primed Hi-Capa, gas is expelled from the magazine and shot directly into your pistols nozzle. The pressure that accumulates inside the nozzle is used to expel the BB chambered in your Hop-up unit, as well as send the slide recoiling back to chamber another BB. The two primary things you're looking for in a nozzle are durability and air-tightness against your pistols piston head. The stock Tokyo Marui nozzle is fairly durability as is, but if you need a replacement, I recommend these ones!
Nozzle Spring
When you rack your slide back, you may notice that the nozzle doesn't immediately follow with the rest of the slide. This is purposeful and serves to keep better air seal when a shot is fired. Your nozzle still needs to retract eventually during a shot cycle in order to properly chamber the next BB, and that's where the nozzle spring comes in! You can find your nozzle spring underneath your rear sight. Most aftermarket nozzles are stiffer than the stock one, but for good reason. A stiffer nozzle spring can result in a snappier recoil action since it can assist in compressing the gas inside the nozzle. Nozzle springs tend to wear down after long periods of use, especially with aftermarket slides. Most replacement packs include a few because of this. I recommend these ones!
Blowback Housing
True to its name, this little apparatus serves as the frame for everything blowback related in your Hi-Capa. Stock blowback housings are typically on the heavier end in order to give a little more felt recoil when the slide reciprocates. Some aftermarket housings opt for a lighter design in order to increase cycle speed and accuracy by reducing the impact of your slides movement. They often come in a wide array of colors too, though you can only see a smidge of it on your pistol's exterior. If you want a zippy-quick blowback action, I recommend these blowback housings!
Piston Head
Inside your nozzle, there's a little disc with an O-ring around it. This is your piston head, and it keeps the seal inside your nozzle tight enough to provide efficient gas blowback action. Not all aftermarket piston heads are strictly an upgrade. The piston head that will work best for your pistol is the one that has the best fitment with the nozzle you're using! If you're looking into getting a new piston head to play around with achieving perfect air-seal, give these a try:
Leaf Spring/Sear Spring
If you pop out the pin on the bottom of your grip, the housing for your hammer spring and leaf spring will slip out. The leaf spring is the one that doesn't look anything like a spring. This claw-looking piece is responsible for your trigger action and it's interaction with the hammer. Typically you'll only need to swap this part out after long periods of usage/wear, but some aftermarket springs boast a better feeling trigger break. I'd recommend these two if you're curious about changing your Hi-Capas trigger feel!
Miscellaneous Sear Parts
Your hammer assembly is comprised of many little metal sear bits that interact to actuate your pistol's handgun properly. While I don't recommend changing these unless they happen to break, we do sell some upgraded sear parts! It's typically recommended that if you swap one sear part out for a steel sear, you should change every other sear to steel as well. If ensuring that your Hi-Capas hammer components can last a lifetime is in your interest, check out some of these sear assemblies!
Cosmetic Upgrades
Carefully selecting the coolest parts to trick out your personal pistol can be one of the most fun parts of building a Hi-Capa! Cosmetic parts come in a wide array of colors, allowing you to mix and match your pistols design specifically to your character and tastes. Most cosmetic upgrades also offer some functional benefit as well. We'll dive into the details of each cosmetic part, discuss some of the options you have in selecting them, and give any additional notes on what selecting one can offer you.
Slides
A custom slide is the mark of a truly customized Hi-Capa. As the flashiest center of attention on your pistol, a wide bredth of options are available to help you customize your pistol to your personal preferences. Some are brightly colored with intricate cutouts for style, while some are durable and reminiscent of a real-steel design. As is the case with your Blowback Housing, a lighter design with less material will result in a snappier slide action at the cost of felt recoil. Slides can be finnicky to fit when brand new and may require you to sand down the frame for proper fitment. A break in period is always necessary to get a new slide up and running at its fullest potential. While we don't carry the widest selection of aftermarket slides, here are some of my favorite that we keep stocked!
Outer Barrels
For those who play indoors, changing the outer barrel on a stock Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa might be your first priority. In order to run a tracer unit to illuminate your BBs through the dark halls of an indoor arena, you're going to need barrel threads. And to get barrel threads on the TM Hi-Capa, you're going to need an aftermarket outer barrel. Not only can they provide a nice cosmetic touch with their wide color options, but some models can also tighten up your accuracy by providing a more stable housing for your hop-up components. I recommend the one's listed below!
Triggers
Every player is going to have their own preference on how their trigger looks and feels. Hi-Capa trigger designs can vary from flat-sided to fully curved depending on what feels better in the users hand, and some models even have a grub screw for pull adjustment. Finding the color and style that fits your build best can be a nice finishing touch for your fully decked out pistol! Here's some of my favorites:
Grips
Changing your grip likely won't yield you any noticeable performance difference, but it definitely can look cool if done right! Some grips are designed with rougher texturing for better grip, and some are completely smooth so that you can stipple or sticker it to your liking. For the most opulent of Hi-Capa builders, there are even anodized CNC aluminum grips to give your pistol a glorious shimmering base. Check out these few below!
Frame
Similar to the grip, this piece is simply the housing for other functional parts and likely won't make a difference in your performance. Though typically on the pricier end, they can give a beautiful finished look to any Hi-Capa build. If your Hi-Capa didn't come with under-barrel rail space and you're looking to mount a flashlight, getting a railed frame might be the move. Take a look at these shimmering frames below!
Optic Mounts
If tossing a red dot optic onto your pistol sounds like it'd be your style, you might want to invest in an optic mount! There are two primary ways of attaching a red dot to your pistol: Finding the proper mount that fits with the slide that you have, or using a picatinny rail mount that attaches from some other point on the pistol. Mounting directly onto the slide can reduce bulk, though will typically reduce gas efficiency and increase the weight on your slide. Slides will vary in how they prefer to have an optic attached. Some Hi-Capas, such as the EMG Helios Staccato Licensed P 2011 Gas Blowback Airsoft Pistol (Model: VIP Grip / CNC / CO2 / Gun Only), come with the red dot mounting system right out of the box. Others may require you to use the MITA Stylish RMR Mount Base for Hi-Capa Series GBB Pistols (Model: Handle Ready / No Back Up Sights), though it may not fit perfectly on every slide. Using an adjacently attached picatinny rail mount can be the most stable way to affix a red dot, though it might not be cosmetically ideal for everyone. Here's one of my top recommended mounts, as well as a red dot that I find works swimmingly with a wide variety of Hi-Capa mounts.
With so many aftermarket parts to pick and choose from, very rarely are two Hi-Capas completely alike. A custom Hi-Capa is more than just the fancy parts that make up its build; It holds a story of what inspired its creation and functions as a symbol representing he who wields it. Design your very own Hi-Capa today with parts from Evike.com!