KJW M1911 Problem at second day of use

[zgzdgz]

Hello there, recently I've bought 1911 and I loved it, however, when I tried to field strip, it wanted to come off at all even though I followed the manual perfectly, but somehow today I've managed to take the slide stop and remove the slide, however when I put it back together I noticed a small crack right beneath slide stop notch, I have no idea how it happened, yet the slide release won't lock properly as I have to push my finger upwards to make sure it locked tight otherwise it's just doesn't work properly, I suppose I need to order a need slide then and probably the slide stop :/ since it looked kind of bent and I think it just contributing to the problem, do you have any solutions for that besides ordering new parts ?

[Drakker]

Can you post pictures of your slide catch too? Is it the type with a second tab that goes inside the slide?

[zgzdgz]

there it is

[Drakker]

Yeah, it has the internal bit. This means you probably pushed the slide release through the wrong hole (you normally use the hole to the right to put in and remove the slide stop). That spot is particularly weak on pot metal slides. You could try epoxy-ing that piece back, not sure how long it will hold, but it could work for some time until you get a new slide.

The bent slide stop might or might not be a problem, you might be able to bend it back to shape without breaking it if you are very careful... but I'd change it too just in case.

You can order parts for cheap directly from KJW at sales@kjworks.com.tw . They have great customer service, dunno how the pandemic situation affects them, but I'm sure they'll get the parts to you.

[zgzdgz]

But which Epoxy to be exact ?Yeah, due to quarantine, they can't ship :/

[Drakker]

I'd use the black stuff, it should work, but I'm no expert with glue.

[zgzdgz]

Well, from what I actually found out, is that missing bit of the slide catch notch doesn't impact performance, instead that slide catch is the one to blame, and since it's slightly bend, it seems it goes a bit close to slide rails it doesn't go to the notch perfectly since it was bent.I tested it, When I tried to lock the slide, it didn't locked, so I put some light on and inspected what was going on, so it was basically as I said before, the slide catch goes a bit too close to the slide so when press the slide catch upwards in order to lock it, it seems to get stuck, so what I did is that I simply locked the slide completely to the rear and pressed the slide catch a bit further outwards and it the slide locked completely.

https://imgur.com/a/KcJ6IJY

[Drakker]

In theory, that hole could allow the slide catch to slide out of position though. I have no idea how likely it is to happen, but the worst case is that it will cause more damage to the slide and slide catch, so no big deal, they are damaged already and once this pandemic is over, parts will be readily available. So yeah, use it as it is until it breaks.

[zgzdgz]

I guess we'll see in the future how it goes, however, I was thinking about some modifications instead, like, do KJW Hi-Capa's parts are interchangeable with KJW 1911 ?

[Drakker]

Some are, the frames are not always the same width though, so you got to beware. The slides are interchangeable, you can put a hi-capa slide on a 1911 and vice versa, though not all parts of the slide from a 1911 slide to a hi-capa slide are (the rear of the slides are different, to accommodate the sights notably, but might also be different at the blowback housing level, some have the rear sight screwed in them, others don't for example).

[zgzdgz]

Whoa, that's pretty amazing and extremely informative! Thank you buddy! And I have one more question to ask, when you buy the same kjw 1911 co2 gun, it means it's the same gun and you can use green gas or co2, it means it's mostly made for co2, I heard that kjw's can accept both and that co2 in any gun would most likely degrade a bit faster than a green gas, is this true ?

[Drakker]

You can use both green gas (which is propane really) and CO2, true, but the green gas performance will be degraded because the springs used to accommodate the CO2 are much stronger than is optimal for green gas. This means you will get less shots than you would with a weaker recoil spring, and to some extent, a weaker hammer spring if the one you have is particularly strong. The thing is that the KJW 1911, even those with weaker springs for green gas, are not great performers. The slide is so heavy that you will hardly ever get a full mag out of a gas charge unless its over 30?C outside. If you play with real capacity (7 or 8) or in limited ammo games (usually 15 rounds) that will not be a problem, but you are unlikely to get the full 24/29 rounds of a mag with green gas. So, yeah, with that said, green gas would put less wear on your pistol. Normally I'd be telling you that green gas is so much better than CO2, but for this particular pistol, if you can deal with the hassles of CO2, its the better choice.

[zgzdgz]

Thank you so much for your information, you are very kind, and to sum up, when it comes to metal and it's quality, do KJW's hi-capas between themselves have the same build quality like 1911 or it's better or worse, like pot metal everywhere, as I'm just fan of KJW guns, but, it's hard for me to understand which guns are made from pot metal or quality aluminum?

[Drakker]

KJW is all pot metal. But not all pot metal is made equal. On the pot metal scale KJW is not that bad. The strength of KJW guns is that the tolerances are reasonably good and parts are very easy to get (pandemic excluded), so you can keep them going for cheap for years.

I've handled their hi-capas and 1911s, to me their 1911 seems better, but both are slightly off specs to Tokyo Marui and not all parts will fit without modifications, or at all. And if given a choice between a KJW or.a plastic Tokyo Marui, I'd take the plastic Marui any day. They cycle much faster, they are more accurate, their range is much better, they can shoot more than a mag after a gas charge and my Marui 1911s still work under 0C... While the KJWs usually struggle under 15C.

[zgzdgz]

Yeah Tokyo Marui are the best..except for the plastic, although, you can always put a metal parts in, but is that worth it and does really works with the metal parts inside ?