fixed barrels?

[Paul E H]

I came across this by chance and have looked at a few YouTube vids and read up on how to diy convert and off the shelf units. The G series barrel drops to clear the topslide approx  1.5mm at chamber end. My inner and outer barrels sit pretty tight  and the  outers the ones that came with the slides for exact fitment. I've carefully filed the front edge of topslide where it meets outer at an angle to reduce resistence/increase smoothness already.

Has  anyone tried this fixed barrels mod?

I've got spare outers and a spare hop/inner barrel   and I might have a go if I can justify the time and effectively writing off a barrel and ML hop  or buy a Hadron WE G series compatible fixed outer barrel and attach existing hop and inner to it. It is however plastic but reasonably priced and hop can be adjusted via a grub screw on the top of the barrel outer which is a nice touch.

Slo mo footage shows no barrel drop, it cannot as resting on base of pistol! And movement in any direction.

Not sure i can justify the investment/cost vs. benefits.

Anyone running a fixed set up? Any disadvantages or visible improvements?

I appreciate  any feedback.

 

[Guest]

It’s a very well known mod in the airsoft Glock world. Never tried it myself though, could never see the point

 

[Paul E H]

My groups are good and I know the offset from the fixed sights as it is now plus a small red dot ive added is spot on at 15m. Given that  I'm not sure there's a benefit for me as I've removed any  play from the inner barrel.

I'm struggling to see the benefits.

 

[Paul E H]

Right then. Having looked at what I wanted to achieve ive made some changes to steady inner and outer barrels.

See pics.

The inner barrel has tamiya masking tape wrapped around  it until it stuck/caught on outer then two turns removed to allow smooth movement. Ends superglued down so oil won't lift it and a spot of superglue under first wind onto barrel to ensure it won't slide on a oiled barrel. Play between inner and outer was removed and hop can still move as required.

The hop is held in place on the lower either side of takedown lever on G series. I thoroughly  cleaned the area the hop sits on on the lower  and attached two pieces of plasticard, plastic and is a scratch build  modellers plastic sheet in different thicknesses cut off and shape type stuff. See pics inside red  circles are two areas. It's already very thin stuff but once set with superglue  I sanded then until the hop clips into place without a bit of wobble and Movement.  i was suprised how much it moved  and thought it would take a fair bit but the opposite. I sanded the plasticard  pieces in place quite a bit before the takedown lever snapped back cleanly locking the barrel in place.

I've yet to check accuracy but I've taken a lot of Movement out of inner and outer barrels at the exit end and steadied the hop considerably. Given this I cannot seen the value of fixing the barrels as now takedown lever secures the barrels  to the frame with no play. I'm sure the shims will wear. I've silicone geased them lightly  but it's a 20 min job to make and fit new ones.

Oh other area was topslide where outer exits  it there was horizontal play I tried two other outers to see if barrel was the cause and its the slide gone os not round, it's slightly oval according to my calipers. Black insulation Tape shim top and bottom of barrel then one wrap of black tape has  taken the up/down play out of that end and barrel moves freely.again tape secured by superglue at end to keep it from lifting.

I started making models as stroke therapy so have a lot of kit and kits. Plus some useful stuff like plastic and and industrial  superglue, even uv set glues and used to making parts, etc.

What I found is a massive amount of play can be removed by a small thin shim. 3xpect to have to file down shims and ensure you're not affecting other parts and processes.

I hope this helps. It's a great compromise between a fixed instal and  standard wide clearances. Of course some Movement is needed to allow parts to move and operate properly however  there's play in there, easily eliminated that can only help accuracy and consistency.

PH.

Pics.

Forgive my pictures.

First two show black shims that sit under the hop in front and behind takedown arm. Looks a mess I removedcpaint so shim stuck to metal and sanded in place. These removed so much unnecessary movement. Takedown lever now clicks when it locks the hop down!

Last pic inner and outer barrels, yellow tape is tamiya masking tape 5mm width (from memory) wrapped round inner barrel  removing  all but necessary  play.

You can just see black tape close to end of outer where it sits in the slide to remove  up/down play.

It cost me nothing but time as I had the materials.

If I did it from scratch I'd need superglue, a decent 3m? masking tape and a sheet on 0.1 plasticard and a emery board and side cutters. I bought a pack of 12 a4 sheets assorted plasticard  for a tenner 3 years ago and still got loads  left. Individual a4 sheet around a quid. Smaller sizes and assorted thicknesses available  at model shops or fleabay.

You could swap plasticard  for tape but I had it to hand and it's very easy to shape and work with.

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[Paul E H]

Shims are small and not easy to pick out.

Front 2mm x 6mm

Back 4mm x 4mm