Tokyo Marui MEU orange tip removal?
 

This is probably a pretty basic question, so try not to think too little of me, heh. Anyways, I just got my TM MEU, but it came with the orange tip. A few friends with different pistols have said it's just popped off for them, this one however is on pretty good. Anyone with experience know how it's mounted/the best way to remove them? I don't know if it's glued and press fitted, glued and threaded, etc. I figured I'd ask here first though before I bust out the heavy machinery lol.

Without seeing it I dont know, but I had a different 1911 (actually a 1911A1) that came witht the ornage tip, and on that one it had a longer outer barrel with the last 1/4 inch painted orange. This made the barrel stick out over 1/4 of an inch past the end of the slide, which the RS doesnt do. Simple fix was a new shorter, non orange outer barrel. Of course others have ahd tabs added that pop off, so the best way to find out is to take the barrel out of the frame and look at it real close. Either way its easy to fix, as outer barrels are not a restricted part, even the non orange ones.

Uhh... what tabs. Are you talking about a different system that isn't TM, as different systems aren't necessarily compatible? (e.g. KSC, TM, WA... and all their clones)

You sure it's glued on? My experience with used TM's looks like the orange tips are painted on... As TS said, ordering a new barrel would be awesome. Do note that in general barrels that have barrel lugs (is that part on the barrel, or on the slide - I'm not sure) should be matched with a material that is similar in strength on the slide. In simpler terms (also because what I just said made little to no sense upon re-reading it), metal barrel should be paired with a metal slide. Failing to do so could cause premature wear (big whoop, I know), but I haven't really been able to find an aftermarket MEU slides, so the choice is yours on that one. Haven't tried this out personally, as of yet - but hell, I don't want to take any chances. Can't remember where I got this information from though... might have been the Hi-Capa/1911 info thread.

Sorry, I didnt really mean tabs, I meant a orange plastic I guess you could call it a barrel extension. I cant remember which gun it was but one of mine had that crappy peice on the end that was just glued on( yes I know a plastic end glued to a metal barrel is retarded). Also I forgot to mention that he might want to try to get the shorter, non orange TM outer barrel, no wear or compatability problems if he doesnt want to get a set and change the slide as well. I got the factory barrel for mine, and so I didnt have to worry about that.

My bad guys, I should have taken pictures first (doing it right now, hang on a sec! Phones not great for pics so we'll see how it turns out......) Pretty shitty but:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0602000128.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0602000107.jpg

Not sure how well you can make it out, but it's not painted for sure, it's like a plastic "cap" or something. There's a seam between the orange and black, so it's an added on piece. I'm going to buy a new slide and stuff eventually, but I just spent close to a grand on a whole load out to get me started, so upgrades are going to be a little further along =P

ts - a OEM barrel is a swell idea! lol, sorry, that option didn't come to mind when I was thinking about it.

Nielson, what does it look like when the slide isn't locked back? Are you 100% positive that there are two pieces there? I'm asking because a) my TM Glock came with a barrel that had had most of the orange paint removed (probably with paint thinner; I personally use nail polish remover for just that purpose, but hadn't done that to this one myself). The line was so damn clean, I would have sworn it was a seam if the barrel wasn't installed; b) I've got a pistol that has a metal barrel, and arrived with a longer-than-standard outer barrel for the orange bit to be showing. There is clearly a divet there, but it's not a seam. It's just some random line carved in a perfectly straight fashion (lathed, probably) for where the orange tip was to be painted. And c) it could be as was stated that there is a orange plastic extension added to the end of the barrel - though this is unlikely to be on a TM. Removing one of those with care is a real biotch, I can tell you that much. Tried doing that on a springer once and my final decision on that was to just give up and cut the damn thing off with a hacksaw (in the process of doing so, the glue kind of cracked and most of the orange barrel tip thing came out).

Good luck.

Shoot, my bad, I had a picture of it with the slide forward and forgot haha:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0602001116.jpg


If my camera wasn't garbage, you'd be able to see it better heh. It's definitely two pieces, as all the pictures I've seen (even in the manual), there's really very little that sticks out at the front. Oh I should mention, this is brand new, right from eHobby Asia. It was sent to the US first, so I assume that's the reason for this orange business. My M4 had a plastic flash hider on it too (not to mention the damn silicone on the trades, which I'm still trying to get completely off -_-) , but that came off nice and easy, had the remnants of some kind of glue though, so that's why I figured the MEU might have been glued too.

saw it off !

The goo I believe will come off with rubbing alcohol or something similar. Some places it's easy to remove, others it will take a lot of effort. Hell, apparently some places just put a sticker over the trades to cover them up and apparently it's good enough. Anyways good luck with the flash hider but have you tried taking a pair of needle nose pliers to it? Maybe there's a really small allen screw somewhere on it keeping it in place?

Very surprised boiling water has not been suggested.
If the plastic tip is glued on, which it likely is, put it in boiling water for a little bit and using pliers, it should pop right off.

Sawing it kind of scares me haha.

Yea, I'll try some rubbing alcohol on it and see if I can get the rest off. I mostly just rubbed it with my thumb and got the majority off, hopefully the alcohol cleans up the rest.

This is probably a newbie question, but should I remove the barrel before doing that? This is all still new to me, so I don't know what could get destroyed in the process lol. That's another problem though, the manual is ALL Japanese, I have no idea what is going on in there hahaha. I do know however, judging by the picture, that I should NOT give my dog my gun, or he'll rob me?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0602001406.jpg

Hell I didn't on my TM MEU but upon reflection that was a little lazy.
Sure take the barrel off, get the water to a boil and dip the cap in, shouldn't take too long to warm the glue up and then just twist it off with the pliers.

One thing I found that works really well would be to take either a lighter or a match (a flame of some sort) and just heat the end of the orange cap up. It should slide right off!



Josh

Hmm, interesting. Boiling water??? I'm gonna try that next time!

And yes, you SHOULD remove your outer barrel (make sure you get your inner barrel/hop up out while you're at it) before attempting to take off the orange barrel extension thingamadoober.

I just got it all apart (thank god for YouTube, I wouldn't have figured this out with the Japanese instructions haha) just waiting for the water to boil now. I'll let you know how it turns out heh.


*Edit* Crack, pop.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0602001628.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...0602001629.jpg


I made a MESS out of the orange tip, but the important part seems to be intact, with a bit of glue residue and the very end a bit rough as it seems it was just glued all along the top ring. Might put a bit of paint on it, just to make it smooth and it should be alright. Thanks for all the help guys =)