I cracked my AS nozzle in 20 shot at the spring tab, in a IK frame with AS spring. They just don't last that long. I have 4 POM set now on all of my 1911/2011 and none of them had any issue, so I pretty much swear by it....

I find the stock AS BBU O-ring is a bit loose with the SD nozzle. The O-ring from the AS nozzle set is a bit tight(oddly not the same O-ring). I've been using the one from the SD aluminum piston set with mine, but thats just because I have them around and it happens to work.

But I found AS BBU using SD o-ring with SD nozzle is way too tight and it make the nozzle can't go back to rest position when cycle.
Not sure is it because lack of silicone oil for the o-ring.

Mr. Hit man is right. I think Brian also suggest in his retailer thread that AS 140% is stronger than 150% on the market. It should be used and fine tune by gun smith.

I'll chalk that down to part tolerance then. Though both of my SD Nozzle+AS BBU setup(Hi-Capas, my 1911s runs stock BBU) have the exact setup. I don't run that much oil but they seem ok.

So here are the breakdowns of the fitness of nozzles on o-rings loose to tight.

SD
AS
Guarder

I'm currently running same set up. SD nozzle and AS/IK LightWweight BBU. Seems fine, not much lube needed.
I noticed gas shooting back at me when I didn't use much lube with Guarder. Never tried AS nozzle though.

Does anyone know if a real steel ambi-safety will fit the we/tm 1911's?

Anyone know how to make the slide cycle smoother on the frame? When i mean "smooth", i mean air hockey smooth. I know you can do sanding, but are there any other alternatives?

If you get a CNC frame, matching slide and high end hammer and sometimes need to be modded.
And drop of silicone oil.

or pay ILLusion to dry lube it for you

It sounds like you have a slight alignment error between your blowback unit and your hop up unit, causing the nozzle to strike a hard area. The alignment may have always been bad, but upgrading to a harder spring just causes it to smash against the obstruction harder... which causes it to break.

Changing over to a Shooters Design POM nozzle is a bandaid solution, but doesn't actually fix the problem. It's a brute force solution. You will experience increased wear on the SD POM nozzle this way, although it should last longer due to the tougher and more flexible nature of the nylon fibre used to make the nozzle (POM/Delrin.)

"Best" is subjective. I personally use the Airsoft Surgeon nozzle in most skirmish type setups, mainly because it's black, and haven't seen any breakages yet (no customers have come back to me about broken nozzles in the builds I did for them.)

However, in my own race guns, I do prefer the Shooters Design POM nozzles because of two characteristics of POM/Delrin:

1) A smoother, self-lubricating surface
2) As mentioned, a flexible physical trait that allows it to take sudden deformation and impact

I've used the SD nozzle with no problems with the ILLusion Kinetics super light weight blowback unit. Lately, I've actually started to use Nine Ball featherweight blowback units, which allow me to change up the piston head as required for optimal air seal.

You can hone the rails, followed up by a low viscosity grease. I use a dry grease, so technically, there's zero viscosity.

Heavy modifications will be required.

Silicone oil is no good, as it's not really a lubricant at all, especially with metal-on-metal applications. We use it in airsoft simply because it's (mostly) inert to the rubbers we use, and it keeps them moist. It does nothing at all for metal-on-metal movement. If anything, it just makes a mess by creeping all over the place.

How's 9ball bbu? Are they durable enough on the long run? Me not being a 9ball fan and all I am a bit skeptical.....

Wasn't there a design with ball bearings at the end of the frame to create smooth cycling? LOL

Hey,

I have some gas efficiency problem with my hicapa.....I can only get approx 16-20 rounds on a full gas charge on my hicapa.... and even after that, there isnt enough gas to lock the slide back....

Here's my setup:

- SD Hybrid slide
- SD hybrid barrel
- SD Chamber
- Dyna piston head
- Stock springs
- Rest of internals are all stock

Could someone help me figure out what's wrong with it?

PS: everything is lubbed or grease (for the slide) on this gun, slide moves smoothly
PPS: might be a slide weight problem, but usually, people can at least get a full mag out of a single gas charge, with the stock BBU.....

BTW: is the PDI winter piston head good? (LINK)

Hmm, in that case, ceramic grease would probably make it worst since the viscosity of the grease will create more resistance for the slide, and hence, slow down cycling speed. What if I use graphite powder as a dry lube?