Hey fellow Hi-Capa fans, I just recently bought a pre-owned WE Silver Dragon 5.1, and by studying this thread I've gained quite a bit of insight into how it should function.
When I bought my Dragon, I knew it had damage within its plastic frame - the previous owner was completely upfront about that - and I knew it wouldn't be in firing condition. I was fine with that, knowing I could easily get a replacement metal frame, and I mainly wanted the top-end as a shorter alternative to the long slide on the full metal Silver Dragon 7 I'm planning to order.
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The cause of my Hi-Capa's demise: the hammer pivot, being made of plastic, broke at its mid-point.
Before I order a new metal frame, I thought it might be fun to attempt a repair of the original frame. Plastic is simply not a sensible material for such a high-stress part as a hammer pivot. I chose, as my fix, to simply drill out the old plastic molding then install a piece of drill rod as a replacement. A 13/64" drill bit proved to be a perfect fit for the hammer.
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Boring out the old pivot point. The left/rear side of the mid-frame is cast aluminum, the rest is brittle, translucent plastic (in this case, spray painted silver by the previous owner). The same drill bit was later cut down, dressed, and used as the new hammer pivot.
The repair was mainly successful. The hammer sits, once again, in its proper position, held securely by just enough material on both the left and right sides of the mid-frame. Unfortunately, the hammer isn't locking back properly, and the gun fires in full auto as long as the trigger is depressed. I'll eventually get that sorted out, but the
less than one pound trigger pull tells me there was more going on inside this pistol than just a broken hammer pivot.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more about Hi-Capas, in general, and building a couple for competitions and theme games. Thanks for all the info that's been provided thus far, and I hope my little contribution helps someone else out there.