First introduced in mid 1998, then finally released during the winter season of 2000, the TM Glock 26 was definitely a benchmark pistol in quite a few ways. At 12,800 Yen (which was approximately USD 118 at the time) Tokyo Marui considerably narrowed down the cost to performance ratio by a very large margin.
The Glock 26 was in essence a combination of the first generation TM Dezart Eagle and TM M92 with a few small improvements along the way. One notable improvement was constructing the inner barrel from a brass, and not from the flimsy aluminum tubes found in the majority of the NBBs and spring pistols.
The hop-up system on the Glock 26 is adjustable via a small wheel on the underside of the barrel assembly; but unlike the Dezart・Eagle, the Glock 26 featured a metal plunger/brace that applied pressure to only the left and right side of the hop-up bucking. An easy analogy for comparison would be very much like how the hop-up system on the G-spec rifle compares to the original VSR10 rifles. Having pressure only on the sides of the hop-up notch as opposed to right down the middle allows for finer shot consistency with lowered wear and tear on the hop-up notch itself.
Other bells and whistles included an addition of an extra magazine baseplate (one flat, the other with finger groove) and a neat safety feature using the serial number plate to lock the trigger. Ultimately, you had a compact pistol that was able to float shots as far, but with more accuracy than the much larger Dezart Eagle and with a much faster cycle speed than the M92. The velocity output of the Glock 26 is slightly lower than both models, (248 FPS) but keep in mind that the inner barrel only measures 73mm, compared to 100mm (M92) and 130mm (Dezart Eagle)
Tuning and Power-up
In stock form, 134a is sufficient to push the gun to a very stable level of performance, easily outranging most other GBBs in the market. However, the power behind the bb is almost non existent. At ranges past 50 feet, the bb impact feels no different than if someone just threw the bb at you from a few feet away.
Easy remedy for more power is to simply use higher powered green gas, but with the majority of Japanese made blow back pistols, doing so greatly accelerates wear and tear onto any given weak link.
In regards to the Glock 26, the weak link would appear to be the forward portion of the plastic slide, as well as the piston cup, so these were the first two parts I wanted to replace. Most of everything else that followed was more or less for increasing the effective range and power behind the shot.
List of parts selected:
Guarder Steel slide
Guarder Steel outer barrel
Nineball 6.03mm barrel
Be-Max cylinder valve stopper
KM spring guide
PDI winter piston cup with Nitrile O-ring
I opted not to change the valve due to the lightweight frame and size of the gun. With a heavy steel slide & hard recoil spring being powered off green gas, this was in my opinion the maximum impact the gun would be able to sustain without suffering a catastrophic failure shortly after. Hence why I also opted to leave the hammer spring stock as well. However, if I were to exclusively use 134a gas, then yes, a valve upgrade with a stronger hammer spring would have been necessary to cycle the gun. On the other hand, if the gun was fitted with a aluminum slide rather than steel, it would have been likely that the valve & hammer spring would be added since the blowback impact would not be so severe.
The Nineball inner barrel was selected over the KM/Head inner barrel simply due to the tighter tolerance; somewhat trivial and even restrictive for an electric gun, but for a gas powered gun, ideal to minimize any excess gas from expanding around the bb.
The Be-max cylinder valve stopper was replaced simply out of necessity since the original one was damaged out of the box. The only real difference between the two that I could noticeably tell is that the Be-max stopper is made of aluminum whereas the OEM one is plastic. Other than that, no additional advantage over the stock one.
The Winter grade PDI piston head is a big improvement over the original cup since it is not prone to tearing and/or warping and provides a much better air seal. The PDI piston head design is identical to the new Marui Hi-Capa assembly, but the O-ring slipping problem caused by higher pressured green gas is not present. Nevertheless, I swapped the PDI O-ring with a slightly thicker grade Nitrile one anyway just to secure the compression as best as possible.
Results:
In stock form, the Glock 26 was already able to float a bb well past 120 feet. At present, powered off green gas together with the minor enhancements, the Glock 26 has a total accessible range well past 200 feet with an effective range of 175 feet. The tighter tolerance of the steel outer barrel sets the Nineball barrel very well secured, so therefore the improvement in shot consistency is immediately noticed.
Velocity bumped up to 305 FPS with .20g Marui bbs. Now, a 50+ foot shot with a .25g Marui bb has sufficient impact power to be felt through a standard BDU jacket. Cycle speed has dropped a bit due to the very heavy slide, but there is a dramatic increase in recoil. The trade-off here is that the increased density of the gun gives an otherwise toyish feel to the Glock 26 a much need boost in clout. The Glock 26 now weighs in at 795g, exactly the same as the real steel counterpart when unloaded.
Extra stuff:
This simple add-on considerably stabilizes your shooting position. I found these on sale on E-bay, and for the relatively low price it was a very low risk investment. Easily reversible, perfect fit and very simple to install. These Freedom Art magazine bumpers look nice, but can be a pain to work with since the fill nozzle on gas cans will not reach unless an extension is used. You can either fill the magazine up via an extension tube, or slide the baseplate down to expose the fill valve. Take note that the baseplate is initially a very tight fit, but you can work a smoother fit within a few minutes.
The original Marui magazine catch works perfectly well as it is, and does not suffer any serious wear and tear. With that said, bear in mind that the Guarder steel catch needs quite a bit of filing for a smooth fit, and once you have that squared away, your payoff will be rust and increased resistance to insert the magazine .
Replace original Piston Cup with PDI Winter Piston Cup with O-Ring
