Quantum Monte Carlo belongs to the most accurate simulation techniques for quantum many-particle systems. However, for fermions, these simulations are hampered by the sign problem that prohibits simulations in the regime of strong degeneracy. The situation changed with the development of configuration path integral Monte Carlo (CPIMC) by Schoof textit{et al.} [T. Schoof textit{et al.}, Contrib. Plasma Phys. textbf{51}, 687 (2011)] that allowed for the first textit{ab initio} simulations for dense quantum plasmas. CPIMC also has a sign problem that occurs when the density is lowered, i.e. in a parameter range that is complementary to traditional QMC formulated in coordinate space. Thus, CPIMC simulations for the warm dense electron gas are limited to small values of the Brueckner parameter -- the ratio of the interparticle distance to the Bohr radius -- $r_s=bar{r}/a_B lesssim 1$. In order to reach the regime of stronger coupling (lower density) with CPIMC, here we investigate additional restrictions on the Monte Carlo procedure. In particular, we introduce two differe