Pump Shotty..., Karen is her name. Options

[sputnik]

This is another write-up for the ERTL Pump Action Shotgun.
Materials needed:
1 ERTL Pump Shotty
1 Phillips head screwdriver
A minimum of 11" of 1/2 inch Sch. 80 PVC
1/2 Sch. 80 PVC coupler
A minimum of 12" of PETG
Scrap T-shirt
E-Tape and Teflon tape
Hot glue gun
A knife
Optional:
More Sch. 80 and PETG for additional barrels
5/8 FBR
One of the balls from the package
Spare springs
Epoxy

Let's get started.
Here is the stock gun.

First, open her up.
The internals.

A picture of the plunger tube and cocking mechanism.

Now for this mod, we need to remove the entire orange ball-shooting attachment.

Throw it away, keep it, whatever. We won't be using it.
You should see a brown funnel piece at the end of the plunger tube.
Set it aside.
Get your coupler and test fit it on the funnel. It should be an almost perfect fit.
Start wrapping E-Tape around the tip of the funnel, about 1 1/2 wraps should do it.
Now align the coupler on top of the funnel and push.

It's hard to believe, but this thing is rock solid.
I can't budge it.
Add epoxy in the cracks if desired, I didn't and it still works like a dream.
Wrap E-Tape around the outside of the coupler until it is flush with the hole in the front of the gun.

Next, remove the plunger and spring from the gun.
Slip the brown cap off and put your additional springs inside. I used a LS spring and 2 sprinkler springs plus the stock one.
Brown cap

Sprinkler spring

Combined springs

Now get the plunger tube out.
Put the funnel+coupler onto the end.




Next, we need to focus on the brown cap. On mine, the rubber stopper was completely demolished (remember that Angel?)

I didn't have any gasket foam, so I got creative and figured this out.
Take one of the yellow balls, and cut the outer sides away. Carve a good sized hole in the middle, and it should end up something like this.

Hot glue it onto the back of the coupler assembly.

This will relieve the stress from the spring cap.

To help silence the gun a bit, I used 5/8 FBR

And the sleeves from an old t-shirt. (I should be like ice and wear it...)

Now you can close her up. Make sure that this piece is in the proper groove before you shut it.

One last internal.


Ok, now the barrels.
Take your PETG and test fit it in the Sch. 80.
If it is a good fit, you can leave it. If not, take some Teflon tape and wrap a little of the PETG with it, then try it. Repeat until PETG is secure. The end of the PETG should stick out roughly one inch from the Sch. 80.

I also made a barrel for stock darts.


Final Shots.


And the money shot:


As soon as it is light outside, I will post accurate, measured ranges.
Until then, I'm going to estimate 90'-110' or more.
Hopefully this will make it into the Modification Directory!

[Forsaken_angel24]

I was just thinking to myself.
Damn that first photo reminds me a lot of my first workshop.
Then I realized it was and had a good laugh.

The one thing that scares me about all your springs is you did not reinforce the catch nub or add another spring to the trigger.

These two things are the reason why the PAS level two broke during it's first war at Apoc 2007.

Check out the Doomsayer improvements thread.
It can fix both problems. You will just have to do similar mods to this gun.

Nice paint job.

[mystefansdontflystraight]

That is awesome. I was going to point out your NIB SM750, but then I realized it was angel's. I may just have to get one of these puppies. They look very comfy, and get awesome ranges.

[sputnik]

The one thing that scares me about all your springs is you did not reinforce the catch nub or add another spring to the trigger.

It can fix both problems. You will just have to do similar mods to this gun.

Thanks Angel.

I did add a trigger spring, I just forgot to put the picture in.

[sputnik]

UPDATE!
I have ranges!

10 shots, perfectly level.
Measured by a 50' tape measure, marked off to a length of 150' total.

106'
110'
101'
105'
95'
103'
99'
102'
107'
93' (bad dart?)

Average: 102.1'

Best: 110'

Worst: 93'

Keep in mind that I am 6'4', but it was around 40˚ this morning. (that's cold for Texas)
I was shooting from the street onto my driveway, so roughly a 4-5 foot uphill slope for the entire distance.
I tried to make these as accurate as possible, remember, these are NOT angled at all.

This post has been edited by sputnik: Oct 9 2008, 08:46 AM

[Bomberman]

UPDATE!
I have ranges!

10 shots, perfectly level.
Measured by a 50' tape measure, marked off to a length of 150' total.

106'
110'
101'
105'
95'
103'
99'
102'
107'
93' (bad dart?)

Average: 102.1'

Best: 110'

Worst: 93'

Keep in mind that I am 6'4', but it was around 40˚ this morning. (that's cold for Texas)
I was shooting from the street onto my driveway, so roughly a 4-5 foot uphill slope for the entire distance.
I tried to make these as accurate as possible, remember, these are NOT angled at all.

Damn.. That is one pretty gun my friend. And those ranges are amazing. I would'nt be surprised if you would get 120 feet or so at one of the California wars, when it's like 80 degrees out. That stress relief thing with the balls was clever. (Please don't sig that.)

[Just Some Bob]

That stress relief thing with the balls was clever. (Please don't sig that.)

It's even more than that. By removing the original rubber buffer, you can get a small amount of additional plunger travel

But even bigger, in my opinion, is you can flip over the C-shaped piece so the cutout is now at the bottom (as shown). It is then reasonably safe to file a slot slightly into the white plunger tube, to make room for reinforcing the cocking bar:



The blue indicates approximately where I would build up the bar, and once that's done, the necessary slot will be obvious.

Though if someone does this, it would be wise to also do something to "key" the c-shaped end piece into the tube so the tube can no longer rotate (and potentially bind on the reinforcement).

[Forsaken_angel24]

Just Some Bob: I have already successfully done that twice. I can vouch for it working.

This post has been edited by Forsaken_angel24: Oct 9 2008, 10:06 AM

[Draconis]

Nice job, Sputnik. I like the paint job too. Also, what kind of drop in range do you see with stock darts?

[sputnik]

Nice paint job.

Wow that is beautifully well done, great job sputnik!

sputnik, that is very nice looking. Great paint, slick coupler.

A little info about the PJ.

I used Krylon X-Metals paint for this gun. A bit pricey, but as you can see, it looks absolutely gorgeous.
I went crazy, like 8 silver basecoats, then 10-12 of the red and blue, topped with 10ish of clear coat.
To use this stuff, you need to put a special basecoat on non-metal surfaces. It gives it a nice anodized look.
The paint:

*Note-I did not use the Matte finish on this gun. I used an enamel clear coat*
Some additional pics



The actual paints are kinda transparent, which means that when you overlap colors, they blend in and really pop.

^Purple Trigger^

The one thing that scares me about all your springs is you did not reinforce the catch nub or add another spring to the trigger.

As soon as I find some brass sheeting, I will completely reinforce this baby.

Nice job, Sputnik. I like the paint job too. Also, what kind of drop in range do you see with stock darts?

I haven't tested stock darts with the new springs in yet, but with just the stock and LS springs I was getting around 60-70 feet.
I'll measure later today and let you know.

Comments, advice, criticism?
I’ll be glad to answer any questions y’all have!

[Renegademilitia15]

Nice mod sputnik. I have a few questions.

1. Would a SCH 40 coupler work just as well?
2.What sprinkler did you get that spring from? Thats Fricking huge!
3. Is it possible with your mod the way it is to nest any brass in the coupler?

[sputnik]

Nice mod sputnik. I have a few questions.

1. Would a SCH 40 coupler work just as well?
2.What sprinkler did you get that spring from? Thats Fricking huge!
3. Is it possible with your mod the way it is to nest any brass in the coupler?

1. It should work; however the ID of the coupler may not be the same, and you may need to use some epoxy in addition to the E-tape to secure the coupler to the funnel.
2. Just some random sprinklers me and a buddy found in a giant box of piping, sprinklers, and valves.
3. The reason I have the PETG longer than the Sch. 80 is so that the PETG is closer to the plunger; you could however cut a small piece of Sch. 80 (or Sch. 40 for you) that would fit inside of the funnel piece. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make though.

[Just Some Bob]

Do you have anything to keep darts from accidentally vacuum-loading all the way into the plunger chamber?

I'd like to think I could be careful enough not to make that mistake ... but I know otherwise. I plan to make an X-shaped piece to go into the funnel shaped area of the brown front barrel part. I'll probably make my first try out of ceiling-light diffuser plastic grid, but if that fails, there's always the metal bars from hanging file folders.

The sprinkler springs are a great find. I think I actually already have a box in the garage with a handful of them. I just didn't make the connection.

[Forsaken_angel24]

The brass sheeting does not work as well as formed putty epoxy.

[fadinglight4]

Nice modification. And the write up was very nice, step by step to the end. I think this definately deserves a spot on the modification directory.