19 replies to this topic

[CaptainSlug]

I've been wanting one of these since Mr. BadWrench had a thread about it (here) but couldn't bring myself to pay $30+ for one.
So I put it on my Christmas list, and hooray someone bought it for me!

As expected, replacing the barrel was very easy, provided you are careful with disassembly and reassembly.
The stock plunger and spring are immensely powerful so there's absolutely nothing you need to do with them.

Supplies
+ #0 Screwdriver
+ #2 Screwdriver
+ Scissors
+ Barrel of Choice
+ Electrical tape
+ Scrap 1/2 SCH40 PVC Pipe

First step is to remove the tube magazine. Simply twist and slide out. You won't be needing it, so you can convert it into a flashlight module or something.

The whole front half of the gun can be removed by simply removing some screws.

Push the pump slide forward and pry open the back of the front half of the blaster enough so that you can pry the receiver and barrel out of the faux barrel. You may need help with this if you have large hands because getting fingers in there to leverage the assembly free is a bit of a chore.

One TINY little screw holds this assembly together and cannot be removed unless you have a #0 size screwdriver.

The barrel collar has a rubber hop-up inside of it that fits together with the stock barrel.

Trim the hop-up off using some scissors so that you're left with a rubber ring.
If your stefans can fit through the center of this ring you can use it. If your stefans are too large you will have to figure out a different method of sealing the tip of the plunger against your replacement barrel.

Put the rubber ring back into the barrel collar (if it will work with your stefans).

Cut a 9" to 12" length of your preferred barrel material.
Now wrap some e-tape around the end of your barrel material of choice until it fits very snugly in the barrel collar with the rubber ring.
Any barrel material with an OD smaller than .67" inches will fit inside the barrel collar.

Make a bushing out of 1/2 SCH40 PVC. This bushing will act only to center the end of the barrel. My pictured bushing was drilled on a lathe to match the OD of my preferred barrel (1/2" ID 5/8" OD Polyester).
Use this part without the front of the blaster reassembled to test different barrel lengths.

The rest of the process is trying to fit the resulting assembly back into the front half of the blaster without your replacement barrel trying to put the rubber ring out of the back of the receiver. Once the barrel is in the blaster it's impossible to tell it apart from the stock blaster.

Or if your stefans won't fit through the rubber ring, figuring out a way to get a seal with a different method.

If you want to secure the replacement barrel more firmly you can take it out, drill a hole in the faux barrel, resinstall the replacement barrel, then use the hole you drilled to fill the gap with hot glue. I would advise you not do this with a thin PETG barrel however since theh eat of the hot glue will warp it. I have not yet had my replacement barrel shift around enough to need to secure it further.

Average ranges with Dart Tag Darts fired out of the tip of a 12-inch barrel: 50 feet

I will have stefan range results once I get around to making stefans. I have been kind of busy lately and only have blanks at the moment.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 27 December 2008 - 01:56 AM.

[rork]

That's pretty sweet. A fucking garish paint job is in order.

[CaptainSlug]

That's pretty sweet. A fucking garish paint job is in order.

I'm probably just going to paint some white and tan stripes on it.

[CaptainSlug]

1. I'm still trying to figure out why you'd use a #12 blade in a #5 handle. I realize the safety risk is small, but it just seems so unnecessary.
So, there's no reason to take apart the plunger side?

1. I don't have many of the larger size blades that aren't dull. I only use that knife for deburring sheet edges.

2. Absolutely none. The grip comes off of the main body of the gun by removing the three screw from it and you can see inside from there. There's a set of gears driven by the priming rod that cycle the plunger back into the catch. The whole mechanism is solid and it takes around 15 pounds of force to prime.

[Galaxy613]

I would love to see whats inside the reciever...

[CaptainSlug]

I would love to see whats inside the reciever...

?
This is the inside of the receiver.

The tube magazine pushes the paintballs into the receiver, and when the plunger tip retracts by the pump action a paintball is pushed up inline with barrel. On the forward stroke of the pump action, the paintball is loaded into the barrel by the plunger tip.
The stock receiver is still in the blaster, but I don't intend to fire any paintballs through the 12-inch barrel that's intended for foam darts.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 26 December 2008 - 12:01 AM.

[Tornado13]

You stink! I was considering getting one of these and modding it, but now there is no need to. Nice mod anyways though.

[d0nk3y k0n9]

Is there any good place to find these for relatively cheap? All the ones I've found are $30+. Is that how much it's going to cost me to get one, or are there places that sell them for under that?

[CaptainSlug]

Is there any good place to find these for relatively cheap? All the ones I've found are $30+. Is that how much it's going to cost me to get one, or are there places that sell them for under that?

Cheapest price I found was $32
http://www.battledre...om/41320c6.html

[Galaxy613]

I ment the the handle part, I would specifically like to see the plunger tube and the spring. I was refering to the reciever as if it was an actual shotgun, not the actual working toy reciever. Sorry for the confusion.

[Wes7143]

For anybody curious about the internals or the size of the plunger, here is the partly-clear and clear versions:

http://www.amazon.co...30311877&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co...30311877&sr=8-3

Looks like a fairly good size plunger. It's probably Got a great spring inside of it.

How hard is it to break (arm) the gun?

[CaptainSlug]

I ment the the handle part, I would specifically like to see the plunger tube and the spring.

There's a safety on the right side of the blaster that when switched forward keeps the trigger from being pulled, but does not prevent you from priming the plunger.

Had to do this very gingerly. The plunger spring is of a slightly thicker wire gauge than an AR-15 spring and really wants to be set free when you try to open the back half.

The plunger has a hollow center to hold the fairly long spring in place, but the rest of it is heavy and solid plastic.
The pump action rotates the gears which prime the plunger.
The catch tooth that the plunger locks onto is metal, as is the tooth that holds the plunger tube in the forward position after you complete the back-and-forth motion on the pump-action.

How hard is it to prime the plunger?

About the same as a Big Bad Bow with a replacement spring.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 26 December 2008 - 01:22 PM.

[Wes7143]

So it's a pump-action gun. I thought it was a break barrel gun.

Would you not need the front part of the gun to move that metal rod?

You could possibly make some sort of grip for it, but the pump that was originally on it would be more comfortable.

I'm really thinking about getting one of these now.

[CaptainSlug]

So it's a pump-action gun. I thought it was a break barrel gun.

It's a pump-action with break breech. The rod that connects the plunger action to the pump action is hinged at the break.

When firing paintballs this would give you the option of loading a single paintball into the breech while the tube magazine was empty. For us it means you get a ridiculously powerful spring blaster with a built-in break breech.

There's no point in ditching the front half entirely.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 26 December 2008 - 02:08 PM.

[Soothsayer]

Deeply in consideration of getting one of these to be my single shot primary. As cool and powerful it is, I just hate the idea of a realistic looking gun in public in this day and age. Think I'd have to dish the extra money out for the full clear one or mildly clear one, and then throw some bright neon highlights on some of the parts of the gun.

Also, could we get of video of a full cycle of this thing when you got some stefans?

[Fome]

As cool and powerful it is, I just hate the idea of a realistic looking gun in public in this day and age. Think I'd have to dish the extra money out for the full clear one or mildly clear one, and then throw some bright neon highlights on some of the parts of the gun.

Agreed. This thing is worse than a longshot painted flat black. A goofy ass integration, some bright colors and hell, maybe even a stenciled nerf logo should remedy that.

Nice mod, can't wait for ranges.

[CaptainSlug]

Yes, the primary downside of this blaster is that it basically requires that you paint or vinyl dye it somehow.
First coat of vinyl dye added.

The ERTL Pump Shotgun kind of has the same "problem".
You do get your moneys worth though. This thing is extremely durable and nothing needs reinforcing.

It appears that cocking action pushes back the entire plunger tube assembly, including the spigot that goes into the actual receiver. Is that the case?

Yes.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 26 December 2008 - 11:34 PM.

[CaptainSlug]

I've been doing some more tests with a couple stefans I found hiding around the house, and a 12-inch barrel is too much barrel for this. I've gone down to about a 9-inch barrel and will be doing some more tests. This required trimming the faux barrel down so that I can access the tip of the functioning barrel.


I'm going to have to turn the original tube magazine into a replacement orange safety tip.
Will do more range tests soon.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 27 December 2008 - 02:26 AM.

[CaptainSlug]

As an update the range average with stefans is 70 to 80 feet with a 9-inch barrel.

Slightly disappointing, but it makes sense considering that the plunger stroke isn't really long enough to allow it to fully utilize a 12-inch barrel.
End result is that this makes a nice indoor primary since it gets good ranges with both stefans and stock darts.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 31 December 2008 - 04:09 PM.

[CapnTac]

I'm debating wether or not to get this. I'm currently saving up for something else (new airsoft AEG in case anyone cares), and so I've been really careful about spending my money lately. Unless someone manages to really wow me, I'm probably not going to get this. It looks almost exactly like my airsoft shotgun. (Sorry for the excessive talk of airsoft.) I'd like to see some tiger stripes, preferably in a blue or a red.