[Lebo]

Hello everyone, I am not new when it comes to modding Nite Finders, but however, I did just recently get a pack of K26's from McMaster Carr for a Snapbow Mk.5. I have since completed the SNAP, so today I decided to cut down and substitute one of my left over K26 springs into my Nite Finder. I was surprised to find out that the K26 gets less range shooting front loaded Stock darts out of a 4 inch CPVC barrel than the random spring I pulled out of my parts bin. The other spring takes about 1/4 out the effort to prime than the K26, so what could be the problem?

This post has been edited by Lebo: 22 February 2012 - 06:56 PM

[Bchamp22795]

There are a few possible reasons:

1. Your seal sucks and the quickly compressed air vented out in other places besides the barrel.
2. The quick compression may eject darts sooner than all the air is being compressed, so you are wasting a bunch of extra air.
3. The Nerves in your arms don't work and the K26 is actually weaker than the other two springs.
4. Dart-Barrel fit isn't good enough and air escaped around the dart more than projecting it forward with the increased compression.

[Curly]

Your barrel is probably too short for the K26, but just right for the other spring. I'd try longer barrels before making any conclusions. Just last weekend I made a SNAPbow with 1.5" PVC and 7" draw. The ranges were awful, barely pistol worthy with a 12" barrel. For shits and giggles I tested with a 20" and a 36" barrel and they shot VERY hard. The barrel really makes all the difference.

[Beasty_Billy]

Sometimes with stock darts, more power can make them get worse ranges. Are the darts spinning out or flying straight? If they are flying straight, the above suggestions are probably true.

[Lebo]

Beasty_Billy, on 22 February 2012 - 08:35 PM, said:

Sometimes with stock darts, more power can make them get worse ranges. Are the darts spinning out or flying straight? If they are flying straight, the above suggestions are probably true.

Yeah, thats the problem I get. My stefans shoot fine, just not as far as I would like them to, but stock darts start to spin after about 20 feet.

[exploe]

It could be that your darts are vacuum loading, I had this problem with my couplered NF.

[Lebo]

exploe, on 23 February 2012 - 02:28 PM, said:

It could be that your darts are vacuum loading, I had this problem with my couplered NF.

Trust me, my seal is so bad vacuum loading would be nothing short of a miracle. Plus, I load my darts into the barrel, then attach it to the coupler.

This post has been edited by Lebo: 23 February 2012 - 04:05 PM

[Curly]

Lebo, on 23 February 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

Trust me, my seal is so bad vacuum loading would be nothing short of a miracle. Plus, I load my darts into the barrel, then attach it to the coupler.

So beef up the seal and get back to us. Even if it doesn't help with your spring dilemma, leaving the seal crappy isn't helping anyone, and it can make your blaster wear down faster in extreme cases.

[makeitgo]

What about the length of your cut down spring? It may be too short.

[Lebo]

makeitgo, on 25 February 2012 - 08:37 PM, said:

What about the length of your cut down spring? It may be too short.

Well, the spring has a tiny bit of pre-compression when fully assembled, but there is some space (about 1/2 an inch) on the plunger rod the spring does not take up.

[ricochet]

I am going to agree with the barrel length being a large factor. Yes, improve the seal since it is horrible, but also fix the barrel. If the darts begin to spin (as you mentioned), it is usually caused by excess air coming out the end that nudges the rear of the dart into an unstable flight path. This effect can be observed when firing streamlines through a snap with a normal cpvc barrel and then with a ported barrel. The ported barrel allows air to exit the barrel slightly before the dart exits to prevent the issue of excess gas. Long story short, either port your barrel or simply make it longer.

This post has been edited by ricochet: 03 March 2012 - 10:17 PM