- Stefans would flip in the magazine
- There was a bad seal between barrel and bolt
- There was barely a barrel
- It was generally crap
So I decided to do something about the performance of my new $120 toy. Most of these modifications I have not seen or have been reported.
Here is a list of the modifications I performed, with a brief description, going into detail later:
>>AR Removal - Just like Carrtoon did with his
>>Plunger seal improval - Simple but effective
>>Spring replacement - Maxshot spring as per Piney's recommendation
>>Bolt seal improvement - And no dodgy holt glue seals!
>>Replaced the barrel - Aluminium is the new PVC...but not...
>>Modified the Magazine - Now accepts Stefans in a friendly manner
Plunger seal improval
This one was fairly simple.
- I lubed up the immediate inside of the plunger tube
- Applied excessive amount of hot glue around the plunger head after the face but before the O-ring
- While the glue was stil hot I placed it into the plunger tube so the glue would take shape.
- I removed the plunger and removed the excess glue; a better seal is made!
Spring Replacement
Those of you who have been keeping track with Carrtoon's Longshot Mod thread would know that Pineapple replaced his Longshot's stiok spring with a Maxshot spring adding that he stretched it. We did in fact need to stretch it; the spring was a few milimetres too short - it would rattle loosely on the plunger rod. So I stretched the spring from the only good condition Maxshot I had (I hate those things anyway) to maybe a half inch longer, maybe more, than the length of the stock spring. This increased the performance a singificant amount. It's not much louder than the stock springs with the AR's removed but feels more solid and kinda sounds like my BBB.
Bolt seal improvement and Barrel replacement
This is where my modification gets interesting. I actually had to do these modifications simultaneously - if I didn't do either one of the modifications, it would have half its performance as opposed to the double. I'll start with the barrel - it's not much, but it's significant in terms of performance.
Most of my barrels are pretty much Aluminium or 9/16" K&S Brass tube. Since brass costs $8.50 per foot and Aluminium $4.50 per metre (>3 ft.), I only buy Brass if I want to increase the reselling value of a blaster of if precision is of importance. The aluminium I buy is 1mx16mmx1mm, so the ID is 14mm or .55" - this fits my Stefans perfectly and will occasionally shoot a CTDS.
The almunium is durable, lightweight and cost effective.
During this modification, I didn't have any Aluminium so I 'borrowed' the Al out of a spare Universal Barrel I have for my Xbow, BBB, AT3k etc; I had labeled this barrel 9" but it is more like 9 1/4". Looking on it now, 10" would do just fine - 11" would be pushing it.
Method:
To add the Al barrel, I had to remove that dart-hindering-spring-loaded-prong thing sticking into the breech - this pushes a Streamline dart into the bolt/barrel when the gun is stock.
I applied < (one barrel circumference) length of tape to one end of the barrel and pushed it into the empty, disassembled breech. so it would stay there. I knifed a chamfer into the breech end of the barrel so darts could load easier.
(Sorry for that difficult angle - I thought I took another one...)
Some might ask why the barrel is so far forward. My answer? Efficiency. But to get good efficiency I had to take a risk - to cut the front of the bolt off.
This picture shows the reduced bolt face with the new seal:
In refference to the picture:
1. This picture is actually of the first seal idea I used. The seal is a single (2mm - gets squashed to 1mm) layer of a circle of craft foam sheet; the same stuff use in Zero darts. To cut the circle I made a cookie cutter with a scrap of the 16mm Al and some 10mm Al.
The next and last time I did it, I used two layers. This was much more efficient. The first layer was a circle of 1mm clear Vinyl sheet followed by the second layer of craft foam. This vinyl is the stuff used in temporary windows ie tents. This seal is much better than the former. If anyone was to perform this modification, I would recommend a layer of neoprene instead of foam, purely for longevity. Craft foam is just as good, but you'll need to replace it after a while.
One important thing that made a difference in the seal was the glue I used. I used super glue instead of hot glue since hot glue would come off of the bolt face after a bit of use.
To conclude coverage of the seal: I recommend using Super Glue, not Hot Glue and Neoprene instead of Craft foam.
2. I only cut to what I would call the extractor - the only part of the bolt that comes into contact with the dart to strip it from the magazine. that is as far as I cut it to. Any further than that and things would get difficult.
To apply the seal properly I had to cut a recess into that nub above the bolt there. This is so that the wall thickness is essentially the same the way around thus a more consistant seal and so that this nub could fit over the aluminium barrel and not get stuck on it.
Again, some of you might ask why I cut it down in the first place since Carrtoon didn't need to. Here's my answer:
What that blue/yellow arrow is pointing to is a gap. This gap is not big enough for the tang on the bolt to fit over/around. This is because of the OD of the aluminium. Though with a smaller OD the seal would be more difficult to accomplish.
Even if anyone used a different barrel type (ie CPVC or Brass - Yes CPVC does fit through the stock barrel. Hint: The CPVC you have in the U.S. has the same OD as my Aluminium.) I would still recommend a modification like I have done.
More pics of the bolt and barrel:
Bolt in the gun, assembled, bolt open
Bolt almost closed into the breach
I think that's all for the bolt and seal.
Magazine modification
This one is unique in all aspects.
To allow these magazines to work with short stefans without jamming, I had to modifiy them. The modification didn't invlove much that could potentially harm the performance of magazines if the mod was not succesful, but it could be reverted to stock if necessary.
The first thing I did was unscrew those two screws at the bottom of the magazine and literally rip the welded. I actually started with prying the button out on one side, but the other was still glued shut worse. sides open. You could cut it with a Dremel's Cut-Off wheel if you wanted it to be really neat, but you'd only have to super glue it together. I super glued mine anyway.
So, once I got the magazine open I marked 1-3/4" from the (directional arrow) front of the magazine. This is the maximum length of a Stefan I would be using. After that, I cut a straight strip of 4mm Acrylic sheet to 4mm wide - a rectangualar prism essentially. I superglued this strip next to the line, but made sure it was absolutely parrallel with the magazine walls.
The next thing I did was reinforce the magazine's follower with two layers of acrylic and then cut a 4.5mm groove into the side of the follower. I cut the grooves in the follower slightly bigger than the dimensions of the acrylic so it wouldn't jam in the acrylic insert if it tilted. I did these things to both sides of the magazine pieces.
This is harder to explain now that I'm getting tired, but this picture should wrap it up:
This modification prevents the darts from sliding back in the magazine as the bolt moves, thus letting them flip in the magazine. This also makes the darts more stable while in the magazine.
Here are some more pictures of the magazine modification.
If you try this mod, don't do it differently like this This was my first idea, but it kept jamming since the follower was too short. I did fix it though.
Comparison of a stock and modified magzine
To make a generalisation of this modification, I would say that it was all well worth it.
Ranges are consistant with my modified Crossbow, if not better and I think it may have better force too.\
So it would be safe to say I can consistantly get >100' with these modifications.
One thing I should say though, Stefan weights are a big factor in the performance of the Longshot - 1/4" BBs are best.
That's all I can say about my Longshot for now.
Are there any questions about a particular part of this modification?
Thanks, and please enjoy,
-Tidge.
