73 replies to this topic

[umdlancer]

I finally got my hands on a Recon (a few of them, actually) and performed a preliminary AR-removal, documenting it with pictures.

First off, some showboating:



1. Ok, now down to buisness. I've taken the Recon out of it's package and have proceeded to open the blaster by removing the screws:


2. Don't forget to move the slide back and remove the screws underneath:


3. You'll also need to remove the two screws on the black endcap, but don't worry about the screw on the orange piece:


4. Open it up, but be careful. That black plastic piece underneath the slide will be annoying; it's held in place by a metal pin which connects to both halves of the shell:


5. Pull out the bolt-sled. There aren't any screws holding it in, so it shouldn't be tricky. You can, incidentally, see the air restrictor in that picture:


6. Ok, let's work on that. First, you need to separate the bolt from the bolt-sled. That's not too difficult, it's only held in place by a metal pin in the top hole which you can push out with a small screwdriver. This is what it should look like after you do so:


7. Here we go, just the bolt:


8. I used a very long screwdriver and gradually punched the air restrictor out from behind. If you have a long enough drill bit and a steady hand, you could drill it out. Alternatively, you could try dissolving the glue holding the joint where the air restrictor is located using zippo lighter fluid, but I didn't have any on hand, and didn't feel like gluing it back together. Either way, your finished product should look something like this:


9. Ok, that's taken care of. Now to plug this hole:


10. I like using epoxy putty, but you could probably use hotglue instead. You'll also notice that I put the bolt-sled back together, that was simply inserting the bolt back into the sled, then pushing in the metal pin back inside the top hole:


11. Ok, see that big circle in middle of the bolt-sled? It mates with a circular piece on the slide just behind the screw:


12. Fit it together:


13. Ok, now put the internals back in place so that it looks like what we had in step #4, and put the shell back together so that it looks like what we had in step 1.

Success!

Edit: Fixed broken pictures.

Edited by umdlancer, 16 June 2008 - 09:16 PM.

[sourskttles772]

How is shooting inside. Compared to the stock ones. Look any faster.

[sourskttles772]

Sorry for the double post: The server died while I posted.

Edited by sourskttles772, 27 December 2007 - 07:37 PM.

[sn1per]

So air escapes from the hole in the bolt?

[umdlancer]

"sourskttles772" said

How is shooting inside. Compared to the stock ones. Look any faster.

Well, the plunger chamber travels forward faster and it makes a much sharper noise, but the streamlines still start to spiral out of control about twenty or thirty feet out of the barrel. I'll try again with converted taggers

"sn1per" said

So air escapes from the hole in the bolt?

Yep. Just as in the Longshot, the "bolt" is actually the barrel, and it was established long ago that holes in barrels are bad things indeed.

[zaphodB]

Well, except in old cannons, cause you need to light them.

All joking aside, I've got a question: Is this a sort of inverted plunger design, like a large maverick? If so, is a mod to reduce dead space inside the plunger feasable?

[umdlancer]

zaphodB, on Dec 27 2007, 10:28 PM, said:

Well, except in old cannons, cause you need to light them.

All joking aside, I've got a question: Is this a sort of inverted plunger design, like a large maverick? If so, is a mod to reduce dead space inside the plunger feasable?

It is an inverted plunger, though due to the length of the bolt assembly I don't think that it would be feasable to try and close up dead space unless you were willing to cut apart the bolt and glue it back together.

A spring replacement would also be very hard to do, as you can see in step #4, the existing spring is a perfect fit for that space. Anything larger won't fit into the shell, and anything smaller won't fit around the inverted plunger chamber.

[Forsaken angel24]

umdlancer, on Dec 28 2007, 12:43 AM, said:

A spring replacement would also be very hard to do, as you can see in step #4, the existing spring is a perfect fit for that space. Anything larger won't fit into the shell, and anything smaller won't fit around the inverted plunger chamber.

Where there is a will there is a way.
If this gun cannot take a spring replacement then it is useless to me.

[Blasphemy]

Nice write-up, I'm wondering what kind of ranges this would get with an Angel type breech. Ha Forsaken, you just can't not put ridiculously powerful springs in every gun you own, can you?

[n-strike]

This may sound completely retarded, but would anything happen to the gun if you cut off the orange tube that says "ARMED"? It really annoys me that there is something sticking out of the back when you cock it instead of having nothing there at all.

[smeagolsaur]

UMD, did you find those recons locally (around College Park) or did you buy from someone on the West Coast?

I've been searching to no avail.

[Retiate]

n-strike, on Dec 27 2007, 08:57 PM, said:

This may sound completely retarded, but would anything happen to the gun if you cut off the orange tube that says "ARMED"? It really annoys me that there is something sticking out of the back when you cock it instead of having nothing there at all.

Eh, nothing serious as long as you don't mind having no plunger tube...

[Squishy]

smeagolsaur, on Dec 28 2007, 12:34 AM, said:

UMD, did you find those recons locally (around College Park) or did you buy from someone on the West Coast?

I've been searching to no avail.

he found them in a nearby target. Forgot which one. They ARE on the East coast now, but you almost hafta call and hopefully get someone you can ask who gives a crap about you getting your toy.

[n-strike]

Retiate, on Dec 27 2007, 09:56 PM, said:

n-strike, on Dec 27 2007, 08:57 PM, said:

This may sound completely retarded, but would anything happen to the gun if you cut off the orange tube that says "ARMED"? It really annoys me that there is something sticking out of the back when you cock it instead of having nothing there at all.

Eh, nothing serious as long as you don't mind having no plunger tube...

UGH! Stupid me, I forgot it was the plunger tube. Yea, I'm retarded to forget that. No I'm not. Shut up.

[smeagolsaur]

Quote

he found them in a nearby target. Forgot which one. They ARE on the East coast now, but you almost hafta call and hopefully get someone you can ask who gives a crap about you getting your toy.

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll keep searching! Good to see that they're on the east coast now.

By the way, I saw that opinion in the Diamondback about the campus nerf war. Good rebuttal!

Edited by smeagolsaur, 28 December 2007 - 01:51 AM.

[DeceitfulSteve]

As I stated in another thread, there is over an inch one could cut off of the plunger/armed indicator. If you disassemble your gun, put the plunger together and hold it up to a light, you'll see that the o-ring only gets as far back as the 'm' in "armed" when viewed from the left side.

[n-strike]

DeceitfulSteve, on Dec 28 2007, 12:01 AM, said:

As I stated in another thread, there is over an inch one could cut off of the plunger/armed indicator. If you disassemble your gun, put the plunger together and hold it up to a light, you'll see that the o-ring only gets as far back as the 'm' in "armed" when viewed from the left side.

YES! Once I get one, I'm doing that! Maybe...

[M30]

I haven't seen for myself the inside of the Recon yet (just the photos), but what I've read about worries me. As far as ARs go, this one seems like it could be a pretty tough job to remove.

umdlancer, on Dec 27 2007, 05:59 PM, said:

8. I used a very long screwdriver and gradually punched the air restrictor out from behind. If you have a long enough drill bit and a steady hand, you could drill it out. Alternatively, you could try dissolving the glue holding the joint where the air restrictor is located using zippo lighter fluid, but I didn't have any on hand, and didn't feel like gluing it back together. Either way, your finished product should look something like this:

When you say "punched it out", what does that mean? I had to dremel a one-inch-in-diameter hole in the back of the plunging mechanism of the Longshot before that gun's AR could be removed. I understand this is different, but how? I suppose I'm just looking for a more specific delineation of the steps it takes to physically remove the AR.

Also, in the process it seems you removed the 'pin' that usually goes inside the hole in the dart. Have you noticed this hurting the rate of fire by increasing jams, or is that component non-essential for the most part?

Thanks, and great job getting this write-up going so quickly!

Edited by M30, 28 December 2007 - 04:53 AM.

[angrscottishkid]

FA- couldnt you add power by putting some kind of spacer between the spring and the back of the gun? I haven't been able to find the recon yet but, I plan on trying it when i do

Edited by angrscottishkid, 28 December 2007 - 12:45 PM.

[Forsaken angel24]

Only if the spring has extra room to compress. Even if I could do that I wouldn't be happy with it.

[angrscottishkid]

FA, thanks for the input.

Hasbros really testing us with this one. Besides removing air restrictors, theres not much else to do. Someone metioned an angel breech, but that won't do to much without a more powerful spring, which would be very hard to find in the right size.

Good job UMD.

[DeceitfulSteve]

The stock spring only looks to be able to compress 1/4" more, and I don't think the gains would be worth it. My Mavs have five pennies shoved behind the spring and it's no replacement for a spring replacement.

My other idea for increasing power is adding a spring to the stock.

Edited by DeceitfulSteve, 28 December 2007 - 02:37 PM.

[el swifto]

Or you could cut a little notch in the back the plunger (since you have that extra space behind there) and put a lot of bands on.


Or you could make something out of hot glue to hold the bands in place instead.

Edited by el swifto, 28 December 2007 - 02:05 PM.

[Lynx]

It sounds like a plunger replacement is needed...

Sad but other wise the gun is toast...

Sad but true...

Also, Hasbro doesn't design to frustrate us! Hasbro is just so good at it that is comes naturally. Remember, we are consumers who are the only ones to buy a gun OVER AND OVER AND OVER. They love us as long as we don't kill or injure ourselves. Really, why WOULDN't they like us?!?

[angrscottishkid]

I never said they didn't like us, I'm saying they threw us a fun little challenge.

As for putting another spring behind plunger, I think thats an awsome idea. You could attach a piece of pvc behind the gun, put an endcap on the back and put a spring inside it.

Edit: any one remember the "Foaming to create effiecient(sp?) pressure" idea for the mav? Ithink that could work well here.

Edited by angrscottishkid, 28 December 2007 - 05:25 PM.