27 replies to this topic

[CaptainSlug]

I HATE the Recon. It's as simple as that. I didn't like it even after removing the Air Restrictors. On Friday I gave it to my 8-year-old neighbor and it took him less than 24 hours to break the bolt in half.


This gave me an excuse to experiment with it. So I attempted to single it by making a replacement plunger/barrel for it. I made one out of 1/2 SCH80 pipe by lathing down the outside diameter then adding a groove for the O-Ring and a stop to prevent the dart from being sucked into the plunger chamber.

The seal was so perfect that the plunger was maintaining a vacuum when drawn back. So I had to add a divot to the o-ring groove to allow the o-ring to deform under vacuum pressure, allowing the plunger chamber to equalize.

To make the plunger easier to draw back now that there is no slide or bolt, I added a handle to the back of the plunger tube.

I then made a frame piece to hold the plunger/barrel in place and to act as a stop for the plunger tube when firing.
End result looks bizarre and unfortunately performs terribly. Shoots at best around 25 feet.

I'm not sure whether to blame the poor performance on the tightness of the plunger seal, the weakness of the spring, or the length of the barrel. But basically I gave up because I started feeling crappy.

Later this week I'll probably take the plunger/barrel back to work with me and drill out the center so I can nest a PETG barrel in it. That will give me more control over the functional length of the barrel.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 01 April 2008 - 07:36 PM.

[OfAllTheNerf]

Either way, I like it. Anything with manufactured parts is good in my book.

I also like the way it looks. While it can't shoot with the clip, it looks fugly, in a good way.

As always, good work. I'm not sure anyone will be able to make the Recon into anything useful.

[slowguitarman]

Holy crap. I was thinking about doing this today. I pretty much hate the recon too (other than the way it looks), so I thought about singling it. Maybe I won't...

[Captain]

Your neighbor sounds like a dumb-ass. Too bad you couldn't fix it, but props for trying.

Edited by Captain, 01 April 2008 - 07:34 PM.

[CaptainSlug]

Images fixed

Your neighbor sounds like a dumb-ass.

He's 8, what can you expect. And this gun is pretty flimsy

Edited by CaptainSlug, 01 April 2008 - 07:39 PM.

[keef]

Don't worry, Slug. Recons suck, 25 feet is great! Ask anyone at ECNO. I couldn't even use it in Siege :'(

[Captain]

Images fixed

Your neighbor sounds like a dumb-ass.

He's 8, what can you expect. And this gun is pretty flimsy

What I don't understand is how he broke the bolt in half, if it's on the inside of the gun.

[CaptainSlug]

I'm mostly posting this to show how I did it and to that I don't get everything right the first time. In all likelihood this probably will never be war-capable, and therefore will act as a demonstration that if even I can't make a Recon war-capable then that says something about the Recon itself.

What I don't understand is how he broke the bolt in half, if it's on the inside of the gun.

I'm guessing his tiny little arms couldn't pull the slide back in a hurry and it slipped forward over a dart forcibly. He then did the priming action again, which forced a second dart into the bolt.
And it's likely he did this several times. The bolt was rammed up into the muzzle piece and broken in two.

If you seriously want to insult some 8-year-olds you should do it in person to get the full experience. I'm sure most of us were equivalent "dumb-ass" material at age 8.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 01 April 2008 - 07:47 PM.

[rokor]

This is exactly wehat i have my Recon set to right now, it cocks the same way and vaccum loads the same way, but I have a CPVC barel in place. Im not sure how you only can get 25feet out of it, Im pushing 60 every time.
Nice job on the writeup though, very easy to folow.

[mystefansdontflystraight]

Wow. You actually made a part for that gun. Kudos. Amazing. I could never even think of that, let alone do it.
But I agree with Rokor. 25ft is a little short, even for a recon.
I would love to see FA24 completely remake the Recon. Maybe even add a chainsaw to it

[Anothernoob]

Its funny how many people hate the Recon seeing as how it was so hyped up before its release...

I don't know if I get 60 feet from my Recon but I get more than 25 feet for sure. Anyway, I hope the experiments end up with a good result. In the least, this is probably a good way to evaluate the inverted plunger system (think Scout, Mav, LS Front Gun, etc...).

[Green-Buckshot]

I don't like the Recon CS-6, but if you could somehow increase the distance and make it so people like me can get their grubby little hands on the right parts, I would consider it (if I haven't already traded my Recon CS-6 away). It looks like a brick, but for some reason I genuinely love the way that looks .

[mintee]

Interesting idea, it's certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when modding the Recon.

On a side note, my AR-less (and otherwise stock) Recon shoots streamlines around 35+ feet, but I can barely get 25 with stefans made from your shipment... is the Recon's stock plunger and spring really that weak, or am I just doing something wrong with the stefans?

[Uterly]

This is from a current ebay listing:

I have made numerous internal and external modifications to more than triple the out-of-box range of the Recon. As you may know, the Recon doesn't get much more than 30 ft out of the box, but with these modifications you can reach up to 100ft! That is far more than any other Recon on eBay!

...

I have also added two new springs in addition to the stock spring, so there is a total of 3 springs powering this awesome blaster!




I guess he's got you beat slug

Edited by Uterly, 02 April 2008 - 01:07 AM.

[slowguitarman]

This is from a current ebay listing:

I have made numerous internal and external modifications to more than triple the out-of-box range of the Recon. As you may know, the Recon doesn't get much more than 30 ft out of the box, but with these modifications you can reach up to 100ft! That is far more than any other Recon on eBay!

...

I have also added two new springs in addition to the stock spring, so there is a total of 3 springs powering this awesome blaster!




I guess he's got you beat slug

All that guy did was add a spring in the stock and remove the ar's. I e-mailed him about it to call his bs. I guess more power to him, though. Getting stupid people to buy $100 recons is pretty impressive in itself.

[CaptainSlug]

is the Recon's stock plunger and spring really that weak

Yes. And streamlines get extremely inconsistent results because they drift so much. Their distance margin of error gets larger the further you shoot them.

I guess he's got you beat slug

Only in regards to being full of shit.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 02 April 2008 - 12:55 PM.

[doubleshot]

I guess he's got you beat slug

Only in regards to being full of shit.

Yea the only thing I see that isn't bull about his are that they look nice, but other then that I don't believe a word he says. The recon blows, its now a spring in my BBB.

[Cmdrmack]

i'm having trouble imagining that this gun really sucks that much. I don't doubt that it's a disappointment, but we're not even getting Maverick-like ranges? That's sad.

[Bomberman]

It is sad. That is why I am sawing the bolt off down past the AR, and sticking a CPVC barrel on there, and making a stumpy. Just for indoor wars with my friends that play with stock guns, so I will still dominate. I think I'll get maybe 40 feet out of it. But it could be a half-decent secondary.

EDIT: I'm sure that you could get decent range out of it with a spring in the stock to beef up power, a brass barrel replacement/breech, and stefans, but I am just too lazy and stupid to go throught that kind of process

Edited by Bomberman, 02 April 2008 - 02:08 PM.

[Pineapple]

Well, I for one, like the Recon. And that's coming from someone who gravitates toward AIR powered blasters.

I'm gonna give it a swing and see what I can do with the reverse-plunger design. I got the Crossfire to shoot 50 plus consistently, and since I like the way the Recon looks and functions, why not?

Gee people. Just because master Slug can't get it to shoot great, I hope it isn't such that all of yous are gonna call it shit and just give up on it. Peer pressure. Pff.

On another note, I LOVE how Sluggy machines his own parts. Wish I had a lathe right now.



-Piney-

[CaptainSlug]

Gee people. Just because master Slug can't get it to shoot great, I hope it isn't such that all of yous are gonna call it shit and just give up on it. Peer pressure. Pff.

And I never said I was FINISHED.
As it stands now the barrel is probably an inch TOO long and the plunger seal may be too good for the plunger to get up to speed. I can cup my finger over the tip of the barrel, pull the trigger, and the plunger will stop dead halfway into the stroke because the seal is holding the pressure.

First thing to try is shortening the working barrel. This blaster probably only needs a 3-inch barrel.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 02 April 2008 - 03:07 PM.

[Galaxy613]

I can cup my finger over the tip of the barrel, pull the trigger, and the plunger will stop dead halfway into the stroke because the seal is holding the pressure.

Nice. It'll be interesting to see it finished.

Edited by Galaxy613, 02 April 2008 - 03:06 PM.

[Blasphemy]

Your neighbor sounds like a dumb-ass. Too bad you couldn't fix it, but props for trying.

Oh... c'mon, we all know if we were the neighbors of CS we would purposely act like dumbasses with all of our blasters just to give him a chance to experiment with them and turn them into super-machined foam throwing instruments of doom after we broke them "accidentally".

Anyways, interesting work so far. I'm hoping you'll add a twist to this project to make it more exciting, rather than just doing standard range improvements.

Edited by Blasphemy, 02 April 2008 - 08:19 PM.

[Uterly]

I guess he's got you beat slug

Only in regards to being full of shit.

Well after looking some more, said scammer is making upwards of 170 dollars on each "100 foot" Recon with 100% positive feedback. So either the people who buy from him are to stupid to actually measure or the recon has some hidden potential. After talking to him, he claims that he put one spring in the stock and added a second spring to the inside with the original. I thought that was already dismissed as impossible but who knows

[CaptainSlug]

But "100 feet" is undoubtedly not a level measurement. Unless of course he is 14 feet tall and holding the Recon above his head.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 02 April 2008 - 10:54 PM.