12 replies to this topic

[Spoon]

Oops, forget the title, I have a brass AIRTECH 3K now, not a SM3K. Anyway....it went really well actually, I put 5" barrels on it. Havn't tested max range yet but it shoots the 45' across my downstairs with no drop at all on 4 pumps (plugged release valve of course). I was able to get the barrels totally rock steady, it's actually pretty easy. It's basically the idea that someone had in the Airtech Mod Roundtable Discussion topic (I forgot whose idea this was, look it up). When you look at the barrels, about a third the way up from the base of them is a seperation (a line) in the plastic. Take out your hacksaw and saw all the barrels off at this point. Look inside the stubs and pull out the little plastic bits and springs. If you look in there you'll see that theres about a 1cm ring section inside the barrel stub's wall. Just get a flat head screwdriver and pry the little sections out. The brass will then fit loosely in the barrel stubs (which are about 1 inch). and after wrapping the base of the brass in electrical tape, they fit extremely snuggly, I didn't have to use any adhesive whatsoever. Then at the point where that center hexagon thing supported the old barrels I just wrapped sections of an old thick rubber band with some electrical tape around the brass barrels at that point, so that the center pole thing prevented them from getting pushed in towards the center, further stabilizing them. If you do it that way the barrels will be rock solid and straight. I also totally dismantled the innards of the gun and it's rotation mechanism, mostly just out of curiousity. As long as you take your time and make sure you understand how it works (nerf guns are so ingenius) before you unscrew stuff, it really isn't that hard to get it back together. I didn't have any problems, but then again I'm pretty smart. The rotation mechanism works fine with the brass. If you hold the trigger in and just pump (thereby rotating the barrels each pump) over and over they won't advance right, but when you pump and fire it normally (read: not while holding the trigger down) it has never screwed up for me. The mechanical latch on this gun is MUCH more efficient and reliable than on the old SM 3K's. The 5" brass barrels make the gun quite accurate as well, although it seems to have less power (though probably similar if not greater range, oddly enough) than my 6" brass barreled Splitfire, which I attribute to the Splitfire's much higher working pressure, longer barrels, and fairly similar tank capacity. On the AT3K, with the valve plugged and the liquid guage left alone, 4 pumps is ideal for me. I can get 5, but the fifth pump is really really hard, and barely a full pump. I love this gun, I'm looking forward to using it against small children. It'll be quite nice to be able to hit what I shoot at, for a change....

[cxwq]

Yum.

I really hope I get my PETG in before YANO. I want to do one of those for myself.

[Spoon]

Yea it's great, I was testing it more today and comparing it to my Splitfire. Range is probably equal, but the AT3K, even though it's barrels are 1 inch shorter than the SF's, is MUCH more accurate. I mean I was able to hit the same 1 foot square from 40 feet almost every shot, whereas the SF has a spread, and isn't accurate against a person much past 30-35 feet. With 5 pumps (rather than 4), the 3K has more power than the SF and the same accuracy, but that 5th pump will give you a workout, and I don't want to burst the tank. Still nice to know though if you need that extra special long range love, that you have another 10 feet of range at your disposal. When you pump the gun the first time (and the barrels rotate) with the trigger NOT held in (just like you would normally), the mechanism actually locks the barrel cylinder in place, it cannot be moved forwards or backwards until you fire the gun, meaning having the barrels rotate by themselves while running won't happen if you've pumped. My ONLY problem with the gun (although it isn't even with the gun proper) is that the darts will fall out of the barrels if held down, so just make sure you take care to hold the barrels slightly elevated as you run. Most people do that anyway. PETG tubing should be awesome in this because due to it's thicker walls, it should fit snuggly in the barrel nubs without needing a layer of electrical tape. From the looks of it, you should be able to just jam them in. I don't even need a ramrod for the gun, for the darts that don't just fall all the way down, blowing works fine. I need a ramrod for my SF because of the 1cm sections at the base of each barrel that hold the darts firmly in place so they don't fall out while running when the gun is holstered. My guns rock now, I'm so excited.

[Atticus]

Glad ye like it. I knew someone would eventually brass theirs, as opposed to single barrelling it, and love it as much as I do.

[cxwq]

I simply can't imagine why someone would single barrel this gun. I mean, if you want a one shot pump gun you'd be better off with a whole host of other alternatives. The sm5k and 1500 have bigger air tanks, the sm750 and at2k are cheaper and smaller, the splitfire... hmm... has anybody ever single-barreled a splitfire?

[Devil Halo]

Those guns are rare though. You can still find a airtech 3000 easily. Thats what I think.

[DarkCow]

I simply can't imagine why someone would single barrel this gun. I mean, if you want a one shot pump gun you'd be better off with a whole host of other alternatives. The sm5k and 1500 have bigger air tanks, the sm750 and at2k are cheaper and smaller, the splitfire... hmm... has anybody ever single-barreled a splitfire?


Those guns are rare though. You can still find a airtech 3000 easily. Thats what I think.

AT2000 had to find? What the heck are you talking about? You should really know what the heck we are talking about before you post. Arent you that one Guy from NHQ?

[VACC]

I think he was refering more to the supermax guns that were mentioned in the post preceding his.

VACC

[DarkCow]

Meh, maybe your right. Sorry Devil Halo.......... Anyway, have you guys done that sort of thing with a SM3K? it rocks, i got a blue, used pliers and ripped out springs and everything, and then duct taped some brass and shoved it in. Much, much better performance without any inside mods. On blue SM3Ks it almost impossible to take em apart though because of the air tank screw....

[rawray7]

i attempted to brass my at3k a week or two ago, and when i finally got around to buying the brass, and setting it all up to work, i realized it was leaking. not trusting the liquitron, i immediately jumped to conclusions and leak-tested everything between the pump and the tank. i later realized that what had happened was that the valve built into the end of the pump chamber, had broken, and all the air leaked back out, sometimes even pushing the pump back forward. i think that the reason this part of the gun broke was because of plugging the air release valve in the pump, but it could have just been a retarded gun to start out with. my two options now are to get a new one, or try to integrate a different pump into the gun. i think i will mess around with the latter before i waste my dough on a new one.

well...if anyone else is having this problem, then i suggest future moddifiers of this gun either: replace the pump right from the get-go, or, don't plug the pump.

[Diablo]

Spoon, what size brass are you using? Me and WebbZter noticed that the 1/2 inch Foam Backer rod is actually diffrent sizes in diffrent places around the US, and since you said your darts fall down the barrel very easilly, I recommend using a smaller size brass (unlike in most places in the US). The darts should be tight in the barrel, they will get much greater range and be more accurate.

[cxwq]

Me and WebbZter noticed that the 1/2 inch Foam Backer rod is actually diffrent sizes in diffrent places around the US

That aint half of the problem.

FBR size varies from store to store, brand to brand, and time of production.

As if that isn't bad enough, the size also varies depending on where on the original spool the FBR was wound. I have 900' feet off the same spool and it varies about .02" from one place to another. That's the difference between a loose sliding fit and a fairly snug fit!

[Spoon]

With brass unfortunately, with almost all FBR you need 9/16". It isn't always perfect, but it's usually better than any other size.