5 replies to this topic

[dizzyduck]

Since it seems nobody has written about this before:











Yes I know, Hector looks constipated.

I've primed it about 100 times and so far there have been no signs of wear or stress on either the plunger rod or the handle.

Adding a stronger spring makes it much, much harder to prime one-handed (my twiggy arms aren't really a good barometer of how hard it would be to prime something, but it's safe to say that the average teenager wouldn't be able to do it without straining their arm), and as such reduces its effectiveness as a one-handed pistol.

Range is dumb. Don't as me for it.

I shoved some PETG barrels in it and so far it fires just fine. It's pretty fun to use. Just make sure in the act of one-hand-priming your darts don't fly out of the barrels. Make sure your material is tight around your darts at the bottom of the barrels so they stay in place.

[Split]

When you say a teenager couldn't prime it, do you mean one-handed or two? The lever action should give some amount of mechanical advantage, so that's a bit surprising.

It has been a while since I've owned one of these. Does it only catch when you prime it all the way, as opposed to multiple notches, like on the Lanard shotguns? What's the plunger stroke?

[Falcon]

It only catches in one place, which is at the point when the cocking motion has fully rotated the plunger casing to the next barrel.

Nicely done, dizzy. I've missed hector. He makes me happy. I've got an old friend's ratchetblast that needs an overhaul; I might have to give this a go. I'm not sure about the new spring, though...single-hand cocking of these guns is just too much fun to lose.

[dizzyduck]

When you say a teenager couldn't prime it, do you mean one-handed or two? The lever action should give some amount of mechanical advantage, so that's a bit surprising.

It has been a while since I've owned one of these. Does it only catch when you prime it all the way, as opposed to multiple notches, like on the Lanard shotguns? What's the plunger stroke?

I meant one-handed, with a stronger spring. (I tried using a cut-down Expand-a-Blast spring).

Yes, there's only one catch point, and the plunger stroke is about 2.5 inches.

[Carbon]

Nice reinforcements, those will help.

Do you have any thoughts on how to reinforce the "L" shape on the plunger? The biggest problem with putting a stronger spring in a RB is this:


The arcing motion of the priming action means that there's a whole lot of leverage pushing on the tip of that L.

The ratchetblast is a nifty little blaster, but apparently it's really hard to push beyond its initial design. It usually finds new and exciting places to break when modded.

Edited by Carbon, 07 February 2010 - 02:07 PM.

[Blue]

Nice reinforcements, those will help.

Do you have any thoughts on how to reinforce the "L" shape on the plunger? The biggest problem with putting a stronger spring in a RB is this:


The arcing motion of the priming action means that there's a whole lot of leverage pushing on the tip of that L.

The ratchetblast is a nifty little blaster, but apparently it's really hard to push beyond its initial design. It usually finds new and exciting places to break when modded.

I bought one recently, and I found that it was broken in a different spot too.