18 replies to this topic

[SonReeceSonJensen]

Now, I have been told that no matter what you do to a FirstShot you still end up with…a FirstShot. Well dammit, Ima make the best damn FirstShot you eva’ done seen!

Just a head’s up: I will be covering new mods and revisiting/elaborating on tried and true mods in this write-up.

Let us begin: get a beer/Dew, this may take a minute.

A little internal N0rp for reference. I should say I acquired this particular guy here with the standard mods (see directory) already in place.


First big change? BAM! Plunger tube replacement!


Step #1: remover the peg here if starting from stock, or spend an annoying amount of time cutting off hotglue. NOTE: if you really wanted just slap a coupler on here and you could have a plenty fine side-arm…but I am NOT satisfied!


Widen the air flow hole here to desired size. I went much bigger than this pic here but you get the idea.


Sand the ever lovin’ piss out of the plunger tube face: you want it smooth and uniform, plus the scoring will come into play later.


Now this is almost scary amazing: the end nub from a Longshot plunger tube is exactly the perfect diameter to fit inside the end piece of a FirstShot. Srsly, you almost don’t need to use adhesive.


I will say this as much as possible: JB Weld. EVAWERE! Here is a pic of size for reference.


You will need to do some internal shell reduction to make room for your new fat as hell plunger. Despite the increased size this is really a very easy task.


Oh yeah, this is turning out well.


Here is the coupler I used: ½” cpvc end-cap violently sanded, bored, and skewered with a c-blocking bolt. I HIGHLY recommend a c-blocker as vacuum loading is very likely here. You can see the pic above with it attached…WITH JB WELD!!


On to more aspects. Just to clarify: this piece DOES serve a purpose. It applies upward pressure to the leaver to make it “easier” to prime. Some would call this a “waste of effort and resources” so just rip it out and use the spring to double up on the trigger spring.


The trigger is in the stupid wobbly section, here is a common way to fix it.


Here is MY Motherfarglin’ way to fix it! Plumbers’ epoxy putty on both sides with indents from teh trigger for a perfect fit and sturdy hold.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

PLUNGER HEAD

Now to the plunger head, which is in its own right quite adequate in stock form. If you are doing basic mods you should put some goop on the head as it leaks through (learned that from FA’s Countess mod: very much applies here).


Here is an exploded view, I have highlighted what can be considered “crap” and dealt with accordingly.


No spring replacement: unnecessary. Plus it would require reinforcement of internals I was just not ready to handle. Either way, JB the pants of this dealy here.


After violent sanding of your plunger stick and longshot head I’ll bet you can guess what holds them together…


JB WELD AND A MOTHER FUCKING BOLT! While you are at it either double o-ring or put stripes of e-tape under for increased plunger seal.


Plunger head padding. Why not.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

COSMETIC MODS

I feel a modification is enhancement, but a paintjob is personalization. For this dastardly penis of a blaster you have to sand so many areas down to accommodate for the extra millimeter of paint it is almost laughable…that I did it twice.

To avoid having the priming motion sound like kicking a harp seal in the penis just sand here…


On the sides of this thing…


And this guy, but NOT the little nubbies as they help hold the lever in place when down otherwise it flops all over and is annoying as piss.


Here are some minimization points for sleeker look and also improved holster fit. Plus B.A. views of the internals.








THE END!!!

Here is the final product.


Sick potential for detail.


I haz the fatty.




“Normally” modified FirstShot: 45”-50”
Plunger replaced FirstShot: 50”-55”
Result: 10%-25% RANGE INCREASE, BABY!! I have absolutely no regrets.

Now go out and get a pistol splat that will out-perform this with 1/8 the modding effort.

[Daniel Beaver]

Lol, these things were silly at the war.

Are you getting a near perfect seal? I feel that you ought to be getting better performance than that...

[the mod man]

I overhauled a night finder with a long shot plunger tube once, I got ranges in the 90's. I used the stock LS spring. I think reinforcing the internals and adding a new spring will give your ranges a big boost.

[thedom21]

Yeah I agree with Beaver this were very cool at the war especially when you doul wield them. If you need another ls PT for your other one I have one.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

Daniel Beaver, on Nov 5 2010, 11:18 AM, said:

Lol, these things were silly at the war.

COMPLIMENT!!!

Daniel Beaver, on Nov 5 2010, 11:18 AM, said:

Are you getting a near perfect seal? I feel that you ought to be getting better performance than that...

Blow-down-the-barrel tests say the seal is perfect. I think the seal might be too tight, or there might be some friction issue resulting from a quarter millimeter difference in the tube alignment, the plunger head itself, and the new seal.

the mod man, on Nov 5 2010, 11:59 AM, said:

I overhauled a night finder with a long shot plunger tube once, I got ranges in the 90's.

Not bad, that would be a sweet pistol. This guy here uses like 1/5th of the tube length so not sure I could ever get this.

the mod man, on Nov 5 2010, 11:59 AM, said:

I think reinforcing the internals and adding a new spring will give your ranges a big boost.

I had considered it, but that would be a very daunting task and push this right over the edge into “just not worth it”.

thedom21, on Nov 5 2010, 03:06 PM, said:

If you need another ls PT for your other one I have one.

Don’t hold out for me, but there is a nice shiny wye for you in trade at the next war I see you at.

[cheyner]

This is one of the more entertaining write-ups to read, great work.

How long of a barrel are you using?

[lionhawk]

Ha, nice work. I was quite entertained at the end.

[thedom21]

[quote name='thedom21' post='287969' date='Nov 5 2010, 03:06 PM']
If you need another ls PT for your other one I have one.
[/quote]
Don’t hold out for me, but there is a nice shiny wye for you in trade at the next war I see you at.
[/quote]
I will probably be at the one VelveetaAvenger will be hosting in a few weeks.

[Eh Watt]

Nice job ResseJensonSonson! Too bad I didn't get to see these at the war. Overhauling sub-par weapons is fun to do. One question... why do you like first shots so much? And yeah, your traditional black, gold and white paint job still looks great.

[Green Wing]

Great job on the gun, even though it is a First Shot . Also very nice writeup, it explained things very well and yet it was very entertaining to read.

Edited by Green Wing, 05 November 2010 - 05:15 PM.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

@cheyner - much thanks. 4" maybe, I need to do more testa but 6" cpvc almost didn't leave the barrel.

@Lawk - Titties Galores.

@Dom - VeetWar!

@A-Watt - making the sub-par 'par' is the entire motivation! I'll blow minds with my Area 52 blaster mods :)l) I would have liked a spitfire vs duel FirstShots but that may have to wait till Tje next war.

@G-Wing - thanks, you turn out se pretty cool stuff so that means something.

[Blue]

Very cool that you got this to work, unfortunate that a ls plunger tube and head had to be sacrificed. Maybe you would be better off doing this mod to a Maxshot?

[Banshee]

I wouldn't recommend putting any stronger of a spring in a first shot if I were you. I had one a few months ago, I put a new spring in that was probably one step up from the stock on and the inner flange of the ratchet back handler exploded off. It was a perfectly good gun which is now irreparable. So I wouldn't do it.

[Nerf Bros]

Lol is that my old first shot? Glad to see it used for something. I still haven't used the hornet pump I traded for it.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

Blue, on Nov 5 2010, 11:37 PM, said:

Very cool that you got this to work, unfortunate that a ls plunger tube and head had to be sacrificed.

WHAT EVES, nothing is ever truly sacrificed in the name of Science and Awesome. If it makes you feel beter I got it out of a box of someone's random crap at a war, it it was dumpster-destined anyway.

Now get this bad boy in the directory

Blue, on Nov 5 2010, 11:37 PM, said:

Maybe you would be better off doing this mod to a Maxshot?

Maybe, I wish I had one so I could mod it and paint it identical and use them both on the field at once. I think Someone did a PT replace in the Mods/PJ thread, after doing this mod I’m looking at ALL my blaster wondering if I can jam a NF or LS PT in there.

Banshee, on Nov 6 2010, 11:17 AM, said:

I had one a few months ago, I put a new spring in that was probably one step up from the stock on and the inner flange of the ratchet back handler exploded off.

Yeah, the only way I see a spring replacement working is to either replace the lever itself with one made of stronger material, or to re-enforce the existing one with something like epoxy (JB WELD!!1!) but that would take a lot of epoxy and some very precise shell mods to accommodate the added girth. Also, the little wheels/axel would need replacement potentially. Fun for another day, perhaps.

Banshee, on Nov 6 2010, 11:17 AM, said:

It was a perfectly good gun which is now irreparable.

True testimony: a perfectly good gun
Solutions:
1) Pull back NF-style mod!
2) I’ll give you $4 shipped…so I can do a pull-back NF-style mod!

Nerf Bros, on Nov 6 2010, 12:16 PM, said:

Lol is that my old first shot? Glad to see it used for something. I still haven't used the hornet pump I traded for it.

HA! I was wondering who I got it from. I can’t wait to see what you do with that pump, I love seeing the evolution/progression of traded blasters and parts.

[Zorns Lemma]

Blue, on Nov 5 2010, 11:37 PM, said:

Very cool that you got this to work, unfortunate that a ls plunger tube and head had to be sacrificed.

Not really sacrifice when you take something worthless and put it to better use in something cool.

SonReeceSonJensen, on Nov 6 2010, 12:59 PM, said:

Blue, on Nov 5 2010, 11:37 PM, said:

Maybe you would be better off doing this mod to a Maxshot?

Maybe, I wish I had one so I could mod it and paint it identical and use them both on the field at once. I think Someone did a PT replace in the Mods/PJ thread, after doing this mod I’m looking at ALL my blaster wondering if I can jam a NF or LS PT in there.

Don't bother. The Maxshot PT is 1.5" OD already and LS PTs are only 1.25"

[Blue]

Zorn's Lemma, on Nov 8 2010, 01:53 PM, said:

Blue, on Nov 5 2010, 11:37 PM, said:

Very cool that you got this to work, unfortunate that a ls plunger tube and head had to be sacrificed.

Not really sacrifice when you take something worthless and put it to better use in something cool.

SonReeceSonJensen, on Nov 6 2010, 12:59 PM, said:

Blue, on Nov 5 2010, 11:37 PM, said:

Maybe you would be better off doing this mod to a Maxshot?

Maybe, I wish I had one so I could mod it and paint it identical and use them both on the field at once. I think Someone did a PT replace in the Mods/PJ thread, after doing this mod I’m looking at ALL my blaster wondering if I can jam a NF or LS PT in there.

Don't bother. The Maxshot PT is 1.5" OD already and LS PTs are only 1.25"

I guess a better wording would have been "not used to it's full potential" since the plunger tube was cut down for the mod, a ls plunger tube and plunger head is certainly not worthless either. I would rather have a ls setup in a maxshot than a maxshot setup since the the plunger head design is just so much better, but if you can find a rubber washer that fits the ID of the maxshot pt that would work too. Also, about hotglue... it is so much easier than a knife to leave the parts in a freezer for awhile and snap the glue.