To make the old barrel into a cpvc coupler fire up the dremel and cut up your shell like this. I used a fiberglass cutting disk to remove the old barrel.
I used the cutting tool to ream the old barrel close to the right diameter and then used the sanding tool by hand to get to the right size. The ar will come out cleanly with a tug with the needlenose when you get close to the right diameter. Just go very slowly and watch out for signs of stress cracks around the "coupler" when you insert your barrel. Sanding down the end of the cpvc that goes into the coupler will leave a little more plastic on the jolt's barrel. Be careful when changing barrels or it won't be pretty. I've had no problems so far after about 25 times. Leave a little more thickness to the triggerguard/barrel support than I show here for a tighter cosmetic fit.
I also filled some deadspace with hotglue. I'll shape this later.
Cut a little bit off the barrel end like this.
This is an untrimmed barrel fitted (and not pushed in all the way).
Here's what I think works better. This gave me better ranges after testing. A simple dart stop may help accuracy and ranges slightly as well. I am trying that on mine now. I will update with new info.
Here's a shot with a longer barrel (which is cut too long, I will test with my darts & trim it a 1/4" or so at a time) that also shows the cuts I made to minimize it a bit better. I also rounded a few sharp edges that were digging into my hand like the 4 fake screws on the back of the barrel. So far the ideal barrel length as far as range and accuracy, for me, seems to be 1 3/4".
Here's the barrel painted (Thanks to snowday for the idea) and my ghettooo pool noodle darts. I want to add foam to the front grip and a flat black stripe on the barrel. Maybe redo the orange with fewer coats so the color matches better. That's krylon red glowing orange florescent. Rustoleum makes a similar product which looks like a better match.
The barrels fit very securely and should not need to be glued if you size the "coupler" carefully. It vaccum loads better if cocked sharply. Other mods are: a tek6 spring (which fits perfectly with no wear issues after 1000+ shots), 2 wraps of teflon tape, a very light coat of white lithium grease and silicone lube & repositioned cocking handle. I didn't add plunger padding to mine. It seems fine without it but I would not dry-fire it. This is a little powerhouse and with single copper bbs my best flat shot over grass was 62', with the others landing at 55'+. It might get better ranges with slightly heavier darts but is more accurate with lighter ones. It will fire 2 small light stefans about 25' flat and fairly accurately. The smaller barrel was sized for whistlers and taggers (it still gets great ranges with stefans) and they surprisingly go nearly as far.
________________________________________________
I will update this post with any new information about this mod. Please post or pm any ideas you have. I will respond to questions both in the original post and in the thread (to let you know I responded). I will edit in answers and credits as needed to de-clutter the original post.
Edited by iamthatcat, 15 November 2011 - 12:04 AM.
