10 replies to this topic

[Rommel McDonald]

So there is the old debate about the air seal for the Maverick -- some people believe there should be no pressure of the air nozzle against the cylinder -- while the other side of the argument is that more of an air-seal is needed. Personally I belong to the latter - that a better air-seal helps ranges.

To solve this problem, in the past people have added craft foam, O-rings, etc, in an effort to increase the air seal. None of these work well - or if they do, don't last very long. This specific aspect has been a design challenge for many excellent modders over the years.

I came up with these two mods after my first removable cylinder Maverick -- I wanted better ranges, and with painted cylinders, the rotation was weak due to friction. I had of course seen and tried the "trigger spring relocation" mod (where you move the trigger spring to another post), but found this to be weak - and it would also bend the spring. I wanted a better seal, and stronger rotation.

Solution 1 - Cylinder Rotation: add another spring IN-LINE with the clutch mechanism. It was so simple, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it sooner. The pic is fairly self-explanatory; Hand drill a small hole in the clutch mount, creating a small "cup" or hole at the bottom for the screw to seat into, and add a screw and extra spring. Attach the spring to the trigger, and leave the original spring in place. Bam! Double powered spring - no more rotation problems. (and no bent weak spring)


Solution 2: Improve nozzle seal to cylinder:
So like I mentioned I was making removable cylinder Mavericks and had the "extra" Mavericks for parts. The first time I did this mod, I used the slider spring from one of the extras -- later I bought a box of mixed springs from Ace hardware and used these instead. You can use a slider spring, or any skinny spring that is not too strong.

Again, the following pic is fairly self-explanatory - it's a nozzle spring I added to the Maverick to keep the nozzle pulled forward against the cylinder at all times, increasing the air seal. It is hidden in the upper support arm of the Maverick, and doesn't exert much force -- just enough to improve the seal. The pic is fairly self explanatory on the installation. Drill a hole in the nozzle body, add a spring to the post, carve out some plastic in between to keep it from rubbing.

Be careful drilling the hole in the nozzle body - I use an exacto knife. I have never gone through the plastic to the internal chamber in dozens of applications, but there isn't much plastic to work with, so be careful - less is more.


With the extra trigger spring, the added friction of the nozzle against the cylinder is a non-issue. No rotation or timing problems. The extra trigger spring works great for painted Mavs too - which seem to have some increased friction due to painted parts.

Using the above mods along with air tight barrels and increased spring compression + a bigger O-ring or Teflon tape, you can get 55-60ft PTG with regular Whistlers. (Of course PVC and Stefans even better!)

Edited by Rommel_McDonald, 22 June 2012 - 04:42 PM.

[Eggroll]

This is pretty cool! I especially like the second one. If performed by itself, would you say that each mod would have a significant effect on the ranges of the blaster (given it was modded from stock)? I'll have to try this next time after I visit Target.

[Defender 7]

Nice, I've tried the plunger but I glued the plunger down instead. I'm glad you posted this.

[Exo]

I'm sorry, but I'm calling bull on the ranges. What ranges are you getting AS IS? Meaning: just the two mods that you showed. I find it hard to believe that a maverick is getting over 50', period. Please, proove me wrong, I'd honestly love to see a maverick that can shoot that far that has been well documented.

Other than that, the pictures are sharp, and while your write up is a bit talkative, it's still (IMO) decent.

[Rommel McDonald]

'Eggroll', on 23 Jun 2012 - 03:58 AM, said:

This is pretty cool! I especially like the second one. If performed by itself, would you say that each mod would have a significant effect on the ranges of the blaster (given it was modded from stock)? I'll have to try this next time after I visit Target.

No - The trigger spring mod does nothing for range -- but the nozzle can add another 5+ feet when you are really trying to max it out. The catch is that in order to use the air nozzle spring you need the trigger spring mod -- to help turn the cylinder against the constant friction of the nozzle.

'Exo', on 23 Jun 2012 - 04:53 AM, said:

I'm sorry, but I'm calling bull on the ranges. What ranges are you getting AS IS? Meaning: just the two mods that you showed. I find it hard to believe that a maverick is getting over 50', period. Please, proove me wrong, I'd honestly love to see a maverick that can shoot that far that has been well documented.

Other than that, the pictures are sharp, and while your write up is a bit talkative, it's still (IMO) decent.

You are totally correct – only the nozzle spring would give a boost, and only 5+ ft by itself. Like it said (briefly) in my summary, “Using the above mods along with air tight barrels and increased spring compression + a bigger O-ring or Teflon tape…” meaning, you have to get a bigger (nozzle) spring and catch spring, plus a bigger O-ring and/or Teflon tape – as well as air-tight (glued) barrels with Dremeled-out pegs for maximum effect. And of course trying to use new(er) darts for each range test help.

The other mods like a new spring, gluing the barrels to make them air-tight, and O-ring/teflon, etc, are all well known mods – so I didn’t bother to cover them here. I thought of these as just "add on mods" to the Maverick pool of knowledge.

Thanks, and yeah – I need to shut up sooner… lol

Edited by Rommel_McDonald, 23 June 2012 - 02:23 AM.

[The Manta]

This is a nice idea! I always tried to glue the end of the plunger so it would contact the turret better, but this allows you to move it but still make it stay close to the turret while firing. Right now I am using E-tape with a hole cut in it for the seal, and it works pretty well. And just another question, are those ranges angled or flat? Because I can never push my mavericks past 35 feet, even with the mods you did.

[Rommel McDonald]

I don't use a level - I fire from roughly shoulder height, (around 5.5ft high?) at a big circle/loop target 6ft high, 35 feet away. So it is very close to PTG, but very slightly angled. (6 inches of rise over 35 feet of distance?) The back end of my yard slopes, so once it hits 55-60 ft the yard starts to drop off - but it is flat up to 55+ ft.

Do you glue the barrels? I can't get anything out of a Mav without air-tight barrels. Be sure to test each barrel by plugging it and trying to blow air through - you would be surprised how a couple barrels can have leaks even after gluing.

Do you completely remove the posts and widen the cylinder openings? You will need to upgrade the spring -- at a minimum do one of the old school penny mods and a stronger catch spring. (you can easily get 45+ out of a Mav with removed restrictors/drilled out posts, air tight barrels, bigger O-ring and a x4 penny mod) The OMW Spectre spring sucks for the Mav, but there is one by Pullman (sold at Hardware stores) that works really well.

Also - the surface of the cylinder is never completely flat - part of the plastic mold process. I take a wood block and flatten the cylinder surface where it meets the nozzle. Once assembled, I place a skinny piece of 400 or 600 grit paper over the nozzle, but facing the cylinder -- and then rotate the cylinder to sand it perfectly flat, matching the exact profile of the nozzle. This helps create as close to a perfect seal as possible with the cylinder.

When all done, you can also dab a drop of Paraffin Base Turbine oil (safe for O-rings, plastic) on the cylinder surface as well -- which also helps with the seal.

[Daniel Beaver]

'Rommel_McDonald', on 23 Jun 2012 - 07:05 AM, said:

You are totally correct – only the nozzle spring would give a boost, and only 5+ ft by itself. Like it said (briefly) in my summary, “Using the above mods along with air tight barrels and increased spring compression + a bigger O-ring or Teflon tape…” meaning, you have to get a bigger (nozzle) spring and catch spring, plus a bigger O-ring and/or Teflon tape – as well as air-tight (glued) barrels with Dremeled-out pegs for maximum effect. And of course trying to use new(er) darts for each range test help.

The other mods like a new spring, gluing the barrels to make them air-tight, and O-ring/teflon, etc, are all well known mods – so I didn’t bother to cover them here. I thought of these as just "add on mods" to the Maverick pool of knowledge.

Thanks, and yeah – I need to shut up sooner… lol

Okay, I was initially going to call bull, but maybe with those other mods you can squeeze 55-60ft worth of range out of it. I've been working on Maverick mods for a few weeks now, and I find that improving this seal is an absolutely necessary component to getting good ranges (though not the only one).

[Rommel McDonald]

'Daniel Beaver', on 23 Jun 2012 - 4:50 PM, said:

Okay, I was initially going to call bull, but maybe with those other mods you can squeeze 55-60ft worth of range out of it. I've been working on Maverick mods for a few weeks now, and I find that improving this seal is an absolutely necessary component to getting good ranges (though not the only one).

Yeah, the seal is crucial -- it seems over the top, but if you check part of what I wrote above -- I flatten the cylinder with a wood block and use a finer grit paper to sand the cylinder flat, placing it over the nozzle/facing the cylinder for the final pass. And then add a few drops of oil on the cylinder openings themselves to further increase the seal. If the cylinder is not completely flat, you lose pressure - hold it up to the light as you pull the trigger -- you can see if there is a gap between the nozzle and cylinder surface when it rotates. Keeping in mind you have to check the gaps at full trigger pull, when they line up with the barrels.

Edit/note: You need to have the nozzle spring upgrade done when you check the barrels in the light -- the nozzle needs to be pulled against the cylinder to check if it is flat. (The stock nozzle doesn't stay pressed against the cylinder without the nozzle spring mod)

A lot of the stuff I do (other than my two mods originally posted above) came from Ryan Siller - but I don't go as far as the PVC/Stefan upgrades he does.

Edited by Rommel_McDonald, 23 June 2012 - 12:44 PM.

[16kuokhc1]

Hi, I'm new here. I know of a mod I found on YouTube that involves replacing the front of a maverick with a front of a recon making barrel attachments available to the maverick. Pretty straightforward if you have done other mods.

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Edited by Zorn's Lemma, 07 July 2012 - 11:59 AM.
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[The Manta]

'16kuokhc1', on 07 Jul 2012 - 04:21 AM, said:

Hi, I'm new here. I know of a mod I found on YouTube that involves replacing the front of a maverick with a front of a recon making barrel attachments available to the maverick. Pretty straightforward if you have done other mods.

I would have to say don't do that. The barrel attachments only add friction with decreases range by a lot, especially in a maverick. They would utterly destroy the range in a mav, unless you replace the barrels, then it might get you to stock ranges.