68 replies to this topic

[Spoon]

It'd be less shabby if you modded the gun with more effort. You're wasting about 4" of barrel length behind that crayola that's just decreasing the pressure of your shot.

[superadaquabat]

Oh man! I just got one, and it shoots pretty darn good already! I can't wait to see the mod, it must be awesome afterwards!

[WebbZter]

Hey guys, I just found out something really cool about the Max Shot. The white barrel is exactly the same outer diameter as 1/2" CPVC. Therefore, you can stick a 1/2" CPVC coupler right on there and attach a 1/2" CPVC, coupler-breech barrel.

Now if you prefer 1/2" PVC, you should still stick a 1/2" CPVC coupler onto the white barrel. Then take a 1/2" PVC coupler and glue it over the 1/2" CPVC coupler (they fit together really well). Afterwards, you can stick a PVC barrel into the setup.

If you prefer to go brass, do the mod for the 1/2" PVC barrel and then stick the brass into the 1/2" PVC!

You can go from 1/2" CPVC to 1/2" PVC to brass and it is all made possible thanks to a 1/2" CPVC coupler!

Here is a picture of my Max Shot with a 1/2" CPVC Home-made turret: Max Shot Pic

*I didn't post the picture right into the forum because it is really big and I didn't want to slow down loading times*

[mason]

CXWQ, you said that you would put the mod of this evening, and its night, i'm not trying to rush you, i'd just like to see it cause i'm having a problem with mine

[Vassili]

Here's the finished pic of mine, lookin' sweet. I find it easier to just wrap the white barrel in electrical tape, saw it down to the electrical tape, and put a 1/2" PVC coupler over it. I'm trying to get 17/32" into the white barrel, but I don't have a dremel. Yesterday we had a 13 person war, and everyone who was there can say they kicked ass. Also, has anyone had any trouble opening the back part? Mine just won't come apart.

[Spoon]

You need to pry off the circular blue caps on each side near the rear (at the fulcrum of the handle), there are screws underneath both caps.

[cxwq]

You only need to take out the screw under the left side blue cap. The side with all the other screws.

I was out of the house all yesterday. Once again, I'll try to get the mod posted by this evening. That said, I'm at work all day today so we'll see how it goes. I still have 1/3 of it to write.


UPDATE: Posted the mod. Thoughts?

[Spoon]

Excellent job, as always. My only worry is that the coupler will eventually be ripped off as you pull off the barrel. In my experience PVC couplers fit pretty tightly with their corresponding pipe size. Hot glue is shit for strength, so I guess it depends on how tight you fit the coupler on over the taped end. Still, I really like how you used the PVC to facilitate the removable barrel. I'm still holding out for a better breech loader however....

I also didn't choose to remove the gun's safety, as once the safety piece got stuck and the handle crashed into my head upon firing accidentally. It hurt. I havn't noticed any jamming problems with the piece so I'll leave it in.

Did you do much testing with different ratios of 9/16" to 17/32"? I wonder if 2" of constriction is optimal for this gun.

[IronRhino]

Cxwq, you've done it again. Very nice work. I need to experience with telescoping barrels more.

[cxwq]

My only worry is that the coupler will eventually be ripped off as you pull off the barrel.

<snip>

Did you do much testing with different ratios of 9/16" to 17/32"? I wonder if 2" of constriction is optimal for this gun.

That coupler is on there pretty tight. I over-wrapped the tape then snipped it off 1/4" at a time until I could barely twist it on. A ton of high-temp hot glue actually does have a bit of strength to it. I wouldn't trust it alone but the combination should suffice. I also don't shove it all the way into the coupler when I'm firing it, just far enough to make a second seal around the sliding brass joint. I may put an o-ring inside the coupler to reduce the airspace and improve the seal using this method.

I used the 2" constriction because I wanted as tight a grip as possible on the dart until it actually started moving, and no grip after that point. Smaller constrictions are typical but this gun has such a massive spring I knew I'd need to really jam the dart in there if I wanted it to stick until the plunger has done most of it's work.

What I'm going to experiment with some is the length of the main barrel. By using a third size of brass I can create a barrel extension that's easily varied for testing purposes.

EDIT: Here's a link to the mod.

[superadaquabat]

Awesome job there!

Could you simply bipass all the cool breech stuff and just have the one long pieve of brass go directly from the blue part of the gun and blow darts down the barrel, or is it air-tight?

[cxwq]

You could but you don't want to in this case. To get the best performance out of most spring guns (EaB is a possible exception here) you need a constriction at the base of the barrel that holds darts tightly while the plunger overcomes inertia.

[superadaquabat]

That makes sense, what makes the expand a blast an exception? And what if your brass is already pretty tight, a few of my darts won't even fit into mine, its even smaller that that PETG stuff.

[Famine]

Hey CX,
I know you think 5/8" Stefans are spawns of the devil or some such shit but do you think this gun would perform well if modded for Megas and used a telescoping barrel similar to the Crossbow's? If I can squeeze 100' flat from it I'd be satisfied. The TRU near me didn't have the Maxshot so I picked up the handgun variant (don't know it's name). It's a nice design but it's a little large for a sidearm, if I can holster it without it misfiring though I'll be all types of tickled pink. (My LNL tends to misfire like a 13 year old spankin off to Pam Anderson)

[GunnedDown]

I know you think 5/8" Stefans are spawns of the devil or some such shit

Yes they are.

..do you think this gun would perform well if modded for Megas and used a telescoping barrel similar to the Crossbow's?

Indeed, Vassili was able to PVC his, and it looks cool.

I picked up the handgun variant (don't know it's name).

That would be the X-Stream First Shot. A minified version of the Max Shot, essentially.

It's a nice design but it's a little large for a sidearm, if I can holster it without it misfiring though I'll be all types of tickled pink.  

Yeah, you probably won't have to worry about it misfiring much. The cocking system differs from that of the LNL. I agree, it is rather large, and might be hard to holster.

(My LNL tends to misfire like a 13 year old spankin off to Pam Anderson)

I know exactly what you mean...

[Pineapple]

Yeah, like Famine, the "TRU" here only had the First Shot (dag nabbit), so I picked up a bunch of those. Boy, are they sturdy. Kind of looks like the gun from "Lilo and Stitch".

Hope to have completed a PVC/ mega stefan mod by day's end. And go back to see if TRU stocked more of the other guns besides this one. Move over, Hasbro!

[cxwq]

This gun definitely falls into the if-you-must-use-megas category.

With a telescoped 7" barrel you should be able to get 100' using megas.

But the people using micros will eat shit you from 120' Muahahahahahaha!

[Wax]

My God, this is amazing. I go away for 3 days, and this develops. I'm gonna run-out and get me one of those things. Just curious, but what kind of ranges does the First Shot get (modded, of course)?

[Pineapple]

I just finished some PVC mods to the First Shot, and here's what I got.

Testing done in an air-conditioned auditorium room 80 feet by 45 feet, level (5 feet high) with NO WIND.

Removed about 1 inch of casing, removed white tube/ restrictor, hotglued on a PVC coupler (after fitting to plunger tube by shaving off plastic ribs), tried a 2, 4, and 6 inch 1/2" SCH40 PVC barrel.
Six inch; dart was stuck. Had to fire again to free it.
4 inch; 15 feet avg. Barrel friction must still be too high.
2 inch; 15 - 20 feet avg. Better but I think that the coupler takes away some air volume from the plunger tube, and with a smallish plunger tube like this, needs a "direct connect".

Next tried hotgluing a 2" PVC barrel directly onto the plunger tube. Stuffed a 1 1/4" x 5/8" mega stefan into the barrel from the front and pushed it against base of the barrel. Best of five shots was 50 feet, bouncing off the tile floor once and going an additional 8-10 feet. Worst was about 35 feet. Total average for the five is 40.2 feet. But then again, my associate Peter, who is the "Nerf co-armorer" in our organization saw my newest recreational tool, cocked it, loaded it, and plugged me in the back from about 10 feet. It hurt.

So all in all, LnL substitute or not, the First Shot is a fun thing to have around. I still need to do more experimenting, once I get home. Now off to the hobby store for some brass before I have to fly home tomorrow. Still trying to find a Max Shot in Honolulu before I go. Bummer.

[Langley]

Funny question. What's the box look like? Was it in TRU in the same area as the Nerf Guns?

[cxwq]

Open front boxes with guns strapped to the cardboard and missiles/darts under clear plastic. Just like You Know Who. The Max Shot box was orange and black, don't remember if the other two were the same colors or not.

They were in the same section as the Nerf guns - which in my TRU happens to be the sporting goods section.

[BlackCat]

The first shot sucks out of box. I could not get it open because I did not know about the screws under the caps so I just took off the blue tip on the inside. Next I cut the pointed end of the crayola and hollowed it out with a knife. I then put electrical tape on the inside to make a better seal and I just jammed the crayola in there. I havent actually measured it but I know it gets at least 30 feet with micros.

[Spoon]

The First Shot seems pretty underpowered, especially compared to it's bigger brother. I doubt it has the air capacity or power to fire megas very well. Perhaps micros in brass, since there'd be less mass to move and less friction, will have better results.

[Famine]

Like I said, I picked up a First Shot as well. It does seem to be a bit underpowerd; I just don't think they could fit as large an air chamber or as strong a spring in the much smaller housing. Really, the LNL is the only spring pistol to get decent range and I attribute that to the unusally long plunger/air chamber. If you look at the Sharpshooters, Warthog, Comlink, and that Defender T3 pistol, spring sidearms have traditionaly gotten poor range. I might look into doing a spring replacement on the First Shot and see how the body holds up under the stress. Will definetly have to be a Micro dart though. (I'm thinking that and an AT3k would make a nice combo)

Also, CW, do you think you could maybe post a pic of the Max Shot next to a Crossbow or similar sized Nerf Gun so I can get a better idea of scale, length, size? Or just post its dimensions again.... but I don't do to good with the numbuhs.... pa.....

[superadaquabat]

Has anyone else got the one with the rotating barrels? I did, and it looks decent. The three barrel sort of things that go into the darts go into stubs which could easily be used to connect to barrels. I especially like the auto rotating barrel because its going to shoot really fast.