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Maverick Issues

not another generic mod writeup

26 replies to this topic

#1 okto

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Posted 19 January 2005 - 09:08 PM

I have a beef with Hasbro on the Maverick. It's the cocking pin in the slide. I don't know if other people have used theirs long enough for this to happen, or are maybe more gentle and fire more slowly than I do, but the metal pin that engages the tab on the piston has bent, quite severely, in both my and my friend's Mavs.

It's a design flaw: the plastic that the pin seats into on both halves of the slide is not reinforced well enough to take the strain of cocking the gun over and over. It cracks, bends, and allows the pin to be pulled out of its mounting and bent in the direction of the force applied by the mainspring. Eventually, this will cause the gun to become uncockable, and after that the pin mountings will probably just shear off.
Now, I realize that the Hasbro engineers were in a tight spot here, because they had to make pin mountings that would fit in the narrow track the cocking pin runs in, which is narrow, presumably, to reduce wiggling and let less gunk into the gun. I'm not sure, I didn't design it, but it is a fairly critical flaw.

On my Mav, I've drilled a hole that's the diameter of the pin through the wall of the slide, so that the pin pushes into its original mounting and then through the outer plastic of the slide, resulting in more and inflexible/unlikely-to-crack support. The pin (which I replaced with a longer piece of similar stainless steel rod) now sticks out about an eighth of an inch on either side of the slide, but it doesn't bend anymore.

Thoughts?
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#2 Inferno

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Posted 19 January 2005 - 09:58 PM

Even thought I don't have a Maverick yet, I'm glad that you posted your "design flaw" on here, so that myself and others can refer back to it if we have the same problem. I'd rather have someone have to suffer first then figure it out and post it before I do....hope that made sense. Anyways...thanks, okto.

Edit: grammar.

Edited by Inferno, 19 January 2005 - 09:59 PM.

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#3 cerealkiller

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Posted 19 January 2005 - 11:24 PM

Its the same with all the scouts too, but you shouldn't worry too much about it the pin bending, because after the first week when I took apart the scout, my metal rod was bent too, and it's been like that the whole time. If you are really nervous about the plastic part breaking off, your right because mine broke off, but a simple fix did the trick. Just glue it back on. Don't worry about too much. B)
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#4 ompa

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 08:48 AM

No, Okto's solution is a more permanent solution. Just gluing it will eventually lead to it cracking again. You're better off replacing the rod as a whole as well as using epoxy to make sure the pin stays in place without sliding out completely.

~ompa
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#5 Drano

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 11:30 AM

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to watch that rod.
But did you actually expect Nerf to come out with a flawless product? It should be expected. Their main business is to cut costs and make profits. not making perfect weapons to be used by teens and young adults who push the limits of the structural integrity of plastic (although we are greatfully thankful they do consider us a small portion of their demographic)

Sorry now back to the topic :
instead of using rod and epoxy, I wonder if there is a long, thin machine screw out there that could take the place of that. It would be cheaper and less hassle to install. That is unless you can find a place that will let you buy 2 inches of stainless steel rod
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#6 Jangadance

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 11:58 AM

The same hobby stores that sell brass tubing sell aluminum rods of many sizes that would work fine.
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#7 okto

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 01:36 PM

instead of using rod and epoxy, I wonder if there is a  long, thin machine screw out there that could take the place of that.

Thought of that, and it's still what I would prefer, but I have none on hand and I'm broke (literally, like $10 overdrafted broke).

The same hobby stores that sell brass tubing sell aluminum rods of many sizes that would work fine.

Aluminum is too weak. An aluminum rod with the same rigidity as the stainless steel pin used would have to be twice as big in diameter. Aluminum is also more expensive than steel. Heck, even plain ol' iron rod will work, and that's cheap as old chips.
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#8 ompa

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 04:15 PM

Add to that list of problems the major problem with the plunger tube. I'm going to re-vamp the entire thing and turn it into a normal forwards-style plunger using some supersoaker parts, so the mod may take a little longer than planned. If anyone else has ALTERNATE solutions, they'd be greatly appreciated.

~ompa
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#9 MattPaintballer

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 04:24 PM

Would the forwards-style plunger add range or anything? I'm assuming the Maverick is like the Scout, in that after you cock it the slider goes forward again after disconnecting from the plunger. This makes it so you can't put rubber bands on the slider. Is there any way to fix it, like by making the slider stay back until you pull the trigger, and having it not disconnect from the plunger? This would reduce RoF slightly because you have to wait for the slider to move forward before you could cock it again, but it would increase range because of the plunger being pushed faster. The RoF decrease wouldn't be that bad, especially with the bands on there, because the bands will make the slider slide forward faster.
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#10 Drano

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 04:39 PM

The slide would probabbly just be scrapped. Just like the good old days of the Lock 'n Load

Edited by Drano, 20 January 2005 - 04:44 PM.

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#11 1313

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 05:32 PM

But if you got rid of the slide you would need somthing to pull the plunger back, because the piece where you cock the gun is internal.
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#12 MattPaintballer

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 06:05 PM

If you removed the slide, you could do the traditional keyring as on the Lock 'n' Load, or you could use one of those cheap plastic toothbrushes that look like gummy bears. You cut off the toothbrush part, then dip the whole thing in hot water for a couple seconds. Pull it out, shape it in the form of an oval, circle, or whatever you desire, and epoxy it onto the the cocking mechanism. I'm pretty sure it was Uriel who did this to one of his Lock 'n' Loads. Uriel was the first person to do this. He attached a Colgate toothbrush to his Lock 'n' Load plunger arm. It looks fantastic! Check it out: Here is the original post.

Edited by MattPaintballer, 20 January 2005 - 06:08 PM.

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#13 Viper

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 08:10 PM

I've never noticed any problems with it. I think nerf would listen as faulty products can hurt sales.


PS: okto my razorbeast?
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#14 Sinfil

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 08:26 PM

The same thing happened to my scout when I opened it up this evening. The slide had way too much tension on it-I had to use both hands to cock it. So when I oponed it up to lube it, the metal bar was bent at a 160 or so angle. So, I guess this applies to all of the reverse plunger guns out on the market currently.
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#15 okto

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 09:08 PM

If you removed the slide, you could do the traditional keyring as on the Lock 'n' Load, or you could use one of those cheap plastic toothbrushes that look like gummy bears.

The slide would probabbly just be scrapped. Just like the good old days of the Lock 'n Load

Without the slide, it's uncockable, and there's nowhere to attach a keyring, because it's a reverse-plunger mechanism.

ompa: I've been trying (read: putting parts on top of the gun's shell and howling despondently) to put the guts of another gun inside Mav. I thought of NF parts, but the plunger tube is a bit too large to fit, even with the tracks the stock plunger rides on Dremeled out. A conundrum.
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#16 ompa

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Posted 20 January 2005 - 09:23 PM

Ok, me and THIRST (well mainly me supplemented by THIRST's genius) are working on a way to *hopefully* drastically increase the range of the maverick- by probably 10 feet, so from 40' to 50'. I'll let you guys know by tomorrow if it works- it's just some tube constriction. More explanation tomorrow. Now time for bowling.

~ompa
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#17 Ender

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 09:31 AM

Glad to see some of you guys are working on this one, I picked up a few the other day but have been too busy as of late to do anything with them. I understand the problems listed and the search of an alternative method of firing, so here are a few thoughts. I enjoy the six shot feel of this gun and immediately thought of ways to duel wield them. By removing the rod and placing a longer one with stubs exposed, this lends itself to using a threaded one and attaching a wire with a screw cap. Similar to hooking up old school TV before the av cords. The wires had o ring ends that would fit over the rod then just screw or nut it down. This would be better than using the ring in the handle and increase the life of the gun. Then by attaching the cord to belt, arms, and the like (I prefer a cross harness) you can simulate the cocking by the extension and firing by retraction of the arm giving the wielder dual action and 12 shots.
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#18 ompa

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 12:40 PM

Slight question to those who have modded their mavericks... How the hell are you guys getting 40+ foot ranges? I'm personally having trouble hitting the 40' mark, and this is with stock darts, since 1/4 steel shot stefans perform worse. Did you guys do anything special to the barrel or something? Because I can't seem to figure it out.

~ompa
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#19 okto

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 03:32 PM

ompa: I'm getting about 30'-35' with stock darts, and 40'-50' with 2" 3/0 stefans. These ranges are just approximated, I'll go range test in a bit and give stats.

EDIT: range test

Stock Micros*:
25' 7.5"
27'
27' 5"
avg 26' 8"

2" 3/0 Stefans‡:
44' 4"
46' 7.5"
52' 1"
avg 47' 8"

All measurements are from muzzle of gun 5' 5" off floor, aimed flat.
*including skip of approx. 3'
‡including skip of approx. 6'

Edited by okto, 21 January 2005 - 03:47 PM.

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#20 ompa

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 04:26 PM

Argh, could you describe your mod? And does anyone know if 3/0 darts weigh less than 1/4 steel shot?

~ompa
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#21 cxwq

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 04:36 PM

Argh, could you describe your mod? And does anyone know if 3/0 darts weigh less than 1/4 steel shot?

~ompa

3/0 lead shot is slightly heavier than 1/4" steel shot. I'd guess that the 1/4 steel shot would actually be better for most spring pistols, including this one. In my experience, 3/0 starts outperforming 1/4" steel when you get into the 90'+ flat range neighborhood.
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#22 ompa

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 04:38 PM

Hm, maybe it's just my FBR is too skinny then.

~ompa
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#23 okto

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 04:46 PM

I ripped out the restrictors and hotglued all around the bases of the barrels, where the disc of the restrictor would have sealed it before. Other than that and the new cocking pin, I've done nothing to the internals.
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#24 ompa

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 04:54 PM

Hm, I did just what you did, plus some, and still I'm screwed up.... This is odd.

~ompa
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#25 okto

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Posted 21 January 2005 - 05:00 PM

yeah...my guess is that for some reason, the seal between the cylinder and the piston nozzle is more terrible than average (not that it's good on nay Mav).
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