Jpec07

So right now I'm working on a breach mod for my BBB, and I've got myself some 1/2" SCH40 PVC, 9/16" brass, and 19/32" brass set up to make the breach. The PVC is the shell for the whole thing, the 9/16" brass is the main barrel, and the 19/32" brass is functioning as the breach (as so many brass breaches do). With my current setup, I've got the breach's pattern dremelled into the PVC, and the breach itself dremelled into the 9/16" brass. But I'm having some issues:

• How should I nest the brass within the PVC? There's a considerable gap between the outside of the 19/32" brass and the PVC. While this is good for the breach design, allowing the material to slide freely up and down the barrel, when it comes to securing the stuff in there, I'm at a loss. What is the best way to anchor the 9/16" brass to the barrel?
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• How do I make the breach slide easier? - ANSWER EDITED IN This one I don't really expect an answer to, but if anyone has any information on it I would be most appreciative. After I dremelled the breach into my 9/16" brass, the 19/32" slide has been having considerable difficulty sliding over it. This poses a bit of a problem, as there aren't many adhesives that I know of that stick to brass well, and I can just imagine handle after handle simply popping off under the strain of having to move the slide back and forth. I've already tried giving a tiny inward bevel to the hole in the brass and removing any protruding material, but nothing has helped on that front. Has anyone else encountered this kind of problem, and if so, how did you deal with it?
  
  ANSWER TO NUMBER 2: I actually discovered this one myself. Evidently the brass tubing is in tension with itself to maintain the circular shape. When I cut the hole, the material naturally wanted to open up to a flat plane. This meant that it was trying to unroll itself, in the process making that portion of the tube wider than it should have been. The solution was to take a pair of pliers and (GENTLY) squeeze the tubing back into a more fitting shape. After doing that, the 19/32" brass slides right as rain again.

Thanks in advance.

So I've got a n00b's question. My friend and I started making our first ever batch of Stefans the other night (crude, misshapen things), and upon beginning the process of hot gluing the domes onto the darts, several times I found that the dart itself was actually melting, causing the still hot glue of our creations to dribble down the side of the dart and nearly scald my finger. Naturally, after this happened two or three times, we decided to rethink our strategy concerning the Stefan darts we were making, and I thought to finally ask a legitimate question on these forums.

My question is this: how do I prevent the foam of my new darts from melting on account of the hot glue?

And before you yell at me to do a search, know that I tried multiple times to find a topic/post about this issue (keywords "stefan melt" minus quotes), and to no avail.

I feel I must preface this by saying that there are two ideas being presented here as alternatives to one another. I imagine the first has already been suggested, but the second may not have been, and from what I gather it's relatively easy to implement. Since I gather that thread necromancy (posting in an old, dead thread) is a pretty big issue here, I have come up with two alternatives.

1. Thread Timeout This is a functionality I see in a lot of other forums. Essentially, any thread older than a given age (say, one month) will be locked. It would most certainly prevent against necromancy, as any thread dug up through the search method would be incapable of being replied in if it's old enough to gain the wrath of the general populace.

2. Age-Based Notifications The idea is that after a thread reaches a certain age, the reply form adjusts itself to include a notification that the thread is older than the cutoff age (say 1 month), and prompts the user to instead start a new thread. Such a thing could also be modified to suggest that the user send their question or comment to a moderator. While I can see that this might be seen as redundant (as the thread's age can easily be determined by checking the date on the last post), I feel it's necessary to point out that checking the date isn't exactly the first thing on a newbie's mind when they see a thread they want to reply to--especially since it is so small and isolated within a forum post. This idea would bring the information to the front, which would help more mature and attentive newbies to know that they are about to commit forum treason. See here for an example of this idea.

The advantage of the first option over the second is that the first is already built into the admin control panel as an option that can be adjusted very easily. However, the function is blind to threads that may have been set up to allow for thread necromancy. On the flip side, the second option is a little bit harder to implement, and wouldn't entirely prevent necro-posting. But the second option would be more sensitive to threads that ought to remain open.

And I apologize if I'm overstepping my bounds by coming back just to post a suggestion. I just encountered that feature while browsing the internet and thought it would be indispensable here.

So I already ran the idea past VACC, though he seemed convinced that such a thread would get shut down in a manner of minutes if posted, despite how potentially useful it could be to the community. I just wanted to get a second (or more) opinion on the matter. Note ahead of time that the thread I'm proposing would probably be best if a moderator or someone of similar status posted it.

One of the problems I've seen on this forum is the fact that there are a lot of useless posts being made that ask the same questions over and over, which tends to irritate staff and experienced member alike. While offenders are told to "use the search" to help them with their queries, often times without at least a basic knowledge of nerfing and its materials or at least the basic semantics and jargon that are used to describe the modding process, the search can prove quite useless to a n00b.

I understand that this isn't exactly a n00b-friendly forum, and that the moderation has no intention of changing that, but my idea (which I've seen successfully implemented on other forums) is this:

A FAQ thread. New and old members alike can post legitimate questions (like, "what's the 'crayola barrel mod?'" and "what are stefan darts, and how do I get them?" and "what do I need to start modding my guns?" -- not "what's your favorite gun?" or any B.S. like that), and then those questions can be answered by anyone who's bored, feels like being helpful, and has the knowledge. And once a question has been answered sufficiently, both the question and answer are edited into the first post in a clear, indexed fashion. This would require a bit of moderation to maintain, as any time someone posted a question and answer, those would have to be edited into the first post, but I ultimately think it would be worth it. Not only would it provide a one-stop solution to the majority of n00b questions that are asked, thus cutting down on threads and posts that are deemed repetitive and useless (most forum n00bs are drawn to the word "FAQ" like moths to a flame), but it would provide a place where anyone can be directed before the thread is closed if they ask a repetitive question.

And paramount to this idea is that once a question has been asked, answered, and included in the first post, it shouldn't be asked again in the thread with the expectation of a friendly or helpful response. Also paramount is that any question about nerfing and modding, no matter how basic or foolish it may seem, would be allowed and would be allowed to be answered. But perhaps the most controversial stipulation to this thread idea (at least with a forum so vehemently against necro-posting), if a person posts a legitimate question that hasn't already been answered, no matter how long it has been since the last post, the thread should be readily revived and the answer given.

A potential argument I can see against this idea is that all of the information is already out there, members just have to use the search to find it. I already addressed this by saying that without a basic understanding (which isn't exactly readily available), the search doesn't have much use. Another is that the information is already available mostly in sticky threads, but in having read through most of those, the information is incomplete and is scattered through more than a dozen of them: this is a one-stop place for the n00b to get basic knowledge.

Ultimately what I see is a broken system. Mods tell the n00bs to use the search, but the majority of them don't (it's easier to post a new thread and ask someone else to do the research for you than it is to do the research yourself). Usually, if a n00b has a question, he'll skim a few sticky threads, and then if his question isn't answered, either post a late reply in one of those, or post a new thread, asking the question that's been asked probably dozens of times before. The other problem with telling a n00b to use the search is that if he finds an old thread about what he was talking about, and he's got a question about it, he'll resurrect the thread and get yelled at simply for doing what he thought was good and proper. This thread eliminates that. The FAQ would stand out in this n00b's eye, because it is a list of the frequently-asked questions that people getting into nerf modding have. If he's got any kind of a brain, he'll check there, and likely have his question answered without bothering the rest of the community.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about (albeit a little outdated, but still).

And I apologize if it's against this forum's etiquette to post an idea like this if it's already been rejected by one of the forum leaders. While it's no excuse, I am new here...

Thoughts?

So I recently finished a basic mod of my new BBB, and in firing it, I couldn't help but notice a fairly large disparity between where I thought the darts were going to go and where they were actually going. It was consistent, so I was pretty sure it wasn't the gun, but what I figured out was something rather interesting.

With two-handed guns (and the BBB in particular, due to its peculiar setup with the trigger at the back), I have found that I am generally more accurate if the hand I place at the front of the gun is my dominant hand. While I could learn how to be more accurate leading lefty, it seems to make the fire a lot straighter if the hand in charge of orientation is stronger.

So my question for you is this: which hand do you put at the front of your two-handed gun? Have you ever tried switching? Discuss!