So.... this has kind of been a ongoing project for years, I am hoping to wrap up this season.
So, this all started long long ago in a place far far away....
In reality, this started bcz a gentleman who no longer really does paintball loved Sterlings, this love has since grown on me.
He originally had Antle do like 7 of these Sterling bottom tubes that pair with CCM top tubes and components, and had one done with some custom ill work for himself.
Well after sitting on his shelf for several years, I was offered to buy the majority of what he had remaining, keeping in mind I mostly wanted 2 specific items, this green STP setup, as well as 1 additional raw setup I am saving for the next steps of development.
Being a design engineer by trade I am typically quick to point out and try to come up with better solutions for modern issues. Design wise the Sterling is almost perfect. Minimal air lines, no built in regulator (which well get to later), extremely smooth pump stroke, smooth trigger pull, all polished internals, just overall IMO it's the best/simplest of the pump paintball designs.
So issues I have run into so far.
Issue #1 - I have never liked the additional space Sterlings have had between their slider bearing and the pump rod, to remedy this I was going to have the rod machined down and threaded.... jokes on me, use the machinist at work, and he broke both of them.
This however is sort of a blessing in disguise because I'de prefer them to be a little beefier anyway.
So since I knew I was going to want a custom pump plate anyway, the pump revisions for this design began.
I wanted to upgrade to a 5/16" polished stainless main guide rod, drill/tap the hammer catch for 5/16-18, and ream out/polish the bronze slider bushing for the new 5/16" rod, so off to CAD I went.
The pump plate is also new, unlike the previously used setup, it's 3/8" thick, and will screw directly onto the newly designed main guide rod.
Issue #2 - Since Sterlings were originally designed to be a pump handle over barrel design, and I now have/had 3 guide rods, but no rotational guide, everything is sloppy as a wet noodle.
Since I am a minimalist, you can see I only designed the pump plate with 1 additional guide rod (for the sled). This still leaves me with the issue of having a rotational lock. My plan is to basically do what CCM did with the J12, and Niche did with the vector, I plan to mill a horizontal slot between the top and lower tube of the body, and design a aluminum housed/delrin sleeved guide housing for the secondary rod.
More updates to come once I get all the parts I've designed so far made/test fit so I can design the guide and 3d print prototype it.
This whole project is really leading towards me developing my own Sterling based gas through pump 2023, so well see where it all leads.
So, this all started long long ago in a place far far away....
In reality, this started bcz a gentleman who no longer really does paintball loved Sterlings, this love has since grown on me.
He originally had Antle do like 7 of these Sterling bottom tubes that pair with CCM top tubes and components, and had one done with some custom ill work for himself.
Well after sitting on his shelf for several years, I was offered to buy the majority of what he had remaining, keeping in mind I mostly wanted 2 specific items, this green STP setup, as well as 1 additional raw setup I am saving for the next steps of development.
Being a design engineer by trade I am typically quick to point out and try to come up with better solutions for modern issues. Design wise the Sterling is almost perfect. Minimal air lines, no built in regulator (which well get to later), extremely smooth pump stroke, smooth trigger pull, all polished internals, just overall IMO it's the best/simplest of the pump paintball designs.
So issues I have run into so far.
Issue #1 - I have never liked the additional space Sterlings have had between their slider bearing and the pump rod, to remedy this I was going to have the rod machined down and threaded.... jokes on me, use the machinist at work, and he broke both of them.
This however is sort of a blessing in disguise because I'de prefer them to be a little beefier anyway.
So since I knew I was going to want a custom pump plate anyway, the pump revisions for this design began.
I wanted to upgrade to a 5/16" polished stainless main guide rod, drill/tap the hammer catch for 5/16-18, and ream out/polish the bronze slider bushing for the new 5/16" rod, so off to CAD I went.
The pump plate is also new, unlike the previously used setup, it's 3/8" thick, and will screw directly onto the newly designed main guide rod.
Issue #2 - Since Sterlings were originally designed to be a pump handle over barrel design, and I now have/had 3 guide rods, but no rotational guide, everything is sloppy as a wet noodle.
Since I am a minimalist, you can see I only designed the pump plate with 1 additional guide rod (for the sled). This still leaves me with the issue of having a rotational lock. My plan is to basically do what CCM did with the J12, and Niche did with the vector, I plan to mill a horizontal slot between the top and lower tube of the body, and design a aluminum housed/delrin sleeved guide housing for the secondary rod.
More updates to come once I get all the parts I've designed so far made/test fit so I can design the guide and 3d print prototype it.
This whole project is really leading towards me developing my own Sterling based gas through pump 2023, so well see where it all leads.
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