New AC Bolt Design

[shooter311]

I have an Empire Sniper that had a Check-It White Delrin Bolt in it. I gassed it up and shot it and it was so much more quiet than I remember, I pulled the bolt and I completely forgot I made a bolt for it and never tested it. I just shot 100 rounds with it, and without any data it seems like an improvement over the stock design for sure, and I would even say an improvement over my ID botl and the Techt bolt (whisper bolt or something like that, I forgot what it is called)

Long story short, I thought about the best way to get water out of a bottle and applied it to the bolt design. So I tried to manipulate the air so it created a vortex. It is by far the quietest bolt for dry firing, and seems to have great efficiency.

This marker is hands down the quietest marker I own (other than this one maybe my Nova 700 had that title). I also printed grips and pump handle for this as you guys might like.

Empire Sniper with Alien Morph Valve, ID Hammer, and SLPS lightest springs. Gauge reads at 160psi, I'd have to test that, but seems possible.

Ignore all the Evil Pus on the bolt, I apparently didn't lube it, and it is what was sitting next to me.

[Jonnydread]

Didn't Bob Long Cyclone bolts for Spyders have a venturi pattern just like this?

You should make a 2k cocker variant. I love venturi style bolts and I'd be happy to do some stress testing

[shooter311]

This is what I am thinking of: https://baccipaintball.com/spy276.html

Did Bob Long do something different? I'd love to see pics, and then check if he has a patent! (j/k)

[wthomas333]

I have a couple of Raptors with the Bob Long Cyclone bolts. There is a picture of another one in this thread. As far as Raptors as concerned, the Bob Long version looks identical to a stock bolt from the outside, just has that metal insert.

https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/paintball-news-aa/the-armory/brass-eagle/530-ultimate-brass-eagle-raptor-thread

[Jonnydread]

Yeah it was an insert like the classic Kingman venturi, but it was longer and had more of a vortex curve to it like yours does.

[nak81783]

Cool. I’d like to see velocity data from one bolt to another, all else being equal. I sold my ID Trident bolt because
it was 20 fps lower than the stock bolt. Admittedly, I didn’t try other springs or valves. It does have the ID hammer. Anyway, in my experience, bolts with anything other than a single large hole, lower velocity, all else being held constant, so maybe you’ve figured something out.

[shooter311]

Really? I tested the ID, Techt, Stock, and Check-it bolts, and I found the ID bolt was the most efficient. This was just me swapping bolts at a chrono and seeing the difference, nothing serious.

[Psycho91]

Did you make sure the orings fit the bore of your marker correctly

[nak81783]

No, I didn’t do that either. I was pretty lazy about the whole thing, but I don’t like having spare parts sitting around that I can convert to cash for other things. A quick test over the chrono was all I did.

[Trbo323]

So, you selling these?

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[shooter311]

Oof I am not sure I have time for anything like that. If there was interest I might do another "make any size donation to a charity for one" deals. Let me test this out and make sure it is not just more paintball snake oil.

[shooter311]

Huh, maybe it is Covid brain, but I apparently designed several bolts, and I don't remember at all! I think I remember the one from the post printing really poorly (you can see how it is different from the design) and I must have got distracted and never made the others...

Also, Jonnydread it looks like I did make a full size bolt. I am not sure if it is pre-2K or not.

I'll try and find the time and print all these out and do some tests...

[Jonnydread]

Right on! If you ever produce these I would be interested in a sunflower style bolt

[shooter311]

Cool, I think the Sunflower bolt is actually what I have in hand. clearly it did not print right, but maybe that was a "Happy Accident" *said in Bob Ross voice. I'll do some testing and see what I can come up with.

[Ecapnation]

Bob long cyclone bolts had a similar thing going on

[XEMON]

Do you FDM or SLA?
the resin prints should be smooth enough 👍

[shooter311]

I FDM. I was going to get an SLA printer as a buddy printed some cool super detail figurines with his. However, I had him print a Muddy Bloody Factory cocker grip frame for me, and I was not happy with the strength, so I figured I would wait until the tech gets better and the materials get stronger.

[XEMON]

It depends a lot of the resin you are using ... it gets expensive quickly ...
I just made a cocker bolt front (much simpler/traditional design) for a project in clear resin, it is holding up so far but i have some black engineering resin that is much stronger. Temperature of the resin and the cure also makes a huge difference in the results.

[Trbo323]

Or would you be willing to share the file? I have a family member with a printer

Does the bolt pin capture work just like a stock sniper?

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[shooter311]

The bolt pin is the same exact setup as the others. I bought a handful of bolt pins from ANS when they were cheap (might still be cheap) and thanks to an awesome tip from Hellion360 I use a cocker trigger return spring and an airsoft bb to retain the pin in the bolt. It saves me from buying a bunch of replacement parts and having to swap the pins around in the bolt all the time.

Honestly, I think I am done sharing the files. I used to be gung ho open source, but then I see people printing my designs and selling them openly (without credit as well, not that I care about credit, but it is another level of F.U.) and it really bums me out. Where I have been super busy and can't offer to print these for people, maybe I can do a Shapeways store and just set the price so I don't profit or anything. Maybe I am being bah humbug, but it just bums me out these designs take some time and effort, I don't want to profit, and any money made off them I would prefer go to someone who needs it. Not someone willing to rip someone elses work off. I have just seen too many other designers struggle with the exact same thing. Sorry for the rant...

[goofyman23]

Interesting...What material did you print it out of?

[shooter311]

It would have been PETG for a bolt. My biggest concern is strength. Not sure how long it would hold up.

[BrickHaus]

I'd guess PLA+ is a better material than petg for this. Petg is more rigid, but also more brittle in thin spots, Id say it would cleanly snap where the cocking rod is held. . Pla would deform, but likely not catastrophically fail like petg.

That's a total assumption though.

[RedLeaderSB]

Found bob long cyclone bolt. Looks like a neat corkscrew air passage threaded in.

[kingmt]

I just stumbled upon this thread a couple days ago and the venturi/sunflower design intrigued me. I did some playing around in Fusion 360 and this is what I came up with. I made 2 versions, one with 6 holes and one with 8 holes.

Is this what you were attempting?

I just received some engineering grade resin today so tomorrow I am going to go through and double check all my measurements and then print a couple. Anyone want to volunteer to do some testing?

[kingmt]

Sorry skully/a5 I wasn't ignoring you I just didn't see your comment until just now. I think the details in the design are too fine for a FDM printer, you wouldn't get an adequate result. I am willing to print a send you a bolt to test however.

[Frmrspec]

I could do some testing. I have a heavily modified empire sniper and a bevy of heavily modified autocockers.. all my main shooters have bored out valve chambers and modified morph valves and custom springing

[skully/a5]

We won’t know until we try

[kingmt]

Jonnydread How does this look? I need to dig out my 2K autococker to double check the measurements still. Right now I am using a measurement I found via Google search but I have not confirmed it. The nice thing about using Fusion 360 is I can have variables with a value and use those variables everywhere. So if I discover I used the wrong value for the 2K length all I have to do is change the variable and Fusion 360 will go through and update the design.

I also realized today that if I am printing these in resin I can put my signature engraved into the bolt, so I added that.

[Jonnydread]

I think it looks pretty sweet. Do you think you need the third rear o-ring? I'm wondering if it's necessary as it could create more drag. Otherwise it's a cool design, I would rock one.

[kingmt]

Jonnydread The front o-ring seals the bolt in the barrel while the 2nd and 3rd o-rings seal the exhaust from the valve into the inlet of the bolt. I couldn't find my 2K autococker but I did find my Dragun Drallion (eblade autococker clone). The drallion was not based on a WGP body so the dimensions might be off. I ordered a 12 inch digital caliper to measure the dimensions of the bolt and I am checking locally for a 2K bolt I can measure to make sure they are the same. IIRC the drallion used all the same dimensions as the WGP bodies but it would suck if it didn't and I sent you a bolt that did not work well.

[Jonnydread]

Makes sense! I’m excited for the prototype

[kingmt]

shooter311 I would really like your feedback on my design.