Zombie Lachesis

[Myrkul]

I have felt for quite some time now that the Indian Creek Designs Bushmaster 2000 is the single most under valued marker that has ever graced the game. Yes they are old, and tired, and beat. They originally were released in the fall of 98, so that's to be expected on a 25 + year old marker, but they almost universally clean up really well, and they shoot absolutely amazingly after appropriate amounts of elbow grease have been applied. I've been meaning to do a write up on them for quite a while now, and since this build is going to fall well within the budget outlined by the rules, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone by entering it in the build off. The biggest risk of also entering the build off is that two months time constraint, but I'll work as fast as I can.

So here it is. It was purchased as part of a larger deal, and when the dust settled, this ended up running me $70. Please note, the solenoid gasket is missing, which is what makes this a zombie and essentially "dead".



It is completely checkered in idiot marks, gouges, and scratches. My kind of project, since all those little love taps just mean that A: Someone thought it shot good enough to be worth fixing, despite not knowing how. B: A few more drunk idiot marks aren't going to impact value or even be noticed, and it helps the price a ton, so I'm all for it. C: Parts lottery. It's been worked on, which means there is a good chance some upgrades have snuck their way into it. Just on its face, there is a vert ASA adapter in there, so I'll be able to run an aftermarket HPR, AND that's a 2k4 board in the grip frame (more on this later).

Due to my undying love and admiration of the platform, I also happen to have a considerable amount of parts on hand that were bought in bulk for other projects and never used. I think these should complement the final build VERY well.


If you look close, that's a true ICD threaded CCM no-pro. Lots of people claim that Empire/Impulse threaded feed necks fit bushmasters, and while they can work, the threads are typically just a hair thinner so you run the risk of stripping out either the feedneck or the body with them. I exclusively run rotors on these things, so I'm not going to take those chances and will be using the correct feed neck for this gun. Also notice that little red part. That's a Shocktech LPR piston. We'll dive into that when we get to step 3.

I'll also make a note when I pull something else from my parts bin, which has blossomed into a truly wondrous cornucopia lately. I have all the regular ass "o" rings on hand for this build, so just assume those are being replaced, but if I end up using something weird to clean up the tolerances a little I'll call it out. Same goes for screws. Years of buying just a few extra incase I loose one has left me with quite the surplus.

So here is the game plan.

Step 1: Disassembled and clean everything, track down missing parts.

Step 2: Refurbish the Valve

Step 3: Mod the Stock LPR

Step 4: Rebuild the ram

Step 5: Sorting out the Electronics

Step 6: Cleaning up the breach

Step 7: Trigger Job

Step 8: Assembly and test firing.

We'll see how all of this goes, as mentioned earlier time is very much my enemy here, there is a LOT of work to be done, but we will see how it goes.

[Myrkul]

Step 1:

Since it was mostly there already, I finished tearing everything down. Hot water and dish soap on everything not electrical. I scoured Facebook for a bit and in a stroke of luck I still cannot believe, a large and well known ICD collector needed help refinishing a Pro-Carbine for non-lethal home defense. I had a full pro-carbine rebuild kit laying around from when I rebuilt my dad's a few years ago, so I was more then happy to pass along the parts, and he was more then happy to pass along the missing solenoid gasket.


I mean I did have a spare gasket anyway, but it felt better to grab another one for this build and not deplete the parts bin any more then absolutely necessary, especially since there was a slim to zero chance I was going to need the Pro-carbine rebuild kit anytime in the next 15 years. So that completes step 1: this fucker now has the potential to be "undead" instead of just a paper weight!

Just as an FYI to anyone else with this specific issue, Impulse and Shocker 4x4 solenoid gaskets are identical to B2K solenoid gaskets, so those are options if you need to track one down. Just be gentle, cover them in super lube multipurpose grease, and make sure the solenoid is screwed in tight and they'll keep running just fine despite their age.

[Myrkul]

Step 2: Refurbishing the Valve

Most of the time, this isn't a step. Valves should work and keep working. Occasionally you should replace the #016 "o" rings with fresh ones (both 70 & 90 durometer work) but that should be the long and short of it.

That was NOT the case here. While the cup seal looked absolutely fine, the valve itself was beat to absolute shit. I have never seen a valve face this mutilated before in my life.


No way that is holding air, but fortunately, it's a fixable problem.

Just sand it out. Since it's a valve face, extra care should be taken when sanding it. I like to start at 600 grit in these situations, then move up to 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and then clean with a combination of Flitz dumped on a chunk of never dull, then cleaned with copious amounts of paper towel, THEN cleaned with dish soap and water. There are a few different methods for getting the face perfect, but I've always had the best results using a plexiglass backer and holding the valve itself perfectly straight and flush to the plexiglass, and rotating the sand paper in a circle around the valve. In my brain at least, this means the sand paper creates circular micro ridges (a ring of walls) in the valve that help prevent the air from escaping. My brain might be wrong, but it usually works*. I typically spin it both clockwise and counter clockwise just to ensure it's as smooth as possible from every angle.



After a considerable amount of elbow grease, I think this cleaned up pretty well.


I definitely think it will hold air now at any rate. As before mentioned, the cup seal actually looked fine here (possibly an attempted fix from the prior owner?) I did disassemble it and give the valve stem the 600-2500 plus Flitz & Never Dull treatment as well. Just used a hand drill and threw the stem into the chuck, then re-assembled with blue loctite on the threads. Also threw a q-tip into the drill chuck, covered it in Flitz, and ran it a bunch inside the valve where the pin made contact just to ensure there weren't any burs, dents or scratches (I've seen it happen before....).



So that concludes step 2. Valve should be good to go now.

Just as an additional note, if the cup seal had been bad, ICD still stocks cup seals because it's the exact same seal as their lever charger uses. ICD Gary recently sent me a massive bag of them for unrelated projects.

*This method has worked for me on numerous valves, from Spyders to Tippmanns to Nelson pumps to electronic Bushmasters. If you want to be adventurous and replace the cup seal you can't find with a nylon washer from ACE, you can absolutely do so, but remember that the harder the material the more perfect the valve face has to be and the higher pressure you have to run.

[waffles2]

Your love for these guns has inspired me to tackled one as a project gun this year. I need to see for myself if they’re really that good. Need to finish my impulse project first…

[Myrkul]

Do it! I like these WAY more then impulses. They are both thinner and shorter then impulses, and typically end up shooting a lot nicer, but they can be a little bit trickier to work on.

[OpusX]