ADA: Ask Doc Anything!

[M98punk]

Okay so I’ve been out for about a decade. Went up to storage and dug out what stuff I have... want to restore one maybe two of the old projects. Which should I pick?

98ish STO cocker, basically sold off everything but the body.

I have an automag that was sandblasted and had a Luke’s vert feed put on it.... was building a sleeper pnue

generation 1 Micromag: had someone do some custom work to make it a stock class but if I’m using it as my all around play I would make it something a bit more robust.

[moving_target]

I was thinking about making a metal shelled splat master. I get that it's a nelson still. But the idea of pushing to cock and then allowing the spring power to complete the cycle instead of traditional nelson's where your pump handle manipulates the whole process.

But yeah. If there was a metal splat master that had some sort of actual barrel, or sleeve for freaks etc. I would probably get stupid

[DocsMachine]

Doc, is there such a thing as a metal version of the OG splatmaster? If no, why not?

-Yes. They call it a "Nelson 007".

If you mean a metal shell for a Splatmaster, none that I'm aware of, which has, at times, kind of surprised me. I remember many moons ago somebody showing off a metal shell set he'd made for the original Stingray. Which really was putting lipstick on a pig. I'm surprised no one else has tried that with a Splatty.

Outside of the Thumper, I can't think of any gun that follows the same premise.

"Inside a Thumper, it's too dark to read."

-Paraphrasing Groucho Marx.

(also yes if you decide to make one with some sort of barrel system I would probably be up for throwing money at it for the stupidity factor)

-I'm not exactly sure what you're asking for. The Thumper is not a gun that deserves a redesign. It's a gun that deserves having the feed tube jacked up and an entirely different gun rolled under it.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

Not including those you made, what is your favorite autococker body? If budget was no option, how would you build it (internals, frame, pneumatics), and how would you anodize it?

-Don't make me choose.

Really, I like most of them. I was never really thrilled with the Spanky stuff- the tubes were a cool idea, but often unworkable in real life- and the FBM ones with all the biker-leather studs were just too gaudy.

Personally, I was more into the simple-but-with-a-twist. I liked the original Belsales Evolution bodies simply because the P-block was kind of trick (hey, at at the time ) and I liked the fairly simple, almost understated Carter-type milling. That said, I love the Ripper milling, and wish I could have afforded one back when Jim was still making those. That or one of the Eclipse versions, especially with the Aurora anno- but that's the kind of thing you put on display, not actually play with.

If I had my choice, I'd love to have a later-generation Belsales Evolution body (undrilled, of course) with an Eclipse swing trigger, Inception pneumatics, either stock Belsales or AKA internals, either an Inception, 2nd-gen CP or 2-liter reg, and either a Freak XL, a Stella set or a factory Ressurection barrel kit.

Not particularly flashy, but I think with a nice solid-color anno (blue, green or copper) or a well-done smooth fade (any good primary color fading to black) would make for a top-notch gun.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

What material were the black magic cup seals made of?

-Probably a high-durometer polyurethane. I seem to recall they were cast/molded rather than turned. I couldn't say what the exact material was, but it always struck me it as very close to the same material ad things like inline skate wheels.

Doc.

[moving_target]

Doc, is there such a thing as a metal version of the OG splatmaster? If no, why not?

Outside of the Thumper, I can't think of any gun that follows the same premise.

(also yes if you decide to make one with some sort of barrel system I would probably be up for throwing money at it for the stupidity factor)

[Magmoormaster]

Not including those you made, what is your favorite autococker body? If budget was no option, how would you build it (internals, frame, pneumatics), and how would you anodize it?

[pghp8ntballer]

What material were the black magic cup seals made of?

[DocsMachine]

Doc - why is your Mag-Cocker barrel adapter made out of SS? Why not aluminum, and save some weight? Or is the weight difference negligible?

-Mainly the locating pin. The trick to the adapter is it uses the stock barrel locking pin to retain it- makes it easy to install, easy to remove, requires no drilling or tapping, etc.

But I found out during testing that in an aluminum adapter, that hole would loosen up in a relatively short time, leading to slop in the overall fit.

Stainless steel, on the other hand, lasts basically forever. I've seen ones that have had hard use for more than ten years, that are still as tight as the day I made it.

And for most players, the weight is irrelevant- the adapter is meant for the stainless-body guns, and a ton of people are still using the original stainless valves. The few extra grams of an SS adapter over an aluminum one is pretty minimal at that point.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

Whats the fastest loader?

-The fastest loader that I own is probably my Rotor V2. The fastest overall? No clue. There's been several in the last few years I've never even seen in person. (Nobody sends me a loader for mods. )

Doc.

[Jordan]

Doc - why is your Mag-Cocker barrel adapter made out of SS? Why not aluminum, and save some weight? Or is the weight difference negligible?

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Whats the fastest loader?

[DocsMachine]

Are porting really important on freak barrel tip?

-Nope. In fact I'm going to spout more heresy here: NO barrel porting, of any kind, does anything but quiet the shot.

In most 2-piece barrels, the front half is oversized, usually around .700". Doesn't touch the ball at all, and leaves plenty of space around it for air to go whereever it likes. The porting does nothing at all except give that air a place to go, and slowly enough that it slows down the "pop" of the shot to more of a "phoot".

Depending on your marker setup and which barrel we're talking about, some 2-piecers will still give you a little more velocity with the tip than without, but that's usually minimal at best. I've bene told by many dozens of players- many of whom were surprised by it- that their favorite Freak combo shot just as well (accuracy and velocity wise) with one of my stubby Flashpoint tips, as it did with the original 12" or 14" tip. (Typically a little louder, though. )

I know it will be louder but could it affect ball spin when the air expand around the ball at the transition of the freak insert and the bigger bore freak front?

-Generally no, but not always.

It's been my experience that a 2-piece barrel, with minimal porting on the front, does not shoot bad paint as well as a solid bore. My theory on that one is the air charge behind the ball is constrained enough to want to escape past the ball, rather than just leaving the muzzle in all directions away from the ball.

This, I think, lets the air catch on imperfections (out of round, bad seams, etc.) and so has more influence on getting the ball to spin, twist or corkscrew.

It's not a huge effect, and also not always reproducible, but in this case, with a minimal short tip, if there is such an effect, it likely won't be significant.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

So, in a STBB, using a lightweight striker/bolt assembly, a mainspring sized/trimmed to provide no preload, and a relatively light valve spring should, in theory, be the most efficient (all else being equal)?

-Generally speaking, yes. You don't necessarily need to go for zero preload, though. It's not usually an issue with a 'Cocker or blowback, but in a pump (Sniper, PMI, PGP, etc.) if the hammer is slightly "loose" at rest, as Russc notes, the gun can "fart", or "honk". That is, the hammer bounces back and forth against the mainspring, usually popping a little extra air. The MVP is wicked bad about this, and the old Brass Eagle Cobras would do it too. My old one would sound like a goose honking every time I fired it.

You also don't want to go too light on the valve spring, as getting the cup seal closed as quickly as possible is one of the major keys here.

Regardless of the valve, bolt, regulator... inertia is present no matter what, and must be overcome. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to reduce the mass.

-Correct, but with an asterisk. As always, there's a balancing point. Too light a striker and too heavy a spring cause their own problems, among them being more sensitive to op pressure.

One of the hot mods back in the day for the VM-68 was called, I think, a Pro-Comp kit. It had a much lighter hammer and a considerably shorter spring- a 'Mag bolt spring, if I recall correctly. And it would literally double the gas efficiency of a VM, which illustrates how much energy was being wasted blowing that fourteen-pound hammer back.

Doc.

[Alexndl]

Probably an easier question here
Are porting really important on freak barrel tip?

I have a long Progressive freak tip that I dont use and want to cut it the to make a 3" front tip but it wont have any vent ports

I know it will be louder but could it affect ball spin when the air expand around the ball at the transition of the freak insert and the bigger bore freak front?