Mag Bodies

[mzawlocki]

After playing the last couple years with my Phantom, I decided to dust off my Mags. I'm having chopping issues with the aluminum body that I don't remember having in the past. That gun usually runs the ReTro valve, but I switched it to the classic body to troubleshoot. Both valves work great in the classic body. Both valves chop in the aluminum body. The detent seems fine and the hopper isn't the issue. I've tried both a new Halo and LTR. I know I ultimately need to get a level 10 bolt, but is there anything else I should look at first? They aluminum body is from 2000 ish? Were they changed in later years?

Thanks!

[NONOBLITUS]

Is the screw that bolts the frame to the body the correct one ? Is it sticking up into the body and not flush ?

[mzawlocki]

Not sticking through.

[superman]

I wonder if your level 7 bolt is clipping the 2nd ball in the stack.

[mzawlocki]

I think this is what's happening.

[Siress]

Take the valve and barrel off, then look through the breach. Feel around for any protrusions: feedneck, screws, seized detent. Any scrapes or burrs... anything that might damage a paintball.

[mzawlocki]

Everything looks ok to me.

[Secretweaponevan]

I don't see a detente protruding into the breech.

[mzawlocki]

It has to be a paintball issue. They are small and very out of round. The vertical feed must be more sensitive to bad paint than the power feed.

[zinger565]

Might be a trick of my eyes, but that paint looks like watermelons.

[Siress]

Might be a trick of my eyes, but that paint looks like watermelons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn4t0BuClbw

[zinger565]

Goddammit that's fantastic

[FredMnkyDad10]

Might be a trick of my eyes, but that paint looks like watermelons.

Taste test and review is needed

[mzawlocki]

Installed a lvl10 bolt. Gun shot great all day with zero breaks.

[Criticalhammer]

In this day and age of small, and poorly shaped paint LVL 7 will not cut it. Partly because of how the bolt face has a sharp 90 degree edge. It catches paint very easily and chops.

If you want to spend more money than needed , you can convert a lvl 10 setup into a LVL 7 by plugging up the stem. Why? Look at the LVL 10 bolt face, it has more radius edge than the LVL 7. With the mod you can take a polishing wheel to the bolt face edge and round it off a smidge more. This is because the bolt goes farther into the breach when the air bypasses the LVL10 carrier oring. If you choose to do this be mindful of polishing consistency. Mags are sensitive to friction and pneumatic force imbalances. Along with more time for air to push on the stem and bolt, you get a marginal reduction in chops, marginal increase in efficiency, and marginal reduction in kick compared to a LVL 7 bolt (depending on how you plug up the stem).

If Sandman could spend money on R&D he could easily convert the LVL 10 into a LVL 7 for folks who want efficiency.

[Brokeass_baller]

I've been using a level 7 foamie for about 12 years with no issues. I used a level 10 before that. There are two level 7's, a short foamie version, and a long-nose version.

[Criticalhammer]

I only have the shorter foamie version, and I get chops all the time. Maybe the foamie-less version would work better?

[mzawlocki]

The level 10 has been running flawlessly for a few weeks now. Zero breaks. My son has a level 7 in his steel body gun and he never gets breaks. It is the long-nose bolt.