Milled Phantom Hammer Mod

[Dirklax39]

Just got a Phantom in the mail. I opened her up to clean the internals and noticed it has a slotted/milled hammer. I'm assuming this is to cut down on weight. See the pictures below. Can someone help me understand what the purpose of this is and if this is an upgrade how I can best utilize it.

Thank you!

[iamthelazerviking]

Yes this was a common modification. Referred to as a "fluted" hammer and SSC used to offer them already cut, as did others, or doing the service. I honestly haven't seen them in a while, I think the fad kind of wore off. I had one once and honestly didn't notice any difference in performance. Supposed to make for a lighter stroke with the reduced weight. But like I said, I couldn't tell. And I am of the belief that if Mike didn't design it, it's not necessary (aside from maybe the ASP mod)

[Dirklax39]

Thanks for the info. I agree with you on the Mike deal. ASP detent mod is really the only necessary mod IMHO.

[Chuck E Ducky]

That one looks like a Modified CCI. Probably done by SSC. Lapco were cut on the bottom as well. I think you needed the #6 lapco power tube to use the Lapco hammer. The Gray Ghost use the fluted hammers from the factory. They work well but are built around those internals. The Gray Ghost performance wise doesn’t produce any more shots over well setup Phantom. Especially the newer phantoms with tighter factory bore barrels.

People claimed they produced superior performance but all it really did was change spring requirements and require tuning to bring the marker back to its sweet spot.

At one point people would pay more for the modified internals. Wipe it down put it back in your not going to notice it until you go to clean it next time.

[Dirklax39]

Thanks for the info. Seems like a lot of potential headache for little if any reward.

[Lane]

I noticed the other day that ICD was using an Aluminum hammer on their PRP Nelson pump. Interesting concept to cut weight off the hammer. One review video mentioned little/no hammer bounce, maybe because of the lighter hammer. However I never had hammer bounce be a problem with a stock phantom.

[SignOfZeta]

I can’t think of one genuine advantage to a lighter hammer.

[Siress]

funny... that's not how friction works. f=uN Coeff. of Friction x Normal force. No where is a point of contact or contact area even a consideration. If anything, I bet these were LESS efficient due to the need for a stiffer spring and less resistance to airflow leaking around the power tube.

[flyweightnate]

Maybe it was a firearms guy, thinking about fluting to alleviate sand and carbon fouling?

A smarter thought would be that a lighter hammer should have less mass, therefore rebound quickly to reduce dwell. But Nelson valves don't seem too dwell sensitive, due to the long thin powertube.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Well I think that’s why Lapco used a different power tube. The #6 power tube is longer then a standard CCI isn’t it.

[Cunha]

The lighter hammer would be to eliminate valve bounce.

The fluted hammers work great on the lapco guns.

The stock phantom works amazing, so you gotta tinker around to get another setup (must change valve springs) to see an advantage to the fluted hammer, if there is an advantage on the phantom. I've never messed with one.

I tune differently, because my goal is to use the lightest main spring. I would start with the lightest main spring, use a drilled out TPC (because adjusting the stock TPC changes the spring tension as well as the bolt port opening, complicating tuning) and changing valve springs to see what valve spring is needed for good velocity.

Then once the velocity is good, check the consistency and the efficiency.

Then do the same thing with the stock hammer, and see if there are any gains.

If the gains are hard to notice, then you get the advantage of a lighter gun which itself maybe worth it to you.

You need to get a feel for your accuracy and consistency though, because if the hammer is bouncing around on a too light valve spring you can be really inconsistent. The fully stock CCI setup has not only amazing velocity adjustment capabilities, but is also very consistent with unregulated air and co2. So they are awesome, and pretty hard to beat. Certainly you are in diminishing returns land the second you deviate from stock CCI but tinkering is fun anyways.