Splatmaster rapide

[Kit352]

Got me a used rapide and I'm loving it but it could certainly use some love. I cleaned it up and polished the barrel so it's shooting pretty straight now. That barrel bore is super tight though, maybe .680. I was expecting it to be much larger. its an effort to blow .684 balls through it. Barrel looks like the stock shorty though. Can anyone confirm standard bore size?
I can only fire about 1 round per second. Any faster and the ball fps drops way off. I think it's shooting around 250 right now which is kinda low. I can easily fire all 20 rounds of a single 12g so maybe it's not so bad.
Some 12 grams leak while others don't. Maybe just the design? I've certainly learned my lesson about dropping a 12g out too quickly and have it's freeze your hand through the grip.
I wouldn't mind finding some more clips for it. Did they ever make a utility belt for this thing?
Is there any maintenance needed on this thing? I don't really want to take it apart if I can avoid it...thing will be 40 years old pretty soon and the plastics worry me. The clip rail is cracked pretty good already.

[COB]

The body plastic is pretty durable. It also has brass threaded nuts embedded in the body plastic. So, you can remove and reinstall screws all you want. The occasional 12-gram leak could be varying sizes of 12-grams between manufacturers. Also, some of the 12-gram knobs vary in size and thread pattern based on when they were produced. Three D printed knobs can provide varying results. Match this with slight variation in 12-gram capsule size and the result is some leak and some don't. The cracked mag rail can be removed and replaced. Velocity is difficult to change. Other barrels were available but are hard to find. Like all 12-gram based markers, velocity is impacted by the number and rate of shots. The expanding CO2 is endothermic causing the 12-gram to chill/freeze. The colder the temperature the lower the velocity from a 12-gram.

[Kit352]

Good to know. Is there any oiling you can do or does it stay dry?

[COB]

Basic disassembly is easy. Valve disassembly is more difficult. However, you can lube the valve cup seal.

[Kit352]

Got to play with the rapides at an event this weekend. I say it as plural because I bought another lol. One of them last about a game, got one kill, then failed to recock the next so I swapped it out with the other one. The second one lasted longer but eventually started to have a slow leak so I swapped to an entirely different gun for the remainder of the day.
I took them both apart last night and found the problem with the first gun was whoever was in it before me put too big of an oring on the brass inner seal on top of the valve so it was pushing the valve rod too far back for the fingers to grab the spring hat. A 004 oring fits it pretty good but I only had one spare so I used it on that one. There is a second oring just under the bolt power tube but I don't know what size it is yet. It's very very thin and about the size of a dime. It's got a be some faucet oring from the 90s. I will have to track down it's size by trial and error I think.
The second gun also needed a new valve pin oring but I don't have any left.

Velocity is an issue as I can only get them to about 220. I've read stories about Palmer offering cheap service back in the day to push them to 300 but no info is given as to what they were doing. If anyone has any idea I would love to know.

[Pumps4ever]

my OG splaty would run perfect 280-290 and would go over on a hot day...

I miss great big ol paint...OG splaty's were dead on accurate and a perfect side arm

[Kit352]

Yeah. I'm not sure how much barrel bore is effecting my velocity. I'm sure it is but I don't think it's costing me more than 20-30fps. It's actually not as huge a barrel as I thought. Measures .689. I would love to get a freak insert in there but I can't figure out how to push the oe brass barrel out without destroying the plastic surround.

[Pumps4ever]

no I do not think it is either... its def the wrong orings like you mentioned!

[Kit352]

This info is mostly for my own musings but it might be handy for future victims of these guns. They are so old it's really not easy to find info about rebuilding them now. Lots of posts end with the owners not being able to seal a leak or having poor performance and tossing them.

The main body has 3 different screws holding it together. They are Phillips and strip easily after all these years. Good news is the body has brass inserts at every hole do you can be pretty rough with getting the old screws out.
4-40 x 3\4 for most of the body. Upgrade to socket cap for future longevity
4-40 x 1\2 for the top front sight screw. Upgrade to socket cap.
I believe the valve is held in by 2 10\32 screws but I am.not sure

Orings-
There are 3 orings in this gun.
One is a 004 urethane that goes under the valve needle to seal against the power tube. It takes some effort to get it sitting in its groove but it does work. A 005 oring can work as well.
The second oring goes between the power tube cap and valve body. I have three of these guns now and each one has a different solution to this. Currently I think a #54 oring is right but it's possible it's too thick. It's 1\16in thick where as I think the original is 1\32 but I can't prove that one way or another.
Edit #1. It's a 1\32 oring. I bought yet another rapide and this one was new in the box so I know it's correct.
The third oring is on the tip of the power tube. I've been having a hard time nailing down a proper oring for this. What works in one doesn't always work in the other. I'm assuming the low quality bolts are the main culprit and manufacturing tolerances\age are playing a part. Anyway a stretched 007 oring seems to be the best universal fix. You can tell the oring is wrong because the gun won't recock back back by itself and gets stuck midway in the cycle.
Edit #2. A 008 oring is the correct oring but I'm guessing that due to age it doesn't work in every gun. it can be slightly too big in the occasional gun.

I lube the valve shaft with eclipse grease. This makes a tremendous difference in the movement of the shaft. I don't see a great improvement in firing the gun unless the shaft was really rough when sliding back and forth. The more guns i horde the more I've been seeing slightly bent shafts. I think it's just an age thing.

I'm shimming the valve assembly to get better alignment with the barrel. I'm guessing age again is making the valves\bolt favor one side or another when your looking directly down the barrel. Not a huge issue but every little bit helps.

Grease on the trigger pivots gives a much smoother trigger pull.

Make sure you wire ball detent is functional or even there. Age seems to have claimed most of these. When they are working they work mint.

CO2 sealing is greatly improved on all guns when I clean around the pierce pin with rubbing alcohol. I put a touch of oil on the tip of the CO2 cartridge before I insert it too just to get some lube in the gun.

[COB]

One of our fellow MCB'ers was 3d printing some of the parts for Splatmasters and Rapides. That person should chime in, and sorry I've forgotten your name. For the Rapides, he made loaders, loader plates and 2 length Rapide barrels that take freak inserts.
As to the bent shafts in the valve system, this is most likely from trying to remove the cup seal to repair or replace

[Myrkul]

A long time ago I remember sending Bacci a lime green anodized feed adapter for one of these that let you cram and jam 10 round tubes. That's about all I can remember about them.

[Kit352]

I would love to get the stl files for those barrels.

I think bacci still has the adaptor for sale lol. I saw it on his site. If I order anything from him I will grab it.

[Myrkul]

Ya, I always thought it was a nifty as hell part. I think it worked better then the gun did. Let me know how it does for you if you do snag it!

[Kit352]

Just an update. I got a new in box black rapide that I took apart so I'm more confident on what orings are supposed to be in there from factory. I updated the parts list above.

I really need to get something going about increasing velocity on these. Palmers was doing something special to get above 300fps but they won't tell me nor do they offer the service anymore. Maybe lost knowledge now? Anyone have a palmerized rapide they can check the work on?