Months ago, I connected with CS Machine and Fabrication to help bring my Air Power Vector back from the dead. For those who do not know, the Vector was an engineering marvel of the early to mid 1990s employing a Nelson style valve, with PPS/Autococker pneumatics, a trigger mechanism that completely mitigates short stroking, and an anti-chop feature. There are less than 1500 of these produced if I recall. Essentially, it is an Open Bolt Nelson Pump on Autotrigger with the Pneumatics doing all cycling. It was an oddball of its time and while it did not gain traction...it truly is a masterpiece in design, quality, machining, etc. They are not efficient, they are the loudest marker bar none, and the experience of shooting one is akin to the old six flags theme park ball launchers. The valve body shown in pics required a SUPER thin, proprietary o-ring that is no longer available. As you insert the valve body into the back of the receiver, there is a fairly unforgiving shelf requiring patience and liberal amounts of lube. I recall a mod back in early 2000s that allowed for a tank o-ring to be used which prompted me to spend some time on AI figuring out dimensions for grooves, ID, OD, and groove sizes. I took all of this to CS Machine and he meticulously deliberated with me on the measurements and math...both of us very cautious to not damage this relic! The result is seen in the photos. It worked perfectly, albeit VERY tight fit which means often times the o-rings must be replaced after removal. They are cheap, available and this was the decision we both accepted as this was the side to err on for such a project. Perhaps in the future I will have him put it back in the lathe...but for now, I am thrilled.
Fast forward to yesterday, I stopped in and dropped off the Vector along with a second barrel I acquired from Bacci Paintball a while back. These have VERY large bores and surprisingly, are incredible accurate regardless...but I am a tinkerer and and wildly curious about what it might do with a proper bore to paint match so here we are! Since this barrel is a Unibody style AND because it has a support pin mid barrel, the Insert will need to slide in from the front and secured via threads. This path will cost over an inch of barrel length loss but that is fine by me since it is an extra barrel and I do not have to bastardize the original.
Enjoy these pics!
Fast forward to yesterday, I stopped in and dropped off the Vector along with a second barrel I acquired from Bacci Paintball a while back. These have VERY large bores and surprisingly, are incredible accurate regardless...but I am a tinkerer and and wildly curious about what it might do with a proper bore to paint match so here we are! Since this barrel is a Unibody style AND because it has a support pin mid barrel, the Insert will need to slide in from the front and secured via threads. This path will cost over an inch of barrel length loss but that is fine by me since it is an extra barrel and I do not have to bastardize the original.
Enjoy these pics!
Attached Files
On the Freaking, I've been thinking the exact same thing. In the "Freaking the Unfreakable" thread, several people asked if I could do a Vector barrel. The pin-lug is too far forward for a standard style Freak, but I figured could be threaded like my Bull Barrels- 8" inserts but use a 5" tip. I figured that'd leave the lug in place, and still let you use inserts.
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