School me on bushmaster si's

[Kit352]

Wife grabbed one at a yard sale. Looks complete and has a case and hopper and stuff. I'm out of air so I can't test it but Im sure it will fire. It's filthy though so tonight is cleaning night.
What makes these more desirable than say my Taso vindicator? Or any other pump gun along those lines.

[Ecapnation]

They were basically the top of the line Nelson's the highest quality machining some head delrin bolts.

Basically no expense was spared in terms of materials

[Paintslinger16]

Right before the Auto wars, the Deluxe Line SI Bushmaster was the “Gun” it’s only high end competition was the Phantom, especially Nelson based.
The Z1 was built to take Bushmaster barrels because players where likely to have built a collection of them.

[Grendel]

They came in fixed-barrel and removable-barrel versions, and they made Nelson conversion kits early on. As Ecapnation said, they made quality markers from quality material.

[uv_halo]

The factory produced Line SI Bushmasters (vice Nelson upgrade kits sold by LineSI in earlier years) all featured removable barrels. The fixed barrel (1-piece body and barrel) variants were sold as the Line SI Skirmish (after Skirmish the Store).

[Kit352]

This has a removable barrel thankfully. Came right apart.

[flyweightnate]

If it has a solid .45 frame instead of the m16 grip, that's worth extra. Short pump handles are a little more desirable too. Lots of people either remove or overtighten the safety because they often engage accidentally. I usually dimple inside the frame so it has a place to rest.

Overall, they're nice, and worth the extra little bit of hype.

[uv_halo]

The short pump handles were only originally included with the PointMan model which included a shorter barrel and, the 1911/45 style pistol grip.

[Kit352]

Behold.... The yard sale SI.

I cleaned and loaded it up some 12g today and put some rounds through it. First impressions are it's much heavier than my vindicator and much much louder. I used my chrono tree to dial in the velocity and it's pretty snappy sounding. Short stroke cock is nice too.

It's overall condition is just ok. Missing one ASA side screw, some of the little screws for the sight rail and barrel block are stuck and I didn't want to risk stripping them.. yet. It has a delrin bolt with a really light aluminum adjustable hammer. I noticed a green spring in the valve, bolt spring looks silver but is badly oxidized. I had to pull up a manual to put it back together because it was pretty jiggly with everything tightened up. Found out the main body screws need orings to presumably act as a cushion.
Barrel is removable and a tightish bore, .688. no way can it ever be freak bored, it has a ring groove cut around it for the barrel screw to ride in.
The pump arm screws appear to be original as they are engraved with si lettering but they thread into the bolt too far and hit the power tube. I didn't see mention of orings in the manual but maybe everything needs a oring for proper spacing.
The safety had a random screw floating around in it. I put some licktite on it and an oring so it doesn't gouge the anodizing.
It shoots pretty good but I'm not sold on its greatness. I need a couple games to know for sure. As of now I like my vindicator better. I may gut the SI and toss the internals in that gun and see how it goes. I think overall my Taso is just better suited to me and more playable.

[Ecapnation]

It can be freak bored actually.

[Kit352]

I gotta check my barrel again. i think its an aftermarket one. I dont have much meat on the end with that deep screw bevel cut out.

[Axel]

I have one freak bored. It's awesome

[Calvin]

Interesting. A Vindicator was my main gun from 1993-1998ish, when I switched over to a Sterling. I always thought the SI was a higher level of quality. Never saw any locally.

[uv_halo]

Behold.... The yard sale SI.

I cleaned and loaded it up some 12g today and put some rounds through it. First impressions are it's much heavier than my vindicator and much much louder. I used my chrono tree to dial in the velocity and it's pretty snappy sounding. Short stroke cock is nice too.

You've got a late 80s model Line SI Bushmaster Deluxe, with a factory long barrel (back when folks believed they were more accurate), I’d guess it was sold in 89, like mine.
The barrel can be freaked but, it doesn't leave a lot of room for an insert, like you mentioned. The bigger problem is how much you tighten the screw in the PITA block (the factory name for the block the barrel retention bolt passes through).

You appear to have factory bolt knobs, and the forward frame/body screw (under the SI logo). I believe your barrel retention screw is also factory, assuming the white color is stuff stick in the knurling. Your two rear body screws (2:00 and 10:00 next to dovetail) and, the rear body/frame screw are all replacements. The pre-1990 Bushmaster very often lost the rear body screws because they were small and, they only thread into the tubular body to press against the ASA. This makes them very susceptible to getting vibrated loose just due operating the gun. O-rings were introduced by users to add a bit more friction to prevent this. You even have your Safety screw which many folks removed (instead of just tightening it on Fire)

The factory bolt is a Delrin front, a steel back end with simple notches for the sear. Many aftermarket Nelson bolts are similar and instead of a pair of notches, they have a groove that goes all the way around the bolt. Your bolt appears to be factory. The factory hammer is aluminum with a gray/brown coating (anti-wear/friction?).
The factory hammer and valve springs were stainless steel which were very frequently replaced with Thunderpig spring color coded sets (red being the strongest, green being the weakest, IIRC).

The factory power tubes were stainless steel and featured ovals with wrench flats and the flats were engraved with “SI”. Aftermarket powertubes almost universally have hex flanges, which I believe introduce more wear into the back of the hammer. The factory cup seals were brass with a pressed in Delrin insert IIRC but, were often replaced due to wear.
I’m not sure why but, the anodizing on the gun tends to fade to different colors (I suspect major components were built and anodized in batches and were then subsequently assembled into the different models).

Line SI sold lever style 12g changers however, I never had one (I started with a 7oz tank).

Because of today’s smaller paint, you gotta dump a bit more air into it to get it up to velocity. That’s going to make it noisier, plus the non-ported barrel.

The Line SI Bushmaster, was the first factory produced gun that included all of the mods folks were doing to Nelson guns (dual pump arms, direct feed, back bottle ASA, replaceable barrels, Bore Drop, sights, etc). It was also made with better materials and machined to a better quality than other guns at the time. The Taso Vindicator was an an attempt at undercutting the Bushmaster (darn near copying the Bushmasters pump style) while including a cheaper grip frame. A lot of Bushmasters are still around today because there very few pieces that could rust out. I think all of this is why they seem to hold their value fairly well in this community.

Does the Taso Vindicator have a removable barrel?

Here's mine when I last used it:



1989 Line SI Bushmaster Deluxe, left-hand. I bought the gun from Skirmish the Store, used in 1989. According to the store, it had only been previously used by one of the Factory/Store players for one season and looked immaculate, The barrel retention screw (the only non-oem) was replaced by Skirmish when the PITA block came loose from the body, in 1989. I added a trigger shoe, and slot covers, to it in the 90s. In the 00s, I replaced the grip with an aluminum 1911 style grip from a Spyder Compact and Dye Sticky Grips. The barrel is a custom piece by Palmer's Pursuit shop (to allow for shooting smaller, modern paint, don't remember the bore size though). The stock is a TASO if I recall correctly.

When Line SI released the 1990 model of the Bushmaster (with the single read body screw) I was bitter.

[Kit352]

Thanks for the info.
Yes my taso has a removable barrel.
I would love to find a shorter barrel for it or the bushmaster. They are so unwieldy trying to shot in tight spaces.

Is there supposed to be a spacer of something on the the two pump arm si knobs? If i tighten them up i can see them actually screw into the bolt inner void which the power tune then hits when you try to cock it. Im for sure going to lose those knobs if i leave them loose just to be able to pump the gun.

[capitalpaintball]

Teflon tape

[Kit352]

That seems so not right lol

[lrrpie]

I bought a Line SI Bushmaster Deluxe in the summer of '89. Although I never lost either of the pump arm bolts, I came incredibly close at least once as they will loosen up a bit during play. As you've discovered, if the pump arms are too tight they cause the bolt to bind a bit. A teeny bit of teflon tape will tighten it up just fine with enough tension to keep the pump arm bolts nice and secure.

I have two Vindicator barrels, if I'm not mistaken: an 8" and a 11". I'll take a look in the basement when I get a chance if you're interest. I have no particular use for them anymore. I have a short barrel as a part of my SI Pointman setup but that's certainly not being separated from the gun! The TASO guns didn't have quite the same quality as SI but they were nice. They made a slew of accessories and Nelson compatible parts which were much cheaper than Line SI. TASO was great at producing a wide variety of anodized colors, and they might have been the first to have that cool camouflage pattern anodized Line SI "knock-off" model called the Spartan I believe.

[Toestr]

Auto Cocker detent fingers will work to prevent both rollouts and double feeds.

[uv_halo]

Am I correct you're referring to Dummy Fingers (as known on this sight)? This might work. This pushes the barrel forward. If the barrel is pushed too far forward, the barrel retention screw won't end up in the groove and, this will make the barrel more likely to fall out.

[Toestr]

It worked for me. From what I remember the groove is tapered at the back so it actually pulled the barrel in tighter.

[uv_halo]

Thanks for the info.
Is there supposed to be a spacer of something on the the two pump arm si knobs? If i tighten them up i can see them actually screw into the bolt inner void which the power tune then hits when you try to cock it. Im for sure going to lose those knobs if i leave them loose just to be able to pump the gun.

There is no spacer or such to keep the knobs from going too far in. I suspect, but I can't confirm at this time that the factory bolts had blind holes for the knob. This would definitely prevent this problem. I will check on mine tonight, if I can get to it. I found an example of at least a Line SI compatible bolt here (note the picture of the bolt being held) that has blind (non-through) holes. There are also a lot of bolts on that site that have through-holes (which are cheaper to manufacture).

I think the pump arms themselves are intended to keep the knobs from from screwing too far in. The knobs should also only thread in so far given the amount of threading. If the pump arms are bent inwards (from the knobs being over torqued in a through-hole bolt, or just rough treatment), This would also allow the knobs to be threaded in deeper.

Teflon tape could prevent the knob from threading too far in. If the holes in the bolt are too worn out, this would help. I'm not a machinist or, an engineer, but, cutting the threads shorter would keep the knob from intruding too deep but, there may be a disadvantage here. Another solution may be to drill out the holes and, install heli-coil. Alternatively, you may try another bolt (Bacci has several, some of them may have tighter threads).

[Ecapnation]

Factory pump arm bolts should have a built in stopping point to prevent over tightening.

I say should because they could wear out from knuckle heads

[Kit352]

My pump arm bolts look fine with an intact shoulder. The bolt also looks fine but is a through hole. The bolts run into the bolt about an 1\8 inch when tightened on both side. The power tube hits them both trying to cock the gun. Pump.arms look straight.

[Grendel]

Take a picture of your guts so we can see. It is quite easy for someone to mix match non-compatiable Nelson Clone parts.

[Ecapnation]

My pump arm bolts look fine with an intact shoulder. The bolt also looks fine but is a through hole. The bolts run into the bolt about an 1\8 inch when tightened on both side. The power tube hits them both trying to cock the gun. Pump.arms look straight.

They shouldn't do that. Unless you have a bent or incorrect power tube I don't see how they can hit

[Kit352]