Z.I.P.P. bolt that creats "M" effect?
I was just checking out the July issue of APG and saw an article about this Z.I.P.P. 2K Cycleflow bolt for cockers and angels. Now, I know this is a magazine laden with marketing ploys, but the idea still seemed thought provoking. The idea is the bolt has three holes on the bottom, as opposed to an evenly spaced venturi style. Though the article makes no claims as to what degree the magnus effect takes place, it does mention it as a "flatline" bolt.
/dodge marketing bashes
Does anyone have any experience with one of these or know anything about them?
My guess is IF backspin does occur, it would not be enough, and still render the balls under the vortex effect.
/shrug
CraigEgg
test done on our bolt, its long
NEW CYCLEFLOW BOLT
Overall Impressions:
I purchased the bolt directly through James, the owner of Z.I.P.P. and the creator of the bolt. He gave me several color choices to pick from: yellow, blue, red, green, black, etc. I’m a huge fan of yellow and although it doesn’t match my black LCD I can’t go against my passion for yellow.
The bolt pin was snuggly drilled; it had no wobble, no wiggle and aligned perfectly with my ram stroke when adjusted properly. This is not a custom fitted bolt so it slipped inside my breech just nicely.
Field Test:
I allowed myself 4 different days to do the testing, each day having different weather conditions, different paints but all these tests were performed in the same marker. I would shoot 2500rds over a period of 4 days, which encompassed a Saturday & Sunday of two straight weekends. At every chrono string performed during the day, I would reinsert my standard bolt, readjust the ram stroke and snap ring to compare chrono consistency.
Equipment:
The bolt was fitted to a 2001 Black LCD, with an SS hammer. I run my Angel A.I.R. through my Cobra gas thru grip, at 389psi to achieve approximately 280fps. I run a 12v Revolution loader with Intellifeed, however no “rotation” mod is done. Also the ‘standard’ paddles have been replaced with the JMJ Impellers. I also used an Adrenalin High Rise for my feed tube passage. The breech knob is a standard one found on all Angels, set finger tight. Unfortunately my marker has been used extensively already so I was able to show wear on the inside of the breech. I used the following paint selections:
2500 rounds of Diablo Hellfire
2500 rounds of Nitro Duck
2500 rounds of Team Colors (winter fill)
2500 rounds of RP Marbalizers (advantage shell)
Each paintball was matched properly to my corresponding bore insert on my freak barrel set. I used the following inserts:
.685 for Hellfire
.689 for Nitro Duck
.691 for Team Colors
.6875 (stock barrel) for the Marbalizers
Day One:
The first day onto the field was at 9:15am and my “test” lasted until approximately 11:55am. I tested the Nitro Duck paint first, and varied my shooting rhythm and ‘angle of attack.’ I hand picked 100rds for optimum performance and made sure they were kept at 67.5 degrees prior to being put into my hopper and readied. The present temperature outside was 44 degrees, winds out of the NW at 5mph and a relative humidity of 55%.
Each ball was run through the hopper twice to ensure the feed rate was sufficient and that the loader system would not affect performance for the test. At 9:22am I chrono checked my marker at 280fps, with an input pressure of 385psi. My LPR pressure checked in at about 88psi. I unloaded the 100 paintballs as fast as I could… my MROF set at 14 and my Dwell at 15 to compensate slightly for the colder weather. No breaks on the bolt face, no breaks in the barrel.
I then had another bag of preselected paintballs, however these were kept at 75.6 degrees prior to being put into the hopper. My bore insert was not changed. I lowered my dwell to 14 and my MROF to 13. I emptied my hopper at 7bps and recorded no bolt face breaks and 3-barrel breaks. Upon further review it was confirmed that no breaks were the result of the bolt, most likely due to a barrel insert issue.
I then went for a more extensive ‘field test.’ I loaded up my hopper with 173 paintballs that had been left in the garage for 3 months and were odd shaped, dimpled, and no where near optimum quality. They had been stored for at least 2 months in sub 50-degree temperature and were most likely exposed to moderate humidity or dry cold air. I varied my shooting from 12bps to 5bps, shot on the run, on the slide, and at 40-60 degree angles both on the run and stationary. I recorded 2-barrel breaks, and one bolt face break. It was difficult to determine how the paintball broke on the bolt face, as there was a slight residue on the bolt face, in the chamber area and more extensive residue inside the insert. However, the bolt did not chop a single paintball.
For the next half hour I used my gun at optimum settings: 12bps, 15 dwell (once again due to colder weather) and unloaded approximately 1500 paintballs at various angles. After the first 500 the marker was chronographed and my FPS had raised 4fps to approximately 285fps. I lowered my AIR input pressure by 6psi, to 379psi and recorded a 279fps chrono reading. After 1500 paintballs I recorded 2 barrel breaks with the older paint, 1-barrel break with the room temperature paint and zero barrel breaks with the warmer temperature paint. However, my bolt face break ratio was still 1 out of 1873. Might I also add that the one “break” did not prevent me from continuing my firing string at the moment it occurred.
I loaded up another 250 paintballs (two hoppers of 125, one of the room temp. paint and the other of the warmer temp. paint) and now boasted a 1 out of 2123 ratio. I packed up my gear and went home. I recorded 5 different “chrono” strings, each of which was 4 shots and 2 clearing shots for each string. The bolt showed minor to no wear on the breech (from what I could tell) and on the actual bolt.
Test One: 280fps @ 385psi, LPR 88psi, Dwell 14 & MROF 13.
Test Two: 279psi @ 379psi, LPR 88psi, Dwell 15 & MROF 12.
Early Morning String: 281, 281, 279, 282. (+3/-3) 385psi input
Mid Morning String: 276, 277, 276, 276 (+1/-1) 379psi input
Mid Morning String (2): 285, 279, 278, 283 (+6/-6)* 386psi input
End String: 280, 279, 281, 282 (+3/-3) 384psi input
Early Morning String: 274, 271, 268, 277 (+9/-9) 385psi input
Mid Morning String: 277, 278, 273, 280 (+5/-5) 379psi input
Mid Morning String (2): 288, 280, 276, 281 (+12/-12) 386 input
End String: 274, 278, 290, 267 (+23/-23) 384psi input
*AIR output regulated
Day Two:
The second day onto the field was at 1:40pm and my “test” lasted until approximately 3:25am. I tested the Team Color paint second, and varied my shooting rhythm and ‘angle of attack,’ once again. I hand picked 100rds for optimum performance and made sure they were kept at 65.8 degrees prior to being put into my hopper and readied. The present temperature outside was 52 degrees, winds out of the S at 4mph and a relative humidity of 37%.
Each ball was run through the hopper twice to ensure the feed rate was sufficient and that the loader system would not affect performance for the test. At 1:53pm I chrono checked my marker at 273fps, with an input pressure of 378psi. My LPR pressure checked in at about 90psi. I unloaded the 100 paintballs as fast as I could… my MROF set at 16 and my Dwell at 14 readjusted for variable results. No breaks on the bolt face, 2 breaks in the barrel.
I then had another bag of preselected paintballs, however these were kept at 84.3 degrees prior to being put into the hopper. My bore insert was not changed. I lowered my dwell to 13 and my MROF to 12. I emptied my hopper at 9bps and recorded 1 clean bolt face breaks and 1-barrel break. Upon further review it was confirmed that the paint had swelled enough to where it was just too delicate for my low dwell and present ROF.
I then went for a more extensive ‘field test,’ once again to be fair. I loaded up my hopper with 167 paintballs that had been left in a meat locker for 7 hours and were almost frozen solid. They had been stored at about 30 degrees for at least 3 hours. I varied my shooting from 11bps to 4bps, shot on the run, on the slide, and at 40-60 degree angles both on the run and stationary. I recorded zero barrel breaks, and one bolt face break. It was difficult to determine how the paintball broke on the bolt face, as there was no residue on the bolt face, in the chamber area and residue in the forward breech area. However once again, the bolt did not chop a single paintball.
For the next half hour I used my gun at optimum settings: 12bps, 15 dwell (once again due to colder weather and now due to nearly frozen paint) and unloaded approximately 1500 paintballs at various angles. After the first 500 the marker was chronographed and my FPS had raised 2fps to approximately 275fps. I raised my AIR input pressure by 8psi, to 386psi and recorded a 277fps chrono reading. After 1500 paintballs I recorded 1 barrel break with the frozen paint, and zero barrel breaks with the warmer temperature paint. Now my bolt face break ratio was 2 out of 3740. Might I also add that the one “break” did not prevent me from continuing my firing string at the moment it occurred.
I loaded up another 250 paintballs (two hoppers of 125, one of the frozen temp. paint and the other of the warmer temp. paint) and now boasted a 1 out of 3990 ratio. I packed up my gear and went home. I recorded 5 different “chrono” strings, each of which was 4 shots and 2 clearing shots for each string. The bolt did not show anymore wear on the breech (from what I could tell) and on the actual bolt.
Test One: 273fps @ 378psi, LPR 90, Dwell 14 & MROF 16.
Test Two: 277fps @ 386psi, LPR 90, Dwell 15 & MROF 12.
Early Morning String: 275, 277, 277, 276 (+2/-2) 379psi
Mid Morning String: 279, 277, 279, 281 (+4/-4) 382psi
Mid Morning String (2): 293, 291, 291, 291 (+2/-2)* 398psi
End String: 297, 297, 297, 294 (+3/-3) 408psi
Early Morning String: 270, 272, 276, 277 (+7/-7) 379psi
Mid Morning String: 274, 281, 288, 278 (+14/-14) 382psi
Mid Morning String (2): 289, 298, 299, 287 (+12/-12)* 398psi
End String: 292, 296, 295, 299 (+7/-7) 408psi
*Pressure was purposely raised as the day went on. Higher fps ratings tested for chrono consistency and ball breakage.
Oil Test:
Between the second and third shooting session, a lapse of five days took place. The entire bolt was sprayed with Gold Cup lubricant and absorbed for 30 minutes then wiped dry. I let the bolt sit for another 30 minutes at 87.2 degrees to dry the bolt as well as attempt to simulate bolt swell.
The bolt was then “re-installed” and the marker was cycled 2500 times at 390psi with no paint. The bolt never seized in the marker but showed slightly darker marks on the front quarter. Upon opening the breech the bolt clearly had swelled inside to impair movement but to enough to prevent.
Day Three:
The third day onto the field was the following weekend at 2:40pm and my “test” lasted until approximately 4:00pm. I tested the RP Marbalizer with the advantage shell and once again varied my shooting rhythm and ‘angle of attack.’ I hand picked 100rds for optimum performance and made sure they were kept at 68.1 degrees prior to being put into my hopper and readied. The present temperature outside was 55 degrees, winds out of the SE at 6mph and a relative humidity of 70%.
Each ball was run through the hopper twice to ensure the feed rate was sufficient and that the loader system would not affect performance for the test. At 3:00pm I chrono checked my marker at 252fps, with an input pressure of 365psi. My LPR pressure checked in at about 89psi. I purposely decided to shoot a lower fps rating to show results in at a slower velocity, as some indoor fields have 250fps limits. I unloaded the 100 paintballs as fast as I could… my MROF set at 13 and my Dwell at 14 as compensation was not necessary. No breaks on the bolt face, 1 break in the barrel.
I then had another bag of preselected paintballs, however these were kept at 55 degrees prior to being put into the hopper. My bore insert was not changed. I lowered my dwell to 12 and my MROF to 13. I emptied my hopper at 9bps and recorded no 1-bolt face break and zero barrel breaks. Upon further review it was confirmed that the break was a the result of the bolt, most likely due to the fact that my dwell was short abnormally low.
I raised my dwell back to 14ms and then continued with my routine and went for a more extensive ‘field test.’ I loaded up my hopper with 191 paintballs that had been stored at room temperature but had been exposed to the atmosphere for 48 hours prior to testing. I varied my shooting from 14bps to 3bps, shot on the run, on the slide, and at 40-60 degree angles both on the run and stationary. I recorded 1-barrel breaks, and zero bolt face break. It was difficult to determine how the paintball broke in the barrel, however it was most likely due to a slight swollen paintball.
For the next half hour I used my gun at optimum settings: 12bps, 14 dwell (no compensation for weather) and unloaded approximately 1500 paintballs at various angles. After the first 500 the marker was chronographed and my FPS had raised 2fps to approximately 255fps. I lowered my AIR input pressure by 7psi, to 357psi and recorded a 244fps chrono reading. After 1500 more paintballs I recorded 1-barrel break with the room temperature paint and zero barrel breaks with the warmer temperature paint. However, my bolt face break ratio was still 1 out of 1873. Might I also add that the one “break” did not prevent me from continuing my firing string at the moment it occurred.
I loaded up another 250 paintballs (two hoppers of 125, each of the room temperature paint) and now boasted a 2 out of 6131 ratio. I packed up my gear and went home. I recorded 5 different “chrono” strings, each of which was 4 shots and 2 clearing shots for each string. The bolt showed no wear on the breech (from my last test, after the oil test) and on the actual bolt.
Test One: 254fps @ 365psi, LPR 89psi, Dwell 14 & MROF 13.
Test Two: 244psi @ 357psi, LPR 89psi, Dwell 12 & MROF 14.
Early Morning String: 251, 249, 247, 249 (+4/-4) 364psi input
Mid Morning String: 248, 247, 248, 246 (+2/-2) 360psi input
Mid Morning String (2): 236, 235, 233, 236 (+6/-6) 352psi input
End String: 277, 278, 277, 277 (+1/-1) 387psi input
Early Morning String: 243, 246, 250, 239 (+11/-11) 364psi input
Mid Morning String: 244, 249, 239, 244 (+10/-10) 360psi input
Mid Morning String (2): 229, 234, 228, 241 (+12/-12) 352psi input
End String: 268, 276, 277, 266 (+11/-11) 387psi input
Day Four:
The fourth and final day on the field was at 1:30pm and my “test” lasted until approximately 3:15pm. I tested the Diablo Hellfire and once again varied my shooting rhythm and ‘angle of attack.’ I hand picked 100rds for optimum performance and made sure they were kept at 73.6 degrees prior to being put into my hopper and readied. The present temperature outside was 44 degrees, winds out of the W at 3mph and a relative humidity of 70% with a slight drizzle.
Each ball was run through the hopper twice to ensure the feed rate was sufficient and that the loader system would not affect performance for the test. At 1:45pm I chrono checked my marker at 283fps, with an input pressure of 390psi. My LPR pressure checked in at about 90psi. I concluded my testing session with arguable the best paint on the market, stored at optimum temperatures for optimum performance. I unloaded the 100 paintballs as fast as I could… my MROF set at 15 and my Dwell at 14 as I was looking to produce game time results. No breaks on the bolt face, zero breaks in the barrel.
All 2500 Hellfire paints were kept at 73.6 degrees, away from any humidity, moisture or the atmosphere. I lowered my dwell to 13 and my MROF to 13. I emptied my hopper at 10bps and recorded zero bolt face breaks and zero barrel breaks.
I raised my dwell back to 14ms and then continued with my routine and went for a more extensive ‘field test.’ I loaded up my hopper with 184 paintballs that had been stored at optimum temperature prior to testing. I varied my shooting from 13bps to 2bps, shot on the run, on the slide, and at 40-60 degree angles both on the run and stationary. I recorded 2-barrel breaks, and zero bolt face breaks. I’m thinking the result of the barrel breaks was because the paintball was just a bit too big for the insert. For the next half hour I used my gun at optimum settings: 12bps, 14 dwell (no compensation for weather) and unloaded approximately 1150 paintballs at various angles. After the first 800 the marker was chronographed and my FPS had stayed exactly at the same chrono string from the morning, 283/282fps. I didn’t adjust my AIR one bit and enjoyed the excellent consistency. After 950 more paintballs I recorded 1-barrel break with the paint. However, my bolt face break ratio was still 2 out of 8615. Might I also add that the one “break” did not prevent me from continuing my firing string at the moment it occurred.
I loaded up another 250 paintballs (two hoppers of 125, each of the room temperature paint) and now boasted a 2 out of 8865 ratio. I packed up my gear and went home. I recorded 5 different “chrono” strings, each of which was 4 shots and 2 clearing shots for each string. The bolt showed a bit of wear on the breech (from my last test) and a few marks from the ball detente.
Test One: 283fps @ 390psi, LPR 90psi, Dwell 14 & MROF 15.
Test Two: 282psi @ 392psi, LPR 90psi, Dwell 13 & MROF 13.
Early Morning String: 282, 284, 281, 285 (+4/-4) 390psi input
Mid Morning String: 283, 283, 284, 283 (+1/-1) 391psi input
Mid Morning String (2): 282, 283, 283, 282 (+1/-1) 392psi input
End String: 280, 279, 277, 279 (+3/-3) 387psi input
Early Morning String: 274, 279, 284, 271 (+13/-13) 390psi input
Mid Morning String: 277, 282, 274, 285 (+11/-11) 391psi input
Mid Morning String (2): 277, 286, 287, 281 (+10/-10) 392psi input
End String: 266, 276, 269, 273 (+10/-10) 387psi input
Why the Cycle Flow bolt?
1. Lowers air input pressure
2. Provides more stable chrono consistency
3. 10-30 FPS jump
4. Assorted colors
5. Unique 4 hole offset design
Backspin Bolt?
When one looks at the design of the bolt you immediately notice the offset location of three holes on the bottom of the bolt face. So clearly the question raised is: “What do those do?” From my thorough testing I did not determine whether or not my bolt’s design created backspin or even increased distance. Although the bolt design did not deter performance and the entire bolt was machined extremely well.
I could not visually see a distance gain per shot, but precision measurements were not taken per shot grouping. I will let you decide if the bolt really adds distance, it will at least spark a conversation with other players at the field!