Old Mag Design Question

I believe my mag is old. I mean really old. Like pre-stars-on-the-valve old. Anyways, the first game I played with my Superbolt, it was for some reason chopping my paint to **** and back. After playing, I took it apart and noticed my wire nubbin had been smashed flat against the body of my barrel, and when I replaced it with a plastic one, there was a big, nasty scar on the barrel where the wire had dug in. Also, the first 2-3 millimeters of the sleeve of my superbolt had been chewed up, with scratches and the like on it. So, I decided to get out my old bolt, and noticed that it was at least 2-3 mm shorter. So my questions are, where, besides the bolt, is there a difference between my mag and some newer ones? The body? The power tube? And also, I have a Z-Body on the way, will using it do anything to my mag if I stick with the old bolt, or would it not push forward far enough, thus not sealing off the breech and sending air up my powerfeed?

The power-tube tip is most likely different, and your valve might have a power-tuvbe spring instead of a spacer, and a non-reversable on/off top. There are no updates to the basic valve, merely minor tweaks to the ancillary parts, which will fit your valve as well.

Note that the Superbolts are long-nose bolts, so they will be longer than older foamy & non-foamy bolts, the length change helped to reduce blow-back, making the vert feed mag a practical exercise for the first time.

OK, so all this means that my Z-Body will work ok? Awesome, but I guess I'll hafta wait until I get a retro valve to use lvl 10.

nope level 10 will work with your current valve.....

though you may need to get a new springpack for the back part of the valve... other then that you just need the level 10 update kit....

awesome job pimpin up the gun! youll love the retro and the z body! i cant speak for the lvl 10 though cause i havent used one

I have an old pre star valve from 1993. The level 10 works fine and is a recommended upgrade.

Other upgrades include getting a new style on/off top, and making sure the hole in the valve back lines up with the hole in the valve front. If it doesn't, drill a new hole in the back so that it lines up.