What level would this be?

[zackzel]

Opened up an old classic valve of mine to put a level 10 in and found it had no powertube spacer but a brass spring instead. Anyone know when they started this powertube peice or whate level this would be?

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/2586/oldlevel76zf.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=oldlevel76zf.jpg)

[Muzikman]

During Level 7 is when they went from PT Springs to spacers.

[AGDlover]

it seems its a LVL6

[Muzikman]

Nope, it's an early level 7.

I bet the valve just says "68Automag" or "68Minimag" and the serial number is probably below 25,000.

[zackzel]

Its actually an early micromag GFX000287. Thanks for the help guys, do these springs wear out?

[Muzikman]

They can. Rebuild kits use to come with two of them.

[Evil1]

I ditched the spacers on both mags I currently use. I always liked the springs better. Some say they suck, but I always got better performance on my mags with them. The spring I have in my classic rt is from the first mag I ever owned back in 96. Back then I ditched the spring because all of my mag user friends told me I NEED a pro team products spacer kit. My friend who doesn't own a mag anymore gave me a whole bunch of extra springs he had from way back. I think you get a nicer trigger pull with them and I never have bolt stick.

[Muzikman]

I have to question the trigger pull change. What effect does the PT spacer have on your trigger pull?

[BigEvil]

I have to question the trigger pull change. What effect does the PT spacer have on your trigger pull?


Believe it or not it does. I cant give you the scientific explanation... probably has something to do with how easy the bolt will blow forward and the how easy the sear will let go of the bolt. The wrong spring or spacer could also make your bolt stick... so for whatever the reason that happens probably has something that affects the trigger pull. But like I said, im really not sure why.

[Dayspring]

Spacer has nothing to do with the sear. It just changes where the oring will sit on the bolt stem.

[Muzikman]

I can see if you have bolt stick and you pull the trigger and it takes the bolt a split second before it releases. I think that would give the illusion that the trigger would be more responsive, but with the correct spacer you should not have bolt stick.

I am not saying that the spring idea was a bad one. But unlike a spacer, they do go bad at some point.

[Thordic]

I always preferred the spring as well.

[ZEROte]

when i was fooling around with a valve some time ago i forgot to insert the spacer and instead of leaking or causing havoc it actually made the trigger snappier. so i do believe that changing the spacer to a spring could make the trigger feel better.

[Evil1]

I don't think the spring dramatically shortens or lightens the pull. I don't think it would have any bearing on that at all. I think it just takes some "slop" out of the trigger. On 3 mags a few of us tested, it definitely gave a more crisp pull. It didn't feel shorter or lighter, just more precise.

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

alright kids spring spacers were in mags since the first what I have to your level seven dude your valve is older than snot but the good thing is that the design hasen't changed much so your in the clear to upgrade it to power spacer

[athomas]

A shorter spacer or a shortened spring (due to wear) prevents the bolt from sitting back as far when at rest. When you pull the trigger, the downward movement of the sear could cause the bolt to be forced back just a bit. With the bolt sitting farther forward it required more trigger pull force to be exerted on the sear to move the bolt back while the sear moved down the edge of the bolt. Putting a longer spacer or a fresh powertube spring pushed the powertube oring farther back into the powertube and basically preloaded the force required to compress that oring so that it took that much less force to move the sear down the face of the bolt.

The result was a lighter more crisp trigger feel when using a longer powertube spacer or a fresh powertube spring.