Andrew's AGD Chronicles 20070405

[Badmovies.org]

I have always maintained two markers, but had sold off both of my old ones when I purchased my RT Pro. To return to my prior status, I looked into the cost of an AGD marker with every nice upgrade I could think of. The goal was something matching my RT Pro, but with dual detents and a clamping feedneck. After some looking, I settled on a Mini Tac Pro from Rogue.

The Mini Tac Pro is a Tac-One body cut down, along with an RPG feedneck and RPG dual detents. It has a splinter trigger Intelliframe with Dye grips, forward ASA and grip, Proto barrel, stock AGD ASA, black aluminum fittings with black shrink-wrapped hose, and a custom flat finish. Something I did not notice it was missing (from my criteria) was the ULT. Just before it arrived I noticed the difference and ordered a ULT from Tunaman.

I paid $599 for the marker and shipping. I also ordered some other items at additional cost.

The marker arrived on March 29th, which was about a week after making payment. The finish is very flat black, much rougher and less reflective than other flat black paintball parts. If you have seen the green paint on a HMMWV, imagine that in black. It looks nice, but getting matching parts (like a barrel kit, drop forward, and on/off ASA) is not possible unless you find someone who will do a custom anodizing job to match.

The changes I intended for the marker were: ULT, Custom Products on/off ASA, Custom Products Razor drop forward, quick disconnect (to the ASA), Powerlyte 2007 Scepter kit, and Hogue grips. The ASA came from Rogue, the drop forward was obtained from the local Pevs, and I already have the Scepter kit. With the ULT on the way from Tunaman, I only needed my quick disconnect and the Hogue grips. Those should be easy to pick up from a local paintball store and a local gun shop, right? No deal on either. I had to order both online.

The Hogue order and quick disconnects (the latter ordered from Compulsive Paintball) came on 4 April 2007, five days after I ordered them. Before changing the setup, I checked the marker. The bolt and parts were dry and the fit for the Lvl 10 bolt seemed a little tight. The 1.0 carrier was installed.

After lubricating with KC Trouble Free oil I tested carriers and the 1.5 seemed to be the best fit. The change between the 1.5 and 2.0 was dramatic. Normally, I would say that the 1.5 was a little too tight, but the 2.0 definitely felt too loose. I also put in the red spring, as the brass one was installed. I aired the marker up by screwing in my 68/4500 HP Crossfire after adding 8 drops KC Trouble Free to the ASA. No audible leaks, but I got a bowl of dishwashing liquid and water, along with a small paintbrush, to check all of the connections.

Every connection had tiny leaks. No big deal, as I was changing out most of the parts and would have to unscrew them anyway. The leaks were very small, only some frothing bubbles at each fitting, so they would probably not affect the operation of the marker at all.

I degassed (gads, how I hate not using a on/off ASA) and set about customizing the marker. Removing the steel hose from the ASA fitting was hard! All of the fittings were sealed with teflon tape and it was a thicker type than I use (a Navy dental technician gave me the roll I use many years ago). I also noticed a sliver of metal come out when I took out the tape inside of the ASA-end aluminum 90 fitting. While they look nice with their black anodizing, I do not believe that the aluminum fittings are as durable as steel. I also put male plugs (no teflon tape, no air was going through it) into the unused holes on the foregrip adapter and foregrip. I could not insert the plug into the adapter more than halfway. I finally pulled out my tap and die set to recut the threads, as I believed the anodizing might be the problem there. That allowed me to finally screw in the plug, though it was tight at the end.

I tightened everything down, regassed the marker, and checked for leaks. Had to redo the female side of the quick disconnect once due to a small leak, but the second try fixed it. There was something goofy about the quick disconnect. I had ordered two from Compulsive, both were PMI brand, and I think the quality was low. The threading seemed a little off and they did not fit my Craftsman wrenches correctly (yes, I was using the right wrench - it was just a hair tight). I tried both and found the same thing. Recently, I have used 32 Degrees quick disconnects with no problems. I should probably try to stick with those.

While doing all of this I also found that the feedneck unscrewed easily from the body. The threading there does not take many turns, so I cleaned off the threads, applied Loctite (red in this case, I do not intend to remove the feedneck) and screwed it back in.

In any case when I had to clean the air fittings (inside or out) of teflon tape I used a dental pick and sometimes a Q-tip. I also vented air through a female fitting to blow any debris out, either by using the tank or a bottle of canned air. My goal is to prevent any old tape or debris from getting to the valve, because then you have to disassemble and clean the valve.

Now, finally, no leaks, all the stuff I want on it except the ULT. I dry fired the marker about 500 times to break stuff in, especially the Lvl 10 o-ring. I found that the 1.5 carrier was the largest that did not leak and that I could put in 2 shims. I still do not like how tight the action of the bolt feels, so I might replace the o-ring and play with the Lvl 10 once the ULT arrives. My intent is to play with this marker for the first time on 7 April 2007.

Current setup:

X-Valve with Lvl 10 (2 shims, 1.5 carrier)
Mini-Tac Mainbody w/dual RPG detents and RPG clamping feedneck
Tac Rail
Splinter Trigger Intelliframe
Hogue .45 Grips
Viewloader Vlocity
CP Razor Drop
CP On/Off ASA
RT Pro Front Grip
Shrink-wrapped Hose Smith w/Quick Disconnect
68/4500 High Pressure Crossfire Tank
12" Powerlyte 2007 Scepter kit (.684, .686, .688, .690, and .692 inserts)

ULT Trigger Kit is on the way from Tunaman

Pictures of the marker:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2338312&postcount=2218

[yaaaowHuggs]

how do you like the scepter kit? i was thinkin bout just getting a .684 ultralite back for my marballizer shootin days. i shot a scepter ONCE, but it was over the chrono and was proforming pretty well consistancy wise, never got a chance to shoot at someone with it. what bore size have you been using with marballizer on that kit?

also how do you like the red spring? i used to use the smallest one but everytime i chuffed the ball would break out of the barrel (still better than chopping) so i switched to the longest one and it works awesome.

so now you've got 2 mags :headbang:

[Badmovies.org]

I like the 2007 Scepter kit a lot. In fact, I purchased another that should arrive this week. Both markers are very similar for the extras: Scepter, Vlocity, 68/4500 Crossfire, drop-forward, on/off ASA.

Every time I have shot Marbalizer the best fit has been with the .686 insert. I think that .684 will be too tight if you use that one.

When I can play on a field that allows 285 fps all the time, I tend to go with the longer spring too. However, I have had some games that require me to drop to 250. As such, the red spring almost always works for 250 (I have had poor luck with the longest spring at that velocity).

My old classic Automag had a very low rate of breakage while using the red spring. My new RT Pro that I have been using has not broken any balls and that is after more than 4 cases. On the other hand, it has only chuffed on a ball a handful of times.

[yaaaowHuggs]

ooo, i don't think .684 would be too small... i guess we'll see.
i noticed that youve got a pretty big drop on that set up, i feel its so much easier to aim, rather than feel. i like my tank in a position where in minimizes height, yet is far foward enough to not make the entire set up huge (like my friends dragon timmy with a unimount and a 68 ci, that thing is HUGE), i've found that my air america rail (the one that comes with the armaggeddon) with my 4.5k flatline works great. :headbang: but you find it easy enough to aim with that big drop? or do you prefer to feel your shots?

[Badmovies.org]

Different batches of Marbalizers might turn out a bit different. The ones I have been encountering have been a slightly tight fit for the .686, but a little too loose for .688. A .687 would probably have been perfect.

I had to adjust and learn to aim with that new drop. (The setup is almost exactly the same as my other marker). My reason for it was to reduce the length of my marker, because I tend to play front, running and ducking behind things. The drop reduces my length by about three inches. If I could, I would love a 10" Scepter barrel - but they do not make them. It did take some practice to get used to aiming with that drop on the marker. However, I seem to have the muscle memory now.

[Badmovies.org]

A follow-up to this. I did not play over the weekend. The weather was cold and the ULT had not arrived yet, so we postponed until next weekend. The ULT arrived today. I shimmed it, gassed up the marker, and fired about 10 shots. The valve began to leak from the forward hole on the side of the valve. I took it apart and checked the reg pin and o-rings. They looked good. I cleaned and lubed them, put the marker back together and still leaking.

Going for the quick and easy fix, I replaced both of the o-rings at the top of the reg pin (not the ones that require removing the tiny clip). Oiled them, gassed up, and good to go now. I fired about 1000 dry fires, going between rapid and slow, and taking a rest now and then. No leaks. I want to run at least one more tank of dry firing through the marker to get everything broken in.

Shot count for the marker is 1500 (all dry fires).

[athomas]

Every time I have shot Marbalizer the best fit has been with the .686 insert. I think that .684 will be too tight if you use that one.
With a smaller bore barrel, you risk having an odd shaped ball cause a barrel break. Always err on the side of a large bore.