Badmovies.org
06-01-2007, 10:24 AM
Andrew's AGD Chronicles 26 May 2007
I purchased a case for the MiniTac Pro. The case is a Pelican 1600 with pick and pluck foam. It is a bit larger than needed; I think that a 1550 model would have worked (though a 1520 would have been too small if I wanted the Vlocity and barrel in the case).
A picture of the marker in the case:
http://www.badmovies.org/common/forum/minitac_case1.jpg
Another new purchase was a Y-Grip and Splinter Pro trigger from Tuna. Those arrived quite quickly. My intent is to upgrade my secondary marker, a customized RT Pro, with those parts, along with a Recon Rail I have had. To complete the upgrade, I want to swap out the regular ULE body for an RPG Exile Body and put an AGD Flatline reg on the 68/4500 tank.
Picture of the RT Pro (it now has a 2007 Scepter barrel kit):
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2313213&postcount=2198
I swapped out the regular blade trigger in the Y-Grip for the RPG Splinter Pro following the same steps as in my older Chronicles post. No problems and no damage resulted.
Andrew's AGD Chronicles 28 April 2007, swapping out triggers:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=214340
One issue I am trying to solve is completely degassing the MiniTac Pro. The only line is a single piece of steel-braided hose from the valve to the AGD Flatline. I have a quick disconnect at the Flatline end of the 13" hose. If I turn off the Flatline, I can fire three or four shots and the pressure between the Flatline and the valve drops to about 380 psi. However, I cannot remove that pressure unless I pop the quick disconnect. I looked at one solution suggested by others on the forum, using a slide beck, but that starts to get bulky. Instead, I found reference to a Pro Connect, which appears to be a quick disconnect with something like a slide check integrated. One is on order, so I'll see if it will work when it comes in.
Tunaman taught me a neat trick that works when trying to help someone check if they have the right carrier. I've always done the fitting by feel, but that is of no use when you are trying to teach someone, especially via a forum post. This works much better:
Oil your o-ring, put it into the 2.0 carrier (2 lines, no dots), slide it onto the bolt stem and attempt to dangle the bolt (you are holding the carrier while trying this). If the bolt slips off the carrier from its own weight, go to a smaller carrier. Use the largest carrier that will not allow the bolt to slip off using this test. Do not add any shims yet. Oil everything, assemble, and break in the o-ring by shooting out a tank of air. After doing this, you may need to change carriers and use the next smallest. Now, start adding shims one at a time until it leaks down the barrel. Take the shim out. You are ready to go.
I went to play paintball at Robin Hood Paintball, near Aberdeen, MD. My two nephews (Joe-Joe, 13 and Daniel, 11) and brother-in-law, Joe, came out to play. The day was a birthday gift for Joe-Joe. I provided Joe-Joe with my customized RT Pro and everything he needed to play. Joe and Daniel rented their Tippmann 98's and other gear, along with buying the inexpensive field paint; they used 1300 rounds all day. Joe and I were using X-Ball Silver which I picked up beforehand; we fired 2500 rounds between the two of us. I believe that we played nine games total, though I sat one game out for reasons described later.
The .690 insert fit the X-Ball Silver correctly. I did not have problems with it breaking correctly, but I have had some time to play with the X-Ball now and do not think it is as accurate as Marbalizer. Despite having some issues with Marbs breaking, I am wondering if perhaps that bouncy batch will finally have been sold out since summer is here (I was usually getting it from OA Paintball) and I can go back to Marbalizers. That being said, my accuracy with the X-Ball was not horrible in any way or form.
Chrono for both the MiniTac Pro and the RT Pro were good, with no more than 15 fps deviation. The maximum fps for Robin Hood is 280. One shot from the MiniTac Pro was 281, but the others were 268-276, so I considered that an anomaly - probably a fat paintball. I always shoot about ten shots to get a good chrono check.
It was hot. The temperature was in the mid 80's, with humidity. We all made sure to start hydrating the night before and brought two coolers with water, Gatorade, and lemonade. Joe and the boys all wore long pants with long sleeve shirts. I opted for my normal attire: old camouflage uniform, with extra buffer provided to my groin by a pair of green PT shorts. I did not wear the camouflage blouse and my torso was covered by a loose fitting "Penguin Lust Paintball Team" t-shirt that must be twelve years old. (It has a picture of Opus running with a paintball marker on the back.)
The teams were pretty large. At one point I believe we had a game with eighteen versus seventeen. At first, the teams were not balanced. Part of this was the customer crowd at Robin Hood Paintball. There were a lot of players in the 12 - 16 range. Some had flashy markers, but they tended to play timid and did not know how and when to move. The other members of my family who were playing might have started out pretty rough, but by the end of the day they were doing better. Since it was the first time ever for two of them, and only the second time for Joe-Joe, I would say that they were learning fine.
Something else about the teams. The opposite side had four or five guys who were obviously a team. They had expensive electronic markers (DMs, Egos), full jersey and pants outfits, and worked together. I made every effort to engage them, always putting myself between them and the nephews. That worked in some ways; except for one game I always eliminated at least one of them (if I remember correctly) and once took out three. Being aggressive and charging worked, though it got painful once they had an idea how I worked. I would get the one I was after, but the other two or three would rip me good.
After we played, I noticed something that makes me think one of those five guys was shooting hot, probably one of their back players. I have five welts on me that were black and blue, three or four inches across. This includes two that did so through my camouflage pants and the shorts underneath. One welt was bloody, despite going through fabric. It makes sense that a back player would shoot hot, to be able to shoot across the entire field. Really, I have rarely seen welts like this on me in more than fifteen years of playing and those were usually due to CO2 markers used on hot days. None of my hits were from shooters exceptionally close. My honest opinion is that somebody was shooting hot. If I see that gent out there again, I will pay attention to him and if he seems to be shooting hot, we will take a walk to the chrono together.
There was a player out there using a nice Phantom (pump). He was good. He was also easy to identify, since he was wearing a tiger strip camo pattern. Whenever he was on the other team, I would look for him and considered him a priority target. One time, I scared the daylights out of him, but failed to hit him due to an intervening brush. However, once I hit him with a longball shot that must have been 40 yards.
A few times over the last few months, I have seen why people wear the expensive paintball jerseys and pants. I get a good hit on them, but the ball does not break. That happened a few times when I was playing this time. This troubles me, because, if it were not for the way the jersey/pants are designed, the ball probably would have broken. However, I do not see any way that a rule could be made about the type of clothing someone wears or how it fits. One of the things I do when I feel a good hit is call myself out, whether the ball breaks or not (heck, sometimes I cannot even see where it hit, but if it felt solid - I'm out). The result is a weird feeling. I believe that it is unfair the other guy is wearing clothing specifically made to deny me an elimination, I perceive that it works as advertised, I have a desire to gain that same "protection" from being eliminated, but must refuse based on principle. If someone puts a paintball on me square, I should be out, not still shooting as it rolls off of my clothing.
I also have a problem with shooting at someone's head. Unless that is the only part of them I can see, I naturally aim elsewhere. Given a full target, my point of aim is the center of the chest. I don't like shooting people in the face.
Keeping that previous paragraph in mind, there was one game I shot the heck out of somebody in the head, because they made me mad. We were playing airball. Small field, like fifteen on a team, it was brutal at first. There were three of us shooting from the back left soda can. I was shooting on the left, but saw an opportunity to move up and did so. Before I moved, I made sure to tell Joe-Joe that he needed to shoot on the left to keep the mirror soda can off our backs (which he did not - oh well). After bumping up I look over and have a clear shot at one of the opposing team in the snake. He had no idea I was up there. I fired a few single shots and the third or so hit him on the side of the mask, big break. He ducked down and, about a minute later, popped back up, still shooting and having wiped. At that point I was angry and rapid fired him best I could. Easily half a dozen balls hit him in the head. At that point, he left the field.
I felt a little guilty about shooting somebody up like that, but wiping always gets me angry. Always.
Robin Hood's fill station had a problem later in the day and could not fill to 4500 psi; the most they could do was about 3300 psi. That starts to be a pain in the rear when you shoot an Automag.
Joe-Joe experienced some bolt stick problems with my spare RT Pro. Early on, it was only when he really chuffed (as in multiple chuffs) or had terrible trigger control. I solved that by adding two shims. However, around 1:30pm, as it became hotter, it did it during normal firing. I sat out a game to fix the problem, letting him use the MiniTac Pro. What I found was that the Lvl 10 carrier was too small, making the o-ring too tight. I had originally tuned the Lvl 10 while playing in 40 degree weather and checked it a few days prior when it was about 60 out. Now, in the sun and with the temperature and humidity so much higher, tolerances had changed and I needed a larger carrier.
Joe Joe loved the MiniTac Pro. One reason I am going to fully upgrade my secondary marker is to let my nephews enjoy using a fully upped AGD mechanical marker.
Amusingly, I kept putting myself out in front and engaging those team guys with their electros (boy, they could and would throw a lot of paint - I don't want their paint bill). Once I was doing that against three of them and this guy on my team, who was twenty yards behind me, starts yelling, "Where are they? I can't see them?" My response was, "They're in front of me. Shooting at me. Move up!" The guy did not and I eventually got hit as I ran to a position where I could put real pressure on the other team. As I sat out, who do I see leapfrogging the one guy playing it safe? My brother-in-law and my nephews. They were working together and moved up to where I had been to engage the other team. Did a pretty good job of it, too. It was only once the other team made a concentrated push, flanking the boys and their father from two directions, that they got out.
Those three still try for shots that are a bit long, but they don't just spray paint and that last game I could see them working the angles to either get the elimination or put pressure on their opponents. It was good to see that from them.
Joe-Joe and Daniel loved playing paintball and had a blast. I hope that I can get out there and play with them again this summer.
Shot count for the MiniTac Pro is now 14,000
Shot count for the customized RT Pro is now 13,000
Pics of the MiniTac Pro:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2352594&postcount=2233
Current setup for the MiniTac Pro:
X-Valve with Lvl 10 (3 shims, 1.5 carrier - I am planning to retune it due to the temperature change)
Mini-Tac Mainbody w/dual RPG detents and RPG clamping feedneck
Tac Rail
RPG Intelliframe with Splinter Pro Trigger
ULT (6 ULT shims)
Hogue .45 Grips
Viewloader Vlocity
CP Razor Drop
RT Pro Front Grip
Shrink-wrapped Hose w/Quick Disconnect
68/4500 Tank with AGD 4500 Flatline Regulator and Dye Rhino cover
12" Powerlyte 2007 Scepter kit (.684, .686, .688, .690, and .692 inserts)
Pelican 1600 Case
Previous entries in the Chronicles here:
12 May 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=214981
28 April 2007
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=214340
22 April 2007
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213998
14 April 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213611
5 April 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213102
25 March 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212556
24 February 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=211063
I purchased a case for the MiniTac Pro. The case is a Pelican 1600 with pick and pluck foam. It is a bit larger than needed; I think that a 1550 model would have worked (though a 1520 would have been too small if I wanted the Vlocity and barrel in the case).
A picture of the marker in the case:
http://www.badmovies.org/common/forum/minitac_case1.jpg
Another new purchase was a Y-Grip and Splinter Pro trigger from Tuna. Those arrived quite quickly. My intent is to upgrade my secondary marker, a customized RT Pro, with those parts, along with a Recon Rail I have had. To complete the upgrade, I want to swap out the regular ULE body for an RPG Exile Body and put an AGD Flatline reg on the 68/4500 tank.
Picture of the RT Pro (it now has a 2007 Scepter barrel kit):
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2313213&postcount=2198
I swapped out the regular blade trigger in the Y-Grip for the RPG Splinter Pro following the same steps as in my older Chronicles post. No problems and no damage resulted.
Andrew's AGD Chronicles 28 April 2007, swapping out triggers:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=214340
One issue I am trying to solve is completely degassing the MiniTac Pro. The only line is a single piece of steel-braided hose from the valve to the AGD Flatline. I have a quick disconnect at the Flatline end of the 13" hose. If I turn off the Flatline, I can fire three or four shots and the pressure between the Flatline and the valve drops to about 380 psi. However, I cannot remove that pressure unless I pop the quick disconnect. I looked at one solution suggested by others on the forum, using a slide beck, but that starts to get bulky. Instead, I found reference to a Pro Connect, which appears to be a quick disconnect with something like a slide check integrated. One is on order, so I'll see if it will work when it comes in.
Tunaman taught me a neat trick that works when trying to help someone check if they have the right carrier. I've always done the fitting by feel, but that is of no use when you are trying to teach someone, especially via a forum post. This works much better:
Oil your o-ring, put it into the 2.0 carrier (2 lines, no dots), slide it onto the bolt stem and attempt to dangle the bolt (you are holding the carrier while trying this). If the bolt slips off the carrier from its own weight, go to a smaller carrier. Use the largest carrier that will not allow the bolt to slip off using this test. Do not add any shims yet. Oil everything, assemble, and break in the o-ring by shooting out a tank of air. After doing this, you may need to change carriers and use the next smallest. Now, start adding shims one at a time until it leaks down the barrel. Take the shim out. You are ready to go.
I went to play paintball at Robin Hood Paintball, near Aberdeen, MD. My two nephews (Joe-Joe, 13 and Daniel, 11) and brother-in-law, Joe, came out to play. The day was a birthday gift for Joe-Joe. I provided Joe-Joe with my customized RT Pro and everything he needed to play. Joe and Daniel rented their Tippmann 98's and other gear, along with buying the inexpensive field paint; they used 1300 rounds all day. Joe and I were using X-Ball Silver which I picked up beforehand; we fired 2500 rounds between the two of us. I believe that we played nine games total, though I sat one game out for reasons described later.
The .690 insert fit the X-Ball Silver correctly. I did not have problems with it breaking correctly, but I have had some time to play with the X-Ball now and do not think it is as accurate as Marbalizer. Despite having some issues with Marbs breaking, I am wondering if perhaps that bouncy batch will finally have been sold out since summer is here (I was usually getting it from OA Paintball) and I can go back to Marbalizers. That being said, my accuracy with the X-Ball was not horrible in any way or form.
Chrono for both the MiniTac Pro and the RT Pro were good, with no more than 15 fps deviation. The maximum fps for Robin Hood is 280. One shot from the MiniTac Pro was 281, but the others were 268-276, so I considered that an anomaly - probably a fat paintball. I always shoot about ten shots to get a good chrono check.
It was hot. The temperature was in the mid 80's, with humidity. We all made sure to start hydrating the night before and brought two coolers with water, Gatorade, and lemonade. Joe and the boys all wore long pants with long sleeve shirts. I opted for my normal attire: old camouflage uniform, with extra buffer provided to my groin by a pair of green PT shorts. I did not wear the camouflage blouse and my torso was covered by a loose fitting "Penguin Lust Paintball Team" t-shirt that must be twelve years old. (It has a picture of Opus running with a paintball marker on the back.)
The teams were pretty large. At one point I believe we had a game with eighteen versus seventeen. At first, the teams were not balanced. Part of this was the customer crowd at Robin Hood Paintball. There were a lot of players in the 12 - 16 range. Some had flashy markers, but they tended to play timid and did not know how and when to move. The other members of my family who were playing might have started out pretty rough, but by the end of the day they were doing better. Since it was the first time ever for two of them, and only the second time for Joe-Joe, I would say that they were learning fine.
Something else about the teams. The opposite side had four or five guys who were obviously a team. They had expensive electronic markers (DMs, Egos), full jersey and pants outfits, and worked together. I made every effort to engage them, always putting myself between them and the nephews. That worked in some ways; except for one game I always eliminated at least one of them (if I remember correctly) and once took out three. Being aggressive and charging worked, though it got painful once they had an idea how I worked. I would get the one I was after, but the other two or three would rip me good.
After we played, I noticed something that makes me think one of those five guys was shooting hot, probably one of their back players. I have five welts on me that were black and blue, three or four inches across. This includes two that did so through my camouflage pants and the shorts underneath. One welt was bloody, despite going through fabric. It makes sense that a back player would shoot hot, to be able to shoot across the entire field. Really, I have rarely seen welts like this on me in more than fifteen years of playing and those were usually due to CO2 markers used on hot days. None of my hits were from shooters exceptionally close. My honest opinion is that somebody was shooting hot. If I see that gent out there again, I will pay attention to him and if he seems to be shooting hot, we will take a walk to the chrono together.
There was a player out there using a nice Phantom (pump). He was good. He was also easy to identify, since he was wearing a tiger strip camo pattern. Whenever he was on the other team, I would look for him and considered him a priority target. One time, I scared the daylights out of him, but failed to hit him due to an intervening brush. However, once I hit him with a longball shot that must have been 40 yards.
A few times over the last few months, I have seen why people wear the expensive paintball jerseys and pants. I get a good hit on them, but the ball does not break. That happened a few times when I was playing this time. This troubles me, because, if it were not for the way the jersey/pants are designed, the ball probably would have broken. However, I do not see any way that a rule could be made about the type of clothing someone wears or how it fits. One of the things I do when I feel a good hit is call myself out, whether the ball breaks or not (heck, sometimes I cannot even see where it hit, but if it felt solid - I'm out). The result is a weird feeling. I believe that it is unfair the other guy is wearing clothing specifically made to deny me an elimination, I perceive that it works as advertised, I have a desire to gain that same "protection" from being eliminated, but must refuse based on principle. If someone puts a paintball on me square, I should be out, not still shooting as it rolls off of my clothing.
I also have a problem with shooting at someone's head. Unless that is the only part of them I can see, I naturally aim elsewhere. Given a full target, my point of aim is the center of the chest. I don't like shooting people in the face.
Keeping that previous paragraph in mind, there was one game I shot the heck out of somebody in the head, because they made me mad. We were playing airball. Small field, like fifteen on a team, it was brutal at first. There were three of us shooting from the back left soda can. I was shooting on the left, but saw an opportunity to move up and did so. Before I moved, I made sure to tell Joe-Joe that he needed to shoot on the left to keep the mirror soda can off our backs (which he did not - oh well). After bumping up I look over and have a clear shot at one of the opposing team in the snake. He had no idea I was up there. I fired a few single shots and the third or so hit him on the side of the mask, big break. He ducked down and, about a minute later, popped back up, still shooting and having wiped. At that point I was angry and rapid fired him best I could. Easily half a dozen balls hit him in the head. At that point, he left the field.
I felt a little guilty about shooting somebody up like that, but wiping always gets me angry. Always.
Robin Hood's fill station had a problem later in the day and could not fill to 4500 psi; the most they could do was about 3300 psi. That starts to be a pain in the rear when you shoot an Automag.
Joe-Joe experienced some bolt stick problems with my spare RT Pro. Early on, it was only when he really chuffed (as in multiple chuffs) or had terrible trigger control. I solved that by adding two shims. However, around 1:30pm, as it became hotter, it did it during normal firing. I sat out a game to fix the problem, letting him use the MiniTac Pro. What I found was that the Lvl 10 carrier was too small, making the o-ring too tight. I had originally tuned the Lvl 10 while playing in 40 degree weather and checked it a few days prior when it was about 60 out. Now, in the sun and with the temperature and humidity so much higher, tolerances had changed and I needed a larger carrier.
Joe Joe loved the MiniTac Pro. One reason I am going to fully upgrade my secondary marker is to let my nephews enjoy using a fully upped AGD mechanical marker.
Amusingly, I kept putting myself out in front and engaging those team guys with their electros (boy, they could and would throw a lot of paint - I don't want their paint bill). Once I was doing that against three of them and this guy on my team, who was twenty yards behind me, starts yelling, "Where are they? I can't see them?" My response was, "They're in front of me. Shooting at me. Move up!" The guy did not and I eventually got hit as I ran to a position where I could put real pressure on the other team. As I sat out, who do I see leapfrogging the one guy playing it safe? My brother-in-law and my nephews. They were working together and moved up to where I had been to engage the other team. Did a pretty good job of it, too. It was only once the other team made a concentrated push, flanking the boys and their father from two directions, that they got out.
Those three still try for shots that are a bit long, but they don't just spray paint and that last game I could see them working the angles to either get the elimination or put pressure on their opponents. It was good to see that from them.
Joe-Joe and Daniel loved playing paintball and had a blast. I hope that I can get out there and play with them again this summer.
Shot count for the MiniTac Pro is now 14,000
Shot count for the customized RT Pro is now 13,000
Pics of the MiniTac Pro:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2352594&postcount=2233
Current setup for the MiniTac Pro:
X-Valve with Lvl 10 (3 shims, 1.5 carrier - I am planning to retune it due to the temperature change)
Mini-Tac Mainbody w/dual RPG detents and RPG clamping feedneck
Tac Rail
RPG Intelliframe with Splinter Pro Trigger
ULT (6 ULT shims)
Hogue .45 Grips
Viewloader Vlocity
CP Razor Drop
RT Pro Front Grip
Shrink-wrapped Hose w/Quick Disconnect
68/4500 Tank with AGD 4500 Flatline Regulator and Dye Rhino cover
12" Powerlyte 2007 Scepter kit (.684, .686, .688, .690, and .692 inserts)
Pelican 1600 Case
Previous entries in the Chronicles here:
12 May 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=214981
28 April 2007
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=214340
22 April 2007
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213998
14 April 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213611
5 April 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213102
25 March 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212556
24 February 2007:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=211063