Breaking Paint

[El Zilcho]

I was trying out my newly purchased (used) X valve with ULT and was getting a ton of breaks. It is a lvl 10 so, I am assuming that I am not chopping paint. Is it possible that the large bore of my old Dye SS barrel is causing these breaks? I was shooting Empire Premium, the field owner told me it was .684 paint. I measured my barrel, it's .687/.688. Should I start looking for a different barrel or should I start by tearing down my lvl 10 and re-tuning it? If a new barrel is the answer, any recommendations?

[OPBN]

What type of body and loader are you using? Using a classic body with wire detents and a forefed hopper can cause double feeding. Especially with small paint.

[El Zilcho]

What type of body and loader are you using? Using a classic body with wire detents and a forefed hopper can cause double feeding. Especially with small paint.

Powerfeed Minimag (has wire detent) and Evlution 4 loader

[knownothingmags]

Wire detents.have been known to catch and break balls

[El Zilcho]

Wire detents.have been known to catch and break balls

Curse them, are plastic detents a drop in solution?

[athomas]

Check the paint to see how it actually fits in the barrel and if its actually consistently round. Then do a drop test on a hard surface to see how brittle the paint is. That will give you an idea if the paint is brittle or not.

A large bore typically won't cause breaks but if the hopper causes more than one ball to enter the breach due to the detents not working properly, then it can become a problem. Metal nubbins should be fine. The only reason plastic ones are better is because they don't break and get caught in the bolt mechanism and scratch things up inside the barrel. Wrap a piece of tape around the barrel where the little knob is located at the back of the nubbin if it is a plastic nubbin. That will push the nubbin farther into the barrel. If its a metal one, put a slight bend in it to do the same thing. It might help.

[El Zilcho]

Check the paint to see how it actually fits in the barrel and if its actually consistently round. Then do a drop test on a hard surface to see how brittle the paint is. That will give you an idea if the paint is brittle or not.

A large bore typically won't cause breaks but if the hopper causes more than one ball to enter the breach due to the detents not working properly, then it can become a problem. Metal nubbins should be fine. The only reason plastic ones are better is because they don't break and get caught in the bolt mechanism and scratch things up inside the barrel. Wrap a piece of tape around the barrel where the little knob is located at the back of the nubbin if it is a plastic nubbin. That will push the nubbin farther into the barrel. If its a metal one, put a slight bend in it to do the same thing. It might help.
I will have to investigate, thanks for the ideas.