valve info

[Spook]

Hi could any of you tell me anything about my valve
Thanks
Luke8979789798897998980089801

[Menace_AO]

Erm. . . .

Looks like a polished classic valve with older shorty foamy bolt. Other than that it's difficult to tell from pics, since all externally identifying stuff has been polished off.

If you crack it open the internal porting might offer some indication of its age, but only if it's an early one.

The lengthy piece of stainless hose may indicate something older, but not necessarily.

Where did you get it? Do you have the original marker from which it came? That also would offer up some clues.

[Spook]

Erm. . . .

Looks like a polished classic valve with older shorty foamy bolt. Other than that it's difficult to tell from pics, since all externally identifying stuff has been polished off.

If you crack it open the internal porting might offer some indication of its age, but only if it's an early one.

The lengthy piece of stainless hose may indicate something older, but not necessarily.

Where did you get it? Do you have the original marker from which it came? That also would offer up some clues.
Thanks i would not know where to start opening it up i will look into that and i believe it came out of Jon bonich's garage here is a picture all i have added is the asa 89802

[Cyco-Dude]

*shrugs* nothing special, just a polished lvl 7 valve. the regulator body may or may not be stock though. neat grips on that automag.

[Menace_AO]

Nice.

Now we're talking. You have an older version, possibly a level 6, but probably just one of the early L7s. That is the WGP pot metal frame and of course the crown point barrel, but it looks like the machining cuts in the barrel are anodized and not raw, which suggests it isn't one of the very earliest ones.

The only other thing I can think of would be to take it apart and look at the sear and also the internal air ports in the valve itself to give further clues. For the latter just take the valve out and unscrew the back half. You'll see some holes in the front half and the back half, and one of the things to look for is whether or not the holes in the two halves would line up with one another when the valve is screwed back together. Just hold them up as they would be mated up and eyeball it. It will be pretty evident. The earliest had smaller air ports and they did not line up. Lots of early speculation that this caused shootdown, but probably that was user error more than anything else.

But either way, this is an older mag, and looks like it was pretty well kept, polished or no.

Check out the video made by Tom Kaye, available here in nine parts:

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?248134-Tom-Kaye-AutoMag-YouTube-Videos

Hope that helps, and good luck with your new toy.

[Spook]

*shrugs* nothing special, just a polished lvl 7 valve. the regulator body may or may not be stock though. neat grips on that automag.

Those grips are coming off and being replaced by wooden grips

[Spook]

Nice.

Now we're talking. You have an older version, possibly a level 6, but probably just one of the early L7s. That is the WGP pot metal frame and of course the crown point barrel, but it looks like the machining cuts in the barrel are anodized and not raw, which suggests it isn't one of the very earliest ones.

The only other thing I can think of would be to take it apart and look at the sear and also the internal air ports in the valve itself to give further clues. For the latter just take the valve out and unscrew the back half. You'll see some holes in the front half and the back half, and one of the things to look for is whether or not the holes in the two halves would line up with one another when the valve is screwed back together. Just hold them up as they would be mated up and eyeball it. It will be pretty evident. The earliest had smaller air ports and they did not line up. Lots of early speculation that this caused shootdown, but probably that was user error more than anything else.

But either way, this is an older mag, and looks like it was pretty well kept, polished or no.

Check out the video made by Tom Kaye, available here in nine parts:

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?248134-Tom-Kaye-AutoMag-YouTube-Videos

Hope that helps, and good luck with your new toy.

I will get more pictures up later

[Spook]

Nice.

Now we're talking. You have an older version, possibly a level 6, but probably just one of the early L7s. That is the WGP pot metal frame and of course the crown point barrel, but it looks like the machining cuts in the barrel are anodized and not raw, which suggests it isn't one of the very earliest ones.

The only other thing I can think of would be to take it apart and look at the sear and also the internal air ports in the valve itself to give further clues. For the latter just take the valve out and unscrew the back half. You'll see some holes in the front half and the back half, and one of the things to look for is whether or not the holes in the two halves would line up with one another when the valve is screwed back together. Just hold them up as they would be mated up and eyeball it. It will be pretty evident. The earliest had smaller air ports and they did not line up. Lots of early speculation that this caused shootdown, but probably that was user error more than anything else.

But either way, this is an older mag, and looks like it was pretty well kept, polished or no.

Check out the video made by Tom Kaye, available here in nine parts:

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?248134-Tom-Kaye-AutoMag-YouTube-Videos

Hope that helps, and good luck with your new toy.
More pictures89803898048980589806

[snoopay700]

Nice.

Now we're talking. You have an older version, possibly a level 6, but probably just one of the early L7s. That is the WGP pot metal frame and of course the crown point barrel, but it looks like the machining cuts in the barrel are anodized and not raw, which suggests it isn't one of the very earliest ones.
Not necessarily, i got a brand new annodized cut barrel for my birthday from my friend in '05, they sold them fairly recently.

However, looking at the sear he's posted up since you posted and the fact that it has an 8 hole mod, i would be inclined to say you are right.

Spook, can you use a nickel to unscrew the power tube tip (brass part that the bolt slides through)? If there's a spring in there, it's definitely a level 6, but from the other clues, as long as the gun has stayed 100% together, it looks like an older valve.

[blackdeath1k]

Why would a spring make it a level 6? Mags didnt come with spacers till mid 90s. My 94-95 level 7 mag had a spring in there originally.

[Spook]

Not necessarily, i got a brand new annodized cut barrel for my birthday from my friend in '05, they sold them fairly recently.

However, looking at the sear he's posted up since you posted and the fact that it has an 8 hole mod, i would be inclined to say you are right.

Spook, can you use a nickel to unscrew the power tube tip (brass part that the bolt slides through)? If there's a spring in there, it's definitely a level 6, but from the other clues, as long as the gun has stayed 100% together, it looks like an older valve.

It has a brass spring in there

[Menace_AO]

Yeah,

This is definitely an older mag. Old L6-style sear, old-style copper spring, but inconclusive on the 8-hole mod.

If you pull off the reg seat there in the middle of the reg (in the center of those eight holes), is there a narrow slot milled into the face of the reg, sort of like a circular saw was accidentally dropped across the top of the hole?

Also, are all of the eight holes milled perpendicular to the reg face, or are there any that have been milled on an angle (roughly 45 degrees or so)?

If any are milled on an angle, then you definitely have an older valve as well as an older marker. I'm guessing it's all original, so either way this is one of the very early ones.

[Cyco-Dude]

that sear looks toast...possibly the bolt as well if the sear is that bad. old reg seat will probably leak once you screw it back together too. someone did the old "8-hole" mod to the regulator body. doesn't really add value, but doesn't detract either.

[Spook]

Yeah,

This is definitely an older mag. Old L6-style sear, old-style copper spring, but inconclusive on the 8-hole mod.

If you pull off the reg seat there in the middle of the reg (in the center of those eight holes), is there a narrow slot milled into the face of the reg, sort of like a circular saw was accidentally dropped across the top of the hole?

Also, are all of the eight holes milled perpendicular to the reg face, or are there any that have been milled on an angle (roughly 45 degrees or so)?

If any are milled on an angle, then you definitely have an older valve as well as an older marker. I'm guessing it's all original, so either way this is one of the very early ones.
The holes are at an angle here's another picture89807

[Spook]

Yeah,

This is definitely an older mag. Old L6-style sear, old-style copper spring, but inconclusive on the 8-hole mod.

If you pull off the reg seat there in the middle of the reg (in the center of those eight holes), is there a narrow slot milled into the face of the reg, sort of like a circular saw was accidentally dropped across the top of the hole?

Also, are all of the eight holes milled perpendicular to the reg face, or are there any that have been milled on an angle (roughly 45 degrees or so)?

If any are milled on an angle, then you definitely have an older valve as well as an older marker. I'm guessing it's all original, so either way this is one of the very early ones.
The holes are at an angle here's another picture89807

[OPBN]

Why would a spring make it a level 6? Mags didnt come with spacers till mid 90s. My 94-95 level 7 mag had a spring in there originally.

Would have to agree, I've run across several that had springs that were all L7.

[Spider-TW]

The spring to spacers thing isn't exact, but certainly dated. The power feed is a level 7 feature. That came out the same time as the crown point barrel milling. The wear on the sear doesn't look like wear as much as someone polishing the edges off, which could lead to excessive wear, so just keep an eye on it. If this were considered a "mostly factory" mag, I would venture that it had been a level 5/6, and updated after AGD caught up on the crown point barrel ano business.

Still, it is a mag and could have been conceived in a nice parts box. Personally, I have taken out a PT spacer and replaced it with a spring when I didn't have the right spacer on hand. :p

PS. That reg seat is nasty and doomed. It may last a few games, but get a new one soon. Garage heat and the old gun oil we used to use kills urethane as well as lots of other seal stuff.

[athomas]

Spider pretty much summed up what I was going to say.

The mag I purchased in 1993 was a level 7 and had all the same features. The valve is clearly a level 7 vintage based on the look of the front of the valve chamber. A powertube spring came in the early level 7 mags for a few years. The powerfeed bodies and crownpoint barrel were stock items on the level 7 mags as well. Mine even had the same backbottle ASA.

The drilled back was an aftermarket modification to help with airflow because the two holes didn't line up on the early valves. They used indexing on the cnc machines so that the threads could be cut identically so that the holes could be drilled to line up on later valves.

The original sear has been modified by filing the side of the area that catches the bolt. This gave less surface area to rub which reduced friction and made the pull easier and smoother. It also reduced the wear area and caused the sear to wear out sooner. Its probably a good idea to replace the sear with a new one.

Yes, that regulator seat is bad. It definately needs a new one of those.

[Spook]

Thanks for all the information and help now to hunt for the spares as i can't find them being sold in the UK

[Laku]

Thanks for all the information and help now to hunt for the spares as i can't find them being sold in the UK

Try this. :)

http://www.planet-paintball.eu/lng/en/gun-upgrades/airgundesigns/automag-minimag-complete-parts-kit.html

[Spook]

Try this. :)

http://www.planet-paintball.eu/lng/en/gun-upgrades/airgundesigns/automag-minimag-complete-parts-kit.html

Thanks buddy