Level Ten and cold weather? Don't mix?

[Fallen Angel]

Hey guys. Pretty much an exclusive lurker here (maybe professional:) but I have been around the block once or twice, both on and off the paintball field... I rarely add to the discussion because you guys usually cover things pretty thouroughly.

Any way, my level ten is up and running great and after over 1000 round break in period I am currently sitting with the smallest carrier and the largest spring and very little fluctuation in FPS. My problem is that my mag still seems pretty rough. I don't have any bolt stick but I don't have a smaller carrier to go to to provide more of Tom's, how do you say, 'sticktion':) Has the cold contracted my o-ring in such a way that this is a fact of life? I can picture my Retro not firing at all in the summer time with a big fat carrier o-ring stuck in there.

Currently if I go to a .5 it doesn't leak but is even more forceful than it now when it fires. If I go to a 1.0 to leaks and if I go to a 1.5 I leaks like a sieve (obviously I went no farther). I did the assembly in the outside in the cold garage to simulate playing conditions and ran out of air before I brought it inside. Can I expect bolt stick once it warms up (and I have some air left over)?

Today I was testing the "anti-chop" ability of my level ten and it really wasn't so good. It was hitting my finger pretty hard and out of the seven times I put a p-ball half in the breach, it was chopped right in half 5 out on the 7 times. Would have done it more but the cold, lack of psi and plain patience prevented me from more tests (I hate cleaning my gun when I accidentally chop much less on purpose). I have been keeping the o-ring very lubed (maybe too much) and have read the previous posts concerning cold weather. I guess I just need to see what you guys think about mine.

Any one else like this out there? Its not really a big deal I guess. I never chopped so much before with my Retro, I was just looking forward to retiring my swab... I am always open to any ideas or criticisms on what I did. Maybe I just need to brak it in more- maybe I should break in one of the other or-rings that came with the level ten kit and see if that one is any better? At any rate, thats all I got. Thanks in advance.

Brian

p.s. Did anyone else notice their trigger pull become somewhat soft, long and a little unreliable with their level ten? What I mean is that pre level ten my retro' pull was nearly like a mouse click and now it pulls quite a bit of distance before it actually fires but once it does fire, if you attempt to keep your finger at the exact spot it fired at, it will sometimes fire two or three more times like you are bouncing the trigger (similair to a really high pressure setting with a reactive trigger). Not what I want. I don't have an adjustable tank and never had a desire to bounce my trigger (call me old school but thats my I like mechanical mags and classic corvettes- when you do something to them, anything, your own physical movement is what is influencing the machine to react). This is actually causing me to want to adjust the sear, which I know from years ago has never really worked with mags. Any one else out there like me? Am I alone aginst the cold cruel world? :)

[BlackVCG]

First suggestion-

Go up to the .5 carrier and then turn down the velocity. You want the largest carrier that doesn't leak so the operating pressure is lower.

When you're testing for bolt force, lightly hold your finger up against the trigger and fire it. This will be the real force the paintball sees. Holding your finger further out towards the front of the breech lets the bolt start getting into the second stage of the stroke.

All paint is going to be brittle during the winter time. The best thing you can do is keep it in a warm area and then bring it out to play once you're ready to shoot it. Keep it in your car at the field if you can.

Do a bounce test on the paint. If it's breaking from six feet on the first or second hit on a hard surface, it's really brittle paint and the best thing to do is get it warm before you use it.

[Fallen Angel]

Holy brittle beach balls batman

The paint is Severe, and I think the cold air may pretty much be the culpruit. I was lucky to get one good bounce out of them. I dropped ten and eight out of the ten broke on the first drop, the other two broke on the second. Oh well. I will see if maybe the cup of water in the bag trick will help them any. I am going to get an air fill tommorrow and try my gun after it is kept warm in the house, we'll see if that helps. thanks for the reply. Shoulda thought to do the bounce test before I posted.

Brian