Threading Plastic?

[snoopay700]

Hey, my friends and i, after years of talking about it, now finally have the money and guns to form a team, however not all of us have guns that can keep a high rate of fire. That being said one of my friends will have to use my other friend's electro Piranha and the trigger is just awful, the return spring makes it so that it's hardly walkable, like you can walk it, but it's not consistent at all and just sounds sporadic.

Anyway so my idea to make this gun actually useful to him was to make it more walkable because it can keep up with the rate of fire and it has eyes (although we have yet to figure out how to turn them on, the manual was no help) so my idea is simple, drill and tap the trigger for 3 set screws, one to adjust the switch, one to adjust the trigger pull, and one to have a magnet on it for the return (the return spring is behind the trigger). My question is would it be better to drill and tap the holes or just simply drill the holes and put the screws in and let them tap themselves, or would it be better not to do it at all because it will weaken the trigger too much? I'd appreciate any help anyone can give me on this as i've never tried tapping plastic before and i'm hoping at least one person here has.

[xero28]

I guess depending on the hardness of the plastic, tapping the holes shouldn't be a problem. I just tapped a delrin pump handle for my cocker. (At least, I think it's delrin) It was quite easy to do. I did use a tap for this as the delrin is a bit hard. If it's a softer plastic the screws should be able to do the job just fine, just make sure the holes are just slightly smaller than the screws. If the holes are too small it may be really difficult. That's all I've got. Good luck.

-X

[luke]

Use a tap.

[snoopay700]

Use a tap.

Ok, i wasn't sure if that would make the threads too big or not due to it being plastic and seeing as i have nothing to test it on i didn't want to screw up my friend's trigger. Thanks luke, and also how well do you think a plastic composite (all they said so all the box said so that's all i really have to go off of what kind of plastic it is) trigger would hold up to that?

[Spider-TW]

The composite may not be the same, but I put a #6 screw (drilled and tapped) straight down the skinny safety arm of an AGD trigger. The threads actually showed a little on one side but they cut well and the rest of the trigger supported the screw. As long as you are cutting the AGD composite it is very clean. I also drilled a hole for a cocker sear pin in the same frame that came out good. I've seen some ugly marks on those frames that must have been from dremel grinding bits.

For piranha upgrades you might look at Boss Paintball Products for ideas if not parts. I took my son through an entire upgrade on an R6, with the trigger, flush cocking delrin bolt and "low pressure" parts. It's kind of funny seeing a piranha run 10-13 bps with a good rope. Chops are a killer though.

[snoopay700]

The composite may not be the same, but I put a #6 screw (drilled and tapped) straight down the skinny safety arm of an AGD trigger. The threads actually showed a little on one side but they cut well and the rest of the trigger supported the screw. As long as you are cutting the AGD composite it is very clean. I also drilled a hole for a cocker sear pin in the same frame that came out good. I've seen some ugly marks on those frames that must have been from dremel grinding bits.

For piranha upgrades you might look at Boss Paintball Products for ideas if not parts. I took my son through an entire upgrade on an R6, with the trigger, flush cocking delrin bolt and "low pressure" parts. It's kind of funny seeing a piranha run 10-13 bps with a good rope. Chops are a killer though.

Well he's got the gts or the gti or whatever with rampage, it's basically a tourney ready gun but the trigger just sucks. If there is a trigger that is bought it's gonna be the guy shooting it so i'll present him with that idea and if he doesn't wanna shell out the money then i'll just mod the trigger he's got, it should be wide enough as long as i drill true with a drill press.

[XM15]

Plastic is easy to drill and tap. It is best to use new sharp tooling that has never been used on metal otherwise it doesn't cut the threads clean.

[snoopay700]

Plastic is easy to drill and tap. It is best to use new sharp tooling that has never been used on metal otherwise it doesn't cut the threads clean.

I wasn't asking about the ease of doing it, i was wondering if the plastic would hold up to the metal screw and would it actually hold onto it.

[XM15]

I wouldn't use the screws to tap it. There is a high chance it will crack or strip. The screw won't cut threads. It will act like a roll form tap and the material it displaces is going cause pressure and stress in the plastic. Depending on the plastic the threads may or may not hold up there is no way to tell until you try it. If it is like the AGD plastic frames and triggers I would say it will work.

[snoopay700]

Ok thanks everybody, i guess all i can do is give it a go and hope for the best, i'll let you know how it goes.

[Spider-TW]

Ok thanks everybody, i guess all i can do is give it a go and hope for the best, i'll let you know how it goes.

lmk if it craters on you. I should have the old R6 trigger somewhere, but I haven't seen it since I took it out about four years ago.

[snoopay700]

lmk if it craters on you. I should have the old R6 trigger somewhere, but I haven't seen it since I took it out about four years ago.

Ok, thanks will do, i probably won't be working on it until next weeked or the end of the school yeah though, depends.