Let’s see your markers and T4e’s 😀

10” hammer head barrel ordered. The valken smooth is shocking with the rap4 ammo(plastic solid projectiles shaped like first strikes ).
Rang up to double check and could hear him threading the barrel in😀

Did some more testing and adjusted the m17 down a good bit, I may have put the wrong weight in. I had put 29gr in and should be 44gr after weighing them at home at 3g . Don’t always trust weights you find in some descriptions is the lesson here for me! Power wasn’t just a bit over 🤦🏻‍♂️

Whilst FX out, used the T15 and did some more testing. The smoothness is much nicer, more pleasant than the m17. Also far far more accurate(reason I’ve ordered a rifled barrel). That’s running at 8.2 fpe and sweet as a nut👌🏻. No velocity is being increased as no need, it’s for plinking fun.
 
New rifled hammer head barrel arrived. (Top)

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Just love how they all have different threads 🤬. So can’t use either of the 22mm threaded suppressor or flash hider🤷🏻‍♂️. Threads finer on the hammer head.
Hopefully some testing later at the range.
 
Nice seeing @GreenGrowler at the range tonight, the lad loves the tippman👌🏻”sick”

Well happy with my 10” 😁



Barrel obviously , much better than the smooth 8” crap that came with the valken. Pretty impressed in fact , as most of the first strike plastic ammo went in the catcher at 20yrd. Not impressed with some glitch it has though. Firing a .68 when inserting a mag on safe!!! Done it twice now which is about as unsafe as you can get. Then a jam up without anything jamming up. Little strip down and eventually managed to get the heat core out.

Now on safe you can remove part of it, on semi you can remove it all in one. Being locked in safe, couldn’t get the rest out. This is after both pins are removed at the stock /receiver part.
Martin suggested removing the back bolt which has a loop on for a shoulder strap. Undone….out it popped! Happy days. Then went back together after a check over, and dry fired without issue. So next job is a little trigger adjusting I’m thinking.
There is a set screw in side, then in front of blade a larger grub screw for adjusting the sear engagement / contact. Now to adjust one way is better for semi auto, other way better for full auto. So it’s finding the sweet spot. Job for another day!

But great fun was that blast with the markers , it got quite a lot of attention as well. The valken isn’t the quietest of rifles😱. By that I mean it’s loud, like LOUD LOUD 🫣
All positive though, certainly got a few talking round the other side of the range.

Other than the glitch, might look at modding the mag and removing the winder. Not needed as can load without winding. Also stiffening the spring by adding another spring inside the existing one. To make sure pressure there with the 44grn projectiles.

Cheers, no pics unfortunately . Will make an effort next time 😀
 
Nice to see you too @ven, the TMC still needs some fetling, but it's running better than it was, now that it's on the higher air pressure, that's for sure. Same with the mags, need to figure out some more spring pressure somehow.
The M17 is certainly damn loud, even louder than the T4E shotguns ! 😲
Will hopefully see, well hear, tomorrow if a silencer makes any difference.
Jamming could be a spring pressure issue I guess, it certainly looked like the round didn't quite make it into the breech before the bolt hit it. Dunno if those reusable FS rounds are heavier than an actual FS paintball , but if they are, that could explain why you get the occasional jam specially when you're making a quick follow up shot.
Yeah, didn't think about pics again, mind you, didn't even think to even bring my fone out of the car first time up, lol. :rolleyes: 😂
Haha, who needs manuals, we got there. :ROFLMAO:
 
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Well I think the initial jam had the bolt out of position. Then putting in safe(which is the thing to do) caused the issue as the bolt is out of place. It says how it occurs , when set to safe and bolt forward. All makes sense, then removing that pin drops the grip section, which drops the sear with it and releases the bolt.

Mag wise the easiest option is adding another spring inside the existing one. Just sourcing a spring, leave it with me. If can find them will get 1 each. The spring just pulls out, fit second inside, push back in. Job done.
 
Hold fire on the springs, I already have a couple of these, MCS clicky linky, no idea if they will fit or work, I brought them for the TMC in a brain fart moment, as they are for 68cal and my TMC isn't, lol. I'll let you know if they are any good.
Oh and think I just got a spare mag off the bay, 99% certain it's the same mag, just a Milsig version, lol. 😁
 
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Hold fire on the springs, I already have a couple of these, MCS clicky linky, no idea if they will fit or work, I brought them for the TMC in a brain fart moment, as they are for 68cal and my TMC isn't, lol. I'll let you know if they are any good.
Oh and think I just got a spare mag off the bay, 99% certain it's the same mag, just a Milsig version, lol. 😁
Fantastic 👍🏻
From what I’ve seen it just lists out with plastic follower first where bar is. Even if it part fits in the spring, just needs a little more tension it seems. I wanted to do the mag well swap and still not heard anything yet. Valken apparently 95% sure it fits, in
95% sure it doesn’t! After all the m17 and CQ are different designs.
 
Don’t forget to let me know if the suppressor makes a difference. Will order one!! One I have for the T15 is a dummy one 🤣(don’t say what your thinking )😜
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Fantastic 👍🏻
From what I’ve seen it just lists out with plastic follower first where bar is. Even if it part fits in the spring, just needs a little more tension it seems. I wanted to do the mag well swap and still not heard anything yet. Valken apparently 95% sure it fits, in
95% sure it doesn’t! After all the m17 and CQ are different designs.
I'll let you know, going to take the mag apart when I've had me brew.

The mag catch is different yes, but only in the way you release it, lever or button, pretty sure the mags themselves are the same, so internally the mag well and catch must be compatible ?

Don’t forget to let me know if the suppressor makes a difference. Will order one!! One I have for the T15 is a dummy one 🤣(don’t say what your thinking )😜
Confirmed DPD delivery inbound today, though not got a time slot yet, and I would never mock you. 😜 :ROFLMAO:
 
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Right, well, done my magazine, what a fiddly, decking, ball ache, lol, that's a couple of hours of my life I'm not going to get back. Think it's worth doing though, should definitely minimise any feed issues or risk of jams with FS rounds.
You might want to watch a couple of vids first though,


and.


As per the first video, my follower certainly had a rough, proud spot from the injection moulding manufacturing process. And as per the second vid mine wasn't exactly tight, but wasn't free and easy either, and if you played around with it, it would occasionally stick before it reached the end of the feed nozzle, which would certainly potentially jam the last round in the mag.
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Dremeled, sanded and polished.
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The Helix spring is about 5-6cm shorter then the standard spring.
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The Helix spring is the same diameter along it's entire length.
The standard spring is tapered inwards at the follower end so it sits inside the follower.
Considering the taper and the first video testing I decided to go with both springs.
I put the tapered end of the standard spring inside the Helix spring and turned so they twisted together.
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The cable is a pain in the ass to deal with lol, it has a brass crimp on the ratchet end and a brass guide and a knot tied in it at the follower end.
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That looks a lot bigger than it is, probably 1mm ish cable. I managed to undo the knot with the intention of re-using the cable. But, this cable is, I think, stainless steel and plastic coated, and when a knot is tied in it this damages the plastic coating, so when the knot is undone the plastic coating comes away and then the steel cable starts to fray.
Luckily I use very similar cable at work and happen to have some off cuts at home, my cable is stainless steel and plastic coated and is ever so very slightly thicker, may be 1.5mm ish rather then the original 1mm ish. (I didn't measure, lol)
So I replaced the cable, the only issue I had with this is, probably because it is slightly thicker, it could get jammed under the guide over the reel in the winder, so I left this guide out, I don't think it is needed.
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I started with 45cm of cable but this was longer than needed, and only makes it harder to wind the mag because there is limited space on the reel.
I have plenty of cable if you decide to do this, will give you some next week.
I shortened the cable until it was just long enough, with the ratchet/reel fully unwound to allow the follower to go just a couple mm further than the end of the feed nozzle. Any longer and it's just wasting space on the cable reel.
Was going to take more pics of this final assembly stage but need six hands to get it all back in, lol.
I didn't take any pics of it, but as per second video, where the round transitions from the mag body to the nozzle body there is a very noticeable lip, which could potentially tip the nose of a FS round down, and assist in creating a jam. So as per video this was dremeled, sanded and polished.
Seems to feed perfectly now, so I think well with doing for our purpose, which is purely feeding hard reusable FS rounds, it is probably to much spring pressure for frangible paintballs.
Only tested by hand though, will need to run a few mags through the marker to be 100%, still waiting on DPD to deliver my shoosher. 😁
 
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Awesome stuff, cool write up too. What a ball ache that is! Mmmmm
Ball ache indeed, they're still aching now ! :ROFLMAO:
I look at it this way, I'm probably not going to get more than one spare mag, so I've only got to do it twice and it's all over, I'm half way there, lol. :rolleyes:
It certainly works a treat though, proof is in the pudding as you say.
I only filled my bottle up last week, and now it's on 210 bar again, I've used 90 bar of air in a couple of hours of testing and set up. 😲
Lost count of how many mags exactly, but probably put 8-10 through it and not a single jam, no matter how quickly I shoot it. 😁
I should have put it on the chrono before I touched it, but I didn't, I had already tweaked the power up before, and it was a bit OTT just while i was setting up my sight and laser dot. One round hit the edge of the slingshot catcher and undone an inch of stitching, easily repaired though, no damage to the material.
Using a standard 13ci bottle, 800psi reg, filled to max 3000psi, I've got it tuned to a very consistent 10ft lb at the minute and that does 4mags, 79 shots to be exact, before it drops off the reg, so pretty happy with that actually. :D
 
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Oh, and no, the silencer doesn't silence, still pondering weather to return it or keep it. :unsure::confused:
 
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Sweet. (y)

I'm leaning towards returning the non silencer, it adds length I don't like or want with no benefit so can't see me using it.
I don't like bare threads either so need to do something. I don't even know if you can get an actual paintball silencer or not, I'm guessing not. I might shoot a PM over on here and see if one of our tinkerers could produce something.
Now I know the shot count on a 13ci bottle I'm sticking with it, so still need to sort a stock out.
I've temporarily put a cheap red dot sight on it for now, borrowed off another gun, but also need to sort a decent sight out for it. May well end up with the same as yours, because it looks like best value/quality. I really want to put a micro prism style sight on it, but whatever goes on must be magnified for me. Not much, 3x preferably or 4x at most is plenty, even x2 would do, but the cheapest sight I've found that ticks those boxes is £180 ! 😲 which is a bit much for a marker really, lol. Jimmypie has a really nice spitfire for sale but at £270 is too rich for my blood. (not saying it isn't worth it)
I like the 8" barrel I bought, pretty much the same length as the original, which is great, I've not tried it at any distance though, so will see how it compares to yours next week I guess, lol.

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😎
I know what you mean with scopes, I didn’t want to drop another little wedge as no real need. The vector prisms are nice, but this time wanted to keep cheaper and the victor seems to do the job fine.
Accuracy wise there won’t be anything in it, only difference I’ve seen is more efficient and more power from longer barrels. Which for us doesn’t matter anyway. The difference though in accuracy over the standard barrel is huge.

I was hoping the barrels would come with a thread protector and I would have been done. I too don’t want to add any extra length, so the best I could come up with is the muzzle brake/ hider thing which is 3”. Ideally I want to keep this shorter so will ponder things .
 
Yeah, I just need a little magnification, but also want to keep the CQC look. What you got it's great for price, quality and magnification, just not the look I really want.

More like this, but can't find cheaper with magnification, unmagnified ones are as cheap as chips. :confused:

I didn't even try the standard barrel to be honest, lol.
I might even try to make my own suppressor yet, even just a mock one if nothing else, something light, short and fat, still pondering myself, lol. :unsure: 😂
 
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Yeah, I just need a little magnification, but also want to keep the CQC look. What you got it's great for price, quality and magnification, just not the look I really want.

More like this, but can't find cheaper with magnification, unmagnified ones are as cheap as chips. :confused:

I didn't even try the standard barrel to be honest, lol.
I might even try to make my own suppressor yet, even just a mock one if nothing else, something light, short and fat, still pondering myself, lol. :unsure: 😂
Yes I have a couple of those prisms , just don’t want to drop another £150-£200 again.

1x and a 4x on the hk416 and T15.
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I’m considering open sights, just better ones than that come with it. No rush , will see over time and what direction I go in with the m17. Can always swap stuff about for a change.
The vector prisms I can recommend though, the 4x is great. The 1x is perfect for closer up targets, but still fine for 20yrd ones too.
 
But great fun was that blast with the markers , it got quite a lot of attention as well. The valken isn’t the quietest of rifles😱. By that I mean it’s loud, like LOUD LOUD 🫣
I had one of these m17 a while ago, when I first got it, I fired it in the garage, crikey it made me jump, Very loud!
 
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