Psycho Ballistics Superbolt gets some lovin'

Railgun · 11-10-2006, 03:27 AM

I couldn't resist the lure of a less than $100 cocker that looked like that so now I have a brand new electric blue Superbolt. I gased it up and dry fired quite a few shots in the garage enough to know that I REALLY like it. However in checking things out I'm finding that like so many warned this marker comes "loosely assembled for your convienience". So tonight the tune up and timing started.

First off was to shorten the hammer rod since it was too long and lets the bolt draw back far further than it needed to. A bit of shortening and some extending of the tapped threads and we're done.

However I see that the ram is still quite capable of pushing the cocking rod and block far further back than is needed. I need to do some reading but I'm guessing at this point that the tail block travel is a function of the ram and where it stops in it's extension travel. The actuator rod along the side needing to be just short enough to limit the tail block travel to just a hair more than in needed? I'm sure this will be described in the articles on cocker timing that I still need to read further.

While I had the trigger frame off to work on the insides I noticed that the trigger sear and hammer pin were rather rough and oddly shaped. So I lightly reshaped and polished these with various sharpening stones to get a nicer mating of the pin and sear and to polish up the contact surface. The trigger pull lightened up and is now smoother to boot.

I'm not really happy with the two finger triggers. I think I'll be getting one of the single finger trigger frames for it soon.

And as if ONE Superbolt isn't enough there's a second one coming to me. This one is black and will be converted over to a pump jobbie. That one is getting a single finger trigger frame for sure.

Stainlessbutcher · 11-10-2006, 08:42 AM

What????...No pics?...you know that when you get a new gun it's required to post pics..specially if you worked on it yerself.

Butcher.

custar · 11-10-2006, 12:13 PM

Is there any problem converting the minicocker Superbolt to a pump? I have seen a few conversions of the full-sized Lightnings to pump (and most people have been rather pleased because that eliminates the pnues which seem to be the weakest point of those Psychoballistic cockers), but not any conversions of a Superbolt. I'm just curious because I was thinking along the same lines you are working.

custar

Railgun · 11-10-2006, 02:25 PM

Stainless, I got back in the house at midnight and it's raining here. No way I was going back out to the shop with a camera....

Custar, the pump mod will be a piece o' cake. The only issue with it being a mini seems to be that the ASA goes into the front block rather than onto the main body. So I'll either have to keep the front block and plug the LPR hole or get a new front block ASA combo off something else. Either way it seems easy for me.... but then I've got machine tools available....

If I can come up with a good option I may make a bit of a kit available as long as the demand doesn't chew into my spare time too heavily.

One question that's coming up from my reading about cocker timing is how can I limit the ram travel? I've timed the hammer rod to cock when the bolt is just at the rear of the feed opening just like all the articles say but there's still lots of travel beyound that point and the ram is going to stroke through that amount of travel. This seems like a lot of wasted motion but I don't see any way of limiting it to just a sweet amount of overtravel rather than the whole stroke. Thoughts? Or is limiting the ram travel not a good thing?

Murph · 11-10-2006, 02:52 PM

you could probably put a rearward bumper inside the ram shaft, if you can manage to take it apart. If you can't, you may be better off with another brand ram.

Railgun · 11-10-2006, 06:39 PM

OK. so here's some pics. I've got the day off and it's pouring rain outside. Just the right conditions for some quality shop time....

First shot is the Superbolt partially dismantled to let me get at all the bits.

Second shot shows my first mod. The darn cocking rod kept coming unscrewed at the wrong place. So I modified it by adding a couple of flats filed on so I could tighten the rod into the hammer without relying on the locking tension in the adjusting nut on the other end. You're looking at the spoke wrench in place to allow me to tighten or loosen the shaft in the hammer without using the adjuster at all.

Third shot shows how I acurratley filed the flats on the shaft. THis is a busy shot with all the angles but basically I'm using a drill press vise clamped in my large vise so I can use the V to hold the shaft horizontal. Then to help guide the file and produce a nice flat I clamped on a bit of left over 3/4 angle stock with a little C clamp. Then you can see the small triangle file laid on the shaft and angle. There's a bit of aluminium roofing flashing taped onto the file and oiled underneath to prevent cutting into the angle iron. After I cut the first flat I turn the shaft over and hold an allen key up against the flat so I've got a longer sight line and eyeballed where the parallel was to the file laid on top with just a skinch of angle to allow for the file tipping down as the cut is made. "Skinch" IS a certified machinist's term for anyone that may be wondering....

This next shot is about how I added a small travel limiter bump stop to the ram. Checking showed that it was able to over travel by almost 0.2 inches, more like 0.18. I figured that a small amount of overtravel is likely good but this is excessive. So I decided to add a 0.11 to 0.13 bumper to the ram to limit the travel as suggested by Murph above. The first is the trick I used to slice some automotive vacuum or fuel line to the right thickness of donut. The tubing is forced up through a tight fitting hole drilled into some scrap 1/2 inch thick aluminium. The razor blade was then used to slice the tubing off flush to the metal. The tubing was poked through and then twisted back down while using the depth ram of the dial guage seen in the pic to measure the bumper. The results are seen in the pick and in the close up inset. Now working with rubber is always a bit iffy but this worked great. I measured the protusion at 0.12 and the final donut came out to 0.128. So the angled cut I used to put the cutting edge down on the metal pulled up the rubber a hair. But it's close enough.

And to let me get the bumper into the ram's innards I needed to get the ram rod loose from the actuator rod. Of course copious amounts of loctite were used and even with some heat applied there was no way I could get these apart without damage. So back to the tool making and out comes a clampon wrench made from two bits of aluminium drilled slightly small for the ram rod's size and clamped together with a couple of 8-32 screws into the metal. Worked like a charm and no damage to the rod's surface finish.

That's it for now!

Railgun · 11-11-2006, 01:40 PM

Well, she's all timed now and I managed to close the trigger movement up to just 0.2 inch of travel for the full stroke as measured at the low end of the swing trigger. And even at that theres lots of safety in the operation. The trigger releases within the first .03 to .04 of travel, the recock starts at around .08 to .1 but theres a hint of softness or confusion in the valving of the 3 way until it moves another .02 to /03 and hits the 0.15'ish point. The additional .03 to .05 of travel is just insurance to make sure I've got it all right.

In doing the "bit of paper towel" in the feedneck to check for blowback I seem to have gotten it just right. In fact with single shots it hardly moved at all. With fast mulit shots it jumps up and down a hair but the down is often as not FURTHER down than just sitting on the ledge in the feedneck. It would seem that I've gotten it right around the point where I'm getting a touch of this suction timing I've been reading about.

The grip isn't back on it yet since I need to go and pick up a longer 10-32 trigger travel screw. I've managed to time it for such a short travel that the limit screw was only holding on by literally 1/2 a thread.

THere's no doubt at all that cockers are a tinkerers delight. And as a card carrying member of the Tinkerers Union I'm in heaven....

My black Superbolt along with another blue cocker of a different brand should be at the border today. Then I decide which turns into a pumper. And somehow I think my electric trigger blowbacks may be going up for sale sooner than I thought. I find that I'm really lovin' these all mechanical, all metal markers.

russc · 11-11-2006, 10:05 PM

Yep, I can tinker with my autocockers for hours. Can't wait to see what you come up with for the pump.

Railgun · 11-11-2006, 10:48 PM

The black one arrived today. It came without a 3way so that's the PERFECT excuse to pump it up...

A third autococker also came. Not a Psycho, I'll have to check with the guy that sent it to find out what it is. But it came with a single finger trigger. I'm already making plans to move the single finger trigger frame to the black PB and use the two finger PB frame on the Blue Beast. The one above being officially names now as Betty Blue to describe her far more delicate demeanor...

redthirst · 11-15-2006, 01:25 AM

i don't mean to hijack your thread, railgun, but i'm currently turning a superbolt into a stock class sniper and was hoping you could answer a question for me:
could the small rails on either side of the feed neck could be used to mount a horizontal feed (like those made for a phantom or ss-25)?

i'd like something pre-made because i have neither the equipment or knowledge to machine a horizontal feed, but i want something that looks a little better than pvc stuck in a feed neck.

11-10-2006, 03:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
Railgun Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2006	Psycho Ballistics Superbolt gets some lovin' I couldn't resist the lure of a less than $100 cocker that looked like that so now I have a brand new electric blue Superbolt. I gased it up and dry fired quite a few shots in the garage enough to know that I REALLY like it. However in checking things out I'm finding that like so many warned this marker comes "loosely assembled for your convienience". So tonight the tune up and timing started. First off was to shorten the hammer rod since it was too long and lets the bolt draw back far further than it needed to. A bit of shortening and some extending of the tapped threads and we're done. However I see that the ram is still quite capable of pushing the cocking rod and block far further back than is needed. I need to do some reading but I'm guessing at this point that the tail block travel is a function of the ram and where it stops in it's extension travel. The actuator rod along the side needing to be just short enough to limit the tail block travel to just a hair more than in needed? I'm sure this will be described in the articles on cocker timing that I still need to read further. While I had the trigger frame off to work on the insides I noticed that the trigger sear and hammer pin were rather rough and oddly shaped. So I lightly reshaped and polished these with various sharpening stones to get a nicer mating of the pin and sear and to polish up the contact surface. The trigger pull lightened up and is now smoother to boot. I'm not really happy with the two finger triggers. I think I'll be getting one of the single finger trigger frames for it soon. And as if ONE Superbolt isn't enough there's a second one coming to me. This one is black and will be converted over to a pump jobbie. That one is getting a single finger trigger frame for sure. __________________ Model airplanes are cool too!

11-10-2006, 02:25 PM	#4 (permalink)
Railgun Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2006	Stainless, I got back in the house at midnight and it's raining here. No way I was going back out to the shop with a camera.... Custar, the pump mod will be a piece o' cake. The only issue with it being a mini seems to be that the ASA goes into the front block rather than onto the main body. So I'll either have to keep the front block and plug the LPR hole or get a new front block ASA combo off something else. Either way it seems easy for me.... but then I've got machine tools available.... If I can come up with a good option I may make a bit of a kit available as long as the demand doesn't chew into my spare time too heavily. One question that's coming up from my reading about cocker timing is how can I limit the ram travel? I've timed the hammer rod to cock when the bolt is just at the rear of the feed opening just like all the articles say but there's still lots of travel beyound that point and the ram is going to stroke through that amount of travel. This seems like a lot of wasted motion but I don't see any way of limiting it to just a sweet amount of overtravel rather than the whole stroke. Thoughts? Or is limiting the ram travel not a good thing? __________________ Model airplanes are cool too! Last edited by Railgun; 11-10-2006 at 02:36 PM..

11-10-2006, 06:39 PM	#6 (permalink)
Railgun Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2006	OK. so here's some pics. I've got the day off and it's pouring rain outside. Just the right conditions for some quality shop time.... First shot is the Superbolt partially dismantled to let me get at all the bits. Second shot shows my first mod. The darn cocking rod kept coming unscrewed at the wrong place. So I modified it by adding a couple of flats filed on so I could tighten the rod into the hammer without relying on the locking tension in the adjusting nut on the other end. You're looking at the spoke wrench in place to allow me to tighten or loosen the shaft in the hammer without using the adjuster at all. Third shot shows how I acurratley filed the flats on the shaft. THis is a busy shot with all the angles but basically I'm using a drill press vise clamped in my large vise so I can use the V to hold the shaft horizontal. Then to help guide the file and produce a nice flat I clamped on a bit of left over 3/4 angle stock with a little C clamp. Then you can see the small triangle file laid on the shaft and angle. There's a bit of aluminium roofing flashing taped onto the file and oiled underneath to prevent cutting into the angle iron. After I cut the first flat I turn the shaft over and hold an allen key up against the flat so I've got a longer sight line and eyeballed where the parallel was to the file laid on top with just a skinch of angle to allow for the file tipping down as the cut is made. "Skinch" IS a certified machinist's term for anyone that may be wondering.... This next shot is about how I added a small travel limiter bump stop to the ram. Checking showed that it was able to over travel by almost 0.2 inches, more like 0.18. I figured that a small amount of overtravel is likely good but this is excessive. So I decided to add a 0.11 to 0.13 bumper to the ram to limit the travel as suggested by Murph above. The first is the trick I used to slice some automotive vacuum or fuel line to the right thickness of donut. The tubing is forced up through a tight fitting hole drilled into some scrap 1/2 inch thick aluminium. The razor blade was then used to slice the tubing off flush to the metal. The tubing was poked through and then twisted back down while using the depth ram of the dial guage seen in the pic to measure the bumper. The results are seen in the pick and in the close up inset. Now working with rubber is always a bit iffy but this worked great. I measured the protusion at 0.12 and the final donut came out to 0.128. So the angled cut I used to put the cutting edge down on the metal pulled up the rubber a hair. But it's close enough. And to let me get the bumper into the ram's innards I needed to get the ram rod loose from the actuator rod. Of course copious amounts of loctite were used and even with some heat applied there was no way I could get these apart without damage. So back to the tool making and out comes a clampon wrench made from two bits of aluminium drilled slightly small for the ram rod's size and clamped together with a couple of 8-32 screws into the metal. Worked like a charm and no damage to the rod's surface finish. That's it for now! __________________ Model airplanes are cool too!

11-11-2006, 01:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Railgun Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2006	Well, she's all timed now and I managed to close the trigger movement up to just 0.2 inch of travel for the full stroke as measured at the low end of the swing trigger. And even at that theres lots of safety in the operation. The trigger releases within the first .03 to .04 of travel, the recock starts at around .08 to .1 but theres a hint of softness or confusion in the valving of the 3 way until it moves another .02 to /03 and hits the 0.15'ish point. The additional .03 to .05 of travel is just insurance to make sure I've got it all right. In doing the "bit of paper towel" in the feedneck to check for blowback I seem to have gotten it just right. In fact with single shots it hardly moved at all. With fast mulit shots it jumps up and down a hair but the down is often as not FURTHER down than just sitting on the ledge in the feedneck. It would seem that I've gotten it right around the point where I'm getting a touch of this suction timing I've been reading about. The grip isn't back on it yet since I need to go and pick up a longer 10-32 trigger travel screw. I've managed to time it for such a short travel that the limit screw was only holding on by literally 1/2 a thread. THere's no doubt at all that cockers are a tinkerers delight. And as a card carrying member of the Tinkerers Union I'm in heaven.... My black Superbolt along with another blue cocker of a different brand should be at the border today. Then I decide which turns into a pumper. And somehow I think my electric trigger blowbacks may be going up for sale sooner than I thought. I find that I'm really lovin' these all mechanical, all metal markers. __________________ Model airplanes are cool too!

11-11-2006, 10:48 PM	#9 (permalink)
Railgun Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2006	The black one arrived today. It came without a 3way so that's the PERFECT excuse to pump it up... A third autococker also came. Not a Psycho, I'll have to check with the guy that sent it to find out what it is. But it came with a single finger trigger. I'm already making plans to move the single finger trigger frame to the black PB and use the two finger PB frame on the Blue Beast. The one above being officially names now as Betty Blue to describe her far more delicate demeanor... __________________ Model airplanes are cool too!

11-10-2006, 08:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
Stainlessbutcher Active Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ft. Worth TX	What????...No pics?...you know that when you get a new gun it's required to post pics..specially if you worked on it yerself. Butcher.

11-10-2006, 12:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
custar Seasoned Member Join Date: Apr 2006	Is there any problem converting the minicocker Superbolt to a pump? I have seen a few conversions of the full-sized Lightnings to pump (and most people have been rather pleased because that eliminates the pnues which seem to be the weakest point of those Psychoballistic cockers), but not any conversions of a Superbolt. I'm just curious because I was thinking along the same lines you are working. custar

11-11-2006, 10:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
russc Newbie Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Vancouver, BC	Yep, I can tinker with my autocockers for hours. Can't wait to see what you come up with for the pump.

11-15-2006, 01:25 AM	#10 (permalink)
redthirst I Shoot First Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SC	i don't mean to hijack your thread, railgun, but i'm currently turning a superbolt into a stock class sniper and was hoping you could answer a question for me: could the small rails on either side of the feed neck could be used to mount a horizontal feed (like those made for a phantom or ss-25)? i'd like something pre-made because i have neither the equipment or knowledge to machine a horizontal feed, but i want something that looks a little better than pvc stuck in a feed neck. __________________ Mercy is the mark of a great man, stab guess I'm just a good man, stab well... I'm all right. Feedback: Spec Ops, MCB, PbN, eBay

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search