Pro-Carbine Finished!

[FlightMedic938]

I hope anyways. First time shooting it will be tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll have to track down a leak or deal with some other issue because that’s what always happens but it’s all good lol. A buddy is sending me the sight but I got a way to keep the linkage arm secure for testing tomorrow.

Lots of work done and big thanks to those who posted up what they’ve done to get one of these to run smooth on HPA.

Polished hammer, polished valve channels with radius edges (I’ve been calling this chamfer but my older brother pointed out it’s actually radius edges), bored out and polished powertube channels, polished powertube, bored out reduction fitting, TechT lightened valve spring, TA10052 valve stem, Delrin “Venturi” bolt, green TechT main spring (lightened), TASO RVA, Pro-Lite vertical adapter, Palmers tank extender converted to gas thru, PTP Intruder gas thru foregrip, DIY volumizer (Shocktech mini cocker VASA, DYE Reach tank extender with pin removed, and a TASO 1/8 npt adapter), polished trigger, polished sear, TechT size 1 trigger pin, lightened 98C Madman sear spring converted to trigger spring, blue TechT detent, GoG on/off tank extender, and a J&J 13” ceramic barrel

My Powerhouse Hook reg is shimmed to 650psi so hopefully she’ll shoot well at that range.

Couple things to point out. There is a gas thru version of the Intruder and an expansion chamber version. The ergos of this setup are perfect for me (adding a tank extender on top and bottom of the intruder made it a perfect fit).The blue madman sear spring I’m using as a trigger spring was a bitch to get on but it made the trigger pull much lighter than stock and lighter than a M98 sear spring that I also tried. I had to file a tiny amount on the sear and trigger for the pin to work but it was worth the work. I also had to file a small amount on the trigger frame so the VASA would clear the frame. The Venturi bolt has a smaller OD and ID than the stock bolt and a tighter fit on the linkage arm which are all good things.

Excited about this one. I definitely agree now that the Pro Carbine is the best marker Tippmann ever made from a quality perspective.

[Jonnydread]

A thing of beauty

[FlightMedic938]

A thing of beauty

It would’ve never been on my radar if it wasn’t for this forum. I’ve learned so much reading through all the old posts.

[Jackson]

Do you have any pictures/details of the internal modifications you did? My Pro/Carbine doesn't want to run on compressed air.

[FlightMedic938]

Do you have any pictures/details of the internal modifications you did? My Pro/Carbine doesn't want to run on compressed air.

I don’t but I learned a lot from old posts from Myrkul infamoussmiley and Chappy, If I’m remembering right.

The CVX modifications is something I do to all my Tippmanns. I guess that would be me own secret sauce but it’s not much different from what others do. I take a circular file and round out the edges on the channels and make a flare or “bellmouth” on the ends of the channels. I always try and make it look like a “Type B”. I’m not taking off much at all with the file. Small, even, deliberate strokes. It’s time consuming but I’m not gouging or digging, just removing the sharp edge of the channels and making a smooth even looking bellmouth.

https://performancebyie.com/blogs/ie...ight-bellmouth

Then I polish the channels with steel wool- 600 grit sandpaper- and then a dry Mr. Clean magic eraser. I use Mothers aluminum polish after that until I’m happy. Doesn’t take too long and less is more, in my opinion.

Inside the valves I always put in a TechT lightened valve spring and a TA10052 valve stem from PBsports.com. Sometime I polish the inside of the valve if it looks like shit but you gotta be really careful because if one of those fins on your stem isn’t concentric with the others you could unbalance your valve. It’s best to just clean it dawn dish soap and gently with a small piece of dry magic eraser for tough grime then oil it with a cotton swab.

[Jackson]

Thanks. I might have to try out some of those eventually. Do you know in what ways the TA10052 valve stem is different from the stock valve stem?

[RPP]

Thats a beauty. Good job!

[glaman5266]

Very nice.

One thing I added to my Pro Carb trigger was nylon shims for the sear. Basically just nylon washers on both sides of the sear (sanded down if needed to fit) to keep it from contacting the trigger frame halves. Here's what I did:
https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/p...ne-trigger-job

[FlightMedic938]

Thanks for this. I added nylon washers to the trigger and sear and it smoothed it out a bit. Especially the sear.

[FlightMedic938]

She cycles perfect. No leaks! My gauge is reading over 600psi though. With no shims the Hook was putting out 420psi. I put 3 shims in and each is supposed to boost output 75psi. So I’m guessing 650psi. Hopefully it’s enough to get an fps of 270-280. I honestly don’t think it’ll have a problem but I won’t know for sure until I chrono. I wish I could get my hands on a lightened hammer now.

[FlightMedic938]

Jackson It’s a hair longer. Increases dwell to let more air escape.

[FlightMedic938]

https://youtu.be/koXoA0hRkC0

Lil shootin vid. After around 600 shots through it I’m going to say that this is my favorite shooter. I didn’t plan on that happening. It’s smooth, accurate, and I’m surprised by its efficiency.

Question though to those who watch. Does it sound more quiet than a stock one? I’m going to see if I can find some shooting vids and try and compare. It’s not very loud to me. It’s not quiet but it’s not as loud as I thought it was going to be.

[Jackson]

Sounds similar to mine, maybe a little quieter.

They always seemed to be quieter than the 98/A-5/X-7 line. The fact that the hammer o-ring rides on a continuous bore through the firing cycle leads to being quieter. Compared to the 98/A-5/X-7, those have the o-ring smaller than the bore, but enters into the plastic power tube right before hitting the valve pin. So there is only a short section where the hammer o-ring holds pressure for recock. So the recock needs to be a quicker, higher volume push, which then violently releases all the pressure at once when the o-ring exits the power tube. Think ported vs unported barrel. The 98 etc. hammer is like a ball fired from an unported barrel.

Just spitballin'.

[FlightMedic938]

I did notice something. The front bolt I bought, PICCO Venturi, looked like it may have been off so maybe others are having that problem as well. When I pushed the cocking knob all the way forward to where the hammer meets the valve face and looked at the breech it showed that the front bolt was completely off the powertube leaving a gap where air could escape between the bolt and the powertube. I drilled a new linkage arm recess on the front bolt, further forward, and it fixed the issue. If you try this you’ll need to be cautious to not drill through the front bolt, so drill in small deliberate increments.

i just put another hopper through it and it seemed to be shooting with more velocity. It’s anecdotal, but something to consider if you have this bolt and are experiencing velocity issues.

[Cross-Country]

This is beautiful, wonderful work! Love the gauge on the VASA adapter.

[FlightMedic938]

Thanks! Right now it’s non functional because my tank reg is putting out 650 and the gauge only goes up to 600. I have a SA-200 Pepperball marker coming soon and I’m going to dissect it to see if there is anything in it that can maybe improve airflow in my Pro Carbine. Maybe I’ll get lucky and I drop the operating pressure some.

[FlightMedic938]

I cut the tip off an old F4 Illustrator bolt and modified it to fit the Pro Carbine. I had to polish it a good bit because it saw lots of play in the 90s and 00s and was beat up. It fits the powertube better and that rear o ring improved concentricity when it travels in to the barrel. Don’t know if it’ll do anything worthwhile yet. I also got a Pepperball version of the Pro Carbine coming so I’ll break that down and see if there is anything that’ll improve airflow.

[FlightMedic938]

Now it’s finished. Maybe. I picked up a Tippmann Pepperball marker and it surprisingly had several parts that I could use to improve airflow. The valve reduction fitting flows considerably more air, the valve stem is longer allowing the valve to open sooner and stay open longer, the valve spring is lighter than stock but not quite as light as a TechT spring, the valve itself has slightly more concave channels and the supply port is machined to match the reduction fitting which will allow air to move in faster. Oddly there is no O ring between the valve fitting and the valve anymore. I checked the schematic for the SA200 and sure enough; it doesn’t have a valve reduction fitting o ring.

The front bolt has a slightly larger OD and seems to be made of a different plastic. Could be Teflon but I may be wrong on that. It definitely feels smoother. It uses a size 14 o ring.

Hammer is the same weight but has a larger spring cavity so it can use increased OD springs. The bumper is different, it’s a Spyder style bumper. The end cap is also different, it has the larger spring cavity and also is machined to allow a hog ring for a sling. The only difference in the body is it doesn’t have that lip in the breech, right before the barrel. It’s machined smooth to accommodate the slightly larger front bolt.

I ended up using the valve, stem, reduction fitting, and front bolt. Oh, the linkage arm weighs 1 gram more and has a smoother finish. I used that too.

I’m thinking. The stem wasn’t a drastic change from the TA10052 but I think it’s enough to create a noticeable difference, the valve channel geometry is in the same boat as the stem, and I think the front bolt probably won’t change anything. The reduction fitting and enlarged valve inlet will though. I’m thinking I’ll have to drop down my main spring to a softer spring or I may end up having to use the pepperball valve spring and not the TechT. The easiest thing to do would be to use a nice HPR but I’m never taking the Intruder foregrip off this, ever lol.

[FlightMedic938]

Left is stock. Right is pepperball