Information:
Pix:
Performance:
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Mechanics
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Big
Loader
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Review
by Rocky
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The Key Parts of
the Gun
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Front Loader
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Clip Magazine
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Cog
The Front Loader
The front loaders are easily removable and can
hold approximately 60 rounds. Overfilling of the loaders will make it difficult
for them to flow into the clip magazine. The loaders are equipped with
a sliding door that protects the balls from dirt and from having them roll
out when you don't want them to. Due to the hole in the loaders, they can
only be fed one ball at a time. You can either hand feed them or you can
make a funnel apparatus to speed up the loading.
The Clip Magazine Mechanics
After
the loader is mounted on the gun, the balls roll down and into the clip
magazine. This is where the ingenuity of the designer comes in. Instead
of having balls gravity feed into the receiver of the gun, the TS-1 uses
a chain driven conveyor system that places each ball into the receiver.
The chain drive operates due to the movement of the hammer/bolt assembly
as it travels back and forth in the gun. The chain drive is made of 96
individual stainless steel links that form a continuous loop which takes
the shape of the letter L, but facing backwards. Welded onto the chain
are 16 rubber covered stainless steel lugs. These lugs act as the conveyor
system that feeds the balls up into the breech.
So How Does The Feeding Work?
A
paintball starts its travel by being transported up the chain drive and
into the outer sleeve that houses the hammer/bolt assembly. This assembly
then moves forward and positions the ball into the breech, which if correctly
sized, will prevent balls from rolling out of the front of the barrel.
When the trigger is pulled, the sear that connects the hammer to the bolt
disengages and the hammer moves backwards due to a spring that is positioned
between the hammer and the bolt. The hammer then strikes the valve tube
which releases the pressurized gas through a guide tube to the diffuser
bolt. The gas then propels the paintball out of the barrel. Inside of the
hammer is a "secondary hammer" or striker. After the hammer has made contact
with the valve tube, the striker continues to move backwards due to inertia.
The striker trips a rocker switch which redirects the compressed gas that
is inside the system to activate the piston assembly, or three way valve,
similar to that of an autococker. The piston shaft of this assembly is
connected to the bolt which has not moved since discharging the air that
propelled the ball. The piston shaft moves backwards and pulls the bolt
along. The bolt now connects with the hammer and the sear engages, thus
connecting the two parts together. Attached to the piston shaft is a timing
collar. After the bolt and the hammer has engaged, the piston shaft continues
to move backwards until the timing collar hits the rocker switch and resets
the system. The pressurized gas in the system is now redirected to push
the piston shaft instead of pulling it backwards. The hammer/bolt assembly
is now repositioned where it had begun.
If the striker fails to hit the rocker switch
which activates the piston shaft. The system will stall. A player will
notice that when the trigger is pulled, the gun will not cycle. This situation
can be remedied by hitting the reset switch located on the right side of
the gun, just above the handgrip. The clip magazine should be slightly
lowered before hitting the reset switch. Failure to do so will either double
feed a paintball into the breech or misindex the clip magazine.
But what about the loading of paintballs? The
piston shaft inside of the gun basically moves forwards and backwards.
This shaft is connected to a cog which is positioned above the clip. The
cog looks like a piece of metal with teeth in it, and resembles the toothed
gears on a bicycle. The difference between the cog and the gears on a bicycle
is that the cog doesn’t constantly grab the chain it comes in contact with.
When the piston shaft moves backwards, the cog is positioned onto the chain
of the clip magazine’s conveyor system. The cog’s teeth engages the chain
and pulls it backwards which in turn moves the paintballs up the clip magazine
and into the receiver.
In order for the feeding system to work properly,
the cog has to pull the chain in only one direction, that being backwards.
So when the cog moves forward due to the movement of the piston shaft,
it has to do so without touching the chain. This is accomplished by slanted
slots on the cog and a guide leaf that repositions the cog.
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