Making Your Double Trigger Work for You!
“>More and more paintball guns are coming from the factory with double triggers. Double trigger set-ups are more than just cosmetics and can increase your rate of fire with the right technique. Many people dislike double triggers, finding them uncomfortable, awkward, and no advantage at all. In this article I’ll attempt to describe the technique that works for me. Hopefully people who have problems using a double trigger will find some information here they can use.
“>First off, keep in mind that all of this is my opinion, and what works for me may not work for you. To get the most from a double trigger, I believe conventional style shooting has to be thrown out the window. If you want pinpoint accuracy I suggest you squeeze off your shots slowly in a traditional manner. This technique is about putting a short, rapid burst onto a player-size target.
“>There are two parts besides the double trigger itself that help achieve a higher rate of fire while maintaining fairly decent accuracy. One of those is a vertical foregrip. This can be an expansion chamber, vertical regulator, or purposely made vertical foregrip. The foregrip is held strongly by the non-trigger hand, which bears the weight of the gun, and serves to point the gun. The other important item is a stock of some kind, whether a tank, or a purpose built stock. As in most cases the stock is used to steady the gun.
The trigger hand is then rested on the main grip frame, with the part of your palm nearest your thumb against the back of the frame. Here is where I see some people make a mistake that leads to an awkward feeling. They try to wrap their fingers around the grip frame in a traditional manner. WIth this technique, you bring your top two fingers around and place the tips of those fingers on the trigger. Here is where another mistake is often made, as shooters will wrap their fingers across the trigger. The tips of your fingers are generally more sensitive and that means you will be able to “feel” the trigger better as it moves. This also gives your hand a slightly
different angle and allows you to in essence “push” back at the trigger as opposed to “pulling” it. This motion can be both smoother and faster. What you are doing is basically using your fingers to push the trigger back, with your palm absorbing the impact. Lower fingers should be allowed to hang free. This allows them to move with your hand as you fire. It’s much more difficult to move your top fingers rapidly if the bottom two are trying to squeeze the grip. The same thing goes for your thumb, it should be allowed to float free. Remember, you are resting this hand against the gun and want to allow it as much freedom as possible.
The next thing to do is to practice and feel. On mechanical guns, use the tips of your fingers to feel the “breaking point” of the trigger – the point at which the trigger trips the sear. Get used to the length of the pull and learn where the breaking point is, and when to release the trigger. Start off slowly, pacing yourself. A good steady pace will allow you to develop a feel for the trigger. Once you get used to anticipating the breaking point, increase your speed. Like most people, you will probably find that your middle finger is doing most of the work. Getting faster takes practice. You may find that higher speed is easier if you use short burst as opposed to prolonged strings. Try starting off with three round burst, then work your way up to 4, 5, etc.
One final note: Trigger jobs can both shorten and lighten the pull, but be careful about taking them too far. Sometimes a trigger spring that’s too light will not snap back quick enough and actually slow the rate of fire.
Cheap Home-made stuff!
Here’s an easy way to keep paper towels organized, up out of the way, and easy to tear off. Take an old plastic milk crate, zip-tie sections of PVC tubing in the corners, and use the tubing to hold the paper towel rolls. The milk crate also doubles as a way to transport the paper towels and other cleaning items.
Folding Peg Board Gun Rack
by Johnny Bucy
Good for holding guns, mask and other equipment, this inexpensive rack can help keep things out of the way at the campsite. Start with a standard piece of peg board and cut it length-wise in half. Frame the back of each board with 2 X 2 pieces of wood, by inserting screws from the front. Be sure to make the side framing pieces a little longer than the peg board in order to provide legs which will keep the bottom of the board off the ground. Take the 2 framed peg boards and connect them at the top via standard door hinges, making an A-frame type structure. A cable can be added to restrict the opening distance, and various types of rubber feet can be found at hardware stores to protect the wooden legs from ground moisture. To help protect guns, slip pieces of rubber tubing over the metal pegs.
Barrel Polisher
by The Cleaner
Parts List:
Drill
Threaded rod
Two nuts
Two Nylon Washers
3 Pack of Small Foam Paint Rollers
These pieces will run about 5 bucks at Home Depot. First, start with the threaded rod. I use a 1/4″x 23″ rod. That’s plenty for a 16″ barrel. Put the first nut about 3-1/4″ down one end. Then slide a nylon washer on. The paint roller goes on next. Then the other nylon washer and the last nut. The polish I would recommend is Mother’s Aluminum Polish. When inserting the roller into the barrel, it’s a snug fit. Don’t just shove it. Work it in with your fingers. This will keep the foam from pulling away from the plastic shaft to prolong the life of the tool. Also, you might want to wrap a little tape around the threads to keep from scratching the barrel. Remember, GO EASY. If you use Mother’s, it cuts fast. Rinse with cold water.
by the Professor
If you already have double-pane lenses and fogging is still a problem, here’s an idea to get some air circulating without breaking the bank – use a computer fan. Small, inexpensive computer fans can be powered by 9-volt batteries, and easily move enough air to help reduce fogging. Even after adding an on/off switch, and 9-volt battery terminals, the cost of the entire project should come in under $20. The fan and battery can be secured to the face mask with the use of zip ties. The parts can be found at computer or electronics stores.
Full-Auto Blow-back
by Billy Goodman
An easy way to turn a blow-back semi-auto into a full-auto is to restrict the movement of the sear. However, before you spend time on this modification, be aware that most semi-autos cycle way too fast to be anything more than a blender. With some practice, you may be able to get off 1 to 3 round burst without breaking a ball, but not much more. The modification is simple – it only requires a small roll pin, piece of a nail, set screw or other correctly sized object be inserted in front of the sear pin.The object should be no longer than the width of the sear. This keeps the sear in a forward position where the trigger will be able to continuoisly engage it. As long as you hold the trigger down, the gun will continue to cycle.
BECC loaded cannon
| The volume chamber of the jr. was once used as the barrel on the original BECC, before (it was) Neild decided the 2-inch diameter was too big to use effectively with the given pressure. As we later found out, the rear cap was not properly glued onto the tube, and this part failed under pressurization. With a loud explosion, the rear cap blew clean off the volume chamber and shattered the night before the gun’s first use. Fortunately no one was injured because of this oversight, but the incident illustrates why safety should be paramount when building such a device. |
The BECC jr. has the same sliding barrel concept as the BECC. A T-connector holds the sliding barrel, and spaces the barrel from the volume chamber. This required a bit of work to bore out the T-connector enough for the barrel to slide freely, plus shaping the bottom of the T-connector to ride on top of the volume chamber. After finding that a clamp over the top of the T-connector caused too much pressure/friction on the piece, I followed the suggestion of team member Chris Demartini to run the clamp from the middle of the T-connector around the volume chamber. This required cutting two slots in the side of the T-connector.
The one aspect of the BECC that makes it a step forward in air cannon development is the breech loading system which allows for quick reloads. Unfortunately, the type of latch Neild used in the original was unique because it was taken from a specialty music equipment case. Finding another way to latch the barrel thus became the major challenge of this project. Finally I decided to try making an L-shaped bolt-action latch. This was done by sliding a bored-out collar with a screw protruding from it over the barrel. I then put a larger collar on the T-connector. The barrel collar, with its protruding screw, would slide into the T-connector collar, and the screw would lock into place in the L-shaped slot. Unfortunately, the explosion (mentioned earlier) that blew off the rear cap of the gun also damaged the screw mount in the barrel collar. This was fixed by clamping a hex wrench onto the barrel in the proper location, so it could be used to lock the barrel in place using the L-shaped slot. Overall the latter method probably offers better structural integrity.
For close-up pictures of the T-adapter and locking mechanism,
click on any of the following pictures to open a new window:
The major cosmetic improvement in the jr. model is in the mounting of the grip frame, CO2 tank, and battery box. The grip frame in this case is from an ACI Maverick. I mounted a small lever switch from Radio Shack (cat #275-016) inside the grip frame so that the trigger would activate it. To mount the grip frame, CO2 tank, and battery box, I bored out a 2-inch T-connector and a collar. In these pieces I mounted counter-sink screws which would act as studs on which to mount the grip frame and battery box. In the neck of the T-connector, I mounted another T-connector which was bored out enough to hold a 7 ounce CO2 tank.
Like the BECC, the jr. uses a Palmer Stabalizer to control pressure, and a guage for safety’s sake. Although the regulator will stop the pressurization at the desired level, under most circumstances I stop the flow of Co2 between shots with the use of an on/off valve on the 7 oz. tank. The BECCjr. requires 150 to 160 psi for best performance.
The battery box includes a light and safety switch to indicate when the cannon is armed. One of the modifications I have made since first writing this article is to relocate the switch to the rear of the box, and the light to the top. In its previous location on the side, the switch was prone to accidental activation when the cannon was laid on its side, with the light eventually draining the batteries. Like the BECC, the electric sprinkler valve on the jr. operates from two 9-volt batteries. All of the parts for the battery box, including switch, light, and 9-volt connectors came from Radio Shack.
The BECC jr. only holds 12 balls — exactly half the amount of the BECC. It uses the same dixie cup system to hold the balls in the shell. Despite the fact that part of my goal was to have a smaller, lighter version of the BECC, the jr. is still a fairly big cannon, and adds a lot to the load carried by most scanario players. In its first use at the “Battle for Earth” scenario game at Wayne’s World of Paintball in Ocala, Florida, before the game was over I found myself carrying only the cannon and leaving my regular paintball gun behind just because the load was excessive. However, I still had a lot of fun. These cannons are a blast to shoot becuase they kick a bit, and because they allow you to accomplish things (under the rules) that you can’t do with a regular gun. During the game, I eliminated 6 armored vehicles while firing 7 shots (thanks to 1 missed shot and a quick re-load), most of them from close distance. There is nothing I have experienced in paintball quite like hiding behind a tree waiting for an armored vehicle to come rolling into range.
A FINAL NOTE ON AIR CANNONS
As with the origial BECC, there are no drawn plans or parts list for this project. The final configuration was arrived at after a lot of experimentation, and lot of modification. There are no exact necessary dimensions for building these air cannons. The length, connecting type pieces, and method of powering the devices are fairly arbitrary. The most important aspect to consider is always safety. A visit to a hardware store and some creative thought can go a long way, but remember, safety first!
