Brass hammer

[ShadowsOfTheFallen]

i am starting to see little peices of brass where the bolt connects to the hammer. is this normal wear?? if not, how or what so i do?

[PBPlaya159]

the brass shavings are probally from you hammer not being adjusted right, send it to a tech or you can adjust it yourself.

[ShadowsOfTheFallen]

i can adjust it by just backing out the ram with the tool in the angel tool kit right???

[LordTauk]

Yeah sorta, but there a couple more steps and what not to get there and do it... the manual describes how to do it and there is a really good sticky up^ there about doing it

If you get a toolkit, get the WDP one with the LPR checking gauge, because eventually you may need it. Downside, its 50 bucks to spend on a toolkit you might only use once or twice a year, if any. But always good to have and know things about your Angel.. how to fix, set them, etc. etc.

who knows, you might give a teammate or a fellow player a hand with his Angel with your toolkit

[ShadowsOfTheFallen]

already got the tool kit at the shop ;). i'll re-read the manual and see what it says then go from there. think i may just pull the ram, valve and lpr out this saturday just to make sure i have it all cleaned out. then reset my snap ring, hammer, and lpr.

[Syentific]

The only real way to eliminate this problem is to get a stainless or Ti hammer. AKA use to make a nice hardened hammer, but they stopped making a lot of their good LCD parts.

You can take it apart and clean it, but the brass will keep shedding and you will just have to clean it again and again. Stainless hammers are the only solution to this problem.

The ti's are hard to get a hold of and if you have your mind set on it, I am sure for a comprable price Joe from Whitewolf will hook you up. The downside, he is a very busy guy.

I should also clarify; This will happen eventually no matter how well your gun is tuned.

[Syentific]

That's cool J. But, for the $15.00 the stainless hammers cost you could save yourself a lot of time. I don't want to sound pushy, but it doesnt make a lot of sense to me to take it apart every 6 weeks if you dont have to.

[Syentific]

That's great. But between practice and tourneys this summer I put 46XXX on my 2k and about 16XXX on my 2k1 and have never had to undergo that type of maintenance. I routinley check my lpr and snap ring to be on the safe side and I have yet to make an adjustment.

WDP designed these to be low maitenance and compared to some other guns, every six weeks is still considered low maintenance. I just think even that is a little overboard for my tastes anyway.

If you have the knowledge and the time, then there is no reason not to want to keep your marker in pristine condition, but like my Daddy always says, "...if it aint broke...sell it before you break it you dumb $hit...".

[Roy]

N o NO no ... dont get a stainless steel hammer .. they make them brass for a reason ... cuz its a softer metal .. youll start getting shaving when your hammer is not lined up ..thats better than geting shavings from the inside of your body frame !!

[Frostbyte]

i agree with roy..... what a better way to ruin a $2000 dollar investment (your gun setup) then having your stainless steel hammer unscrew itself off of the ram, and beating the hell outta your valve, and the inner walls of the hammer housing. ive seen it happen.... dude was very unhappy, there was nothing they could do with his angel after the inside walls had huge chunks of metal scratched off of it. if a brass one starts to back itself off, it may beat the hell outta your valve, but not the inside of your gun. look at things this way, 30 bucks or so for a new valve, or $1500 for a new angel. im sticking with the brass hammer.
-Erik

[Syentific]

That is one way to see it Roy, but if you are checking your gun consistantly its not a worry. I can see if you never ever ever run a check up, but I think sometimes people get in the habit of running second tier replacements when first tier maintenance is all they need. And by maintenance in this case I am referring to unsightly wear marks.

I agree with what you are saying to a point, but at what level of user awareness is this person at that they are losing chunks of internal body and do not realize it until it is too late?

[Frostbyte]

your hammer can unscrew itself in a matter of a few shots... the guy whos hammer came loose during a game plays on my team. the whole day, his gun shot fine, very consistant over the chrony.... everything was peachy, then one game, he said he was spiking, and dropping balls all of a sudden, he alerted the rest of us of gun problems, normal during a game, we just covered for him. he thought it was the paint, so kept playing. 3 shots after letting us know he had gun problems, it sounded like he had chopped a ball, and the bolt stuck forward, keeping the valve open letting out all his air. well, he didnt chop a ball, the hammer unscrewed itself, and wedged itself between the valve and the body of the gun bending the ram rod when it got wedged, and breaking the bolt near where the rod of the bolt inserts into the hammer. after the game, we took a look at his gun, metal everywhere.... we could open the breach because the bolt was broken, but we could not get the hammer "unstuck" he ended up sending it back with the warranty card, but wdp gave him §§§§ about putting a ss hammer in it, and almost didnt warranty it. that right there was enough for me to take mine out of my gun and put the brass one back in. keep in mind that the tourney we were playing in was a 3 man 5 minute game. he chrony'd fine going into the game, bout halfway through, it broke. me telling you all this may not bother you at all, but i was there, i saw the chunks of aluminum fall out of the breach onto the table. you will have to pay me b4 i put another ss hammer in my gun again, you can do what you want with your guns...
-Erik

[Syentific]

Hey Frost thats cool man. I really appreciate your input and I dont doubt that something like that could happen. I am just saying between the design of the Angel and a little user awareness you can almost eliminate these types of problems.

Maybe in this case your teammate was the most leading expert in Angel craftsmanship and he rebuilt his gun after every game, I think there is always room for the unexpected and I dont doubt one bit that in that situation a brass hammer would have minimized the internal damage, but then we are talking about percentages and chance and not that I am untouchable, but I dont like to take into accout that minimal of a chance.

I totally agree with what your saying, but I dont think that the hammer would come loose 9 times out of ten if installed properly and check regularly. Maybe your teamate did all that and he was just a victim of circumstance, the numbers arent in favor of that argument from my opinion, but definaltey possible.

Thanks for your input though and I honestly appreciate your concern for the matter.

[Frostbyte]

see, i know you understand, but the way you worded the "and a little user awarness you can almost eliminate these types of problems" it broke just after ballahpalooza, after ballah, i took all my teammates guns, tuned and cleaned them. you could blame it on me if you wish, you will just get laughed at by all the players around where i play. i take pride in what i do, and how i do it. like you said, the ss hammer is not gonna break all the time, or malfunction, but what happened was enough for me to NOT promote one 100% the brass one is there for a reason, and i saw first hand why its there... all i can say, is if anyone at the field was gonna pay me to put one in their gun, i wouldnt, i dont promote it, done use it, never will.
-Erik

[Syentific]

I strongly accept your recommendation. I would be less likely if you were not a former ss hammer user and even though the tragedy was not on your behalf you are intimately involved with the situation first hand.

One of these days I will probably regret not taking your advice, but for now I will leave it to what small chance there is of myself falling under the same circumstances. Thanks again for your time and input.