Bought a used A1 .. two small problems

[whyviet]

The back cap screw hole is stripped -- any good way to fix that? (in the body)

Also.. the rotor breech block has a crack near the front where the shaft is. About 1/4 of an inch long.. Is that serious?

Thanks.

Don't think I'm ever buying a used gun again.. at least w/out detailed pictures.

=|

[DJMAN]

try tapping a good allen wrench a hair bit to big in it and remove. Then get on to fixmyangel.com and buy a new screw. The crack I would have to see a pic to see if it would cause a problem. Hope you didn't pay to much.

[whyviet]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The screw itself looks okay. I believe it's stripped in the body..

I'm in between cameras right now so I can't snap a decent picture.

I paid 650$ for it.

[tom allen]

the hole is about 2mm longer than the screw so you may be lucky and get a longer screw to bite in the last few threads. The only other alternative is to drill the hole a bit deeper and tap it.

[whyviet]

Do you know where I can get a longer screw? I don't think regular hardware stores carry that thread. Thanks for the help.

[tom allen]

as long as the breech is held in the right position, this crack shouldn't be a problem. If you find that the bolt is sticking you'll have to get this crack closed to keep the breech position correct.

[tom allen]

Just checked the length of thread in the A1, and it looks like there is no more thread available in the hole. You could try chasing the thread with a 2.5mm plug tap which will get right into the full depth of the hole. This must be done carefully as there is a chance of grounding the tap in the bottom of the hole.
Extending the depth of the hole by a few millimeters may be the only answer.

PS. i'm based in the UK, so i'm not going to be much help sourcing the screws, although i may be able to get them.

[Mavrick]

See this web page on the WDP site.
http://wdp.tv/newsupdate/281106-update/281106-updates.html

Or WDP site:
Tech Area:
Tab A1

Halfway down the page you can see the side shot of a damaged breach. It is caused by ether firing the gun without a bolt in and the cover flying open, or the breach knob is not engaged all the way and the breach fly's open. The crack your referring to sounds like the same type of damage . I would check to see if ether of the breach pins are bent and replace if they are. Just need to be careful that you do not do it to the marker again or you may get it to fail.

Another trick is to use an O ring on the breach knob shaft between the ram and the knob. Compress the O ring when you put the knob back on and tighten the set screw. This will keep the knob from working loose during use.

[whyviet]

Just checked the length of thread in the A1, and it looks like there is no more thread available in the hole. You could try chasing the thread with a 2.5mm plug tap which will get right into the full depth of the hole. This must be done carefully as there is a chance of grounding the tap in the bottom of the hole.
Extending the depth of the hole by a few millimeters may be the only answer.

PS. i'm based in the UK, so i'm not going to be much help sourcing the screws, although i may be able to get them.

Alright! Found a 2.5 screw that was just a big longer than the stock one. That one worked beautifully. I was lucky to find some screws in an old toolcase that had Radio Control type screws.. I feel 50% better now. :)

[tom allen]

Considering you're in the usa and metric screws aren't that popular, that's very lucky.

[bajafx4]

Must have been from a European RC car or something. :)

As for your breech block. The gun was probably fired with the breech door unlocked causing the door to fly open. Does the breech door line up properly when it's closed and locked? How much play is in the breech door when it's closed and locked? How does the gun fire?

You may need new breech block pins and/or a new breech block. Last I heard the breech blocks were only available in black color and the gun had to be sent in to have one hand selected for proper fit.

And sorry to say, but IMO $650 is too much for a gun w/ these issues... sorry bud.

[whyviet]

It was.. or it might have been japanese.

Anyways.. there is a little bit of play in it.. and the gun is dust black.. so if there's any place in the states.. I'm willing to send it there (depending on how much it costs..).

It fires and it's lined up correctly. I havn't had the opportunity to fire paint yet.. just dry fire. So far so good.

Worse case maybe I break even.. the back plate problem is fixed!

edit:

Michigan huh? You probably know the kid who sold it to me.

[bajafx4]

There's a thread around here somewhere about the breech door, but I know you can get it fixed at FixMyAngel (www.fixmyangel.com).

I only know one kid with a dust black A1 and he had it last weekend, so I doubt it was him.

[whyviet]

I just got it yesterday :)

On a different note -- I shot 1 year old paint through it and it shoots straight as an arrow. Doesn't look like that crack is affecting performance. Just something to watch out for I guess..

[tom allen]

keep an eye out for the bolt sticking, that's a sure sign the breech is out of alignment. Then you'll probably need new hinge pins.