Need Help My Minimag Is Shooting Drop Curve Balls!!!

Hello All,

I recently purchased a Minimag off of Ebay as I have been wanting one for over 15 years.
I finally get it and air it up and to my big surprise it is shooting drop curve paintballs!
I squeeze the trigger and the paintball comes flying out and at about the 25ft. mark it drops
making a buzzing noise (ball cutting through the air) straight to the ground.

If anyone can shed some light as to what is happening please help!!!

Here is what I have done already:

1) Used many different barrels both agd and aftermarket, no fix.
2) Adjusted FPS up and down, no fix.
3) Used both co2 and compress air, no fix.
4) Wasted several hundred paintballs trying to fix!

My set up:

Minimag with benchmark 45 grip and benchmark expansion chamber going into remote coil line.
I have installed a level 10 bolt.

Any help will be majorly appreciated!

Thanx,
Erdnase

You say you have adjusted the FPS up and down. Try setting it at 280-290 and work from there as this is the typical field limit. Also, what paint are you using? Are the barrels clean? Are you chopping paint? Paint quality can also have a very adverse effect on accuracy.

Oil in the barrel perhaps?

Can you turn it sideways and get some horizontal curve out of it?

Maybe this^^^.... Mags do need a drop of oil on occasion. Insert directly into the valve air inlet if possible and dry fire a few times without the barrel to clear out any oil that may shoot out.

Hey all,

OPBN, this is not a paint issue, I have oiled the gun, and I'm not chopping paint.

Spider, I'm sure I could.

Flatliner, gun is oiled.

thanx so far, any other suggestions?

Thanx,
Erdnase

it's the paint and/or the barrel. even if the velocity is too high or too low, the paint should still shoot straight

since it's a minimag, it's using a twist-lock barrel. The older nubbins (aka detents) used to be made of wire before changed to plastic. I don't have any experience with the wire nubbins myself, but is it possible that they could be pushed in too far? possibly damaging the paint?

and definitely double check the cleanliness of the barrel. make sure there's no burrs or anything on the tip that could be affecting the paint too (probably not likely, but worth checking)

Poor quality/old paint can cause issues like this. I would suggest making sure everything is clean and trying some different paint. The fact that it happened with various barrels etc, is a good indication that the paint could be the issue. Other things to check, what sort of loader are you using? Gravity or forcefed? If forcefed, perhaps the loader is pushing the paint past the nubbins and you are double feeding? This will result often times in one ball shooting out straight with another behind it that drops off like you described.

I also see that you mention a remote coil line. Try using HPA with the tank on the marker, eliminating the remote. See if there is any difference.

I've used every nubbin made since the early to mid 90s. If your using a force fed hopper with a un modified nubbin then we have a problem right there. I'm a major fan of TL barrels. But the nubbins are too weak for force fed. I have to add a strip of plumbers glue to the back of mine to get enough tension to work with FF hoppers. Likewise I can turn around and put my old revy on and no issues at all. Don't ask me why but I've had all the issues you describe just with a FF hopper and a nubbin that has not had any tension added. I'd get mad. Then feel like an idiot. Check / fix nubbin and all is well. Some double feeds. Some not. Some it was like the ball shifted forward just enough for the blow forward to weaken the ball or something. No barrel breaks. But curvy fliers. And some would explode 20 feet out of the gun in mid air. But if I'd switch to my revy no problems. Or add tension to the nubbin no problems. I'm sure this newer age smaller paint doesn't help with nubbin tension at all.

Other big thing is dirty barrels and or crappy paint. Weather paint is new or not it could still be crappy paint. And if you didn't scrub the old barrels well there could easily be old and I mean OLD paint residue.

There are probably several factors at play here. Make sure the barrel fits snug in the body. The gap between the outside of the barrel and the inside of the body affects how far the nubbin gets pushed into the barrel. If the gap is large, you need to add some artificial depth to the nubbin. This is usually done by adding something to the back of the nubbin where it contacts the body since this is the pivot point that pushes the front of the nubbin into the barrel. It can be a drop of epoxy glue or even a piece of tape wrapped around the barrel and nubbin at that spot. As long as the nubbin gets pushed farther into the barrel it will work.

A lot of the twist lock barrels have a larger bore because the paint was bigger when they were in use. Now that may paint producers are releasing smaller paint, any nubbins that are weak or not fitting the barrel/body combination will have even greater issues with the nubbins not contacting the ball properly and allowing the ball to roll out of the breach with minimal push by the hopper or even by tilting forward.

If you can actually fire a single ball, it should shoot straight. If it does not shoot straight when fed one at a time, then the issue is usually bad paint or a dirty barrel.

last time i played was the first time in over 15 years, all my markers are twistlocks and i noticed with a couple of my barrels the accurcy was dissapointing with one of them shooting curve balls. i was able to keep changing barrels until i found one that was acceptable. after getting home i checked all my barrels by rolling/blowing a paintball down them and found a big difference in bore diameters within the same brand and model of barrel. the one giving me the most fits with accuracy was way oversized for the paint the field gave me that day.

you may have to get yourself a freak system. twist locks freak backs are out there you just have to keep hunting for them.:)

The twist lock freaks don't help much with this problem. The interaction of the nubbin with the breach has a bigger affect. If barrel inside diameter had a big effect on accuracy, I wouldn't be able to hit anything, because I use only 0.693" to 0.696" for every gun I own no matter what paint I use. But, I have always been one of the most consistent shooters on my team.

AThomas. Although I prefer a closer fit barrel. Your statement is right on. I've got a TL freak. 2 actually. But if the nubbin doesn't hold the paint back to the bolt there is still .5" (maybe not .5 but you get the point of the statement.) the ball can move before it gets to the freak insert. That can cause a lot of issues. So far making the back side of my nubbin stick out more to hold pressure in the barrel is the only fix I've found. And it works. I'd just like a little less ghetto fix for permanent.

Vintage. All my equipment was vintage 97 or older up until this year. Never had a complaint one with my V, P, or plastic nubbins. But that was all with a agitator. Then shredder. Then revolution loader. This year I got a halo for a killer price and figured I'd upgrade. Said upgrade made a lot of issues. I am sure that the smaller paint OD now compared to 10 years ago magnified this issue. No longer was out shooting my hopper a potential issue in a fire fight. BUT I was double feeding. Rolling balls out of my (non freak) barrel. Curve balls as mentioned. And paint that would just explode 20-50ft out of the gun. I wasn't happy to say the least. Well then I find out its all the nubbin. A FF hopper just pushes the paint right past the nubbin. Or at least far enough forward to cause all kinds of issues. So back to the fix of building up the backs of the plastic nubbins at the end that goes through the barrel. As long as they stay tight all is well.

i bought a ptp armson ssr earlier and it has provision for 2 nubbins like the crown point, havn't had a chance to play with it yet but back yard testing looks promising. blackdeath1k, how have you been able to put a number on nubbin depth?

I've not measured any depth at all. Once I figured out my theroretical issue. I used plumbers glue(kinda a plasticy silicone) on the back side of the nubbin. and clipped it down once dry just enough for it to fit in the body of the marker. So the pressure on the back side is actually pushing it in the breach more than originally designed. Its not the best but it has worked. Just have to be careful and not rip the glue off when insurting the barrel in my classic RT. The holes in the body are not kind to the buildup of glue. I plan to actually mill for 2 spyder / ego fang detents for testing this summer. I will probably have to glue them in place with the plumbers glue. But the amount needed would dry quick so I don't think that is an issue.

sounds like someone needs to make color coded nubins of different depths for twistlocks.

I'd hate to know what they would cost. More exotic materials for tension without being any larger. And the fact of how few people would need / want them. That's why I want to test out converting to dual spyde or eago detents. They are plentiful. Cheap. And we know they work. Only reason I've not started testing on these is the fact I will have to order them. I'm trying to hold off till I need to order more stuff to cover shipping.

what if we milled the barrels to take another nubbin 180 out like the crown point? i have a couple i'd donate to the trial.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vintage

sounds like someone needs to make color coded nubins of different depths for twistlocks.

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Just make one nubbin with a longer nib on the back so it will push deeper into all barrels. If it is too deep for the odd barrel, you can always sand some off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by athomas

Just make one nubbin with a longer nib on the back so it will push deeper into all barrels. If it is too deep for the odd barrel, you can always sand some off.

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That's exactly what I've done all this year. And yes. It has worked well for the most part.

I will still gamble with the finger detent setup. I really believe it will be more reliable in the long run. And no real modification after the initial milling. Just buy fingers.

Thanx everyone for the input!!!

I will try working the nubbin in my barrels and see of that works?

From what I can tell the problem is inside the gun somewhere. This is not a paint, remote line,
co2, compressed air, dirty gun or dirty barrel problem. The problem is either a nubbin problem
or something internal. I will look into and see what I come up with and get back to you guys
after the new year sometime.

Thanx, Thanx, and Thanx for the input!!

Later,
Erdnase

The valve problems causes fast, slow, or inconsistent velocities. If the balls are hooking up, down, or sideways, then the problem is always external to the valve itself.

Have you actually shot some of that paint in a different gun to prove it is not the paint? I read where barrels were changed. But not where it was tested in another gun to prove it is the mag.

But yes. Athomas is correct. Your issue is outside the valve. If you don't have a foamie on you bolt. Put one on. And modify the detent. Then get back to us.