Original 68 Automag rebuild

[Bagheera]

Hi everyone, first post, avid recent reader. Excellent stuff here in the forums, keep it up!

Okay, on to the "how/why"....


I own an original 68 Automag, which I purchased and played with from about '92-'94, if memory serves correctly. The only mods to it was a "6 hole" mod made when I purchased it, which after reading recent posts and articles, is of dubious help to the accuracy of the gun.

After reading up on the newest stuff, the anti chop bolt, new valves, bodies, etc. etc., I was wondering what should be upgraded, and what should be left bone stock. Granted, I know I will have to rebuild the entire thing with new seals EVERYWHERE (the marker hasn't been touched in over a decade.)

As for what I'm using it for, when I get back into woodsball play, I would like to use it as I did in the past, namely low-volume, "marksman" (or "sniper" if you will) type play, which I did very well "back in the day." When I would go out for the day with buddies, I would use about 1/3rd of the paint they did, yet I was among the top shooters in terms of enemy eliminations. As you can see, I would like to continue that, but with some upgrades.

As far as upgrades I've had my eye on, they include;
Barrels - Stiffi, Wisper, or Hammerhead
Body - Tac One Warp body
Hopper - Qloader
Air - sticking with CO2, but I would like to add an expansion chamber and a couple of regulators (or do I have this backwards, should it be one regulator and two expansion chambers?)
Sight - Old sight is gone, so scope for scouting on top rail (and "Hail Mary" shots), and open DOT sight for close shots on side rail.



Conversely, would it just be cheaper to buy a new or used TAC 1? But, seeing as how my original marker was so good "back in the day", I thought it would be neat to breathe new life into it.

As you can see from the photo, this thing is way old school, including the feed at the top which drops the ball directly into the chamber, rather than the later version of this body in which the tube looks welded onto the side with that cap at the bottom. I've always loved the tank where it's at, as the stock has always been very comfortable for me there, keeping the weight of the CO2 up against my body, allowing me to bring the gun to bear against targets quickly while either running & gunning, or (my favorite) ambush sniping.

Had problems uploading the photos to the image gallery, so trying links to photobucket.

[ljpiller]

A couple months ago I went through the exact same thing. I got an automag from 1993 that was virtually unused except for a couple times.

Basically what I did was follow along the old Automag video on YouTube and make a list of things that needed replacing. Obviously the o-rings are going to need to be replaced. There are a couple other things that I found needed fixing up. Make sure you inspect the parts inside and out for any rust. I was able to sand off the little rust on the outside easily but it took me awhile to notice the rust on the inside of the mainbody - check everything. Make sure your mainspring isn't sagging beyond the front of your bolt. Also, if your barrel has any slop you may need to either replace the o-rings or replace it all together. Plastic detents in my opinion work a lot better, so I replaced the wire ones with those.

Back in the regulator, the grease on the spring pack was pretty far gone and had gotten really sticky. I washed that off and re-greased it. Also, make sure you take out the piston and clean it off. Dirt can collect from dirty CO2 on the front. If you have a foamie bolt you will likely need some more foamies. In my case, I just replaced the bolt with a foamieless one. If you want you can even go for a level 10. The new bolts are a lot more lightweight anyways. You can also switch out the older wire

They haven't really been improved upon over the years. They were pretty good to begin with. A repair kit contained everything I needed to get the marker to fire.

For upgrades, it is completely up to you. I've kept mine stock, using even the same VL90 and elbow that came with it. An anti-siphon tank works wonders if you like to lay down on the trigger or find yourself shooting downhill. The only thing I am considering is a new barrel. Twist-Lock ones are hard to find. This isn't a problem if you go with a Tac-One body.

[ThePixelGuru]

Nice old school 'mag. I'm not sure I would change anything.

A word about regulators on 'mags: They don't need 'em. In most cases, it'll starve the valve and you'll get shootdown. The integrated reg in your valve does a better job than almost all aftermarket regs. If you don't shoot too fast and you're concerned about freezing your valve or liquid CO2, you could look in to a Sideline Stabilizer from Palmer.

I say go out and play with it, then figure out what you really want to change. You might find yourself wanting to make only a little tweak, in which case you should just do that. If you want to make a lot of changes, just build a new 'mag and keep your sweet oldschool as a backup.

[Bagheera]

This is the same marker;

http://www.airgundesignsusa.com/museum/Automag.htm

How do I tell what level my marker is?

[Coralis]

Yours is most likely a level 5 or 6 since it has the 6 hole mod ... i believe the way to tell the level 5 mag is that your can unscrew the power tube from the valve (not just the tip).
Btw with your current set up its going to be hard to put a reg/expansion chamber on the gun ,if you really have your set on doing this your probably going to have to mount your asa on the grip handle or have very odd looking set up.

[Jaan]

I think you'd be better off buying a new gun, and keeping this one together for sentimental value. It's often cheaper to buy a gun whole then to upgrade an existing one. Besides, if the gun is so good as is, why fix what ain't broke? You can also get a nice mildly upgraded classic 'Mag for about $150 and mess with that one instead.

If you want a Tac 1 you should know that the body takes Autocokcer barrels, not twist lock. So right there you're going to have to get a different type of barrel then you use now.

The only thing I might do to that gun to keep it running good on CO2 is to put an anti syphon tube inside the tank (after getting it re-hydro'd of course) and a coil of hose going from the ASA to the valve. If there's anything old school it's a coiled hose. If I remember correctly you used to have to drill out the hole for the vertical ASA on those old rails and I wouldn't do that, just because it spoils the originality of it.

If you get a Tac 1 whole, it will come with an X Valve, which can't use CO2, you must use HPA.

I'd love to see an old 'Mag like this on the field. I know what you mean about how much fun it is kicking it old school...I've been using a stock class Phantom pump all year long, even at scenario games.