Longshot repairs: Part 2!

Sup lady and gentlemen,

It seems like I'll never see the end of my Longshot modding--just when I think I have it all figured out, something else decides to fail on me. This time it was my trigger catch that bit the dust so I decided to make a new one out of 1/8'' polycarbonate as well as a new plunger to complement it.

I started out by tracing the old trigger catch on a piece of 1/8'' polycarbonate:

Using a scroll saw and Dremel, I managed to produce this:

Not bad, eh? Now on to the plunger rod--I cut a 1/2'' Delrin rod to be 5'' long:

Now for the tough part--fabricating the piece at the rear of the plunger rod. It has to fit through the hole in the catch, as well as have its edges rounded off to enable smooth guidance through the trigger catch. I used my "ghetto lathing" method, where I cut a rough 13/16'' circle, drill a 9/64'' hole through the middle, insert a 6-32 bolt and tighten on a nut, pop it in the drill press, and shave down the edge with a Dremel. I used 1/4'' polycarbonate, and the finished product is nothing short of stellar:

I changed things around a little at the front of the plunger tube--I no longer have the black piece of the old breech attached to the brass breech. It now rests upside down in its usual spot (the hole is bigger than 19/32''). To kill some dead space, I cut a piece of 3/4'' PVC and inserted it into the black piece:

Don't forgot your plunger padding! I used my usual 1/8'' natural gum foam:

Insert the piece with the 3/4'' PVC into the plunger tube (upside down) followed by the plunger padding:

Now to build the plunger--drill and tap both ends of the Delrin rod. For the plunger head, I used a 3/4'' long 6-32 brass screw (for bling), 3/4'' fender washer, 1 1/2'' neoprene washer, and 1 1/4'' fender washer. For the rear spring stop, I thought I was going to have to fabricate one out of polycarbonate, but I ended up getting lucky. I had a hunch that there might a washer of the perfect size and there was--a normal 1/2'' washer! It fits perfectly; for a spring I used my same 4 1/4'' K26 from before.

Comparison with the old plunger:

Installed in the blaster:

So that's what I had to do to get things working reliably again. Am I finally done? Nope--there's still one big project coming down the pipeline: a homemade shotgun grip!

I hope you guys enjoyed this write-up,
~T