Skywalker wrote:Huh, it'd be interesting if that schrader valve makes the difference! I'm surprized that the heavier bolt didn't help though. How much friction does your piston have? (I know you aren't going to measure it, just a rough idea: will the piston slide out under gravity? etc).
The heavier bolt opened much slower and the muzzle blast was much less audible, I think perhaps I went a bit overboard
I'm not sure exactly when the home-made check valve
failed (basically the o-ring wasn't properly secured and popped out - I should have known, but anyway), if it failed on the first shot then in principle this was functioning just like my previous design without the check valve - so there might yet be hope.
I can't really play around with spring tensions that much as that affects the release pressure of the bolt, so the only two options left are bolt weight and friction. As regards to friction, I can easily push it with one finger, and without air behind it (ie if I removed the pressure source) the spring has absolutely no problem returning the bolt to the closed position, even with the weaker of the springs that I've tried. Therefore it's not really an issue, besides reducing the diameter of the bolt enough will allow too much blowby and the bolt won't travel enough to close the breech.
Don't you mean 'risky' prototypes? Or have you been making epoxy models of ... erm, anatomical appendages?
There have been suggestions that I convert this design into some sort of female reciprocating pleasure device
I got an idea increase that dead space behind the bolt so it will take longer to build up and push the bolt
Rate of fire is not the issue here. If it was working as intended, then it could be altered simply by changing the flow into the chamber, easy as that. The problem here is that the bolt is opening and hanging open, from what I gather because of an ineffective check valve that allows pressure to continue leaking into the chamber even though the bolt has moved forward. Hopefull what mods I've made will address this issue, I'll find out in around 12 hours.
This is what the current setup looks like with the schrader incorporated: