Brainstorming on the Vector:
                                                   What to do when you got nothin' to loose.

    November 1,1998  (Revised Nov. 14,1998)  The Vector is not permanently screwed up like I thought.  I was terribly mis-informed as to the nature of it's bolts operation.  I had been informed that the bolt operated solely by being gas driven.  That it was blown backward after firing to allow a ball to drop into the breech and that the bolt was 'sucked' forward during firing.  I can only kick myself for being dumb enough to believe this bunch of bull.  I of course fell for it because there was no physical connection between the ram and bolt on my supposedly NEW Vector.  This left me with no other logical explanation for it's operation.  The fact of the matter was that there is a pin that connects the bolt to the ram and that pin is missing from my Vector.  Armed with this new information I have revised this article.  The Vector is no longer quite so dead.

    The Vec's accuracy and valving has always been fine.  It's only real problem has been feed reliability.  All due to that missing bolt pin.The Vec uses a ram to cock a nelson style hammer. At this moment I believe that the sequence is as follows.

1: Trigger is pulled.

2: Four-way resets and pulls ram forward.  This chambers a ball.

3: Tail of hammer contacts trip pin, releasing sear. The ram is forward at this time.

4: Hammer travels rearward striking and opening valve

5: Air exits the top of the valve, travels down a power tube into the bolt, firing the ball.

6: The trigger mechanism breaks over- Disengaging the 4-way.

7: The gas from the 4-way is redirected and the ram moves rearward again, resetting the hammer. The bolt is slaved to the ram via the bolt pin, it moves rearward as well allowing a ball to drop into the breech.

I think this is correct. (Actually I'm pretty certain this is correct.)

Here's my theory.

    A new, properly sized bolt could be fabricated.  A modification could be made to the existing or a new bolt pin.  A light spring could be inserted behind the bolt to rest against the back of the receiver face.  The modified bolt pin would feature a catch that engages the bottom of the bolt.  At the end of its rearward travel this catch would disengage and release the bolt.  The spring would drive the bolt forward, chambering a new ball.  When the ram and bolt pin returned forward they would reengage this catch.

    The Ram remains rearward between shots. If the bolt were directly slaved to it this
would mean no ball is chambered.  If the marker were turned on its side the ball would roll out.  It is far more desireable that the bolt chamber a ball and seal up as quickly as possible.  The trip catch would cure this problem.
 

Problems.

    The ram cannot be rigged to return forward as the hammer is slaved to it after it travels rearward. The marker fires when the tail of the hammer contacts a trip as the ram pulls the hammer forward.

    How difficult to rig a spring and trip to the bolt to cause the bolt to travel rearward
with the ram but return forward when it reaches the end of its travel? The spring would be easy as the needed bearing surfaces already exist. The trip is the difficult
part. It would have to be self resetting and 100% reliable. That would mean tight tolerances. Durable, that would mean top quality materials, such as titanium or at least stainless steel.  Reliability would have to be 100%.  The spring that returns the bolt forward would have to be strong enough to do the job, but not so strong as to interfere with cocking.  This is extremely dicey due to the anti-chop feature.  Too much pressure and the bolt would disengage, not enough and it would not reset.  Overall I view this mod as too difficult to implement.


    A new Alternative:  (Dec. 16, 1998)

    Getting closed bolt operation out of the Vector is not going to happen.  The key thing I would like to gain is the ability to fire the marker from the horizontal position.  I recently heard of a Shocker with air assisted powerfeed.  It would fire from the horizontal position.  This would be the cat's meow for the Vector.  I need to find out more about how they operate.  Then I can determine if it would be possible to build one into a new Vector receiver.

    Some quick thoughts.

    Would need some form of retainer to hold the ball in place once it was in the breech.

    Could it be powered off of the 4 way or the main high pressure line?
            How much pressure does it need?
            What controls its operation?  That is, what makes it's ram move, or if it doesn't use a ram, what triggers the mechanism?

     Clean installation is a must.  I don't want hoses hanging out everywhere.
              Could a second hardline be run underneath the nameplate like the main high pressure line?  If there is room, this would be a simple milling operation.


    11/3/98 Got a lucky break My post on Doc Nickel's'Tinker's Guild' forum brought a response. Seems that Michael Power, designer of the Vector still loves to chat about the marker. The poster gave me his home phone and fax number. Hehehhehehehe. Just wait til I get some plans drawn up.

    11/17/98  With the help of an Internet acquaintance it appears that I shall soon have a copy of the Vector Owners Manual.  Cale Henry Bargen has been kind enough to copy his manual for me.  I will soon be repairing the Vector- Now that I know what the problem is.  After which time it will be sent to Doc Nickel who will be making a new receiver with powerfeed and threaded to accept autococker barrels.  I may also have it altered to use Lapco autococker barrel sizers as an integral part.  In addition to this, I will have a double trigger fitted.

    11/18/98  Just found out how the OTP G-1 Barrels use a sizing ring.  May have Doc Nickel fit these sizing rings to my reciever instead of the Lapco sizers.  This would improve performance without adding much length or weight.  The sizers could be held in place by the barrel itself.

    11/27/98  Scratch that plan.  I just called I&I Sports to order a couple of parts kits.  They only had one left in stock.  I need it just to get the Vector working again.  There is no point in dumping a lot of money into a marker that isn't going to last for much longer.  Dunno what my next play is.  I may sell the Vector and buy a Rainmaker or even a Nova 700.  I will probably play this one by ear for a while.  I'm going to examine the possibility of converting all of the unique Vector components into more commonly available ones.  This would require a new regulator piston be built that could use a different seal.  At the present the Vector uses this tiny little teflon disc that is unique to the Vector.  I've been told that the disk is good for around 25,000 shots.  This really is not a lot, we're talking ten cases of paint.  I willing to bet that there will only be one such disk in the parts kit I receive.  This means about 50k shots and the Vector will cease functioning properly.  Sure, that would get me through a couple of seasons.  But then what?  There are also a pair of O-rings around the valve body that are unique to the Vector.  While these should not get damaged by anything short of removing the valve, they too are unreplaceable.  I think I could get by sealing that area up with silicone caulk if these O-rings failed however.  I may contact Doc Nickel and see if he thinks it would be possible to make a new regulator piston that uses a seal scavenged from somewhere else. 

        12/6/98   Sure wish I could make up my mind on this.  I got the parts kit a couple of days ago, good news and bad news.  It contained a bolt pin, two valve seals, and 10 of those fragile valve o-rings.  Unfortunately it did not contain a single one of those teflon regulator piston seals.  I'm going to pull that thing out of there, measure it, and see if I can make one that works out of teflon rod.  The kit also contained the springs I needed to convert the Vector to external regulation.  I swapped them out and installed my Unireg Violator.  Definite improvement.  With the Unireg in place the Vector doesn't blow hoses upon pressurization like it was prone to before.  I will probably keep the old beast as a 'loaner' and backup now.  I couldn't get enough out of selling it to be worth messing with.  Before next spring I will re-outfit it and maybe start keeping my eyes open for sources of Vector parts and factory hop-ups like the BOA barrels and such.  There is nothing special about the bolt pin as I had been worried before.  Should it fail, become worn, or lost, I can replace it with a piece of nylon or delrin rod.

        12/16/98  Hmm.  I'm starting to sound blond.  I've had some time to think about it now and have gotten over my initial panic.  I don't think that there are any parts on the Vector that I could not have built or find available elsewhere should I need to replace them.  I'm tossing around the idea of the custom receiver again.  I think the thing to do now is to draw up a set of plans and mail them off to Doc Nickel.  That way I would know for certain what the receiver was going to cost me.  I could then make an informed decision.  I want to check into the air assisted powerfeed thing a bit more. I would dearly love to have one built into the receiver.


        01/27/00  Boy, how time flies.  Hard to believe a year has passed since I last really thought about the Vector.  With the eminent possibility of owning my own metal-working tools I find myself thinking about the Vector again.  Moreover, I find myself doing searches on eBay and in the newsgroups for Vector's for sale.  Spent most of my idle time today just thinking about what I 'could' do if I had one.  So many options.  Some of them very cool.   Like Electro-Pneumatic conversion.  How about a diffusing power-tube and Venturi bolt?   Such sweet gas-flow and I might even be able to silence that annoying 'Crack' sound!  I'm getting excited just thinking about it.   Of course the new receiver would be a must.  With a cool powerfeed that would not let the ball roll back up the feed tube-  even if the marker were radically tilted.  It could be done.   Just a matter of working out the optimum geometry.   Other cosmetic and functional options would be a cinch.  Like replacing the ugly grip with a two-finger trigger and .45 grip frame.  How about an aluminum shroud? Maybe some killer mill-work on the body and anodizing?   The list grows. . . . 

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