My inline Vortex Project

[dobey]

I have been making airsoft guns for some time, but this is the first time I have ventured into the bbmg arena. I trolled through this board for over a week and gleaned the information necessary to make a first attempt, and because you all have taught me literally everything I know about vortex guns I wanted to share my project here.

I machined my vortex block from a 2 inch rod of Nylon, to fit in a 1 3/4 pvc pipe. The goal of this first test is to get the gun as small as possible so I can later fit the thing inside realistic airsoft bodies.

Here it is with an airsoft barrel threaded 3/8 fine and screwed into the block:



I used a steel ball and spring with a grub screw to adjust spring tension to act as a hop up and to keep bb's from rolling out the barrel when not firing:



This is a shot of the end cap with 2 O-Rings to keep the chamber sealed:



I am using a spring and plunger to keep the BB's pushed towards the vortex block:



I am also using the barrel as a guide rod for the spring and plunger:



All the major pieces, the PVC says it is rated for 330 psi on the side, I am using 100 psi for all the testing:



Here it is assembled, it holds about 4000 airsoft bb's, I am using 0.25 gram madbull bb's for the testing:







To make it portable I am testing it on CO2 with a Palmers rig from another project:



With 100 psi I am hitting 83 rounds per second so far:

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

That's one of the most professionally made BBMGs I've ever seen, I like the "bullpup" layout too. Is it meant for skirmishing?

[MRR]

Very clean and good looking BBMG that you have build there.
Something to be proud of...

One little suggestion:
You could use some thumbscrews to fasten the plunger and front cap, so you need no screwdriver to refill.

[dobey]

Yes good call on the thumb screws, just testing it on the shop it was getting annoying with the screw driver.

I never really intended to skirmish this version, it was more of a proof of concept for me, and too see if I could make it small enough to fit in mock 50 caliber M2 bodies.

It would easily skirmish though, it is difficult to get a good fps reading because the chrono reads the first bb, and it seems to take a few rounds to get full power on a burst. So far I have seen 250 fps with 0.25 on the first shot, leading me to believe it is in the 300 to 350 fps range when it is running a full stream.

[noname]

Looking great! You should be very proud of that gun. Now I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[POLAND_SPUD]

I like the bull-pup layout too...
it's a pity it doesn't use threaded iron fittings... that would make loading easier and you could use higher pressures + a detent / o-ring to get more power....
but don't listen to me I always say things like that

With 100 psi I am hitting 83 rounds per second so far

good job

[ALIHISGREAT]

Really nice and clean! i love the machined innards and bullpup configuration - this page is now officially in my bookmarks!

[twizi]

very nice maybe use hpa instead off co2 better result may varie

[django]

Amazing!!, looks fantastic mate 8) I think I need to make another BBMG...

[Davidvaini]

looks good, its nice to see a nicer version of the bullpup idea of mine.(Mine looked like crap and didn't perform well either)

Very nice construction on the vortex block as well.

How far does yours shoot?

[Davidvaini]

looks good, its nice to see a nicer version of the bullpup idea of mine.(Mine looked like crap and didn't perform well)

Very nice construction on the vortex block as well.

How far does yours shoot?

[tansit234]

I really need to make something like that. After fielding the rifle I have its WAY too long.

On a side note, I don't think an HPA source would ever survive. Even running a vortex on 40oz of CO2 through a manifold doesn't last long enough for a full day. The only time I ever took my BBMG to a field I went through about 65oz of CO2 and had to call it quits early (about 4 pounds of CO2). I don't think a single HPA tank could last even one game.

Friend of mine built 3 MG42's using a BB manifold design and tube feed remote magazine and had to supply each one with a 10lb bottle.

Anyway nice gun and coax magazine, and I like the grip too. I'll have to make one of those when I get my Wells-Index running.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

On a side note, I don't think an HPA source would ever survive. Even running a vortex on 40oz of CO2 through a manifold doesn't last long enough for a full day. The only time I ever took my BBMG to a field I went through about 65oz of CO2 and had to call it quits early (about 4 pounds of CO2). I don't think a single HPA tank could last even one game.

Let's face it, the traditional BBMG is a horribly inefficient design in terms of ammunition and gas consumption. The best you can do is add features like long barrel, smaller BB chamber, breech restriction to allow pressure buildup in the barrel and reduce rate of fire etc, things that will allow you to get the required performance using a lower pressure which will then make your tank last longer.