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Mechanics of the TS1

Information: Pix: Performance:
Mechanics   
Big Loader   
Review by Rocky 
The Key Parts of the Gun
  • Front Loader
  • Clip Magazine
  • Cog
The Front Loader



 

The front loaders are easily removable and can hold approximately 60 rounds. Overfilling of the loaders will make it difficult for them to flow into the clip magazine. The loaders are equipped with a sliding door that protects the balls from dirt and from having them roll out when you don't want them to. Due to the hole in the loaders, they can only be fed one ball at a time. You can either hand feed them or you can make a funnel apparatus to speed up the loading.
 

The Clip Magazine Mechanics



After the loader is mounted on the gun, the balls roll down and into the clip magazine. This is where the ingenuity of the designer comes in. Instead of having balls gravity feed into the receiver of the gun, the TS-1 uses a chain driven conveyor system that places each ball into the receiver. The chain drive operates due to the movement of the hammer/bolt assembly as it travels back and forth in the gun. The chain drive is made of 96 individual stainless steel links that form a continuous loop which takes the shape of the letter L, but facing backwards. Welded onto the chain are 16 rubber covered stainless steel lugs. These lugs act as the conveyor system that feeds the balls up into the breech. 
 

So How Does The Feeding Work?



A paintball starts its travel by being transported up the chain drive and into the outer sleeve that houses the hammer/bolt assembly. This assembly then moves forward and positions the ball into the breech, which if correctly sized, will prevent balls from rolling out of the front of the barrel. When the trigger is pulled, the sear that connects the hammer to the bolt disengages and the hammer moves backwards due to a spring that is positioned between the hammer and the bolt. The hammer then strikes the valve tube which releases the pressurized gas through a guide tube to the diffuser bolt. The gas then propels the paintball out of the barrel. Inside of the hammer is a "secondary hammer" or striker. After the hammer has made contact with the valve tube, the striker continues to move backwards due to inertia. The striker trips a rocker switch which redirects the compressed gas that is inside the system to activate the piston assembly, or three way valve, similar to that of an autococker. The piston shaft of this assembly is connected to the bolt which has not moved since discharging the air that propelled the ball. The piston shaft moves backwards and pulls the bolt along. The bolt now connects with the hammer and the sear engages, thus connecting the two parts together. Attached to the piston shaft is a timing collar. After the bolt and the hammer has engaged, the piston shaft continues to move backwards until the timing collar hits the rocker switch and resets the system. The pressurized gas in the system is now redirected to push the piston shaft instead of pulling it backwards. The hammer/bolt assembly is now repositioned where it had begun. 

If the striker fails to hit the rocker switch which activates the piston shaft. The system will stall. A player will notice that when the trigger is pulled, the gun will not cycle. This situation can be remedied by hitting the reset switch located on the right side of the gun, just above the handgrip. The clip magazine should be slightly lowered before hitting the reset switch. Failure to do so will either double feed a paintball into the breech or misindex the clip magazine.

But what about the loading of paintballs? The piston shaft inside of the gun basically moves forwards and backwards. This shaft is connected to a cog which is positioned above the clip. The cog looks like a piece of metal with teeth in it, and resembles the toothed gears on a bicycle. The difference between the cog and the gears on a bicycle is that the cog doesn’t constantly grab the chain it comes in contact with. When the piston shaft moves backwards, the cog is positioned onto the chain of the clip magazine’s conveyor system. The cog’s teeth engages the chain and pulls it backwards which in turn moves the paintballs up the clip magazine and into the receiver. 

In order for the feeding system to work properly, the cog has to pull the chain in only one direction, that being backwards. So when the cog moves forward due to the movement of the piston shaft, it has to do so without touching the chain. This is accomplished by slanted slots on the cog and a guide leaf that repositions the cog.