Unusual Turtle + MQ Issue

[Dees_Troy]

After much trial and testing, I have finally figured out what my real problem is.  When firing with a ball in the chamber, the bolt is actually pushed backwards out the back of the marker.  To confirm this, I unplugged the e-way from the board so that the bolt is always closed and will never open during the firing cycle.  Shooting in this method yields fps in the low 240s.  If I press against the bolt with my finger or thumb and then fire it, I register 300 to 315fps.  To further validate, I placed my finger just barely touching the bolt and fired.  Ouch is all that I can say.

Anyway, by maxing out the LPR, I can get into the low 270s.  Of course, I still get 300s by holding the bolt when the e-way is unplugged.  My only other ideas include having a custom bolt made or using the Martin's bolt because they fit tighter which helps keep the bolt in place.  A heavier bolt might have a little less "recoil" as well.  I think that a tighter bolt fit will prove best as that is what I believe prevented my MQ'ed Martin from suffering a similar fate.

I know that Bandit Bolts does custom bolts, though I don't know if they are still in business.  Anyone know of any companies or people that do good custom bolt work?

[Dees_Troy]

Well, armed with the knowledge that I had of the problem so far, I tried various Bushmaster bolts.  I think that I might have had too tight of a bore barrel insert which caused the bolt to jump back a bunch.  With a better match, the Martin bolt came out the clear winner with the Turtle bolt coming in about 10 to 20fps slower.  One of the Bushmaster bolts came in just 5 to 10 fps slower than the Turtle bolt.  Still, with the Turtle bolt, holding the bolt with my thumb pushed the velocity up from 270s to just over 300.  The Martin bolt came in the 290s with just over 300 when holding the bolt.  The Martin bolt weighs 1.0 ounces with the Turtle bolt weighing 0.7 ounces.  The Martin bolt also has a much tighter fit inside the breach.  At some point I may try a heavier bolt pin with the Turtle bolt, but I can just use the Martin bolt with the delrin body for the time being and get respectable results.  Hope that helps someone.