Thursday, July 7, 2011

The New Infinity Soft Tipped Bolt


The most recent push by major paintball gun manufacturers is to create technology that is easier on the brittle paint that causes so many of us problems. The goal is to make it possible to use more brittle paint more readily, reducing the risk of bouncing paintballs against an opponent.

The most recent release in the industry wide push to achieve this enhanced level of brittle paintball friendly markers is the Infinity Legend with its Soft-Tipped bolt replacement. The new bolt has replaced the old with a cushioned face and slightly lighter, shorter design.

In addition, this new bolt has a contoured backing which is designed to match the angled cut in the back of the receiver. The varied pin retention style of the Soft Tip bolt from the original stock bolt is very important. With the inclusion of Infinity's lighter hammer design, introduced in September of this year, the Infinity's stock bolt was made it much easier to change the head screw. A simple pull of the pin would remove the necessary spring and ball-bearing.

With the introduction of the new soft-tipped bolt, things are made slightly more complex. The pin detent spring is now in front of the pin, and is held there by a central aluminum diffuser which is held in place by a separate steel pin. It is necessary now to ensure that the soft-tipped bolt matches the link pin to the hammer.

In the front of the Soft-Tipped Bolt is a small bumper, very flexible in its design. It is an essential and integral part of the bolt's new design. Because you cannot test varying degrees of fragile paintballs, it is hard to test just how much of a difference the new bolt has on these weaker paintballs. However, it was possible to use a selection of similar paintballs and measure any variations in their break rate against the bolt.

To ensure the paintballs were measured at the same constant, gravity was used as a constant for acceleration. The paintballs were dropped from a height of 84 inches where the paintballs broke 100% of the time on impact. Then, the same paintballs were dropped onto the bolts - both the regular stock bolt and the soft-tipped bolt.

Of the paintballs dropped on the stock bolt, all five broke upon impact. Of those dropped on the soft-tipped bolt, only one paintball broke, a much better rate.

The impacts were measured as evenly and similarly as possible, but because they were measured by hand drops, they may not have been completed at the same, ideal rate and under the same conditions. However, it is clear from these results that the soft-tipped bolt has a significant effect on the break rate of paintballs based on the impact they have on the bolt. If more fragile paintballs are capable of withstanding the impact of the bolt, then they can be used to ensure there are no bounce offs during a game.




Tony Brian is a freelance writer for outdoor sports magazines and a contributing writer for paintball camouflage specializing in Soft-Tipped bolt, Infinity's stock bolt and scenario paintball gun modifications.



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