"Hey you, how's tricks.....Is that a ZB-26.?.?.?!"

[BME]

When going hunting, important to use to proper bait.

Worms …catches brim.
M-60’s …catches squid
ZB-26… catches Sand Groupers…!!

After missing out on the M1919, i was LMG Despondent…
So, i decided to buy one, that was $3200 cheaper.!!

All jokes aside, this was a cheap curiosity purchase.
GBU sell these for $299 (incl postage).
If you go instore, no postage costs for them, wave some cash around i’m sure you can get a bit more off…

Its a big box.
I know these had lows fps issues, im sure @DocBob will surface in due course, and we can have a natter.

The problem with the low fps is…the barrel.
-its 70cm long ( to take gels to the end of the LONG barrel.)

-ships not in place ( so it can fit inside the box)

-it simply ‘pushes’ into a locating hole, and sits there…

-Air seal…?? PFFFT HaHaHaHaHa!!! Leaks more hot
air, than trumps lips…!! ( Okay…thats just not possible)

From my contemplation thus far, it would appear…

If You Epoxy it in… it ain’t never coming out.
Which would mean, it can’t be pulled down any more.

I’ll wait for docbob, and see what he did…

[BME]

So assembly… not too much to it.

Inner barrel, and ‘barrel change/locking lever’
When everythings lined up, locking the locking lever , locks it all tight.

Barrel need to go through the locking lever.

Inner barrel goes in…

Locates in the hole…lever can now be locked.
This grips onto the outer barrel, and prevents it from rotating.

If you were to glue the barrel in (to its hole, deep in the receiver), DO NOT FORGET to put the locking lever in first.

Otherwise, you wont get it on.
Unless you cut a wide hole through it, then it may not lock properly.?

Like i said, as far as i can see, you do this once, and thats it…very long barrel, permanently attached…

Heres a look down the receiver, into the hole…

[BME]

With the barrel on…its one LONG BOY…

The outer barrel unscrews, into 2 pieces.

Add the lower blowback rod, then use the locking lever to lock it all up.

Inner barrel goes out of the tip…might need some black spraypaint…

The receiver has a sliding port, on top.
It slides fwd, to allow the mag in…

Being gravity fed, the mag only needs a mag wheel at the bottom.
Don’t fit this to an aeroplane, and do zero g dives…it wont work.!.!!

[BME]

Overall impressions…

It is Big, and L O N G . ! !!

Difficult even to hold and chrono, its longer than the M-60.
Weight is fairly light for its size…which it needs to be.
If it were heavy and cumbersome…forget it…

For a gameday, you’d need to fix the fps, and use it as a stationary support piece.
Apart from that, a collectors display piece.

Which, for sub $300 now, ain’t bad.
I seem to remember these going for $700, when they first came out. Yikes.!

Carry handle rotates, L and R…

They used the end tip, on Han Solo’s Blaster.!!

Ok, so performance…how’d it go.?.?
11.1V battery…no blowback…
High ROF, Low consistency…

230 was the highest i saw, using xforce pinkies.

Inconsistent feeding, and fps…
Due largely to the non existent air seal…

I’ll speak to doc, about the best way to fix it.

I seem to remember, post fix, it was doing around 250 fps-ish.

My plan is to have a chat, tear it down.
If, indeed, it is service it…glue it…leave it…

I’ll grease the metal gears, put in a new oring, maybe a new spring (m100), and leave it at that.
No high fps - frequent servicing- setups.

Unless, there is a different glue to use, rather than epoxy, where its easier to break and clean the seal at a later date.??

[BME]

Its got a viewing slot, underneath, so you can see the inner barrel sit in its hole.

going in…

In place.

A bit harrowing, trying to epoxy that in.
Maybe the tiniest dab, on the end of the barrel, before insertion.

Then rotate the barrel, applying more on the outside, trying to get the seal from the outside.??

The orange nub on the barrel, has nothing to do with the airseal…it just locates it, in the collar and acts as a stop…

[RokSolid]

Nice write up as always @BME !
These are hard to appreciate how long they are until you hold one. So long!

I think the best way to get the fps up and more consistent would be to shorten the inner barrel to somewhere between 400-500mm, and get some cheeky accessories holes to fit a hopup inside the outer barrel… a lot of work but it certainly wouldn’t make it worse!

I believe that had an odd proprietary cylinder head and nozzle, which is where most of the seal issues were.

But hey, if I can make a custom nozzle for a double bell anything is possible!

The normal oring and lubes with an m100 would definitely help. The faster you can get the gel down the long barrel before the piston is finished it’s stroke the better!

[BME]

Progress…2 bolts hold the upper receiver on.

With that off, 2 more screws hold a panel on the upper receiver.
Get rid of that, and you have better access to the tpiece…

The tpiece is screwed in with 2 screws. get rid of them, and the tpiece is mobile.

You can “take it outside, and sort it out properly”…!!

‘Excuse me, would you care to step outside…!!!’

Thats should make it easier to epoxy the tpiece on.
Still need to be careful, its a very short insert, into the barrel…

[BME]

“DUDE, Where’s your MOTOR!!!”

take the grip off, and viola…nothing…

Must be a prone gearbox.

Getting the stock off will be challenging.
Very deep (15-20 cm) big allen key…

I might do the t piece, let it set, and test fire.
See what difference that alone makes…

[BME]

And…its out.!!

Dont need to worry about the allen key at the back…all held in place, with pins.
Stock, and gearbox.

70’s psychodelic cylinder paintjob…!!
Its a orange dinghy…outboard motor, at the back…!!!

Metal gears, in a nylon shell, thats got nuts to help hold it together.

With the gearbox out, a spring change is simple.

Old spring on top, M100 on bottom and now in…

I can hear @Friendly_Fire from here…

" Dont Wuss out, open the box, grease those gears, and change that O-ring!!"

One step ahead of you.
I have already done it , so fast, i didnt even have time to take photos…!!

that promise, comes with a donald trump, money back guarantee…!!!

In all seriousness, i just wanna test it quickly, to see what difference the t/piece / spring upgrade made.

Hopefully, it should be significant.
If not, its a quick dissasemble, for full teardown.

Just giving the t- piece a few hours to dry before firing, and growing a fresh batch of gels…

results pending…

[BME]

Quick results…

Tested using older ihobby blues…

Results were…inconsistent…

This was one of the better bursts.

It might like pinkies better, but i saw a range of 160-290 fps.
It seemed to be all over the place.

Even without the chrono, and just visually looking at the shots…some didn’t go far, others did.

I was hoping a consistent figure, whatever that figure was.
I’ll let the pinkies grow, and see how a fresh batch goes.

Still its an improvement…before with the loose barrel, a lot were just blowing up…
Fps has gone from 230(high) to 285(high).

@DocBob , did you have the same issues?
What fps , were you getting…?

@Davbot71 … I seem to remember you having one.
How’d you go, with yours.?

[DocBob]

I tested mine straight out of the box at around 170-180FPS and was reasonably consistent in the high/low results, but that is normal for a factory blaster with low power and plenty of air leaks!

The best I got out of mine was only around 250-260, but that’s only because it was just before the bans were introduced and I was never able to actually work on it properly before getting rid of it.

I only did the standard o-rings and air sealing to get to the 250/260 range, but further work on the nozzle was also planned, along with the motor/electronics and barrel size mods as well… but we’ll never know the results of those things.

One thing I wanted to test was reducing the volume of the HUGE 7.5 X 670mm long barrel by seeing how far I could shorten it within the outer barrel and reduced to a 7.3mm bore , as the stock Gelblaster 100% cylinders simply cannot provide the air volume to chase any consistency in accuracy or performance.

[DocBob]

@RokSolid

I believe that had an odd proprietary cylinder head and nozzle, which is where most of the seal issues were.

Absolutely correct mate, and was driving me mad at the time trying to find an equivalent similar aftermarket part to replace the standard one.

I did manage to find a particular model Gelblaster that used a similar style offset raised cylinder head/nozzle, but all that information was lost when my old phone shit the tin and too many beers ago for my memory to recall what it was that I had found.

[Friendly_Fire]

I like @RokSolid 's suggestion… improve the VE by reducing the inner barrel length to something reasonable around the 50cm mark, let it sit way back in the outer barrel with a hopup.

Better VE’s gotta help the FPS.

Is the mag just gravity fed with a motor and feedwheel at the botom? Should feed consistently enough… maybe some issues with the t piece and mag interface?

[DocBob]

The t-piece/mag interfaces were pretty good, but the major difference with the top feeding Mag is that they don’t use a long feed tube like the standard M4/underslung type mags to push the gels under pressure into the t-piece.

The ZB26 mag basically uses the feed wheel to grab the Gels and direct them into the outlet at the base, so not the same amount of “back pressure” being applied as a long feed tube type magazine.

[BME]

yeah, i noticed that.
It feeds better with a full mag, more weight of gels, pushing down…better feeding…

As the mag gets lighter, less pressure…some feeding inconsistencies.

Shake the mag, to level it a bit, and it runs again…for a burst…

I’ll try then fresh batch, when i get home.

One good thing…its quiet…Sat arvo backyard use…

[Friendly_Fire]

Shame you can’t put a spring and follower in that mag… P90 style. They feed flawlessly.

Actually… you could.

[DocBob]

Exactly what I was going to say mate!
Definitely wouldn’t be hard to insert a printed plate and a spring to give reliable feeding… only have to avoid having a Teabag string!

[DocBob]

@BME

Shake the mag, to level it a bit, and it runs again…for a burst…

At least they have a top loading feed door!
No need to remove mags or have preloaded spare mags … just open the top hatch and dump your speed loader bottles into it, heck, even leave the bottle sitting on top for extra long suppressing fire support!

[DocBob]

@BME

-it simply ‘pushes’ into a locating hole, and sits there…

Thought I would add extra context here for those watching at home.

I found that my inner barrel had to be hammered into the t-piece with a rubber mallet to get it to insert the required 2-3cm to seat against the internal stop in the t-piece and seal 100%>

Most likely the reason why your inner barrel is sticking out so far into the muzzle brake, possibly need to check that the barrel is actually fully seated into the t-piece correctly.

Could also be the reason for inconsistent shooting and FPS if the barrel isn’t inserted far enough into the t-piece, leaving a “step” inside between the barrel and the seating surface ring, and not sealing the barrel as well.

This makes the inner barrel somewhat “permanent” in the sense that rotating the barrel lock lever allows the complete removal of the whole front of the Blaster, but still leaves the inner barrel in place.

Just have to be careful sliding the whole system on and off the inner barrel, but is made somewhat easier by unscrewing the outer barrel into its 2 separate sections first, removing each part one at a time for easier alignment and handling.

[BME]

SW Pulse rifle ZB26 hybrid mags.?.?