Worn/lost Cylinder Guide Rings? Easiest cheap DIY Fix

AccurateDMD It is similar but uhmw is used a lot in the material handling industry and by nature slick, tough, and wear resistant. I don't like the idea of using rubber as a wear surface. The fiber I might do depending on the other filler material and some extra lube. At 3/4" wide (you can get wider as well), the uhmw tape provides a lot of wear area and extra guidance. It also provides two points at the longest distance the receiver and bolt allows and not just at one end. This holds that bolt nice and straight through the bolt pull and back into chambering a bb. It also fixed a slam fire issue for me on a build as the back ring was so worn on a build that cylinder would wobble up in the receiver enough to let the piston slip past the sear. Now it does not sturdy up the outer barrel like the link you posted but in my opinion (just my opinion mind you), the outer barrel to receiver mate is good enough for 99% and does not make a significant difference for that 99% as the outer barrel should be bolted to the same stock the receiver is bolted to making it attached it two axis. For that other 1% (myself included) go for it! Still not sure if there is a significant difference but something you GOT to have more for my OCD sake than anything.

Not an original idea. I did this some time ago. I made a post somewhere about it.

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Darn, skip the J-ring mod name then, I don't want any credit if it is out there somewhere unless it is unique in some way. I never could find a post on it. Most of the post I found consisted of taking plastic containers and cutting and sanding them down to size the super gueing them in. I believe I even recall a post somewhere of buying pvc and cutting a slot in it to make the diameter "adjustable" and gluing it in the receiver. Then drill out to cylinder size and drimel out any excess for the sears. The other options were buying new rings, or 3d printing them. I figured this being so simple, inexpensive, easy, and practical that someone would have come up with it before me. I would love to see that post to see how you did it. Maybe I could improve my method.

If there has been a post about this why is this not more widely used? Seems like such a "no-brainer" for budget builds and good option for precision builds.

While it does indeed work, mileage will very depending on the rifle. I have had a few rifles that did not play well with the UHMW tape due to internal geometry issues with the upper body that required significant work. Much more then the 5 minutes you mentioned.

You also did not provide a link to the exact stuff you used, UHMW tape comes in a wide variety of configurations and sizes. The stuff I used was north of $30 for 15yrds of tape.

Not a fan of 3d printed stuff as there are generally better options for the purpose you are doing. (This also factors in with available materials your printer can do, the type of printing, and so forth.)

Odds are pretty good that people just glossed over that post, or dismissed it as crazy ramblings. Which I do on occasion. Some other methods are using old film canisters, pvc pipe like like you mentioned.

The one I like the most is the press fit delrin sleeve. I have been testing a press fit sleeve of UHMW, MDS filled nylon 6/6, and oil filled nylon 6. However you would need to talk with a machinist for that.

While it does indeed work, mileage will very depending on the rifle. I have had a few rifles that did not play well with the UHMW tape due to internal geometry issues with the upper body that required significant work. Much more then the 5 minutes you mentioned.

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Good info, I haven't done it on enough platforms to figure this out....three off the top of my head. I have had great success with the Well MB02 (my go to budget build platform), Jg Bar-10, and Well SR2 (can't remember the MB#). Judging by my success there, I figured it would be pretty universal. Which ones were tough? Also note the 5 min is based on a budget build and not a precision build. It took me a whole lot longer to get the nice smooth and tight 0.003" fit on my personal precision build. Can I say it make a significant difference in accuracy between one of the 5min budget build guide ring mods? Not really, in theory it should in reality not, but.......it just FEELS SO good!> (a nerdy engineer thing I guess:shrug

You also did not provide a link to the exact stuff you used, UHMW tape comes in a wide variety of configurations and sizes. The stuff I used was north of $30 for 15yrds of tape.

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Here is the stuff I used. It is in 5yd rolls and not 15 (probably a lot of the cost differance).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004V41IZC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It has gone up a few bucks since I purchased it in 2016 but still very reasonable. Also it look like I messed up my "in the head" math. Figuring using 5in per set at $10.56/5yd = $10.56/15ft = $10.56/180in = $0.059/in = $0.30/set.

Not a fan of 3d printed stuff as there are generally better options for the purpose you are doing. (This also factors in with available materials your printer can do, the type of printing, and so forth.)

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I can't knock 3d printed sleeves as I haven't tried them. In my thinking though the ones that are pretty cheap use PLA and is not a material made for wear. Nylon should wear pretty well and be somewhat slippery. Cost would be the issue though. Acetal printers are few and far between and not confident they could consistently print sleeves due to their tall thin geometry. Also my thinking is, due to the inconsistencies with BASR actions, to 3d print a true "drop in" sleeve it would need to be designed with a loose fit to deal with potential tolorence problems in the action that would impact the sleeve-to-bolt clearance. At this point why pay $20 (or however much it cost and assuming the average airsofter dosen't have access to a good enough 3d printer) for something that dosn't work any better, might take longer to get, and may or may not last as long? I could be totally wrong and they are completely drop in and fit like a glove and make your gun cycle and last like a tuned profile linear bearing:shrug:.

Odds are pretty good that people just glossed over that post, or dismissed it as crazy ramblings. Which I do on occasion. Some other methods are using old film canisters, pvc pipe like like you mentioned

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To me those just seem like a ton of work using sub-par materials. Again, I haven't tried it so it may work just fine for this low cycle rate application, but using a wrong material for a wear part just goes against my nature as an engineer:hehe:.

The one I like the most is the press fit delrin sleeve. I have been testing a press fit sleeve of UHMW, MDS filled nylon 6/6, and oil filled nylon 6. However you would need to talk with a machinist for that.

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Having worked with delrin a lot in my job, with the amount of material needed between the action and bolt, I believe delrin would be the optimal choice as it is strong, hard (not a lot of "squish" compared to teflon at the same thickness), wear resistant, stable, and naturally slick. From my experience (not a ton and by no means an expert, but a fair amount), uhmw is pretty comparable with MDS filled nylon (MDS is a little harder and stronger, UHMW is a little tougher). I haven't tried the oil filled nylon, I would expect it to be pretty similar. Something I have tried for a material handling application that worked amazing as it was tougher, stronger, and harder than uhmw and just as or more slippery, was Tivar Dryslide and lubx-C. This stuff is SLICK! :bow: Problem is high cost low availability of material shapes and sizes (delrin is much more available). Could be the perfect material though for the "space-age bolt pull" "cost-is-non-issue" precision rifle.

For the cheap and easy DIY budget build..... I personally haven't found anything that makes more sense than the UHMW tape. I am curious if anyone else has had success with it or fails with it and with what build.

AccurateDMD said:

SLA and DLP printers are PLENTY accurate. You just may have to do a little sanding if it's printed with a lower end printer.

They're used in the Medical and Dental field daily to make surgical guides and 3D models and they HAVE to be accurate, usually to within tenths of a millimeter or better.

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Thanks, I was not sure how good the newer SLA and DLP printers are. Just the cost factor. Have any airsofters found a 3d service that does low volume, low cost printing? 3d printed plastic sleeves would be interesting.

I messed around with some schedule 20, one inch PVC today on a grinding wheel to see how it would work as a sleeve. Problem is you do not get a smooth finish and you cannot get 1 1/8 inch pipe which is closer to the size of the VSR receiver.
I came across this picture. it looks like a 3d sleeve.

john3302 said:

Thanks, I was not sure how good the newer SLA and DLP printers are. Just the cost factor. Have any airsofters found a 3d service that does low volume, low cost printing? 3d printed plastic sleeves would be interesting.

I messed around with some schedule 20, one inch PVC today on a grinding wheel to see how it would work as a sleeve. Problem is you do not get a smooth finish and you cannot get 1 1/8 inch pipe which is closer to the size of the VSR receiver.
I came across this picture. it looks like a 3d sleeve.

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Eh, I printed one out of PLA for my VSR. It's OK. Technically it does the job just fine was able to press in fine. It's just a little rougher feeling bolt pull. For me it's just a temporary component so I'm not too bothered.

Ya this is on that build I posted in the Gallery section.

I'm currently having a sleeve machined from PTFE. I originally wanted to do one out of 15% graphite filled PTFE, but one piece wasn't enough volume to justify that. I'm not entirely confident it's going to work either. The wall thickness on the sleeve is so low it's difficult to machine.

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That will be tough. Especially with that long and with the soft PTFE. Maybe could be done though if froze over sized hex stock, bored it out first, freeze again, then turned down to size. PTFE is just tough to machine. Because it is so soft and slippery, trying to hold it in the lathe chuck without deforming it is a challenge, hence the hex stock suggestion. Also need SHARP and aggressive rake tooling so it "slices" and doesn't deform the PTFE when the tooling is presented to the work piece. Delrin would be a ton easier to machine. Could also add Tugsten Dusufide (WS2) to the outside of your cylinder. It is slicker than graphite. I am thinking about doing this to my cylinder.

I am going to FDM print some guide rings from nylon here at work (if we have any scrap material) and see if it works significantly better than the UHMW Tape to justify the increased cost.

I might be interested in mailing some UHMW tape and 3d printed guide rings for someone to do a comparison and follow up if interested.