Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-27306930-20200204035729/@comment-27306930-20200208231616

Well, the epoxy trick worked. But after reassembling, it didn't feel 100% right. So I decided to order one of the Captain's aluminum ramrod upgrade kits.

The real issue is the 3D printed PLA ramrod is extremely thin at the O-ring groove. The wall is only a millimeter or so thick through that section. Because the dart is chambered at the very end of the forward priming stroke, there is already significant forward momentum. When a dart jams, there's a fair amount of stress on the ramrod, and it's going to want to give at its weakest point.

As I was repairing the PLA ramrod, I noticed several tiny stress fractures at the junction of the O-ring groove and the thicker section behind it. I left Captain Slug a message suggesting that future Caliburns should probably include the aluminum ram standard. Clearly I'm not the only one who's had this problem. There are several shops on the internet that offer similar metal versions.

The other thing that occurred to me is the effect of the impact shock when the plunger strikes the back of the ramrod assembly. I'll bet that sends a shock wave straight down the ramrod. Just speculation. I know some PLA formulas handle impact shocks better than others. I don't know if that exacerbates the issue, or I'm just blowing smoke out my as derriere.