Board Thread:Off-topic discussion/@comment-39814790-20200221172851/@comment-43855172-20200417211110

Elliottw wrote: I can't wait until Hasbro releases the RIVAL 30 round drum. It looks awesome ! I'll be one of the first to get one. But I think the reason it's not on the shelf after 15 months is because it's plagued with problems.

For starters, none of the diagrams show a follower spring. Hasbro's patent application talks about a "constant force spring", presumably like the ones they used in CS-35, CS-25, and CS-18 drums, but I don't see it. Maybe it's disguised, or mislabeled, or maybe I'm just blind.

Secondly, the follower spring needs to be at least 30 inches long (1" diameter HIRs x 30) unless it utilizes gears to reduce the travel. Which again, I don't see.  The CS-35 only has an 18 inch follower spring, and it's pretty weak at the end of the travel. The RIVAL 30 round version will need to be 67% longer and incorporated into a smaller package 😮 So good luck with that.

On a related topic, getting the rounds to make a 90 degree turn where the feeder meets the body is very inefficient. There's force vectors, rotation of the rounds, friction against each other, pressure from the follower, and a bunch of other influences to overcome. That's why the feeder on CS-35 and CS-18 drums are tangential. From a design perspective the 90° turn is a challenge, especially if it needs to be inexpensive, nerfer idiot-proof, and reliable.

Lastly, and I can't exactly put my finger on it, there's something missing from the patent diagrams. They look like they work. They're simple, straightforward and understandable. But something just ain't right.

Look, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong about the CS-50. It's not perfect, but Hasbro did finally release it, and it does work for the most part. So maybe I'm way off base about the RIVAL 30 round drum  🤷🏻‍♂️ We'll see. They cancelled it last year.