The AutoTalon is a conversion of the Brass Eagle Talon pump-action paintball gun into a semi-automatic, with the definite possibility of a select-fire automatic in the future.
Click the thumbnail above for a larger picture (640x480) of the gun, taken 3 Mar 1999.
It was shot using a cheap video-grabber, so the quality isn't so great. Coming soon are hi-res scanned images from real film.
Also, I added call-outs to the above picture to form a preliminary parts list.
Due to my lack of time and enough disposable income, somebody else has beaten me to building a working semi-auto Talon. I've been corresponding with John Omernik via email, and he just got his together before me. I had links to some pictures of John's gun, which of course I've now lost. Well, maybe tomorrow then.
Version 1.5, 28 Aug 1999, or somewhere thereabouts.
The name is a sort of spoof on the Autococker. Which isn't fully automatic either, at least not stock ;) In both cases a
pneumatic system automatically recocks the gun after each shot, eliminating the need to manually pump.
How does it work?
Think of how an Autococker works. Now think about pump-guns with auto-trigger (ie. you can hold down the trigger
and pump off rounds continuously). Well, mix the two ideas, and there you are. Simple.
How well does it work?
The cocking mech works pretty well. Some creative work with a
knife and a Dremel on the interior let the 1-inch ram work fine at
about 50psi. Real fast, and a nice smooth trigger (esp. compared to a
stock Talon, but that goes without saying.) Only problems now are
that the springs I have in it bring the velocity down to nearly nothing, and that I still haven't connected a constant-air system.
What other stuff might you do with it?
First off, I need to get something like a Sledgehammer on-gun
regulator. And some major plumbing to connect the a remote hose, the
valve and regulator together. This is a big deal when you're cheap
and don't have enough time, like me.
Assuming all it works at that point, the next step is to go
electro-pnematic. This means replacing the manual trigger-activated 3-way valve with a solenoid valve. What becomes possible then is pretty obvious at this point. That's right, boys and girls, a full-auto Talon. Now that's true evil for you.
Why the hell did you do this?
I had most of the parts. We had a Talon. I like to build stuff. Why
not? Need more reasons? Read on...
But the Talon is a cheap piece of shit. Why bother?
Yeah, well, I know some guys with a SL-68II and a Trracer, both of which could be converted instead. But
they probably don't want me hacking away at their perfectly fine guns. A Talon leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe if it was a better pump-action to begin with I'd leave it alone. The sheer simplicity of a Talon makes it rather easy to do. It's not too hard to drill and grind that plastic body. You can buy replacement parts cheap. Basically, the fact that it is a cheap P.O.S. is the very reason to hack on it. There's something strangely appealing and entertaining about the very notion of a semi-auto Talon.
Betcha it'll fly apart after one game.
Betcha it won't. The internals are really quite sturdy. The
body is good enough. The barrel.. well yes, it sucks. If anything goes
it'll likely be my cocking rod, which is admittedly flimsy. If it bends,
I'll make a better one. We hammered away on the thing, dry-firing it until our fingers went numb from 25 degree air leaking from the ram. Didn't jam, didn't break. Of course that was without paint...
Where can I buy parts or a kit to do this to my Talon?
You don't want to. Seriously. The parts cost is probably 2-3x
that of the gun itself. For example, a new pneumatic ram is $15.50
(Bimba #041.5-D). Only reason I did it is because I had most of the
parts to begin with, and because I'm a very disturbed person. There is now an annotated
photo and parts listing available.
How do I build an Autotalon from scratch?
Assuming that you have scrap parts or that you don't mind spending the money for new parts, you can read an outline of the major modifications needed on the photo and parts listing page. I wrote this as an email reply, and decided it'd be worth having up for all to read.
Will you build one for me instead?
Make no mistake- this isn't cheap and really isn't production quality. If you have about $200 and really, really want one that bad, mail me and I'll tell you again that you don't really want one. The good news is since I've already built one, building another is fairly easy. Plus, with real money behind it, you can have nice features like an on-gun LP regulator, 12-gram to ASA adapter, and a far better cylinder mount. I had originally estimated a cost of $150, but I realized that it would just barely cover my expenses, and certainly not labor. Sorry.
But you would be better off buying a real factory-made semi-auto
instead. This is a tinkerer's project, not a finished product.
How do I build one myself?
Well, for one, look carefully at the pictures and parts on the next page. Buy or borrow a Talon, take it apart and figure out for yourself how it normally works. Now for me to be perfectly blunt: If you can't figure out how the factory-stock gun works, you shouldn't try to do this modification yourself. Got the action figured out? Now go back and look at "How it works" again. Hopefully it makes more sense now. When you have your gun apart, pay close attention to where the trigger presses against the sear (bolt release). Betcha if you stuck a pin or screw there, it'd fire whenever the bolt got pulled forward (hint, hint!) Now, go and read the "How its done" section further down on the the next page. That should do it.
If this made no sense to you, you either aren't really qualified,
or I'm not much of a writer. I'm rather tired of emails asking "how do I
make my talon go semi?" - just read this page, will you please?
Can I do this to something other than a
Talon?
Basically, the concept works on any pumpgun with an autotrigger. For example, I was asked if it'd work on a Tigershark. Well, it should, but I don't know (or really care...) what size parts it'd need.
There is something called a "Chameleon Kit" that was made as a
bolt-on semi-auto conversion for the Hammer/Tracer/Hornet series of
pumpguns. As far as I know, these are no longer manufactured, and
remaining stock is being sold off fairly cheap. Don't ask me where, I
don't really know. Don't ask how much either. I don't keep track.
More to come... check back often.
AutoTalon related links
Brass Eagle, the oft-criticized manufacturer of the Talon.
For your convienience and mine, I have Brass Eagle's lovely GIF scan of the Talon exploded-view assembly drawing available. This turns out to be a Good Thing since BE went and overhauled their site, leaving important things like manuals, drawings, and part lists out. I guess they don't care anymore if you can fix your gun or not.
The Talon Owners Group is just what it says it is. They have some more mods you can do.. most of which are more sane than this one.
Bimba makes pneumatic cylinders and other fun products.
Clippard makes various pneumatic valves, controls, and cylinders.
Back to my Paintball main page
Scary how many hits it gets. Barely modified on 9 Nov 1999
