Most people think that you need to throw a ton of money into a low pressure Spyder to attain a maximum result. Elaborately designed expensive vertical adapters, light weight titanium or delrin jacketed strikers and delrin bolts, anti-chop eyed mega rate of fire boards with finger tip technical adjustments and the list of aftermarket add-ons for Spyder markers seems infinite. Granted, some of these add-ons will enhance your markers performance but some may have short lived performance gains due to unforeseen issues, some may just cost too much and others may be essentially for cosmetic sparkle. Some people will spend a ton of bucks only to get a minimal result from an LP conversion and blame the manufacturer for their lack of actually knowing where they're going with all of this 'LP quest'. This article is for those of you that can't really afford to throw $50 a shot into that $100 marker that you bought because you were on a budget in the first place. Furthermore, those of you that are just tinkerers and appreciate converting existing components into ones that enhance performance just as well as ones that are available for purchase. Some of these mods are mentioned in the Configuring & Tuning Your LP Spyder article in the tech section of our site but I really got into no great detail about them. You can have a great running LP Spyder without all of the buzzers and bells if you just research why and where you're going and spend a minimal amount of cash in doing so. When on the field, flash and total expense can be easily nullified by outright performance. Just remember, the most important/essential investment you will make into your LP Spyder is the valve, regulator and spring kit so don't scrimp on them. Find the ones that have the highest flow and spare no expense on them if you have the means.

Free Mods............. Blocking Off The Striker Exhaust Port: I would not suggest this modification for any other valve outside of the Rocket valve because it will create a suction between the valve body and striker and your marker will not recock. I believe it works OK with the Rocket valve because there is no o-ring at the rear portion of the valve body and the valve itself is so high flowing. For those of you that aren't aware of what this is, there's a small hole in the bottom of the body by the valve screw that relieves excess pressure to the striker. This mod is executed basically to increase recocking performance. This hole can be blocked off in a couple of different fashions: The most simple being, just fill the hole with a good grade silicone RTV. Before you do, clean the whole area with a Q-Tip and alcohol to get rid of any oils that could prevent the RTV from sticking to the surface. If you choose this option just be sure none of the RTV enters the inside diameter of the bottom tube of the marker so the striker o-ring won't be catching on it. If you can, just put a piece of masking tape in the bottom tube covering the hole from the inside temporarily til it's dried then remove it. That should do the trick. Another option is to tap the hole for a small set screw. I've found that the hole is pretty much the perfect size for a 6-32 tap. I would recommend stripping the marker completely down even removing the valve before tapping it. Using the 6-32 tap and tapping t-handle tool, tap the existing hole as shown in the photograph. Once finished tapping, check the inside surface for any burrs. Using a small rounded pin file, file any internal burrs completely so the striker o-ring doesn't catch them and rip during operation. You could even use some fine sandpaper wrapped around a toothpick to smooth the filings down if you'd like. Clean all metal particles from the bottom tube in a sink using some water and dish soap. Put a drop of blue Loctite on the threads of a 6-32 X 1/16" set screw. Turn the set screw in the tapped hole and be sure it is not protruding past the internal surface of the bottom tube. Let the Loctite cure completely for 12-24 hours then assemble your marker with the Rocket valve and test it out.

Opening Up Passageways:  A prime goal of converting a Spyder to low pressure is to pass a large volume of pressure through your marker at a lower pressure to yield a desired velocity. In it's initial form, a Spyder passes a smaller volume of pressure through the marker at a high pressure. LP being less restrictive while HP more restrictive to attain a similar velocity. If you run a low pressure through a small orifice in your marker, the restriction of its small diameter will most likely prevent it from recocking and reaching a high velocity at lower pressures because it's actually slowing the flow. You could keep the pressure turned up with a satisfactory result but it would defeat the purpose of converting in the first place. Opening these passages up will allow the large volume through your marker at this lower pressure. Opening Up The Vertical Adapter(VA) Before drilling, remove the 2 o-rings from the VA. Use a 13/64" or smaller drill bit and drill the upper passage that goes from the low pressure chamber(LPC/volumizer) area to the valve spring area. If you use a larger bit or drill on a downward angle, you'll run the drilled hole into the tapped hole for the screw that holds the vertical adapter to the body. If you do, this will create a pressure leak and you'll need to purchase a new VA. Some claim they can use teflon tape to seal the leak but it's just a temporary fix. Start the hole from the valve spring area to the low pressure chamber area so there's less a chance of running the drill bit into the LPC threads.  Using a carbide burr chucked in a dremel or small pin file, enlarge the existing hole that goes from the vertical adapter air supply adapter to the area that the low pressure chamber is screwed into. Be careful not to run the dremel into the threads of the ASA or the flat area at the bottom of the ASA where the o-ring for the regulator seals. You may think about applying a couple pieces of masking tape over those areas to help prevent the bit from possibly marring the threads. Using a small pin file, file any metal burrs that may have been caused by the drilling. You can also use some 1000 grit sandpaper to smooth out the through holes just drilled. Wrap the cut to size sandpaper around a drill bit smaller than the hole so they will both fit comfortably while sanding. This will smooth the flow running through them. To prevent marring the anodizing of the parts in the chuck of the vice, you can cut a couple pieces of wood or corrugated cardboard from a box and put them between the part and vice chuck. Clean the part of all metal shavings and flakes with water, soap and an old toothbrush. (Photographs show VA left and BL ASA right)

Opening Up The Bottom Line Air Supply Adapter(BL ASA) Remove the o-ring seal and gold colored filter from the pressure line end of the BL ASA before beginning to drill. You'll need to know the depth that you'll be drilling before you start these holes so you will not drill them too deep. You can take a drill bit or similar object that will fit in the holes as a gauge and see how deep they are then mark them on the bit you're using with a piece of masking tape. The holes in the ASA end of the BL ASA are on an angle so make sure you don't try to drill them on a 90* angle. Be careful not to deform the threads in the ASA while drilling as well. Using the 13/64" or smaller drill bit, drill the pressure line end of the BL ASA to the tape mark that you put on the bit. Using a 9/64" or smaller bit, drill out the hole in the ASA end on the angle you checked earlier to the tape mark on the bit. If you'd like even better flow you might drill another hole on the opposite side of the raised boss in the ASA that depresses the valve pin on the propellant bottle. Start the hole on a 90* angle first until the tip of the bit is imbedded into the metal. Continue from there on the correct angle to the center hole. You might put a couple pieces of masking tape over the top edge of the ASA to prevent the drill bit from possibly marring the anodizing. Using a small pin file, file any metal burrs that may have been caused by the drilling. You can also use some 1000 grit sandpaper to smooth out the through holes just drilled. Wrap the cut to size sandpaper around a drill bit smaller than the hole so they will both fit comfortably while sanding. This will smooth the flow running through them. To prevent marring the anodizing of the parts in the chuck of the vice, you can cut a couple pieces of wood or corrugated cardboard from a box and put them between the part and vice chuck. Clean the part of all metal shavings and flakes with water, soap and an old toothbrush.

Removing The Bolt Venturi Removing the venturi will free up the flow through the bolt. This will increase velocity weather it be applied to LP or HP applications. There are aftermarket high flowing bolts available for purchase that have no venturi but why spend the cash? You can adapt your stock bolt to allow the same result for nothing more than a few minutes of your time. Remove the stock bolt from your Spyder. Using a long tipped pair of needle nose pliers, stick the tips into the tines of the venturi and twist it out to the left. It's as simple as that. I've heard people using drastic measures to remove the venturi because they didn't have the correct tool. I've even heard a few that went as far as to drill it out.....now that's drastic! Just remember; lefty loosey and righty tighty. Some may have been turning it in the wrong direction in the first place. For those of you that lack the correct tools, heating the bolt in a pan of boiled water will soften the Loctite that is used to hold the venturi into the threaded hole. This will make it a bit easier to remove. You can use a couple of allen wrenches and insert them between the tines of the venturi then use a pair of regular pliers to turn them to get it out. I think you might deform the allen wrenches in the process though. Using a pair of barber scissors/shears works well too. They are just the right shape for this removal process. Rather than deforming good tools, just get a pair of long tipped needle nose pliers and do it right. I bought an inexpensive $2 pair at a local hardware and ground the tips down til they fit perfectly. I have never 'ever' had to heat the bolt to remove any venturi. Just a simple twist to the left and it was removed easy as pie. It is not necessary but if you seek to fill the threaded hole that's left, you can purchase a set screw of the same thread size from your local hardware and Loctite or glue it in. If you want a free filler for this hole, mark the venturi through the pressure passage of the bolt while installed and cut that portion of the venturi off. This spot is essentially just above the end of the threads of the venturi. To screw it back in, cut a short slot into the top of this piece so you can screw it back in with a screwdriver and use some Loctite or glue to hold it in. Using a dremel and cutting disk will make these tasks a breeze. If you have no dremel, using a hack saw will suffice for both tasks. Always put the tine end of the venturi in the jaws of the vice, not the threaded end so you will not deform the threads.

Polishing Internal Components The advantage to polishing the internals of a marker is to create less friction on moving/mating parts. The parts to be polished in a Spyder would be the 3 larger outer diameter portions of the bolt that mate with the inside diameter of the upper tube of the body, the outside diameter portion of the striker that mates with the inside diameter of the lower tube of the body, the top portion of the sear and the moving/mating surfaces of the valve. Some mention the inside diameter surface of the upper and lower tubes of the body but I personally don't think that's a good idea. First it opens up the tolerences even more than they already are with the bolt and striker and it's most deffinately a very difficult area to get at with sandpaper and polish. If you mess things up, you'll need to purchase a new body. Materials Used To Polish The Internals The materials needed to polish the internals would be: 400 and 1000 grit sandpaper or Scotch type sanding sponges or if you have a dremel, Dremel brand finishing abrasive buffs(part#511). A good grade metal polish. I would suggest a paste form of metal polish. It looks like you're getting less but it's concentrated so you need to use less. Old cotton rags like socks or a t-shirt. If you're using sandpaper or the sanding sponges, don't forget to have some extra elbow grease handy because it's going to take quite a bit of it to accomplish a refined final result. The Labor Involved Now that you know what needs to be polished, it's time to get to the grindstone. If you're hand sanding, this will take some time so don't get impatient otherwise chances are you'll try to shortcut things and end up doing a less than proficient job. If you're using a dremel, expect to breeze through this job but just be careful not to take too much material off the parts and widen the already loose tolerances Spyders have. Hand Sanding The Bolt And Striker As stated earlier, hand sanding will take some time but there's less chance of taking too much off the surface of the parts. Start out using a mediun grit paper such as a 400 grit and as you break through the anodizing, move to a finer paper such as a 1000 grit. Make yourself a sanding block from a piece of wood to keep the surface of the parts flat and uniform as you sand them. Sand the part in a circular motion while continually rotating the part at the same time. You want to remove the anodizing as consistently as possible. The darker colored bolts are much easier to detect when you've gotten through the anodizing because the silver color of the aluminum pops through. The silver colored bolts are a bit more difficult to detect when you're actually getting to the raw metal because there is little color change. You can tell the difference though because you will begin to see a slight difference in color and an edge will become apparent. Once most all of the anodizing has been completely removed, move to the 1000 grit paper to smooth out the scratches from the rougher paper. Once it's fairly smooth, use a metal polish such as Mother's Mag Polish to achieve the final mirror finish. If you have not actually gotten to the raw metal when using the metal polish, you'll see the cotton rag you're using will not become blackened from the raw aluminum residue. Dremeling The Bolt And Striker After purchasing the Dremel brand finishing abrasive buffs(part#511), you’ll notice that there is a rough and medium buff included in the kit. Just as hand sanding, start consistently removing the ano with the rough buff then when almost through the anodizing, move to the medium buff. When you have gotten to the raw aluminum, use some 1000 grit sandpaper to smooth the minute scratches from the buffs, then use a metal polish for the final gleam. Be sure not to remove too much of the surface with these buffs as it would be a very simple error to occur since these buffs will easily cut through the anodizing very quickly. When utilizing the abrasive buffs, you can expect to cut the total time it takes to complete this task by 3/4 if not more comparatively to hand sanding. Polishing The Sear And Valve I would suggest only using a metal polish for these components because both generally have a smooth surface to begin with. Starting with the sear, polish the surfaces that mate with other moving components. The e-frame sear only needs the top and rear portions polished and the mechanical frame needs the top, rear and front portions polished. Moving on to the valve, polish the valve pin completely after first removing the cup seal. The valve body only needs the rear inside diameter where the valve pin rides and front portion where the cup seal rests polished. If you're like me, just polishing the whole thing with metal polish can't hurt.

Reducing Stock Bolt Weight By reducing the bolt weight, you can reduce the recoil felt when shooting your marker. You are essentially lowering the center of gravity of the mass combined weight of the reciprocating bolt and striker. It brings the bulk mass internal weight closer to the trigger frame and in doing so reduces recoil. I have seen numerous people purchasing delrin bolts for Spyders in hopes of reducing recoil but there can be problems initiated when doing so. The most prevalent is blowby because most all delrin bolts have no o-rings. The pressure is not only blown through the bolt but escapes from around the bolt as well because there are no seals to encapsulate the pressure directly through the main bolt channel to the paintball. This can cause a decrease in velocity, blow paintballs back up into the hopper and cause chopping. By adding o-rings to delrin bolts you are voiding one of the reasons for getting one in the first place, reduced friction. It’s a vicious circle of gaining one advantage while losing others. One manner to reduce weight from the bolt is to remove the venturi as described above in this article. Since the bulk weight of the stock bolt is the solid mass between the rear o-ring flange and striker connecting pin, removing material from this area is a prime target for this mod. If you had a lathe you could simply cut a portion of the material from this area away. Since most all of us don’t have access to our own a lathe, we must find other means of reducing material from this area.  Drilling holes in this area seems to be a much more attainable manner to achieve reduced weight. Having a drill press or having access to one will make it much easier to drill perfectly centered holes in this area. The round shape of the bolt will make it a bit more difficult to get the holes centered if using a hand drill. To aid in holding the bolt steady, I would suggest making a simple jig from a few pieces of wood as shown in the photograph above. First drill a ¼” hole in the larger piece of wood to insert the bolt pin into. Then attach the 2 smaller strips of wood snug against the sides of the bolt with screws. Mark or scribe a straight line top dead center of the area to be drilled. Choose the drill size you will be using, calculate and mark equally spaced center lines across the top of the bolt for the holes. Since you have removed the venturi, you must fill in the threaded hole before or after drilling otherwise the pressure will leak through the hole. You can either cut the threaded portion of the venturi off and screw it into the hole, use a set screw or fill it with a durable permanent filler such as epoxy. Use red Loctite or similar to hold the plugs in place if using one of the first two suggestions. Use a center punch to indent the aluminum where the holes are to be drilled. When drilling the holes, use a slow speed because aluminum is a soft metal and the drill bit can have a tendency to catch the metal rather than shave it. If it does, it can spin the bolt attached in the jig out of your hand if it is not clamped down. I would not suggest using anything over a 3/8” drill bit for these holes. Anything larger may make the wall between the hole and outside diameter too thin. This could possibly cause a crack in the aluminum after some use. You could take this a step further by cutting out the aluminum between the holes using a dremel with a carbide cutting attachment or a cutting disk. As in some of my other articles here, none of this is carved in stone but a suggestive. You may use different hole sizes and even use a different angle or area on the bolt. By using your own imagination, you may engineer an even better way to perform this mod. Grab the concept and run with it.

Beveling The Front Edge of the Bolt Beveling or chamfering the front edge of the bolt gets rid of that 90* sharp inner front edge of the bolt that makes contact with the balls every time you shoot. Rather than a sharp inner diameter edge that could cause ball breakage slapping into the ball, you create an angled or beveled softer inner diameter edge that will not only be less likely to cut into the ball and cause a break but conforms to the actual shape of the ball and creates a better seal or contact surface between the two. This mod is only needed for the older style Spyder bolts that do have the flat 90* edge. Since the time of the electronic Spyder's, Kingman has already beveled the front edge of their bolts. A bit less accented than the one shown in the photograph here but none the less already done. There are a few different ways to tackle this mod. One of them using sandpaper and/or a file and manually remove the material from the inside diameter edge of the bolt. A bit more lengthy a task then the others to say the least. If I were to do it in this manner, I would remove the striker connecting pin from the rear of the bolt, put it on a flat surface then roll the bolt while holding the file or sandpaper on a stationary appropriate angle. You do not want to just randomly remove the material because it will create an inconsistent surface. The result would be an inconsistent mating surface and seal. Another way is just holding the bolt in one hand and turning it while holding the file or sandpaper at the appropriate angle with the other. Whatever way you handle it, just make sure you keep turning it in the same direction continually and consistently removing the material. The easiest way to perform this mod would be to use a lathe and cut the material from the edge at the correct angle. Since the greater majority of us do not own a lathe nor have access to one, most all will be less likely to do it in this manner. The most simple manner to perform this mod without using a lathe is to chuck the bolt in something similar to a drill and cut the material away with a cutting disk attached to a dremel. This is the way I modified the one in the photograph. The result was a perfectly consistent cut with a perfect angle. There is an Autococker cocking rod on the other end of this bolt so I simply chucked that into a variable drill. While an assistant of mine slowly turned the bolt in the drill, I used the dremel with cutting disk on a perpendicular angle to cut the material from the inside diameter edge away. After I was satisfied with the amount of material removed, I smoothed the cut out with some fine grit sandpaper then metal polish for the final shine. Chucking it in the drill made all of the tasks much easier and it took me all of 15 - 20 minutes to complete the whole task. Any way you perform this task be sure to cut little as possible into the detent slot or it will create a sharp edge in that area. As you can see in the photograph I left a very thin but blunt edge in that area.

Modifying An Aftermarket LPC I have heard people mention that the low pressure chamber(LPC) aka volumizer has no great significance to the performance of markers. I beg to differ.....the LPC is there for a specific function and is quite important in a given situation. The LPC is a part of the assembly to provide reserved extra pressure to the valve at high rates of fire. If it was not there on stacked tube blowbacks, the chances of failed recocking of the striker would increase because of shootdown or lack of provided pressure to the valve. This component more so an asset of function on low pressure markers since low pressure markers thrive on a higher volume of pressure at a lower operating pressure. There are LPC's of various shapes and sizes available for Spyder markers and most all models are provided with them. They are about 3" long and the depth of the empty inner diameter is just short of that length. There are also what Kingaman calls expansion chambers provided with most models. These expansion chambers are no more than a gas through front grips but does add even more a volume of available stored pressure for the valve. The AMG models have an extremely large expansion chamber but no LPC. There is so much available space in these expansion chambers that it doubles as an LPC as well. That's why there is no LPC provided with the AMG. I bought a Shocktech LPC years ago and have used it on my LP Spyder's since then. It looked a bit longer than the stock version so I thought it was a good idea. Seems having even a bit more pressure storage wouldn't hurt anyways. Thing is, after receiving it I noticed this 5" LPC had no more internal area than the stock LPC's. 3.25" of the LPC was for pressure storage and the rest was solid aluminum. The older version that I have threaded a bit too far into the VA and was blocking a bit of the flow through the ASA hole in the VA. I had a machinist mill another o-ring slot between the threads and existing o-ring slot as you can see in the photograph provided. Now to modify this particular aftermarket LPC. To make more space in the LPC you can simply used a 1/2" drill and drill the excess aluminum from the inside of the LPC to 1/4" from the end. You don't want to drill to closely to the end of it because there is a continual pressure inside while the marker is aired up. Too close and the pressure could break through the end. Take note that a drill bit is not flat on the end, it has a beveled pointed end. Take this into consideration when calculating the depth dimension. If you perform  this mod to a newer Shocktech LPC, you'll want to take care not to use too large a diameter drill bit for the same reason since they are tapered in the center portion. After drilling, be sure to clean all metal particles/shavings from the inside of the LPC because you don't want them entering your marker. Now you have more than suffcient pressure storage to rip away on that trigger as much as you want to with plenty of stored pressure to feed the valve. This is especially advantageous on LP markers since they thrive on large volumes of pressure at lower pressure ratings.

Technical Information