M3 Tungsten hammer?

[Redtick12]

Is this a tungsten hammer weight (see picture). Probably seems like an odd question, like I should know, but there are a couple reason I am asking and don’t know.
1. I didn’t order tungsten hammer weight. I ordered a slug power kit and just received it but opted not to get the hammer weight. If I remember correctly the reason I decided not to get the weight is that I have a 600mm barrel, and I believe I was told that with the 600mm barrel the hammer weight would leave the valve open to long and dump air out after the slug exited. Does this sound correct? When I received the slug power kit it had this part in it, but I don’t see that part in any pictures of the slug power kit.
2. The second reason that I am not sure that this is a hammer weight is that it mostly looks like the pictures of the hammer weight, but it is tapered at the end and none of the pictures I see of the hammer weight are tapered like that.
It does feel quite heavy for such a small part.
Two more questions.
It has been a while, but I think I remember reading that if you have the M3 you should not install the rubber ball, is that correct?
And in the Earnest Rowe video on installing the slug power kit he says it comes with a couple spacers to add tension to the hammer spring. Mine did not have those spacers am I missing something or has there been a change since that video was made?

Thanks for any help.

 

[cfs916]

Weight it

 

[Redtick12]

According to my kitchen scale it is 14 g.

 

[cfs916]

Then that will be the tungsten hammer.

 

[Ca_Varminter]

Well here is an example of a True Tungsten Hammer and Spring.....
I machined my own..
The Hammer "core" is machined from Tungsten. But the skirt(where the hammer-spring slide into) is stainless.
The striking face is machine from PEEK.
Then the Spring-follower is machine from tungsten too...

Here is the weight difference from the original....the weights are in grains....

 

[7Green]

Just out of curiousity; have you installed Huma's spring upgrade kit, and if so, at what bar could the valve open with the additional weight?

Reason I ask is the spring can only insert some much force into a given hammer weight. At some point, the weight actually hurts the setup.

I tested this with my 35 cal m3 and found with the factory springs, the best results for me were around a 29.5 To 30.5 gram hammer assembly. This setup could open my huma regulated valve at 155 to 165 bar. Past that and I lost speed.

When I tried a heavier hammer weight assembly, I lost speed too. The springs didn't have enough power to open the valve at the previous pressures with more weight added. I think it is a little more complicated than just double the weight.

Only way to figure it out is to shoot it with a given assembly and adjust the reg pressures until speeds start going the opposing way. Then fine tune it to see where it peaks.

I also found determing where the spring compresses, length of hammer, weight, and depth of hammer weight head in the assembly could all be adjusted to allow full use of the micro dial and achieve peak speeds while still allowing the functionality of more tuned lower speeds.

The fact Ca_Varminter can make his own custom assemblies means he could do this too if needed.

 

[7Green]

With the m3, you can have max power on the number 1 on macro or number 16. It all depends har far you dial the micro on a given macro setting.

Personally I set my gun on 16, then adjust the micro dial until the gun won't cock. Just before that is peak adjustability, or simply put, when it will cock and engage the trigger. I adjust the valve 3 turns out past line 4. Then adjust reg pressures by 5 to 10 bar at a time until I lose speed. Fine tune back from there.

This lets me know the max speed of the given projectile and the max bar pressure my gun can open the valve at with the given hammer weight assembly and spring setup.

Next, lets say the micro dial won't adjust past 4.6, but the scale on the gun goes to 5. Well, is it stopping because of the hammer weights length, or is the hammer spring is fully compressed. In this example, there is around 1 mm left in travel if you measure the difference on the micro dial adjustment gauge.

If the spring is fully compressed, then the head on the hammer weight is too thick and taking adjustability away.

If the hammer weight is too long, then it is bottoming out before the spring fully compresses. One way to fix this is to make a hammer shorter and use custom made hammer washers to add compression, weight etc...

To figure out the best weight for the hammer is a lot of ammo and trial and error with different materials. Steel being the least dense, brass slightly more, and tungsten super dense.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[7Green]

With the factory spring on my 35 cal m3, a hammer weight approx. 28mm long with a 3mm head provided near full adjustment on the micro dial.

In my case I drilled out the steel hammer to allow for a tungsten weight to be epoxied in to get the assembly weight I needed for peak performance. I even made the suggestion of needing a tungsten hammer weight at the time.

I then used none of the washers and the original factory hammer weight, which has a 1.5mm head. If I recall correctly, the original hammer measured 20mm deep on the skirt end, where the hammer weight enters.

With the hammer weight installed, no less than 17mm of depth left would allow full use of the micro dial. Simply put, if you have 16mm of depth left, well you will be about 4.6 on the micro for max adjustment.

Figuring out the total weight of the assembly needed and making it work within those parameters to reach peak performance was the key to full adjustability.

 

[7Green]

@Redtick12

If you have a micrometer, measure the head on the 14gram tungsten hammer you have...length wise. If it is 4mm, then you will have 16mm depth left in the skirt when you install it in the hammer and will peak around 4.6 on the micro dial for adjustability.

The facrory hammers can be anywhere from 17 to 19.5 grams depending on which one you have. If it is the 17 version, it is about perfect for weight.

I am assuming yours has the same hammer spring and valve return spring my 35 came with from the factory.

The other option if you want adjustability is to get a heavier hammer (btw there are 3 versions I have seen) and get a custom made tungsten hammer weight.

Tungsten hammer weight with a 1.5 mm head and 28mm length, with a 1.5mm washer would be close to the weight range for peak performance and full adjustability of the micro dial.