Preface - I assume zero responsibility for any damage of any kind that that is incurred if you use the information in this post and break / hurt / kill something. If you don't know what you're doing, then don't void your warranty!
Titanium lever - this was probably the hardest (and costly) single part that I have ever made. A solid 12 hours of machining and another 8-9 of bending, sanding/polishing, tweaking and tuning. Milled it from a solid 1" grade 5 titanium rod. Not exactly efficient, but life is short, play hard!
This lever was also my second work piece - I screwed up the first one (had 10-11 hours into it on New Years Eve)! Every carbide end mill that I had between 3/8-1/2" are now completely dull from roughing out material. Totally worth it though - the look and feel of this thing has exceeded my expectations by a longshot!
Hidden tuning areas - during this fabrication and fitting process, I realized something clever about the design of the cocking system. There's 4 areas that can be adjusted using the lever system (all will coincide with one another to a certain degree - some more so than others):
Titanium lever - this was probably the hardest (and costly) single part that I have ever made. A solid 12 hours of machining and another 8-9 of bending, sanding/polishing, tweaking and tuning. Milled it from a solid 1" grade 5 titanium rod. Not exactly efficient, but life is short, play hard!
This lever was also my second work piece - I screwed up the first one (had 10-11 hours into it on New Years Eve)! Every carbide end mill that I had between 3/8-1/2" are now completely dull from roughing out material. Totally worth it though - the look and feel of this thing has exceeded my expectations by a longshot!
Hidden tuning areas - during this fabrication and fitting process, I realized something clever about the design of the cocking system. There's 4 areas that can be adjusted using the lever system (all will coincide with one another to a certain degree - some more so than others):
- Projectile seating depth
- Probe resting position (manipulates airflow at the end of the probe)
- Lever locking tension
- Lever handle positioning (i.e. how far it sticks out from the rifle)
[/LIST=1]
How these can be manipulated is simple. First of which is the positioning of the little reloading rod "clamp" (listed in the schematic as B38 / 20301 / "Slide Mount Wildcat MkIII"). This clamp slides along the long axis of the "reloading rod" (C56 / 19516) and locks down using two small set screws:
The rod has a minimum distance towards the action required for pulling the probe back / reloading and ensuring the hammer catches on the sear, but if you take notice of the side lever linkage arm (B43 / 19021) there is some over-travel that ultimately causes the probe to slide backwards after its initial loading cycle. This can be manipulated by the positioning of the clamp.
You can further control this travel by adjusting the lever set screw attached to the lever, which acts as a stopper for the lever travel in the closed position. Oddly, it's not listed in the factory schematic, but here's where it should be located:
Depending on the position of the clamp and the length of this set screw, you can adjust the outward / inward positioning of the cocking handle a bit and also tune the tension of the lever in the closed position.
I for one have had some issues using my Maverick in NRL22 matches, where I've cycled the rifle very quickly and ended up with my lever sticking out quite a ways (a big distraction and a potentially point of failure if the lever was open and slammed into something from above or below the lever).
Some closing notes - be careful not to stress the factory cocking rod guide with the clamp. It's entirely possible to have an interference issue, where the clamp will hit that anodized aluminum guide and potentially break it off. I had already dealt with this part failing once before, and would up making a replacement from 316 stainless with Delrin bushings (but now I have the one in titanium lol).
Also, the factory rod in my was also seriously bent up, so I replaced mine with 5/32" music wire (Rockwell C60, holding straight as an arrow now). I blued the rod and my fill port after doing this recent titanium overhaul for both aesthetics and mild rust protection (for the rod).
