All You Need To Know About The Typhoon Pump Kit.

WELL. It seems my original Typhoon Pump Kit review article has floated off into the ether of the World Wide Web, and yet there are still plenty of people wanting to learn more about this wonderful little secret of Palmer's. So I'm knocking together this page to shed some light. Some disclaimers...as I used the pump kit for a long time, I will have a lot of assertions and opinions that may or may not dovetail with others'. I don't mean to take or steal anyone else's thunder, but I certainly do draw my thoughts in part from the thoughts of others. Primarily Rix Tenorio (hey, oldtimer...^_^), James Salisbury, Chris Mader and some guy named Andy. If I inadvertently don't account for anyone else, please know the mistake was not intentional.

SO...WHAT'S THIS PUMP KIT THINGY?

A few years ago, a little birdy let slip that Palmer's had the ability to retrofit their excellent handbuilt semis with hardware that would allow a player to manually actuate the cocking cycle, basically returning these autococking guns to their pumper roots. As a new Phoon owner (and original pump player), I saw this as an excellent way to acquire a great pump and lighten my paintball box at the same time, by selling my Sniper II. At the time, the pump kit was VERY rare (as far as I knew), and not cheap at $90. I got mine at the same time that I got a Protouch trigger job, bottomline Stab, and other little tuning tricks, so it was just part of a larger sum. The kit included a thick plastic/Delrin pump with a stainless rod and a new, separate bolt that was specific to the pump (didn't have the quikstrip pin). And much rejoicing ensued.

SO HOW DOES IT WORK?

Simple. To convert from semi to pump takes a couple of minutes. Step 1: Dial out your Rock adjuster until there is no pressure going to the pnuematics*. Step 2: Remove the semi bolt** and slide off the foregrip (it WILL come off, although the first time you do it your heart skips a beat). Step 3: Slide the pump handle over the lower tube where the foregrip was. The pump arm should run parallel to the upper tube (barrel). Step 4: Insert the pump bolt** and then pop the end of the pump handle into the bolt. There. You're done. Changing back is an exact reversal, with only the added trouble of resetting the Rock.
* Rix Tenorio and others (IIRC) have said that their pnuematics would never totally degas. Says Rix - "yes, my 'Phoon does have some residual pressure in the Rock (actually the operating system..) but this is to be expected since the trigger does activate the 4-way which redirects pressure into the system. That is why I put in the trigger stop screw (see pix), to prevent (or limit) amount of travel causing 4-way activation. It is a small amount, but noticeable. If you unscrew the rock adjuster COMPLETELY before gassing up the rig, there will be less pressure entering/retained in the rock. In the beginning, I would turn rock out after gassing up...lesson learned, as well as not pulling trigger when gassing up (redirects pressure into operating system)." My Typhoon OTOH never did this. The Rock shut off, period.
** Some Phoon pump kits (like mine) were done using two specific bolts, one for pump and one for semi. Others had just one...a bolt with a quikstrip pin and a hole for the pump. Personally, I liked having separate ones, but no real difference. Well, one...if you had a "combo" bolt, you needed to rotate the ram arm so the quikstrip pin didn't engage the arm, especially if you had residual pressure problems.

The Cocker can be converted to a Sniper and back in probably 5-10 minutes either way, but doing so requires a couple of concessions. The pass-through in the ASA has to be milled away so the cocking rod doesn't require removal, and you have to re-seal the front block screw hole each time to avoid leaks. Not so easy and not so convenient in my humble opinion.

HOW DOES IT SHOOT, THEN?

Just like the gun in semi mode, except the average velocity is usually a tad higher. That's a function of the bolt staying forward and better sealed. I know it doesn't gel with the idea of "properly timed" closed-bolts, but in this case experience beats theory. On mine, it quietened the gun down a noticeable amount. I think the bulk of that was simply due to no pnuematics noise. The only thing that it lacks is an autotrigger, but that's no biggie.

SO IT JUST POPS ON?

Close. PPS had my gun so I presume they fitted it just right...I never had to "tinker" it in. Others have had to smooth or open up the inner part of the pump handle to make it pump more smoothly, or other fitting work. Rix and others have incorporated trigger stops to keep their pnuematics from activating while in pump mode. If you can have it fitted to the gun, that's probably ideal. But any fitting that needs to be done will most likely be minor at best.

The pump kit is a fairly universal accessory for Palmer semis. Fitment applications include Typhoons, BBT Typhoons, most Strokers, and conceivably Nastys and Hurricanes. There is NOT a pump kit for the Blazer, and IMO the design would preclude one. The PGP Stroker and the Squall would also not be likely to accept a pump kit. The current cost for the kit is $65 (12/13/99).

WHY COULDN'T I JUST MAKE ONE?

Hmm. Well, I suppose you could, if you could find a pump handle sized for a Sheridan-type lower tube, that had thick enough walls to be drilled and tapped to accept a steel rod of the proper length that was bent 90-deg. at one end, and channeled it to clear the lower tube air fittings. And then if you drilled a hole in your Typhoon bolt at the proper angle, diameter and depth to securely attach to the pump arm. Sure, the parts may run only $10. The $55 extra is for being able to do it cleanly, properly, with quality parts backed by a warranty and without wasting material on a few tries.