Cocker Tech

Assembly of Joe's AKA Merlin - the "Bloddy Sunrise Merlin"

OK. So I can't really come up with a creative name for my baby yet. So that's the standing title until I can get something better. But I think she'll always be called Danielle, yeah. Anyhow, I've had a request or two to finish the teardown guide, however I think because I have pictures available I'll do a guide on how to assemble an AKA Merlin. Let me start off by saying these guns kick ass. I'm using the stock springs from AKA, and using Co2 @250 fps (~175psi), I got 1500 shots out of a 20 oz Co2 tank, and I didn't actually drain the tank, there was still more Co2 left. Absolutely amazing and helpful for you back players.

As a side note, I'm writing this article for 'intermediate' users. I'm expecting you to be able to read through this and know what I'm talking about most of the time. If you're new to cockers and are looking on how one goes together, check out the teardown guide in the technical section. Otherwise, read on.

So, we start from the beginning. I bought the body from a friend of mine and had it anodized black to blood red. When I got the parts back from ano, I layed them all out with the internals. A parts list of everything you need to build this cocker are: body, back block, front block(ASA integrated),ball detente cover, and a feed tube. Internals include: a bolt, a hammer kit, a set of springs, a valve, a front block screw, and a cocking rod. Pneumatics include a ram, a low pressure regulator, and a 3-way of some sorts. I chose to eBlade my Merlin, so I have a solenoid for a 3-way, and the grip frame is replaced by the eBlade grip. Finally, we need a beavertail, an inline regulator, a pump arm, and some sort of drop or on/off that we can attach our tank to.

The first thing that I did was to bust out the rubbing alcohol and squeege and clean off all the parts that came back from anno, as well as all the internals. I noticed a lot of dust still on the parts, as the anodizer didn't fully clean the gun off before he sent it back. No big deal though, because I'm a bit of a neat freak. I like to lay out the parts so I know where everything is. This picture shows all the parts that got anodized, layed out in the approximate way they'll be put on the gun.

The next step was to insert the valve into the body, and secure it in place. The nice thing about the Merlin and the Tornado valve is that the entire bottom tube is open, and the valve is held in place only by o-rings and a set screw. So, I lubed up the o-rings on the valve, and inserted it into the back of the gun. I then used a soft-tipped squeege to push the valve into place, making sure the valve opening stayed pointing up, so that the air can get through the gun and into the bolt. Once it was in place, I used the included valve set screw to hold the valve in place. Although not necessarily needed, I used a dab of blue loctite to hold that nut into place. With the valve set in place, I was able to move my way towards the front block. I tipped the gun front side up and dropped in the valve pin, making sure it made it all the way into the valve the proper way, and sealing. Next, I dropped the valve spring onto the valve pin, pusing it into place and making sure that it stayed pointint up. Now I am able to attach the front block and banjo bolt. I put three orings around the banjo bolt; two were in their set grooves, the third I placed on top of the o-ring closest to the body. I did this just to make sure there is a seal between the front block and the body of the gun. I put the bolt through the front block, and using a 3/16 inch allen wrench, screwed the bolt into the body, making sure the valve spring was firmly connected to both the valve pin and the front bolt, as is how the Merlin was made.

With the front block now on the gun, I was able to insert the hammer into the body. I lubed up the hammer with a good amount of oil, and dropped it into the body, making sure that the lug was facing down. Once it was in, I lined up the lug with the lug adjustment hole in the top of the marker, and I turned the sear lug clockwise a couple turns, just to make sure the hammer stayed in place inside the body. Realize that this will have to be properly adjusted later on when the eBlade frame is attached, but for now all I need is for the hammer to not fall out of the body. Next, I dropped in the hammer spring, and I attached the end cap. I'm using an AKA hammer kit, which instead of having an adjustable IVG like a normal cocker, it is held in one place by the beavertail screw, allowing you to adjust velocity via the primary regulator. It's nice because it's one less thing to mess with, and it still proves to be very efficient. The end cap, for now, I just put the screw in to hold it into place. I am going to wait until the gun is fully assembled to attach the beavertail.

With the internals done, I can turn my attention to the front block and pneumatics. As the largest thing on the front block is the solenoid housing for the eBlade, I will screw that on first. Running the one end of the wire that attaches inside the eBlade grip through the hole where the manifold screws into, I then screwed in the solenoid. I turned it until it wouldn't turn any more (don't turn too hard and crack the housing!) and then backed it out one turn. Next, I attached the low pressure regulator, which in my case was the Rock reg. The big problem I ran into here was that in order to attach the reg, I had to remove the nipple on the Rock reg, otherwise I couldn't screw it into the front block, as it was hitting the eBlade's solenoid. So, using an adjustable wrench(not pliers), I unscrewed the nipple. Next, I put a dab of loctite on the threads of the Rock reg, and screwed it in the front block hand tight, and then another turn or so with a 7/16" wrench (or adjustable wrench). I lined up the hole where the nipple was to be attached where I wanted it to face, and then reattached the nipple. Next, I attached the pump arm to the ram. I put just a small dab of blue loctite on the tip of the ram threads, and then screwed the pump arm onto the ram. I went in about 3/4 of the way until it stopped, and I checked by eyeing off if the rod needed to be screwed on farther and allowing the back block to fit properly. It looked fine, so I put a dab of loctite on the ram threads that screw into the front block, and threaded in the ram, going all the way in, and then backing out until the barbs face the way I wanted. Finally, I cut up lengths of pneumatic hose the length they needed to be, and using my tool of choice for attaching the hose (tiny, tiny pliers), I attached the hoses to their proper connections. The back of the ram goes to the back-most nipple on the eBlade's solenoid, the lp reg goes to the middle nipple, and the front of the ram goes to the front nipple of the solenoid. Viola, done with the front block.

At this point, I'm pretty much done with the assembly of the body. I threaded on the back block, all the way into the body, and then backed off one full turn, as per normal timing methods. Next in goes the cocking rod, and I used normal timing methods to make sure it was the proper length (if you need to know what that is, check out the timing page). Now, I attached the ball detente. Unlike a normal cocker, the ball detente is a little rubber nub, like the ones found on Spyder's and Piranha's. I placed it in a little notch found on the ball detente cover, then attached the detente cover to the body via the two included screws. Now, if the eBlade was already attached, all I'd have to do is put in the bolt, and I'd be done. But now, the eBlade needs to go on. One note: please, if you have a reg with the input on the side of the reg and not on the bottom, attach the reg to the front block before you put on the eBlade. If you don't, the reg won't be able to screw on because the eBlade's trigger guard is so big. So, attach your inline reg now as well.

The eBlade assembly is pretty standard, just follow the directions in the eBlade manual. For your convenience, I'll explain how I did mine. The first thing I did was adjust the height of the sear lug. I removed the grips from the eBlade and attached the frame to the body, without the solenoid or eye attached, just for simplicity. I dropped a 1/8" allen wrench down the timing hole in the top of the body, and kept on turning the sear lug. I then tried to cock the gun by pulling on the cocking rod. If you can't cock the gun, then the lug needs to drop more. If it cocks and stays back, then push up on the bottom of the sear solenoid. The hammer should move forward (read: gun should fire) where the solenoid is about halfway activated. This allows the hammer to catch reliably, but also release and fire properly. With the lug set properly, I removed the grip once more and ran the wires for the eye and the solenoid through the frame, and attached them to the circuit board in the proper manner. With the wires attached, and making sure to not have them pinched anywhere, I attached the eBlade to the body. With the eBlade attached, all that's left is the beavertail and bolt. The beavertail screw also holds in the end cap (as explained earlier), so I had to make sure that was all fitting properly. The bolt is self explanatory. Finally, I attached my drop and hooked up the macroline, completing the gun.

Now, all that's left is to test out the gun. Gas up and check for leaks; I had none (god I love it when stuff goes right!). Find some paint and attach a hopper, and shoot away!