All the tinkerers out there with an Automag have at least considered making a pneumag conversion. Naturally, I couldn't hold myself back.
If you're not a Mag follower, pneumag is the name used to describe installing a small pneumatic valve inside the frame which actuates the sear in the same manner that the trigger normally does with a mechanical Automag. When the E-mag was designed, it used a large, 18-v solenoid to do the same job, which requires the similarly large battery pack as well as some special higher-voltage electronics. Installing the pneumag internals and making them electropneumatic is the ultimate form of a custom Automag.
Mechanical pneumags are popular and many people have converted those. Electronic pneumags, however, are much more rare. I was surprised to learn this, but I can see why. It's indeed a massive undertaking for the marker.
Originally, I started off with a really nice Morlock-converted E-Mag marker, but I wanted to make a pneumag out of it. I decided to sell the frame and rail and use the rest for the new conversion. At this point I had to scrounge around for everything I needed, including a new frame and rail, foregrip, electronics, as well as the pneumag internals.
Frame:
For this mod I'm using a black Shocker SFT frame with a Dynasty trigger that I had lying around. The frame was missing the trigger guard so I had to retrofit a new one to make it pretty (I guess...).
The other major thing I had to do to the frame is mill out the battery compartment to make more room. This involved removing the bottom grip panel screw material. The gun will still work okay without the bottom grip screws holding them on.
Electronics:
I decided to use an Ion board for this modification. It's small enough to fit in the frame, and I have a couple laying around to use. I decided to use a spare Tadao Ion board that I was sent for early testing, since it has some solenoid adjustments that I will be able to use with the pneumag solenoid. Below are before and after pics of the board, after I stripped it of all the unnecessary components...
Now comes the cool part. The board is designed to work with a momentary push-button switch. Normally I'd use a membrane pad for this, but I don't have any spare, so I had to do something different. This involved dissecting the Extreme Rage timer grips that I want to use with this marker, and use the grips' integrated buttons to work the Tadao board. I did this by re-routing the circuit on the grips' board, then attach a connector to allow it connection with the Tadao board. This is what the grips' board looked like post-mod:
This short video demonstrates how the board combo works. Press the green button on the grips to activate and deactivate the marker (and switch eye modes).
Foregrip:
I bought a used ULE rail and it came with this really sturdy chrome foregrip. This is meant to just be a hollow handle sticking out the front of the gun, but I had other plans for it. I needed a place to mount the LPR, and I didn't like the idea of putting it anyplace else, so I decided to mod the foregrip into a gas-thru and mount the LPR out the front of the gun. This was a multi-step process, but turned out very well.
Basically, what I had to do is smooth out the inside of the foregrip, then make a threaded "insert" to attach to the macroline from the tank. I then drilled and tapped the top of the foregrip for the necessary air ports. The only other major step was to drill laterally into the bottom of the foregrip to install screws that would retain the insert and prevent it from blowing out the bottom.
Pneumag Internals:
The modification mainly involves two added parts, an air-driven actuator to hit the sear, and a solenoid to operate it. I went with the Clippard MPA-3 actuator, and an SMC SY113 solenoid for it. I won't go into a lot of detail why, but the parts are arranged like this:
The actuator is held in place using a pair of 4-40 screws on the right side, and a pair of 10-32 set screws on the left side (not shown). The solenoid is shimmed inside the frame and held in place using a 10-32 set screw.
The LP hose from the LPR to the solenoid ducks inside the frame directly behind the trigger. It is folded under the MPA-3 actuator, above the trigger microswitch, and leads into the bottom of the solenoid. The solenoid's output hose wraps around the top of the actuator and connects to it in the front. The hose is tucked off to the side when the rail and valve are installed, so the sear doesn't interfere. In actuality the hose placement turned out perfect; I wish I could take credit for it, but all I did was install it as I went along and it ended up working just as I wanted.
