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1. How Does it Work?

The above image shows the slow speed, low pressure phase of the bolt stroke. It is very slow - about 4-6 FPS (as compared to 20 FPS for the Level 7 valve). This slow speed and low pressure makes sure the bolt will pinch rather than chop a paintball. There is an additional advantage - the slow moving bolt does not crack or bobble the ball waiting to go in.

A smaller diameter (as compared to the level 7) power piston gives the pressurized air within the chamber less area to push against. This, combined with a stronger bolt mainspring gives us the slow initial bolt force & acceleration.

As the bolt starts its initial travel, the small vent hole in the power piston moves past the power tube o-ring. As it does so, the hole begins to vent a small amount of air which leaks out through the power tube tip, as shown in the image below. The amount of air venting is miniscule and has a very minor effect upon gas efficiency.

Why do we have the vent? If a paintball is partially in the breech, the slow moving bolt will stop on the ball, rather than chopping through it. When the bolt stops on the partially fed paintball, the power piston vent allows the pressurized gas in the air chamber to escape. Once enough air pressure escapes, the bolt spring pushes the bolt back and recocks the marker. Also at this time, the paintball drops the rest of the way into the breech and the marker is set to fire once again.

Above we show the second stage of bolt acceleration which starts after the bolt gets past the ball stack. During this acceleration stage, the end of the power piston moves completely past the power tube o-ring. This allows pressurized air to flow into the power tube where it pushes against the larger diameter section in the middle of the power piston. At this point, the bolt accelerates to full speed - approximately 15 FPS. It is at this point where the valve goes to full power - loading the paintball into the barrel, firing, and retracting the bolt.

This second acceleration stage is very important - it allows us to maintain the high firing rate of the marker. If the bolt continued to travel at the same speed it would severely limit the firing rate. The animation at the top does not properly show the speed increase.

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2. Superbolt II Cutaway and Information
Here is a cutaway showing how the new Superbolt II is lightened . Note that the wall is much thinner now but still has great strength because it's stainless. To see how much was cut away look at the rear end where it gets thicker back to original size. Radiused edges were also added. This all stainless, never wear out version only weighs 8% more than the original Superbolt. It weighs in at 1.16 oz and is in contention for the lightest reciprocating bolt in a paintball gun. That also means less kick!!(**Added - 42% less kick than the level 7 bolt!)

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3. Fast Start Assembly Instructions

Parts List:

1. Backing washer
2. Power tube o-ring
3. Carrier O-ring
4. Carrier
5. Shims
6. Power tube O-ring
7. Power tube tip
8. Superbolt
9. Main spring

From experience, AGD has put together these quick set of instructions that should be a good starting point for you to your Level 10 Mod up and running. For more detail instructions, see below.

1. Take the guts out of your power tube and put them in a bag along with your old bolt.

2. Install the backing washer (1)

3. find the carrier (4) that has two grooves cut in it and install a power tube O-ring (2) and lightly lubricate the power tube oring and the black carrier O-ring (3)

4. Using the end of a pen cap push the carrier, O-ring first, into the power tube.

5. Drop in TWO shims (5) and make sure they are sitting flat.

6. Holding the valve upright, screw in the power tube tip (7) and tighten.

7. Find the middle length bolt spring (9). This one can be identified because it has one coil cut off the end. Put the end with the coil cut off on the bolt first so the end without the coil cut off is hanging off the end of the bolt.

8. install the bolt on the valve, assemble into the marker and gas up.

9. The marker may or may not be leaking down the barrel. If the marker does not shoot, turn up the velocity until it does so consistently every time you pull the trigger. Fire the marker a few hundred times to wear in the O-ring while you let it leak.

10. Now that you have the O-ring settled in, switch to the next size smaller carrier until the marker stops leaking down the barrel.

11. Set your velocity to 280-300 and you should be good enough to use the marker as is.

This configuration should get you working and out on the field. The next step in fine tuning is to switch to the longest spring and see if you can get the marker firing reliably in the 280-290 fps range with that spring.

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4. More Detailed Assembly Instructions

Parts List:

1. Backing washer
2. Power tube O-ring
3. Carrier O-ring
4. Carrier
5. Shims
6. Power tube O-ring
7. Power tube tip
8. Superbolt
9. Main spring

How to Install and Setup your LVL 10 Kit - Ver 1.0

Remove parts First remove your valve system, unscrew the power tube tip with a coin and take out all the parts from inside the power tube. Put them together with the bolt in a bag and save them. If you ever have problems you can switch back.

Install backing washer
While referring to the LVL 10 parts diagram, first place the backing washer (1) into the bottom of the power tube. Make sure it’s sitting flat on the bottom. Its made from delrin and should go in a little tight and stay there. This washer prevents the new smaller O-ring from getting pushed into the air chamber.

O-ring inside carrier
Pickup one of the brass O-ring carriers (4) and push a power tube O-ring (2) into the end that does not have a tapered hole. It should not go in one side and either slide in or press into the correct side. There are 5 carriers supplied with your kit, each one is a little bigger than the next. They each have small grooves on the outside to help you tell them apart. The more grooves the larger the carrier.

Tune the carrier to the bolt and O-ring
Each batch of o-rings is a little different than the last. In order to compensate for this we need to find the proper size carrier. The idea is to get a good seal with as little friction as possible. Take the carrier with the O-ring installed and push it O-ring first onto the pin sticking out the back of the bolt. If it pushes on too hard then go to a larger carrier, if it slides freely on the pin then go one smaller. The proper fit should be just snug.

Install the O-ring carrier
Lightly lubricate the black O-ring (3) on the outside of the carrier. Push the carrier, O-ring first, into the power tube. Use the blunt end of a plastic pen to fully seat the carrier into the bottom of the power tube. When looking down into the power tube you should NOT see the white power tube O-ring (2).

Install the power tube
tip Next install the new power tube tip (7) it should already have the power tube tip O-ring installed from the factory (6). These new tips have wrench flats to tighten the tips. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN!! Notice that we did NOT put in the shims (5) at this time.

Test the O-ring carrier
Now slide on your new Superbolt II with your original main spring (not one of the new ones) then reassemble the valve into the marker. Gas the marker up as see if it leaks. If it does leak use your finger or a squeegee to push the front face of the bolt around while its leaking. If the leak changes tone then it’s most likely the wrong O-ring carrier (4) and you have to go to the next one tighter. If it doesn’t leak you have the right carrier and can proceed to the next step.

Shim adjustments
Put a squeegee right in front of the bolt and pull the trigger. With very little clearance between the bolt and squeegee you will notice that the bolt comes forward and just stops on the squeegee. Then nothing else happens. Pulling the trigger does nothing to reset the bolt. In order to get the bolt to reset when it pinches a ball, we have to let the air out of the air chamber. The shims (5) control where in the forward stroke the air chamber starts venting. Its works a lot like the spacers in the original Mags. We left them out before so you could tell the difference between a carrier leak and a shim leak.

Remove the power tube tip (7) and drop in two shims (5). Make SURE they are sitting flat in the bottom of the power tube before you screw the power tube tip on otherwise you will bend them up. Bent shims are useless and you will have to buy more. Reassemble the valve system as before using the original main spring and new Superbolt. Now when you air up the marker it should not leak but when you do the squeegee test you will notice that the air starts venting when the Superbolt moves forward. If you keep adding shims eventually the bolt will just leak all the time. For most people two shims work just fine. If you find that when you pinch a ball the marker locks up and does not reset then add another shim.

Main spring tuning
You are almost finished now. You have probably noticed that when you used the original main spring the bolt came forward with less force than usual but still had enough to chop a ball. The pin in the middle of the bolt is called the Power Piston, it acts like a cork to seal the air chamber. Just like a cork, it’s being pushed out by the air pressure but the sear holds it in. When you fire the marker, the bolt is getting pushed out by the air chamber pressure but the mainspring is pushing BACK against the bolt at the same time. The level 10 modification reduces the size of the “cork” so the main spring has an easier time holding it back. If you put a big enough main spring on the bolt and it will not fire at all!!

The last thing to do is find the right main spring that pushes back hard enough on the bolt but not so hard that the marker does not fire. The right main spring will depend on many things such as what velocity you are shooting, what barrel you are using, the size of your paint etc. Start with the longest mainspring (9) from the LVL10 kit, assemble the valve with it and gas the marker up. Try firing, if it doesn’t fire, turn up the velocity until it does. Turning up the velocity is normal for Level 10 tuning it does not mean anything is wrong. If the marker starts venting out the back or the velocity is too high when it does start firing then the main spring is too long.

Switch to the next shorter main spring. There are three mainsprings supplied in your kit. For the AO beta testers we have cut one coil off the longest main spring to make a “middle” spring. This spring looks funny on one end like it’s missing a coil (cause it is) put that end on the bolt first so the good end is sticking out. In our experience either the longest or the middle main springs make the Level 10 config work on all the markers we have tested. If you need to shoot 250 fps for indoor you need to go back to the original main spring.

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5. Fine tuning Hints

1. Use the Biggest carrier that doesn't leak.            
2. Use as little shims as you can get away with.
3. If you lose your bolt foamie, replace it.(see Problems section)
4. As soon as your bolt bumper begins to wear, replace it.
5. When first installing a level 10 kit, shoot as much as possible(take advantage of that all day air) It takes a good while to break in a new o'ring.
6. Use the middle spring whenever possible.
7. If you have to chrono down below 270 and your no longer getting a reliable pull, use a longer ported barrel before changing your level 10 settings. If you must, switch to the stock brass spring. 
8. When switching carriers, use the same O'ring.
9. When using a cut spring, cut side ALWAYS goes on the bolt.
10. Always make sure that the carrier is fully in the powertube before putting in shims.
11. Make sure shims are not bent.
12. Dont over tighten the powertube tip.
13. Do not oil the inner carrier o'ring directly as it will cause a false sense of friction which will give you problems once that oil is gone.
14. The field strip screw is the perfect tool for removing a carrier from the powertube. Give it a few turns and tug, dont worry it wont damage the o'ring.

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6. Problems you May Encounter   

1. An air leak out of the velocity adjuster when chrono'ing below 300fps.
You may have a bad reg. piston. A way around it that may be a quick fix for you is to use the short spring and a unported barrel. This may not work depending on the condition of your piston.   

2. A massive air leak down the barrel as soon as you gas up.   
If you are sure the kit is installed properly there are two things you can check. One is that you bolt spring is extended past the tip of the bolt. The other is that your bolt stem may have broken its weld with the bolt(this sometimes happens with 1st gen. level 10 bolts). If it broke its weld, it may have pulled a few thousands off which will cause this massive leak. Bust out the calibers and it should measure between 2.008"-2.012"   

3. The level 10 kicks in all the time but I know I'm not outshooting my loader.
If you are using an Xmag or a mag with a ULE body on it, there's a good chance that your level 10 is adjusted to be too soft. That or your ball detent is in too far. One way to check that it's not the detent is to use the short spring and shoot your marker as fast as you can. If the problem persists, put some teflon tape around the threading of your ball detent and dont thread it as far in as it was. If using the short spring made the problem go away but you still want to use the middle spring, try cutting 1/4 of a coil off the spring. This will be softer than the short spring but slightly harder than before so your detent wont freak out the level 10.(If you have this problem, you will only notice it when shooting with paint, not when dry-firing.)

4. The Valve doesnt fit in the body once I install the level ten, or no matter what I do the bolt wont cycle properly.
Take the valve out, pull off the bolt, and remove the spring. Take the bolt and see if it fits inside the body(thru the body washer passing the breech). If it doesn't fit or there's resistance, then the body may have a burr that needs to be filed smooth till the bolt can slide thru the breech ok.

5. I have a new X-valve that isn't cycling properly.
At the factory, they compensate for the carrier o'ring break-in. This means they send the valve out with a carrier size that's one size small so once the o'ring breaks in, you dont have to mess with anything. The problem is sometimes the bolt/o'ring fit is so tight, the marker doesn't always cycle properly. Try going up a size in carriers and see if it does the job. (Also remember that you've just bought a new valve, it needs to be oiled heavily and broken in.)

6. I just installed the Level 10 kit, I have a full tank of air but nothing happens when I pull the trigger.
Turn up your velocity till the marker fires reliably and chrono.

7. I turned up my velocity all the way but the marker still doesn't fire.
Make sure you valve is getting at least 800psi. If you've gone through the rest of this section and nothing has helped you, I doubt your problem is level 10 related. Try the other marker links. If you cant figure it out, contact me.

8. When I first gas up I'm still getting a leak down the barrel even with the "0" size carrier.
You may have a bad o'ring, try starting over with a new one.

9. My level 10 is working great but I'm still chopping.
You may be getting barrel breaks(make sure the paint fits the barrel) or your nubbin/ball detent isn't doing it's job check it for problems.

10. My bolt foamie flew off, how do I replace it?
Use a good quality superglue, not rubber cement or hot glue. make sure you scratch off all the old glue, scratch the surface a bit with a screw driver so the glue has more contact surface and you should be fine. Put pressure on the foamie when you glue it for a while, and let the bolt air out anywhere but inside the marker so it could cure properly.

11. The valve doesn't degas like it used to, how do I take the valve out now?
Once you turn off the air supply, you have maybe 1-3 shots left. Pull the trigger to let out all the air you can, depending on your settings, you may even be able to move the front of the bolt a bit to release a little more air. All this should leave you with about 300psi +/- 100, so a slide check or pro-connect is not NEEDED but they do help. I personally dont use any right now. If there is enough pressure left in the lines though, you have a chance of blowing out the o'ring in the female part of the Q/D. By design that's just how it works, the o'ring acts like a cork and just holds pressure. If it bugs you, just buy a pro-connect. DO NOT try and bleed extra pressure by loosening the field strip screw. Depending on your set-up and tank, there are ways of releasing all of the pressure before disconnecting the lines.

12. The bolt itself fits inside of the body, but not inside of the barrel.
The Level 10 bolt is made wider than the level 7 bolt to reduce blowback. It measures .685" If you MUST use a barrel that's a .685 or smaller then you can polish the tip of the bolt a bit, and heavily polish the inside of your barrel. This will make the bolt more agreeable. You shouldn't have to do this, hardly any paint is that small anymore.

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7. What to Expect    
When you first install the level 10 bolt, you will need to shoot a LOT to break in the carrier o'ring. Once it breaks in, you will hear a hiss down the barrel when you gas up. Simply go down to one size smaller of a carrier an you should be done. Since every o'ring/carrier fit will be different, it is hard to tell how long it will take for your o'ring to break in. If it happens after just a few tanks of air, chances are you'll have to do it again later.