So I was looking at my proton gun and I think its been established that the green lever next to the trigger box is the lever that causes this mechanism to work. The small dial next to the heatsink is actually the other side of where this lever runs, it runs across the whole width of the gun under the bargraph. How I think the barrel extention mechanism works is kinda like how I have seen before on here but with a few differences. I believe the green level had I sort’ve L shaped hook on the end of it, around the area of the barrel. The clear section of the barrel would have square hole cut out where the L hook of the level would sit, holding it back. The barrel would also have a bar running through it to stop it from flinging out of the end of the gun. I’m inclined to think that the barrel didn’t extend on a a spring mechansim, but the use of a couple of elastic bands that would run in a niche at the back of the clear barrel and would be attached at either side of the black barrel in the gun body, sort’ve acting like a bow and arrow. Pulling the lever would take the L hook out and allow the tense elastic bands to propel the barrel along, the bar through it stopping it from flying out completely.
Now, I think I read on here a while back that someone thought the trigger tip was how the gun barrel was pulled back in, just hook your thumb around it and pull back. Here’s my theory. I think the larger dial next to the heatsink is how the gun barrel is pulled back in, it seems to be positioned perfectly for this. What I think is that inside the gun body, that dial is attached to like a spool, with a length of string or wire that is attached to the clear barrel. When the barrel extends, the dial would spin around, as the string would be unwinding on it. To pull the barrel back in, simply turn that dial to wind it back in. I think this would take minimal space up too, granted, using the trigger tip is even more space saving, but from a mechanical standpoint, I think this would work.
Let me know what you think guys
