I recently bought an Empire Sniper for a good deal that is in fantastic condition and included all the original pieces you would get it brand new with. On the plus side, it came with an Inception hammer, Mamba trigger, and roller sear installed. The previous owner said Tim Firpo (Paintball Tek) did the work. They also had a larger 3D printed pump handle installed.

In anticipation of this marker, I also bought an HF valve and stainless guide rod to make things even better. So I got the marker and instantly noticed the pump stroke was quite rough and the trigger pull also stiff.

I tore everything down, cleaned and lubed/oiled, installed the stainless guide rod, the HF valve. Things feel better, but the pump stroke is awful if the mounting screws are tightened all the way on the pump handle...loosen them, and it unbinds and feels better, but then the pump handle is loose...I had already bought a Niche Slice pump handle (sorry Inception!) which has an aluminum mounting plate and I am hoping this will help out. If not, maybe I'll just buy a dang Drift kit! Loose handle aside, the hammer spring feels mighty stiff as well...I know the heavier hammer will be a help but I am guess that I will need to find myself a lighter hammer spring. When pulling the trigger to release the hammer, it feels very heavy with a noticeable kick, and this is with the IVG flush.

So anyways, my questions are: what should I look at in the trigger to make it more smooth? I already messed around with the two screws in the Mamba trigger itself to see if that would even do anything, and it just feels like it makes the pull a littler longer or shorter, but not smoother.

The pump stroke...I already removed one of the rubber denents, so it currently just has 1x of the smaller ones inside, maybe will cut down both to reduce the drag and still have dual detents. Hoping the Slice handle with allow things to be mounted much sturdier and maintain a good fit and smoothness. So shall I play with lighter springs?