On mine, the metal ramp is a little closer to the right rail than yours. Do you know if its hitting the left or right side when it does hit and rattle around?

Glad you were able to dial it in somewhat. Mine is a mirco repro and I did not have this problem so I am a little bit baffled by it. A slow-mo video showing the issue might still be handy.

In your last video of the drive, I had to go frame by frame but you can see it veer right into the rubber on the right side before the metal ramp. It then bounces over to the left and rattles around. To me, that is not mirco's short shooter lane groove.

You mentioned that the flap at the end of the lane moves freely so i assume that isnt it.

when you say that you rotate the shooter and it's not longer dead center behind the ball what is the variance? (how far can it be off center?)

(which leads to the next question, i know some rubber tips can be a little wonky and skew things a bit)

you mentioned the rubber on the tip is new, maybe try titans for the tip?

Have you tried different color springs on the rod? changing the velocity of the ball coming out of the lane with different springs might potentially help.

so there are still some things you could try if your not quite ready to throw in the towel yet.

Awesome, glad you were able to get it dialed in. Even if it's not perfect, sounds like its close enough to start enjoying it!