The Alien

[UltimatePaintballer]

http://paintball.com/features/story.cfm?placementid=2235&section=62

idk what to think of this gun. it looks alright but kind of fugly. The guage is too far, no one likes to move their gun all the way around to look at a guage. But what do you guys/gals think of this gun:confused:

[rikkter]

i remember seeing someone here on AO start making that. it was rather interesting to see. i think its great its gotten that far. despite its unique looks, it can't perform awful bad

[GaryWV]

I shot one at IAO, it was quite heavy but the trigger was pretty nice and real easy to walk, Id get one if the price wasnt so high.

[Benfica4ever]

WHOA!
now thats wierd looking.

[Grasshopper]

I don't like the angle that the trigger is at. May be easy to walk or whatever, but that makes it look a bit... odd I guess.

Pretty cool design, though.

[CaliWagon31]

now that is thinking outside the box

[Matt_mg]

I'm ditching my impulse :p

[adam shannon]

i shot it at iao. the thing i noticed with that wierd swing feed/bolt thingee is that it had a ton of wear on the moving parts already. it reminded me of the upper feed tray on an m60/mg42. unless they work out the wear issue from two pieces of flat aluminum rubbing each shot i doubt it will take off. it looked like a maintenance nightmare.

[Gitaroo Man]

i don't see any big benefit to having it look like that. maybe i'm misinformed

[adam shannon]

its because it doesnt have a bolt or alot of the other usual internals. so they moved the barrel back as far as possible...probably cuz they could and to make it look diffrent.

[schiesz]

I gotta say I REALLY like how it shortens the marker up. Now to get some real field reports on this thing.

[adam shannon]

they dont even sell them yet, but if you want to dump $800 on a PRE-order on the promise they will actually make them go ahead.

[Nick O time]

but yeah its one fugly gun imo. why the heck would you want your hopper all the way forward??? i mean there is already the weight of your tank on the back of your gun. eigher the front must be really heavy or that thing must be unballanced like a mofo.

[xadamx]

shortness is nice. looks are crap. apperently it doesnt shoot well and looks to be high matience. if you are willing to trade size for all that then more power. i wouldnt

[FooTemps]

He seemed to be doing better with it when it was bigger. Now that he's shrunk everything down and made it as compact and light as he thought safe with there's been more and more problems.

[Jack & Coke]

FYI:

Jim Rice, a co-designer of this Alien gun, is the same guy who believes that "chamber turbulance affects accuracy" :rolleyes:

From: http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=342328


Originally posted by Jack Rice


-regarding the new DM4-

...most feel new bolt doesn't give the same ultra flat ultra accurate shot original Matix gave. If you feel ball to barrel match is everthing then OK. But here's another example of chamber turbulance affecting accuracy.

The original Trix had the stored air right behind the bolt/spindle. A little in/out movement around the top hat then straight down the bolt through the venturi, a real nice path. But they wanted the bolt smaller.

Now the air has to make a right turn through those holes on the edges and another right turn to go down the bolt.

Now it's just pressure behind the ball, no direction, and direction is the one thing Trix had, don't kid yourself, Mag has it too, the Air is behind the ball. It's not that "Quality alway shoots straight" it's that straighter air shoots straight.




Originally posted by Jack Rice


...maybe you've replaced the bolt, take the old bolt and block part of it off some how, one side. Shoot it and you'll get more wingers, some - even most - straight but more wingers. Also the Angels had the venturi bolts.

Aftermarket bolts had the larger holes in the middle and advertised increased shot speed. BUT the shots tailed off more to the right. Without the venturis it didn't straighten the air as much.

Anyway that's my opinion, though it conflicts with the popular thought of "it's all barrel to paint match"


Originally posted by Jack Rice


...Angel enters with a 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock rotation and a venturi straightens it. Less tailing off. Can't think of another markers that enters from the side so venturi doesn't help.

BUT even blowing through a straw will tell you that 2 feet in front of the straw- or as long as the presure is there, it has direction.

So why would a paintball not feel direction. Baseballs do, tennis balls have a lot of movement from spin, what?paintballs defy physics and the direction of the force used on them is unimportant.

Just remember you heard it here first. .;)


Originally posted by Jack Rice


...Why has no one picked up ne the Angel tailing off to the right. To me that says volumes about air path affecting ball flight.

[adam shannon]

if you think about it applying high school level physics it could make sense. im no scientist, but im sure somebody has done some research on this topic. if the air comes from one side it could put some spin on the ball. now wether this actually happens in pb markers is gonna have to be left up to somebody who has spent some money on higher education than me and a really high speed camera.

[Jack & Coke]

Any minuscul rotational forces imparted on to the ball by any turbulance caused by "the number of bends" in an air system would be negligable.

How the ball rotates as it leaves the barrel would be governed by how the ball contacts the control bore of the barrel. Not by the expanding gases pushing the ball.

Furthermore, in a closed chamber, the air will not act only on one part of the ball. Following the path of least resistance, the air will pressurize ALL areas behind the ball as close to equally as possible. Not just on one part of the ball. As the ball accelerates, the only forces the ball will see from expanding air, will be lateral pushing, not rotational.

The air pushes the ball.

The barrel guides the ball.

[RRfireblade]

With out getting into accuaracy,a direct line of airflow is definately better than having a number of turns and angles prior.If that reusults in anything positive during the firing of a paintball,I sure couldn't say.

Aside from that,I think the Alien looks kinda neat but I've always been partial to things that look unique and don't follow the herd.............like the Mag.

Jay.

[ashriel28]

anytime i hear someone say they have the 'fastest' and 'lightest' marker, my BS meter goes way off.

Especially when he says the marker does 20 balls a sec. Um, the IR4 angels and xvalves can cycle at 30 bps?

And then there's the stuff he says about air pressure and ball flight. And yet he doesnt quote any research or show any proof. And here TK has done plenty of tests, and shown that turbulence and spin don't mean jack.

IT IS ALL HYPE.

[GA Devil]

I think with the hopper location and size that if it shots good it would be a great front man gun. But we will see if and when it is released.

[Thordic]

At IAO the gun seemed like it shot real nice, and the two guys at the booth were really nice and were more than happy to explain anything about the gun that you wanted.

The gun was still a proto-type at IAO. The production version was supposed to have upgrades beyond what the one at IAO had. The one at IAO was just thrown together so they'd have something to show to people, but according to the designers, it was far from the final product. If thats true, it was still a pretty sweet gun. The trigger they had in it wasn't adjustable (3 point adjustable in the final version) and it was still rather easy to walk. Pretty much no recoil, the trapdoor is light as a feather when it closes (no worries about broken paint). Balance may be an issue with a drop forward, but since most people are using rails lately anyway it shouldn't be too bad.

[IMPY0001]

OMG and I thought that the 2k2 shockers and older were huge! Look at that big a$$ thing, no way I would ever own something that big (and prolly heavy) I think I'll stick with (angels mags ecockers ect.)Ewww thats all I'm saying.....-Eddie

[Methylphenidate]

i think it is ugly
and i think that the balance on that marker would be a nightmare.

[Ginjiroku]

that is really strange. I think it looks ugly.

[-=Squid=-]

Although its nothing like it, it makes me think of a rainmaker in looks. However, the fact that the hopper sits BEHIND the gun is a little messed up. I think they should move that crap forward, at least a little, and the overall thing would be better.

[AngelBoy]

As far as unpopular and unusual guns go, I think the Epic is the best. But im biased. Alien is ugly too.

[the_next_guy_]

I think that even if this gun turns out to be a flop, it will open the doors to some other unconventional ideas. Unconventional = good

[p8ntball72]

if jack rice doesnt sign a licensing agreement with ICE and smart parts the alien will never come out.

he has stated many times that the inturnals were a bushmaster,and most people will agree that the
"hatch cover" is a rip off of the Epic.
but jim drew has givin him legal advice to proceed.


although the smart parts patent may be B.S.
the Epic patent is not, and it will be up to a judge to determine what infringement is.
not people on a internet forum.

[jbp]

imo it looks too boxy and plain. they should have done a better job w/ the mill work