First day out with the new marker

[Badmovies.org]

Had a good day at the field today, mostly due to the fact that the other players were all friendly and simply out to enjoy the game too. We played a few airball games, but quite a few were woodsball. This was my first opportunity to use my new marker (upgraded from a very reliable .68 powerfeed that I have had for about 7 years).

The setup:
X-Valve with Lvl 10 (2 shims, 1.0 carrier)
CF ULE Mainbody
Tac Rail
ULT Trigger Kit (2 Lvl 10 and 2 ULT shims)
Double Trigger Intelliframe
Hogue .45 Grips
Viewloader Vlocity
CP Razor Drop
CP On/Off ASA
RT Pro Front Grip
Shrink-wrapped Hose from The Mag Smith w/Quick Disconnect
68/4500 High Pressure Crossfire Tank
12" Dye Ultralite with .688 back

The new setup with the X-Valve and ULT was amazing. Once you get the shims just right, the trigger is a feather compared to any other mechanical I have used. I could shoot accurately and quickly. The only thing outpacing me was a DM-7 and I cannot imagine keeping up with one of those with a non-electro anyway. The owner of the DM-7 and I had a couple of fun shootouts, both in the woods and on the airball field. It is important to note that I did not feel completely outgunned by the high end electro – something I had found to be a problem with my old .68 Automag.

While practicing the other day, I actually found that I could outrun my old Viewloader Revolution so I upgraded to the Vlocity. It worked great with the force setting on 3 and did not break a single ball. It also always kept up with me, except once when I leaned out left and I put too much of a tilt on the marker. I heard the Level 10 bolt chuff on a ball. I also had to clean the Vlocity, because I broke a ball in the center of a pod during a fast charge/shoot when I slide in behind a pile of logs (smacked the pod too hard and didn’t notice until I dumped it in). Cleaning the Vlocity was pretty darn easy, same as my old Revolution.

I had a very good paint to barrel match with the Ultralite barrel shooting RP Premium. I had no breaks in through an entire case, nor through about 400 rounds of old RP I shot off just playing around (which was 1 or 2 drop paint). It shot with good accuracy until I had that mess from my gooey pod dumped in (it was also my last pod, I had to use it). Lucky that was the last game.

I believe that I was the only person who did not break a ball in the marker (most were having barrel breaks, including the DM7).

The marker was nicely balanced with the drop forward and 68 Crossfire tank. I did feel a little fatigue, but realized that I had been keeping the marker in my shoulder a lot. Much more than I used to with my old Automag, even though I ran the older marker off of a remote. The new marker is very light and that makes keeping it at the ready easier on your muscles.

I had thought about picking up a Y grip for it, but after today I do not think I need to. It would have helped a few times playing airball, when I noticed some wrist strain while trying to stay in tight for long periods.

Most of the times I got hit were either on the hopper, marker (feedneck, twice), or mask. It seemed to be very easy to keep a good position that let me pop out, shoot, and pop back in.

So, in closing, a good day playing paintball and love the new marker from AGD. It is a big improvement over my old Automag and I am sure it will still be working years from now, when many other markers are lying broken on a workbench. A funny thing is I again ran into a person with a new Autococker that had problems and he was forced to put it aside and use another marker. That has turned into something of a routine.

Pics of the marker:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2313213&postcount=2198

[FromTheBack]

Clean lookin' mag man. Glad it worked out for ya!

[Badmovies.org]

This is a follow up after another day of playing both woodsball and speedball. The only change is that I now have a Powerlyte Scepter barrel kit for the marker.

More good games today, with people who were playing well and playing fair. I put another case through it, mostly Marbalizer, but also about 500 RP Premium. The Marbs seemed to be about 4 to 5 drop paint, while the Premium was always 5. The Marbs were dead on for the .686 insert and the Premium perfect for the .688. I had zero breaks in the marker and was not having a problem breaking them on target.

Many more upped markers were out there compared to the last time I wrote about. There was a DM7, some electro Spyders, and other such markers. A couple had barrel kits (Freak) or upgraded barrels. Again, I cannot compete with what a DM7 can do for rate of fire, but I can hold my own and not be outclassed. Against the others I feel like we are even (though some were having marker problems or broken balls – and then they were done).

I did a lot of snapshot practice and it paid off on both woodsball and speedball fields. I noticed no fatigue, though the marker was almost always in my shoulder once the game started. Most of the time I could not find a support player who would run with me, so I got into more than one engagement against multiple opponents. It was common for me to be shooting while moving, popping out to snapshoot, and such. A number of times I took out opponents at decent range by hitting them as they popped out or catching a hopper or foot that was visible.

Something I noticed about the Scepter kit is that I did not have the problem of it loosening up like I did with the Dye Ultralite I was using. The Dye would loosen at the breech until I put on a spare tank o-ring. The tip would also loosen from the back, even when cranked down about as tight as I felt comfortable. I fixed the latter problem with Teflon tape, but it still annoyed me. The Scepter stayed tight the entire day, even though I only tightened it down snug (using much less torque than I put on the Ultralite).

Cleaning the RT Pro was easy as usual and I checked a number of parts for wear and tear. The only spot I noticed any was where the pin contacts the ULT on the bottom of the valve. It did not seem to be extreme (at this point I have fired the marker about 8000 times).