Badmovies.org
04-14-2007, 09:52 PM
This was my first day playing with the MiniTac Pro. As usual, I was at the Outdoor Adventures field in Rosedale. Today was a very fine spring day and there were a horde of players. A few games that I played, we had fifteen people on each team.
I had to re-loctite my feedneck with red loctite. This time I cleaned the parts carefully with alcohol, applied the loctite, and cranked it down hard. That seems to have done it.
Shooting Marbalizers again, with the .686 insert being the correct fit. The Marbalizers were not breaking as well as normal. Some of this was caused by shooting at people wearing baggy clothing. However, the field does allow players to bring paint if they have all of their own equipment. I might try picking up some Inferno before the next time I go out. I have never used it, but understand it is the same quality as Hellfire and had good luck with that type of paint before. I am willing to spend extra money on good paint. The thing is finding what works best.
(In fairness to the Marbs, I have a feeling they were leftover from a scenario game more than a month ago and have been in and out of some of the crazy temperatures we have seen. One day it is 40, the next 70.)
My chrono check was more than twenty shots, with every one falling between 276 fps and 282 fps.
After my first game, my Vlocity went to blinking red. I played three more games before changing the batteries. So, that set of batteries only lasted one full day of playing (4 hours) and four games the next time (maybe one more hour). I do turn off the Vlocity between games.
By the way, my mantra before a game is: barrel condom off, Vlocity on, safety off.
I shot through just under one case, about 1800 paintballs. No breaks at all in the breech, or barrel. I played twelve games, so my average was (again) 150 balls per game. The least I fired was around 40, the most was 350.
I upgraded my pack and pods. I now have a Redz pack that has elastic to push the pods out into your hand. The new pods are 160-round lock-tops. Though I had not played with them before, they ended up being quite natural to use.
After one game, I had something happen that made me smile. I had moved down the field along a hill, doing the engage-move-engage trick and getting five of the other team. One of them was a guy with a, I believe, Ego. He and I got into a shootout when I encountered him in a bunker at the far end of the field. I got him by running left to get an angle and hitting his foot. After the game, he came looking for me and wanted to know what sort of marker I was using. He could not believe it was an all-mechanical marker with the volume of fire I put on him to keep him pinned as I moved.
Some of the later games we were having a problem with the other team being hit, but continuing to play. I did not notice the same issue with my team. I definitely saw players hit, broken paint on them, then they kept playing. They were big games, fifteen on fifteen, with only two referees. The refs were not being useless, but it is hard to keep up with that many players when systematic cheating is going on. I think their only failing was not getting into a central position (they were staying along the edges).
Best example was one game. I ran up to a far forward, natural bunker made out of logs that was two feet high. Another player, using a DM, who was right there with me, hit one of the opposing team on the leg at about twenty yards. I saw the other guy jerk from the hit and tuck in. The hit was on his lower leg, in an easy spot for him to view without a ref checking. The guy continued to play. The DM player hit another opponent in a near bunker with the same results. I ran into the same thing, shooting through a hole in a bunker, seeing it hit the guy in the head on the other side, then seeing him jerk down. He did not go out, obviously wiped, and continued playing. I hit another player, but did not see a break; he ducked behind a tree and then continued playing. Trying to get a ref into the area was not happening, because they were running like mad to keep up with the game. The DM guy with me got hit and six opposing players (some of which must have been those who I had seen hit) were danger close to me. When two moved to a bunker nearby, I decided to at least take two out with me – no arguments. I stood to at an angle giving me a clear shot at them both and delivered a rapid fire. I got lit up pretty good by the other team, but I put multiple hits onto both of my targets. One guy said, “You didn’t hit me.” I then pointed out the three obvious hits on his body. The three of use walked off the field.
There were a number of markers able to shoot quickly out there. Ions, DMs, at least one Ego, two E-cockers, and a few Tippmann’s with response triggers. I was able to stand to against them with the MiniTac Pro. I was also doing better than many of them with snapshooting. Though this was my first day out with the MiniTac Pro, the drop forward, tank, loader (indeed, everything except the cut-down Tac-One body) is the exact same as the RT Pro I have been playing with the last few months. The familiarity and practice have paid off, making my first shots accurate. A couple of times, I hit people with single snapshots, like the one guy in the bunker. That was through a hole about 1 foot wide by 4 inches high.
Had a funny moment during one game. I moved up to the top of a hill, looked down and saw four of the other team open to me. Stitched one guy with a burst, then watched the others scramble to find cover from my position. They started shooting back. Since they were shooting uphill (pretty tall hill), it was a serious advantage to me. The rest of my team was moving up to get into good positions to engage those guys, so I started yelling stuff at them, standing up and waving, and generally keeping their attention. It worked and when the rest of my team engaged from two directions (90 degree to either, I was at the 45 between), the other team was knocked out fast, despite being in a pretty good bunker complex that can be a pain to assault. Those other players allowed me to keep their attention and lost situational awareness.
Did not have any big “oops” moments today. The closest was trying to run through some low brush and getting caught across the thigh and groin with a thorn bush. I started shooting and got the guy I was after, but took a hail of return fire from two other players on his team. I knelt down, but a paintball snuck though the bush and hit me on the head. At least that gave me a minute to pull the sticker bush out of my leg.
Overall, I was doing well with move, shoot, and keeping myself dynamic. It definitely can work and pay off when you get it just right. A couple of my charges earned three eliminations.
I did call myself out when hit, but no break, twice today. Usually, I do not feel this is a bad thing - more like the right way to play. However, one of those was against the team that was having issues with playing fair. I felt a twinge then. The thing I felt good about was that I had hit two of them (and saw a break on one). Though neither called themselves out, my move had caused them to fall back and broken up a fast push five of them were doing.
The refs and I talked after some of the "integrity impaired" games and it was also obvious to them there was a problem. They were doing their best to deal with it. Still, paintball is a game of honor. I don't like losing to people who are playing like that, but I will not play like a scrub.
Cleaning up was easy as usual. The one caveat I have to that is that the picatinny rails on the mainbody are a pain to clean paint out of. You could just disassemble it and run the body under running water. I opted to wet the area with my normal mix of dishwashing liquid and water, then use a couple of q-tips to get into the rails. In any case, a standard ULE mainbody, or a body like the Exile is much easier to clean. You just wipe them off.
Shot count for this marker, the MiniTac Pro, is now 4000.
Current setup:
X-Valve with Lvl 10 (1 shim, 1.5 carrier)
Mini-Tac Mainbody w/dual RPG detents and RPG clamping feedneck
Tac Rail
Splinter Trigger Intelliframe
ULT (6 ULT shims)
Hogue .45 Grips
Viewloader Vlocity
CP Razor Drop
CP On/Off ASA
RT Pro Front Grip
Shrink-wrapped Hose w/Quick Disconnect
68/4500 High Pressure Crossfire Tank w/Dye Rhino cover
12" Powerlyte 2007 Scepter kit (.684, .686, .688, .690, and .692 inserts)
Pics of the marker:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2338312&postcount=2218
Previous entries in the chronicles here:
20070405:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213102
20070325:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212556
20070224:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=211063
I had to re-loctite my feedneck with red loctite. This time I cleaned the parts carefully with alcohol, applied the loctite, and cranked it down hard. That seems to have done it.
Shooting Marbalizers again, with the .686 insert being the correct fit. The Marbalizers were not breaking as well as normal. Some of this was caused by shooting at people wearing baggy clothing. However, the field does allow players to bring paint if they have all of their own equipment. I might try picking up some Inferno before the next time I go out. I have never used it, but understand it is the same quality as Hellfire and had good luck with that type of paint before. I am willing to spend extra money on good paint. The thing is finding what works best.
(In fairness to the Marbs, I have a feeling they were leftover from a scenario game more than a month ago and have been in and out of some of the crazy temperatures we have seen. One day it is 40, the next 70.)
My chrono check was more than twenty shots, with every one falling between 276 fps and 282 fps.
After my first game, my Vlocity went to blinking red. I played three more games before changing the batteries. So, that set of batteries only lasted one full day of playing (4 hours) and four games the next time (maybe one more hour). I do turn off the Vlocity between games.
By the way, my mantra before a game is: barrel condom off, Vlocity on, safety off.
I shot through just under one case, about 1800 paintballs. No breaks at all in the breech, or barrel. I played twelve games, so my average was (again) 150 balls per game. The least I fired was around 40, the most was 350.
I upgraded my pack and pods. I now have a Redz pack that has elastic to push the pods out into your hand. The new pods are 160-round lock-tops. Though I had not played with them before, they ended up being quite natural to use.
After one game, I had something happen that made me smile. I had moved down the field along a hill, doing the engage-move-engage trick and getting five of the other team. One of them was a guy with a, I believe, Ego. He and I got into a shootout when I encountered him in a bunker at the far end of the field. I got him by running left to get an angle and hitting his foot. After the game, he came looking for me and wanted to know what sort of marker I was using. He could not believe it was an all-mechanical marker with the volume of fire I put on him to keep him pinned as I moved.
Some of the later games we were having a problem with the other team being hit, but continuing to play. I did not notice the same issue with my team. I definitely saw players hit, broken paint on them, then they kept playing. They were big games, fifteen on fifteen, with only two referees. The refs were not being useless, but it is hard to keep up with that many players when systematic cheating is going on. I think their only failing was not getting into a central position (they were staying along the edges).
Best example was one game. I ran up to a far forward, natural bunker made out of logs that was two feet high. Another player, using a DM, who was right there with me, hit one of the opposing team on the leg at about twenty yards. I saw the other guy jerk from the hit and tuck in. The hit was on his lower leg, in an easy spot for him to view without a ref checking. The guy continued to play. The DM player hit another opponent in a near bunker with the same results. I ran into the same thing, shooting through a hole in a bunker, seeing it hit the guy in the head on the other side, then seeing him jerk down. He did not go out, obviously wiped, and continued playing. I hit another player, but did not see a break; he ducked behind a tree and then continued playing. Trying to get a ref into the area was not happening, because they were running like mad to keep up with the game. The DM guy with me got hit and six opposing players (some of which must have been those who I had seen hit) were danger close to me. When two moved to a bunker nearby, I decided to at least take two out with me – no arguments. I stood to at an angle giving me a clear shot at them both and delivered a rapid fire. I got lit up pretty good by the other team, but I put multiple hits onto both of my targets. One guy said, “You didn’t hit me.” I then pointed out the three obvious hits on his body. The three of use walked off the field.
There were a number of markers able to shoot quickly out there. Ions, DMs, at least one Ego, two E-cockers, and a few Tippmann’s with response triggers. I was able to stand to against them with the MiniTac Pro. I was also doing better than many of them with snapshooting. Though this was my first day out with the MiniTac Pro, the drop forward, tank, loader (indeed, everything except the cut-down Tac-One body) is the exact same as the RT Pro I have been playing with the last few months. The familiarity and practice have paid off, making my first shots accurate. A couple of times, I hit people with single snapshots, like the one guy in the bunker. That was through a hole about 1 foot wide by 4 inches high.
Had a funny moment during one game. I moved up to the top of a hill, looked down and saw four of the other team open to me. Stitched one guy with a burst, then watched the others scramble to find cover from my position. They started shooting back. Since they were shooting uphill (pretty tall hill), it was a serious advantage to me. The rest of my team was moving up to get into good positions to engage those guys, so I started yelling stuff at them, standing up and waving, and generally keeping their attention. It worked and when the rest of my team engaged from two directions (90 degree to either, I was at the 45 between), the other team was knocked out fast, despite being in a pretty good bunker complex that can be a pain to assault. Those other players allowed me to keep their attention and lost situational awareness.
Did not have any big “oops” moments today. The closest was trying to run through some low brush and getting caught across the thigh and groin with a thorn bush. I started shooting and got the guy I was after, but took a hail of return fire from two other players on his team. I knelt down, but a paintball snuck though the bush and hit me on the head. At least that gave me a minute to pull the sticker bush out of my leg.
Overall, I was doing well with move, shoot, and keeping myself dynamic. It definitely can work and pay off when you get it just right. A couple of my charges earned three eliminations.
I did call myself out when hit, but no break, twice today. Usually, I do not feel this is a bad thing - more like the right way to play. However, one of those was against the team that was having issues with playing fair. I felt a twinge then. The thing I felt good about was that I had hit two of them (and saw a break on one). Though neither called themselves out, my move had caused them to fall back and broken up a fast push five of them were doing.
The refs and I talked after some of the "integrity impaired" games and it was also obvious to them there was a problem. They were doing their best to deal with it. Still, paintball is a game of honor. I don't like losing to people who are playing like that, but I will not play like a scrub.
Cleaning up was easy as usual. The one caveat I have to that is that the picatinny rails on the mainbody are a pain to clean paint out of. You could just disassemble it and run the body under running water. I opted to wet the area with my normal mix of dishwashing liquid and water, then use a couple of q-tips to get into the rails. In any case, a standard ULE mainbody, or a body like the Exile is much easier to clean. You just wipe them off.
Shot count for this marker, the MiniTac Pro, is now 4000.
Current setup:
X-Valve with Lvl 10 (1 shim, 1.5 carrier)
Mini-Tac Mainbody w/dual RPG detents and RPG clamping feedneck
Tac Rail
Splinter Trigger Intelliframe
ULT (6 ULT shims)
Hogue .45 Grips
Viewloader Vlocity
CP Razor Drop
CP On/Off ASA
RT Pro Front Grip
Shrink-wrapped Hose w/Quick Disconnect
68/4500 High Pressure Crossfire Tank w/Dye Rhino cover
12" Powerlyte 2007 Scepter kit (.684, .686, .688, .690, and .692 inserts)
Pics of the marker:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2338312&postcount=2218
Previous entries in the chronicles here:
20070405:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=213102
20070325:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212556
20070224:
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=211063