New Empire hopper for World Cup

[st6212]

Noticed a bit of chatter about this beast:

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i138/Shane_98c/MagnaLoaderfullpic.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i302/ARPBStore_photos/magnaloader.jpg

[OneUp]

Nice shoe... :p

what are they trying to do?! Copy the egg because the halo is too durable?!

[BigEvil]

Looks like they took all the Halo components and moved them around. Any specs available?

[Chrishew09]

Yeah, like BigEvil said, i thing that the feed neck is going to have problems with breaking.

[Doc Nickel]

-Can't say it's the most attractive thing I've ever seen, but then again, it's hardly the ugliest loader I've ever seen either. :D

There's been some speculation that the "magna" in the name refers to a magnetic clutch in the drive mechanism, as opposed to the old HALO's belt and/or spring system.

Personally, I kind of doubt it. I'd wager it's all not much more than a rebodied and rearranged HALO, and the "magna" buzzword comes from the lid closure. (You can see some short cylinders that look to me very much like small rare-earth magnets, at the back lip of the lid.)

Not sure I care for the feed neck placement either, but with guns getting lighter every year, I can see it helping place more weight over the grip/hand.

Doc.


(Doc's 'Mag barrel adapters back in stock (http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=219025))

[OneUp]

-Can't say it's the most attractive thing I've ever seen, but then again, it's hardly the ugliest loader I've ever seen either. :D

There's been some speculation that the "magna" in the name refers to a magnetic clutch in the drive mechanism, as opposed to the old HALO's belt and/or spring system.

Personally, I kind of doubt it. I'd wager it's all not much more than a rebodied and rearranged HALO, and the "magna" buzzword comes from the lid closure. (You can see some short cylinders that look to me very much like small rare-earth magnets, at the back lip of the lid.)

Not sure I care for the feed neck placement either, but with guns getting lighter every year, I can see it helping place more weight over the grip/hand.

Doc.


(Doc's 'Mag barrel adapters back in stock (http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=219025))

But it's a magna "drive." If they refer to the lid magnets it'd be like false advertisement.

Maybe they're talking about the magnets in the motor :rofl:

[fullofpaint]

look in the corner, it says "Magna Clutch" along with "Rf" and "Halo" technology

[MedicDVG]

It looks like a Halo, Revy and an Egg had a menage troi and this is the result.

I can't say I like the feedneck position -- looks like it would put a lot of stress on the feeder neck and the feed tube.. have similar braskage issues like the Egg did.

[Rudz]

i wanna put it on a warp..no more goofy adapters for hose clearance now..

[Toll]

If it was moderately priced it'd make a nice warp add on.

edit : magna clutch, those are magnets. It's a new lid. Whoop de dooo

[DaFin]

Will the price be over $200? If not I'm betting it'll be close.

[mr doo doo]

ewers. that hopper is as ugly as that eyeforce. but id rather get a regular halo than that "magna"

[LinearGoose]

Umm I think there idea was suppost to put the drive cone in the middle because if you look at most halos and empire loaders some times you have to tilt them back to make sure you feed all your paint. Thinking this will reduce the need for that but just speculating here though. Other than that I think its the same thing.

[MANN]

i wanna put it on a warp..no more goofy adapters for hose clearance now..

QFT. Finally I can get rid of the stupidest loading hopper on the market.

[ProblemKinder]

i have a reloader 2 thats like 10 years old, made by empire. it has the same magnetic lid. i think i'll pass on this one...

[trevorjk]

-Can't say it's the most attractive thing I've ever seen, but then again, it's hardly the ugliest loader I've ever seen either. :D

There's been some speculation that the "magna" in the name refers to a magnetic clutch in the drive mechanism, as opposed to the old HALO's belt and/or spring system.

Personally, I kind of doubt it. I'd wager it's all not much more than a rebodied and rearranged HALO, and the "magna" buzzword comes from the lid closure. (You can see some short cylinders that look to me very much like small rare-earth magnets, at the back lip of the lid.)

Not sure I care for the feed neck placement either, but with guns getting lighter every year, I can see it helping place more weight over the grip/hand.

Doc.


(Doc's 'Mag barrel adapters back in stock (http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=219025))


the only difference im seeing between a normal halo and this is... the drive housing is moved roughly 1.5 inches forward so the battery can be placed in the rear of the hopper. as far as the Motor i have no idea, Doc might have nailed it on the head.

1 HUGE complaint i see with this. is with a fully loaded hopper, this will make just about ANY marker very back heavy. since most of the weight from the hopper will be 1.5 inches back, it is going to feel like an Egg hopper. in a long string of shots, this will more then likely raise your average players barrel rise during that string of shots. especially since your losing that little bit of weight towards the front of the marker to help compensate for that.

just my 2cents..


what are the performance claims for the hopper?

[OneUp]

but what does the "mag" in automag stand for?

[custar]

but what does the "mag" in automag stand for?

"Mag"ic.

custar

[tebo]

all empire hoppers already have magnets in them except for the empire reloaderI the reloaderII have lid mags.

[ProblemKinder]

all empire hoppers already have magnets in them except for the empire reloaderI the reloaderII have lid mags.

i love my reloader II. any idea where i could find another one? pretty sure they don't make them anymore =[

[warpig13]

That beast looks like feednack breaking hell.

[tebo]

i love my reloader II. any idea where i could find another one? pretty sure they don't make them anymore =[
they still make them try pbgear.com in the loaders section they are like 47.95$

[psychowarden]

Hmm, I definitely won't buy it. Not a chance in hell. The reason I hate my Egg is because of the balance, and this looks like it will be just as bad, if not worse.

[Doc Nickel]

but what does the "mag" in automag stand for?

[cracks knuckles]

The original AutoMag was a firearm; a .44 Magnum pistol. Designed in 1970 and put into production by 1971, it was, like our more recent Automag, rather groundbreaking in several ways.

First off, it was a semi-automatic that fired a true Magnum-class cartridge, the first production semiauto handgun to do so. It fired a rimless cartridge loaded to identical specs as the conventional rimmed .44 Magnum round. I've actually held and fired an Automag, and I know a fellow who has a crate of new, unfired Norma brass, somewhere. :D

Second, it was stainless steel, at the time a new and hot material to build guns out of. Today it's common, but the first production stainless handgun had only been brought out by Smith & Wesson in the mid-sixties, so stainless use in a firearm was only a few years old by that point.

And third, it was a short-recoil action that used a rotary locking bolt- again, the first time such a system had been used in a handgun.

However, everything from the difficulty in working with the stainless steel, to bad management kept the gun out of any major production, with it basically being abandoned by the mid seventies.

The paintball Automag, of course, fitting in well with the original, being largely stainless steel, semi-automatic (at a time when it was very, very rare for anyone to have a semiauto on the field) and quite innovative in it's own right.

Thankfully, production and management were a little better handled this time 'round. :D

Oh yeah, in answer to your question, the original AutoMag simply meant "Automatic Magnum".

Doc.

[BigEvil]

OMG I learned something on AO today. :eek:

[OneUp]

Doc.


but... :(

does that mean the AGD automag is named in honor of the pistol?

[behemoth]

but... :(

does that mean the AGD automag is named in honor of the pistol?

Yes.

[OneUp]

that explains everything.

[FallNAngel]

It's not just a reorganized Halo, there are parts that are different. I've seen some cool stuff that's possible with this loader.

[warbeak2099]

Um, unnecessary stress on the feedneck? Did they engineer this or just design it???

[trevorjk]

Um, unnecessary stress on the feedneck? Did they engineer this or just design it???


im guessing they designed it since it will increase sales and profit :cool:

[FallNAngel]

I think the neck will hold up just fine. The material used in the Evo2's and Halos was completely different. I'd be rather surprised if it doesn't hold up.

[st6212]

This vid was posted up on pbn. Not much to see:
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2327559

[cyrus-the-virus]

egg3+halo=magna...

what are they thinking over there in R&D? unless this thing has a stainless steel feedneck that thing is going to snap.

EDIT: looks like the top of the hopper is going to be able to come off... very nice feature.

[raehl]

There are some other features with this hopper that haven't yet been mentioned in this thread. As I believe my info is still 'inside' info, I'm not going to elaborate, but at least one key feature hasn't been mentioned yet.

- Chris

[tebo]

one lucky guy ^^ kinda sorta :confused:

[FallNAngel]

egg3+halo=magna...

what are they thinking over there in R&D? unless this thing has a stainless steel feedneck that thing is going to snap.

And you're basing that on what? Have you held one? Didn't think so... you're making assumptions based on another product that was poorly developed. At least wait until the damn thing is released before you bash it.

[kenndogg]

And you're basing that on what? Have you held one? Didn't think so... you're making assumptions based on another product that was poorly developed. At least wait until the damn thing is released before you bash it.

It looks like crap. I won't buy it based on the looks alone. I don't need to hold one to observe that. Unless they change it by the time of its release I don't see myself buying this product.

[FallNAngel]

So even though it's functionally better, you won't buy it because of it doesn't look good enough? I guess I'm just one of those weird people that doesn't think paintball is a fashion show...

[z1p101]

So even though it's functionally better, you won't buy it because of it doesn't look good enough? I guess I'm just one of those weird people that doesn't think paintball is a fashion show...
Thank you, I thought I was the only one left. :cheers:

[kenndogg]

So even though it's functionally better, you won't buy it because of it doesn't look good enough? I guess I'm just one of those weird people that doesn't think paintball is a fashion show...

But how much better? The tournies I play are psp ramp which is capped at 15. Hows a new loader really going to help? My v35 halo and pulse do just find. Even on semi uncapped I doubt I could out shoot either loader. Now factor in the magna's hidious looks and I see no reason to bother with it.
Last time I check the target market that Empire is catering to are those that are fashion conscious. I mean we sport crap that say contract killer or rock slogans the say "F those guys". We got ad with bare-naked chicks sporting their wares. We got guns being release that have minimal improvements over last year's model with nothing more than a fresh coat of limited edition ano, milling and laser engraving. This particular market is about looks.

[FallNAngel]

But how much better? The tournies I play are psp ramp which is capped at 15. Hows a new loader really going to help? My v35 halo and pulse do just find. Even on semi uncapped I doubt I could out shoot either loader. Now factor in the magna's hidious looks and I see no reason to bother with it.
Last time I check the target market that Empire is catering to are those that are fashion conscious. I mean we sport crap that say contract killer or rock slogans the say "F those guys". We got ad with bare-naked chicks sporting their wares. We got guns being release that have minimal improvements over last year's model with nothing more than a fresh coat of limited edition ano, milling and laser engraving. This particular market is about looks.

Alright, then please tell me what the actual "we did this to improve this loader" properties does the magna have over the standard Halo and Pulse? Well, I have a strong feeling you won't be able to tell me... because you don't know. There've been actual improvements on this loader. They didn't just make it look like an craptastic egg and call it a day. The one thing many people think when they look at a loader is feed rate; unfortunately, that tends to be all they see. "I'm not going to outshoot it, so I won't switch" and they think of any other reasons why they may want to switch... oh yeah... looks :rolleyes: Quick tip, it wasn't design designed like that to make it look good.

Now, maybe the benefits aren't there for you. Perhaps a stock Halo, revvy, Evo2, or whatever really *is* better suited for you. Say you play every once in a while in open play and so long as your gun works, most every day is a good day (no matter what actually happens), do I expect you to run out and buy up the new Magna? Probably not. It's still a good hopper, but you're also probably not looking to squeeze every little bit of performance from your marker. But at least give the hopper a reasonable chance before you pass on it because of looks alone. There *are* things about it that you may not get (and some you *won't* get) just by looking at a single side-view picture on thet net.

[txaggie08]

It would have to be significantly lighter and get a great deal more battery life for me to even think about switching from a vlocity....


In all honesty, unless it performs favors or spits money at me, what can you improve on from a hopper that has never jammed or chopped, and I can't physically outshoot? The only upgrades that will mean anything are weight and batt life. I can't see it getting much lighter, and my vlocity has had the same batts in it for about 3 cases and is still going(though slowly atm). If it has some fancy LCD game timer multi-function text messaging display........thanks, had one of those in the angel. All I used it for was to freak the rental players I let use it out....

[cyrus-the-virus]

Alright, then please tell me what the actual "we did this to improve this loader" properties does the magna have over the standard Halo and Pulse? Well, I have a strong feeling you won't be able to tell me... because you don't know. There've been actual improvements on this loader. They didn't just make it look like an craptastic egg and call it a day. The one thing many people think when they look at a loader is feed rate; unfortunately, that tends to be all they see. "I'm not going to outshoot it, so I won't switch" and they think of any other reasons why they may want to switch... oh yeah... looks :rolleyes: Quick tip, it wasn't design designed like that to make it look good.

Now, maybe the benefits aren't there for you. Perhaps a stock Halo, revvy, Evo2, or whatever really *is* better suited for you. Say you play every once in a while in open play and so long as your gun works, most every day is a good day (no matter what actually happens), do I expect you to run out and buy up the new Magna? Probably not. It's still a good hopper, but you're also probably not looking to squeeze every little bit of performance from your marker. But at least give the hopper a reasonable chance before you pass on it because of looks alone. There *are* things about it that you may not get (and some you *won't* get) just by looking at a single side-view picture on thet net.

Is it noticably lighter than a VLocity with a boost batt pack?
Is there a "significant" increse in battery life over a VLocity with a boost battery pack and a gangstar chip?
Is there a significant increse in speed over a VLocity with a gangstar chip?
Is the shell significantly stronger than a VLocity shell?

if the answer isen't yes to everything I don't see any point in switching. Besides that it will still have the same ****ty COG as the egg, which I hated about it.