New forum member, been a 15 year 68 Automag owner w/ couple of questions

[OldTimer]

Hello to all.

I am a NEW AGD forum member but longtime owner of a 68 Automag “Classic Level 7 bolt with a foamie tip”. I haven’t played paintball nor used my gun in 15 years. My two nephews are getting into the sport so I ordered and replaced all my o-rings and the gun works perfectly as I remembered it 15 years ago. It seems that the sport has not changed but the guns have, I am planning to buy two more automags for my nephews. I was extremely impressed that my gun worked so well after a 15 year sabbatical. But I have a lot of unanswered questions and was hoping the forum members can help me. I have found a lot of great info so fare on the forum.

1. When I played the only available air was CO2. What other air could I use in my 68 automag? And do I need another type of tank? What’s the best air to use?
2. I have been reading a lot about the X-value and Level 10 bolt. Should the level 10 bolt be my first upgrade?
3. It seems that most new guns have electronic triggers. Is that an upgrade option for my 68 automag?
4. X-mag, has that gun been discontinued?

Any helpful input and tips would be great appreciated.

Thank You

[flyingpootang]

1) You need a high pressure tank (850 psi) I use crossfire and had no problems. You can find a new steel bottle no name brand for 35-50 brand new on ebay.

2) A properly L10 bolt will give you a mechanical anti-chop. Should it be your first upgrade? Depends on what your trying to accomplish. If your going to upgrade the body, frame, rail, e trigger, pneu, or stay mech. It's probably cheaper to by a new or used setup from on of the AGD or a vendor.

3) Yes it is. There several options, a modded spydermag, pneumag, emag lowers, hyper frame, booyah frame, etc. You can search it here or google it.

4) yup. a used one in good condition go for @ 850 - 1200. A SfL will be even higher.

[OldTimer]

Thank you for the info.

Is a high presure tank better than co2 for the automag? Should still use a regulator when I use high presure air? Lastly do need to do anything to my gun before I start to use high presure air?

I have seen a couple of guns listed for sale have a description with 1 or four stars. do you know what the stars means?

[Mikey B]

Just to add to Flyingpootang

1) Any HP output tank will work. They have a red colored valve.

2) A lvl 10 is a great upgrade. Although when I had a lvl 7 I rarely chopped a ball anyway so it's up to you whether or not o spend the money. If you do decide to spend a lot of money, the X-Valve comes with a lvl 10 so you wouldn't have buy each seperate.

3) Flying took care of that :) but if you want something like that, try to test out a mag that has an x-valve or RT-valve, very fast while still mechanical.

4) It's no longer made but can still be found. If that's what you are looking for don't be surprised to spend quite a bit of money



In regards to your second post

HP is "better" but not needed. It's more consistent and not effected by temperture change as much as CO2 is. With a mag you will not need a regulator, it can go straight into the marker. Nothing needs to be changed on you mag, it's perfect the way it is :) The stars are like warrenty. If something were to happen to your valve you could send it in. Each time sent in a star gets taken off. - Now I am not 100% on the details but that is the basics of the stars.

[OldTimer]

Mike B. I thank you for your comments. I not sure how many new electronic gun makers will be a to say that their gun will work after a 15 year sabbatical. This is what creates brand loyalty.

[Shane-O-Mac]

I wouldn't worry about upgrading you Mag until you play for a season and see what you really want to do. Many Mag users stay Mech, and dont use electro frames or Emags, so again its dependent on how you want to play. Shop around and get a good HPA tank, if you shoot around 300 rounds a game, a 47ci/3000psi will be ok, as long as your field offers all day air refills. My recommendation for a tank is a 68ci/4500psi tank. Thats about the most widely used size, and can be picked up used cheap, or about $175 or so new. Just make sure you have a decent motorized hopper, (Viewloader Revolution are still good) and an HPA tank, then go play some before getting upgrades. You also might want to get a new mask, thermal lenses are best. If you wear glasses, the V-force line of goggles are very nice.

[OldTimer]

I wouldn't worry about upgrading you Mag until you play for a season and see what you really want to do. Many Mag users stay Mech, and dont use electro frames or Emags, so again its dependent on how you want to play. Shop around and get a good HPA tank, if you shoot around 300 rounds a game, a 47ci/3000psi will be ok, as long as your field offers all day air refills. My recommendation for a tank is a 68ci/4500psi tank. Thats about the most widely used size, and can be picked up used cheap, or about $175 or so new. Just make sure you have a decent motorized hopper, (Viewloader Revolution are still good) and an HPA tank, then go play some before getting upgrades. You also might want to get a new mask, thermal lenses are best. If you wear glasses, the V-force line of goggles are very nice.


Shane-O-Mac/

Thank you for your insight and I have to agree with everything you have said. but have another question. Is their any limitations to the size of the tank I use? B/C Flyingpootang stated a 850 psi tank.

[Mikey B]

The 850 psi is the out put pressure of the air tank. There are many sizes of tanks you could get, examples are 45,48,68,88, cubic inch tanks. They can then be divided by the pressure they can contain, either 3000psi or 4500psi. The larger the tank and higher pressure the more shots you get. A rough estimate I use is if you have a 3kpsi tank, you'll get about 10 shots per cubic inch (45ci tank * 10 = 450 shots). With a 4500psi tank multiply the cubic inches by 15 (45ci tank * 15 = 675 shots). Now keep in mind that is a estimate and Mags are gas hogs :). That all being said, depending on how much you shoot in a game and if you feild has all day air, I recomend a 68ci/4500 psi tank. If your feild can not fill to 4500 then a 3k tank is fine, just less amount of shots.

[maniacmechanic]

And Hey welcome back to the fold & the field , Mag user's with old markers coming out of the closet is nothing new , just throw a couple drops of oil in it cycle it a dozen times clean the barrel ( if you forgot to take it off ) , just don't be scared by the electro's just use your old timer smart's & stelth

[OldTimer]

And Hey welcome back to the fold & the field , Mag user's with old markers coming out of the closet is nothing new , just throw a couple drops of oil in it cycle it a dozen times clean the barrel ( if you forgot to take it off ) , just don't be scared by the electro's just use your old timer smart's & stelth

Yeah! I got a kick out of playing aggressive against these electronic guns. So far I have been able to purchase another automag for one of my nephews who played last night with it. I love the design and simplicity of these guns.

[OldTimer]

The 850 psi is the out put pressure of the air tank. There are many sizes of tanks you could get, examples are 45,48,68,88, cubic inch tanks. They can then be divided by the pressure they can contain, either 3000psi or 4500psi. The larger the tank and higher pressure the more shots you get. A rough estimate I use is if you have a 3kpsi tank, you'll get about 10 shots per cubic inch (45ci tank * 10 = 450 shots). With a 4500psi tank multiply the cubic inches by 15 (45ci tank * 15 = 675 shots). Now keep in mind that is a estimate and Mags are gas hogs :). That all being said, depending on how much you shoot in a game and if you feild has all day air, I recomend a 68ci/4500 psi tank. If your feild can not fill to 4500 then a 3k tank is fine, just less amount of shots.

Thank you for spelling it out for. I have a much better understanding now.

[OldTimer]

So is Paintball still considered the fastest growing sport? I worked at a paintball store/field while in High school I only can remember 6 manufactures. It is amazing how many there are today. I'm glad to see AGD with the hosting of this site.

[Mikey B]

This is a copy from a JT newsletter I googled up. It was from Sep 14 2007;


According to National Sporting Goods Association data, Paintball is the #1 Extreme Sport in the United States with 9.97 million participants (more than BMX, skateboarding, waterskiing, snowboarding, surfing and wakeboarding). From 2001 to 2006 it was the fastest growing Extreme Sport, increasing 44.0%. It is the only team extreme sport. Paintball participants are 81.1% male with an average age of 22 years; 61.2% of the players come from households with greater than $50k of annual income. 83.2% of Paintball participants, or 8.3 million people, are in the desirable 12-34 demographic. [Source: National Sporting Goods Association “Sports Participation in 2006 Series II” report. Participation defined as Persons 12+ participating one or more times during the year.

[ObieJ30]

as i always say, if you gotta use a whole hopper on one person, you need to find a new hobby. either that or take some target practice.

Just make sure you shoot the electro guys in the gun to piss them off

[djellum]

I aggree with the run what you brung for a season and see where your coming up short. Need more speed, look at a pneu or electro. Chops a bit, look at a better loader or L10. bottom line, if it aint broke dont fix it (im a complete hipocrite btw, i cant leave anything alone).

Best bang for the buck in my experience is go with an compressed air system and a decent loader. A steely hpa tank is only about $50 (or cheaper) and puts the air to the gun just as well as a $200 fiber tank. the only downside is the steely is a bit heavier and cant be filled up to 4500, but I rarely get more than 3k-3.5k from fill stations anyway. Keep your CO2 as a backup, but once you try out hpa you wont want to use it unless you have to.

Pick up a revy or an plain jane Empire reloader. You can find em for about $20 used and $40ish new. Either will get awsome battery life and feed a reliable 10 per second which is plenty. Personally I like the reloader because its proactive but either is just as good.

You'll be into upgrades for about $50 total and you wont outgrow the new stuff for a long while (and many $$ of other upgrades)

[OldTimer]

This is a copy from a JT newsletter I googled up. It was from Sep 14 2007;


Mikey B. If only knew that PB would have such a strong growth rate 15 years ago. Thanks

[OldTimer]

I aggree with the run what you brung for a season and see where your coming up short. Need more speed, look at a pneu or electro. Chops a bit, look at a better loader or L10. bottom line, if it aint broke dont fix it (im a complete hipocrite btw, i cant leave anything alone).

Best bang for the buck in my experience is go with an compressed air system and a decent loader. A steely hpa tank is only about $50 (or cheaper) and puts the air to the gun just as well as a $200 fiber tank. the only downside is the steely is a bit heavier and cant be filled up to 4500, but I rarely get more than 3k-3.5k from fill stations anyway. Keep your CO2 as a backup, but once you try out hpa you wont want to use it unless you have to.

Pick up a revy or an plain jane Empire reloader. You can find em for about $20 used and $40ish new. Either will get awsome battery life and feed a reliable 10 per second which is plenty. Personally I like the reloader because its proactive but either is just as good.

You'll be into upgrades for about $50 total and you wont outgrow the new stuff for a long while (and many $$ of other upgrades)

Thanks for your insight. Do you know about this A.N.S. Phase II Air Valve. Is this am aftermarket value? I haven't seen any discussions about this value.

[djellum]

the ANS phase 2 was a regulator (there was a bolt with the same name also) not the whole valve as far as I can tell. I think the only difference is how many holes are drilled to let the air into the valve. Most ppl say its pretty blah as an upgrade. Some bash them as awfull, some say there just not any better. I've never used one so I cant say.

My take is that its a regulator. All it has to do is consistantly regulate the pressure and recharge faster than you can shoot. Since the stock AGD reg is super consistant and recharges far faster then a stock classic can shoot the ANS one is probably a waste of money.

AGD has a reputation for superior quality in there crafting, I would shy away from aftermarket parts for the workhorse section of the gun. Replace triggers and feednecks all you want but i'd keep all the silver AGD only.

[secretweaponevan]

Aye, keep the AGD valve train stock. Aftermarket manufacturer parts for the valve/reg/bolt offer no real benefit.

Only the AGD stuff comes with the gnomes/elves that make mags shoot so well. :p