Remember the old times?

[momags!]

Who here remembers the old workhorses like the PMI 3 (in my opinion, the first reliable semi), the then dominating and intimidating Sheridan rifle, and the laughable Tippman Pnuematics SMG-60?

I had a buddy who bought the Sherdian rifle and added "constant air", direct feed, and some big a@@ pump. Man....that thing weighed about 100 pounds!!!!!! But everytime he shot it, you'd hear an echo through the valley! Everyone would stop and shivver!

I had the SMG-60 when I was about 18 years old and let me tell you, you think the guns today are maintanence hounds? This thing was JUNK!!!!!!!! It had those rediculous 5-rd "clips" and if you bought the side fed magazine that would hold four clips, it would stick out like two feet!! You'd be lucky not to break 1 in 5....no lie!

How about the SoCal feed? The vertical tube that stuck up like 3 feet in the air. What a hoot! What old school junk do you people remember? It's time to stoke the fire and look back at how our beloved sport has evolved!!!!!!!

[lopxtc]

Here is a couple of old time items...

1) The 2 20oz harness and remote setup. Setup in trap-door fashion so when rapid firing if the pressure in one tank dropped to low, the trap door would swing and the other tank would take over.

2) The Auto-Traccer. First real pump-semi I saw for sale. You could convert your pump to a semi, and even have an autococker shroud on the front.

3) Speaking of the PMI-3(VM-68), the 60oz version.... one 20oz on a bottom line, one on a back bottle, and one under the front barrel with a asa drop down adapter.

4) *L* Or my personal favorite, the original reactive trigger on the automag..."Yes now you too can chop two pulls with each pull of the trigger..." That's not a slam, just remember this was before Nitro and before most people had powerfeed mags....so you got a ton of blow back and chopping like you wouldnt believe...but let me tell ya, you could put a scare in people just talking about it.

My first semi was a 68 Special which was in length and weight about the same as a M-16, but was it a work horse. Had a 300 round whaler hopper and just sat in the back sending rounds down range...and if you all think todays markers kick *L* this thing would rock your shoulder with its recoil.

Aaron

[Dragoon]

Ahhhh... yes,
remember the Uvex goggles, and the fear that a marker with "auto-trigger" would induce.

I loved my 68 special. Even though I'd get a blister on my trigger finger (800 paintballs shot in a full day of play!!) and a bruse on my shoulder. And don't forget the big puff of CO2 smoke out the end of the barrel!! That was intimidation at it's best.

Douglas.

[JanStah]

Originally posted by momags!

I had a buddy who bought the Sherdian rifle and added "constant air", direct feed, and some big a@@ pump. Man....that thing weighed about 100 pounds!!!!!! But everytime he shot it, you'd hear an echo through the valley! Everyone would stop and shivver!


HeeHee! A few months back, I met a chap at my local field who had a working Golden Eagle!!!

This thing was about a 4 foot long (with back bottle and barrel), weighed as much as about 3 angels and made a distinctive thunderclap whenever we shot it. We tried speed-shooting it and achieved a spectacular 1bps!

It was so funny watching this guy walking around with it. It was like he was wandering around with an aircraft carrier tucked under his arm.

On the plus side, Golden Eagles have Mag style twist-lock barrels!

Ahh memories.

Jan.

[lopxtc]

*L* Man I forgot about the snow that thing would throw in the winter time. I could never maintain a steady rate of fire because the CO2 exhaust would cloud my vision... *L*
That was gas in-efficency at its best *LOL*...

Aaron

[momags!]

Man, I forgot all about the Uvex goggles!!

I had to take my 7oz. CO2 to a fire protection store to have it filled for 10.00.
Nelson paint was 10 cents a round and most fields chronied at 310fps. The baddest gun around was the Bushmaster SI with the "double sided bolt" and you could hold the trigger down and chop paint as fast as you could pump!

[FaSSt]

Originally posted by momags!
I had the SMG-60 when I was about 18 years old and let me tell you, you think the guns today are maintanence hounds? This thing was JUNK!!!!!!!! It had those rediculous 5-rd "clips" and if you bought the side fed magazine that would hold four clips, it would stick out like two feet!! You'd be lucky not to break 1 in 5....no lie!


I had one at about that age too. How did you break so many balls? I broke none in the gun - THE WHOLE TIME IN HAD THE GUN! Those POS .62 caliber balls NEVER broke - not even on target - and remember, the legal velocities were higher in those days. The Tippmann SMG-60 was the all time, hands-down most intimidating gun against most non-expert players though.

Some other things I remember:

- 320 fps This used to be what you had to chrono in at many fields I used to go to. With CO2, in the hot South Florida sun, velocities were often higher as it warmed up.

- Paint treatments Remember all of those guys who tried everything to make their paint "better"? Some tumbled it in rock-tumblers the night before playing, some mixed baby-powder or flour into them, some subjected the paint to freeze-thaw cycles...

- "Double Action" Before semis, these Double Actions guns used trigger pressure to cycle the action. Truly atrocious trigger pulls, and generally higher priced than pumps.

- "Bore Drop" vs. "Breech Drop" Remember this debate? Bore drops were supposed to be better, as the ball dropped straight into the barrel (bore). I guess Mags today would be considered "Bore Drops" by this obsolete method of classifying markers.

- Guns This is what everyone called them in those days. If you would have said "marker", you would have gotten a confused look in response.

- Spring Sets Could not live without them those days for adjusting the velocity. The Phantom was the first marker I had or saw that had a different facility for adjusting velocity.

- 200 count RPS Paint in those cool little camo cardboard boxes in hot pink fill! (Hey, it was the end of the 80s.)

[momags!]

Originally posted by FaSSt
[B]

I had one at about that age too. How did you break so many balls? I broke none in the gun


I always had problems with the coiled spring that would push the clips from left to right. Either they broke or would loose strength and I'd end up with 2 "half-balls" being blown down the barrel. I may have had a bum, though. You're right about that thing being scary!! And those .60's were hard to get to break where you wanted them to. Though they did seem to be more accurate with the smaller caliber.

[lopxtc]

Ahh but we must also remember the fallen from those early days...

Rest In Peace --

1) Predator Goggles...the coolest looking non-thermal system out there.

2) Oil Based paint...well okay this one I dont miss.

3) Pump vs. Semi...the great debate that semis where just to darn fast and should not be allowed in tourneys.

4) 15 man games...anyone remember the 15 on 15 tourneys?



Aaron

[FaSSt]

I also don't miss the litter. The floors of the woods fields (speedball fields were a minority then) were littered with spent 12 gram CO2 cartridges and 10 round paint tubes. Not very environmentally friendly.

[Muzikman]

Well, I guess I started a few years after you guys (1992), but some of this I do remember.

-First gun I ever played with was a PMI3.
-The first gun I ever owned was a Trracer.
-The first set of goggles I owned was the JT Wipper Snappers (no ear protection).

I'm sure there are other things...

[Shaft]

I remember the AGD six pack, constant air tanks were exotic and the Automag was a rumor.

[hitech]

Originally posted by lopxtc
15 man games...anyone remember the 15 on 15 tourneys?


You betcha! It was a big problem for us when they cut the teams down to 10. What 5 guys do you cut? We didn't have enough for two 10 man teams, although we tried. :(

My first "goggles" were more like safety glasses, and were issued by the field! I bought a pair of them after the first time I played. Played with them for some time. My first "real" goggles were a pair of the original JTs (with cable ties holding the lens in). Pictures of my original JTs should be displayed somewhere at the JT museum.

I first paid 15 cents a round.

Missed oil based paint, yea!

The auto trigger. Chop as fast as you can pump. Now that brings back old memories.