Automag Classic upgrade advice

[xX TANK Xx]

I could use a little guidance from those who've been in my shoes before. At the moment I'm on limited funds so I'll be getting upgrades one at a time as extra money becomes avaliable for paintball. In saying that I'm not sure where to really start first, and I want to get what's going to be most beneficial for me at first.

I'll give a little background about my play style to hopefully give someone an idea of my needs out of my mag. Im not a high volume shooter at all. Where some folks shoot 2 cases of paint at an event, I'd shoot 3/4 of a case. I'm just a conservative shooter by nature I guess.

The marker I have right now is a Classic valve (Rental, keep in mind) ,powerfeed, vertical air, single trigger classic. I plan on drilling out the orifice if I install a lvl 10 bolt. I'm ordering a parabolic feed plug in the next day or so to keep up with my force feed loader. At the moment I'm trying to decide between getting a lvl 10 bolt or a barrel kit. I'm begining to feel that a lvl 10 with a force feed hopper and a single trigger might not be 100% necessary right off the bat. So, I'm kind of leaning toward a barrel kit to help get more accurate shots. The last thing I want to ask is, am I off base with my upgrade direction? Do any of you think I should be looking to upgrade something else before I get carried away. Yeah I know, ultimately it's my money and I should spend it on what I want, but a road map for upgrades migt help me stay on track and save money in the long run. As alway thanks for any advice. :cheers:

[wetwrks]

Unless you are shooting fast (which it sounds like you arn't) you really don't need a level X bolt.

My choice would be to upgrade the valve from a rental. This would give you access to a higher velocity. I would also look at upgrading the body so you can use cocker threaded barrels.

[athomas]

A level 10 bolt is good to have, even if you don't shoot fast. Quite often you fire at least two shots in succession. If you are tilted or if the ball doesn't go into the breach smoothly for any reason, the level 10 will protect you from a mess. I think it is the best upgrade for any mag after HPA.

Any big bore barrel will shoot fairly accurate. I use 0.696" for everything. Works great. The stock mag barrel will work fine. Its usually the paint that affects accuracy, not the barrel.

[Newt]

Barrels are pretty easy. I don't usually bother with the kits, I just have a J&J ceramic and a Palmers brass. Both are excellent, slight edge to the Palmers dual ported for both sound and accuracy. It's heavy though.

You're not going to notice the lvl 10 much if your force-fed loader is feeding at a good clip.

[Ando]

Hey bud.

I'm sure a majority of us long time classic users will agree, you don't need a lvl 10 with your play style. If your not a spray and pray kid then you'll be fine with what you have now. Back in the mid 90's, I played with a stock mag, Co2 and plain old 12v Revolution and like you, I'm a conservative shooter. In fact, in the 6-8 years I had my stock classic, I broke paint maybe a handful of time and 75% of the time was due to those damn wire detentes breaking off and cutting the ball as it passed by. Rest of the time was due to Germany's cold a$$ weather, a bad ball or double feeding due to short stroking the gun. I did have a Venom bolt in the gun which was hell-a-nice in the cold weather.


With your play style and a force-feed hopper, I would say stay away from the lvl 10 especially if you have to bore your valve. With little to no money, you can buy a regular classic valve for what you'll end up paying for a lvl 10. I would probably use that money on a lvl 7 foamy, a good barrel and 42ci steel air tank. You don't need a Freak or some other barrel system. Just go with a mid bore barrel (.685-.690) and you'll be fine with any paint you buy.

Edit: Hell..I have 2 barrels (1 brand new) you can have. I don't use the twist lock system anymore so they're yours if you want them. PM me your address.

[xX TANK Xx]

Yeah, my loader feeds at 20bps so there's no danger of out shooting that. I had thought about the ULE body too, but I'm riding the fence on it for this project. I'm kind of digging the old school look of it since it's not seen often anymore where I play. I've been playing paintball for about 4 years and I've traveled to quite a few different events in NC and Southern VA and I've seen one Automag before. I think my next mag, I say this because the mag bug has bitten me, I'll probably go the route of Xvalve, ULE body and the rest for a super nice mech mag. Thanks for the input all.