Community Automag... What do you guys think?

[Freedy500]

So I was thinking abut this community project that we could all participate in what would be a relatively cheap project. This would require a good list of people that would be interested and willing to participate.

Here is what I was thinking, I or one of the many wonderful members on here get a stock, sort of junky automag. We start out with this completly stock automag, and then we get the ball rolling on this thread. We find a reputable member that has done a deal on here before and ship it to them, the person who currently has the Automag in their possession is responsible for properly shipping the automag and paying shipping costs. Once the automag is received the requirement for whoever has the Automag in their possession to add on an upgrade, whether it is a more comfortable foregrip, a cleaner macro setup, a better bolt, a different main body, etc... You get the idea. Now the thing is that each time you get the automag you are only allowed to add 1 upgrade/part, no more, no less. And then it is that persons responsibility to fire the marker and make sure it is in working order at 295fps consistently. By the time your done it is your turn to ship the marker to the next person (decided on the thread). And so it will go on and on, right before each person ships it to the next they should post pictures and details of they added to the marker. The point of this is to ship the marker in better condition then you received it. Also, each person should try and expose this "AO mag" to someone new at your field and let them know what they are like. Another rule should be you can only ship to AO members, nobody from MCB, Tech PB and especially PBN (shady place sometimes). We will keep a list of people whom we have already shipped to. Also I say their should be a 1 month limit to how long you can keep the mag.

I think this would be a great community project that be fun a relatively cheap as it would be keeping each person limited to one upgrade. And seeing that AO has an insanely close-knit and well trusted community with virtually no thefts that occur in the BST section I trust that this project won't go missing.

The purpose of this would also be to introduce others (at your local field and such) to the world of automags and AGD products. This would be able to expose many new players to across the country to this one single automag that keeps on getting better and better, and would eventually symbolize how good quality they are, and hopefully convert some new people to shoot mags.

What does everybody else think? Due to my Qloader sales I have a good deal of cash in PayPal to help get the ball rolling on this project.

Any suggestions etc..? Would love to see this happen. Or maybe I'm just ranting again but whatever :D

[BTAutoMag]

I like the idea of it.

But...

I throw a ule body at it and then the next guy puts a drop on it... And who keeps it after wards? Since everyone has invested in it.

[OPBN]

I like the idea of it.

But...

I throw a ule body at it and then the next guy puts a drop on it... And who keeps it after wards? Since everyone has invested in it.

I call dibs on the turn right after someone upgrades it to an XMag...

[Freedy500]

I like the idea of it.

But...

I throw a ule body at it and then the next guy puts a drop on it... And who keeps it after wards? Since everyone has invested in it.

I was thinking that nobody keeps it, but for the more expensive upgrades that will come down the road (when there is nothing much more to upgrade) we could chip in and gift cash on PayPal to that person to ease the cost on them. I would be happy to gift you cash if you decided to throw a ULE on their.

And if a long long long way down the road we max it out somehow, we just ship the marker around, try and make it to big events, just get it around and expose it to as many people as possible. Give everyone a good taste of what a high-end mag is like.

[OPBN]

Playing Devils Advocate here. What in your opinion would be a logical progression of upgrades?

[Freedy500]

Playing Devils Advocate here. What in your opinion would be a logical progression of upgrades?
I think we should play it smart and keep it what a general high-end mag ends up to be. So no turning it into some player specific automag, so we can't turn it into a pump mag just because whoever has the mag likes pumps. And if you like some odd foregrip then don't add it on as an "upgrade", because your turning this into a mag for yourself, but you should really be turning it into a mag for people who may not even know what an automag is. So I hate saying this but no adding a Z-grip onto it, because not everybody will like a Z-grip and it doesn't properly represent what most Automags can be like. Lets not turn it into something that will require a learning curve and has to have an expert of the system to use it. Lets try and keep it lightweight (as in not heavy), appealing and a good feel. We should try and generalize the mag so it shows how awesome an automag can get, but also shows that if that person gets one, there is still plenty of room for personal preference tweaking.

I want this to turn into a mag that leaves people hanging with an interest and craving for more knowledge of the thing. And instead of saying "I don't like this super tiny aspect of it" they will say "I really liked the feel of this part and such"

Try and make it something you think a crowd would love, as this would end up seeing crowds worth of people.

[keiko_819]

yea cool idea, but...an 'upgrade' depends on each person...some people may say a stormwalk is 'highend'...id rather have an dye single trigger frame it...but ship it here first and i could put something on it i guess...you could start off with just a rail and build it up from there instead of going from a stock mag and replacing parts?

[Freedy500]

yea cool idea, but...an 'upgrade' depends on each person...some people may say a stormwalk is 'highend'...id rather have an dye single trigger frame it...but ship it here first and i could put something on it i guess...you could start off with just a rail and build it up from there instead of going from a stock mag and replacing parts?

Yea I guess. Lets keep it to what most of the paintball playing community would like though. So a good double trigger frame like an Intelli would be good. But that's a really good part so that could come later. Like I said, lets take this far, but not to the point where someone would throw in something that is unique to them and that is made just for them. So if we got a freak barrel on their (for example) but lets say someone likes a different type of barrel kit instead, they can't replace it unless everyone else agrees with it, and lets not add anything permanent onto the marker,

I have a Minimag body and a field strip screw I am willing to ship out to somebody who has other parts. Also, If I can, I will snatch that LVL 10 valve in the BST and I will send a LVL 7 valve out for free with that body and all.

So what I would have so far is:
Minimag Body
(Maybe) Classic Valve
Some macro fittings
Field strip screw.
Drop forward

Will ship to anyone who has the leftover or a majority of the leftover parts for free if they commit to this.

What we need is:
A sear
Rail
Grip Frame
Barrel
ASA
And some other minor cheap parts.

Any takers?

[saintnoir]

another take on it put together a list of parts,people donate parts.Then send it to a volunteer to assemble and tune and raffle it off.Donate the money to a voted on charity in the name of the AO community

[BLachance75]

From previous experience things like this generally end up not working out. Somebody will end up keeping it and then everyone gets mad. Of it takes a person months to ship it to the next person due to some unforeseen issues.

Another idea is to have people donate parts to make 1 or 2 complete working mags. One peraon will keep them and ensure that they work reliably, we can call this person the librarian. Then these mags are sent to people to bring to fields and be lent out. After they are used for a weekend they are returned to the library. That way the librarian knows exactly who has them and the condition they were and are in. People could post in a thread saying "I'm going to XYZ game and I'd like to check the mag out of the library". They take it to the game and let anybody who expresses interest try it for a game. Perhaps a snall banner could be made to go along with the gun. "Try an Aitomag for a game courtesy of Automags.org". They pay for shipping both ways and have it for a set amount of time.

Do to the gun being potentially the first mag somebody could use I would suggest we get a level 10 bolt and classic valve. It wouldn't be a good first impression if the person using it started chopping.

If 2 mags could be built from donated parts then perhaps 1 could be sold or raffled off with the proceeds going to help with shipping costs.

[skipdogg]

another take on it put together a list of parts,people donate parts.Then send it to a volunteer to assemble and tune and raffle it off.Donate the money to a voted on charity in the name of the AO community

I only like this idea. And I vote the bob gurnsey scholarship organization as the charity.

[Freedy500]

I only like this idea. And I vote the bob gurnsey scholarship organization as the charity.

I wasn't looking into to making this a charity, I was looking into having an automag in which everyone (who participates at least) adds a little bit of something to it. I will send all the parts I have to somebody for free if they promise to add the remaining parts and make it working. I was looking into making this an automag that introduces a lot of people to automags and the world of AGD.

All I want to know is, if I got this ball rolling with a near-stock mag, would anyone else be willing to participate with it? Jus throw an up or add on there and bring it to your field for the day and let somebody new use it. After that, make sure it works again, then ship it out to the next person.

[Freedy500]

From previous experience things like this generally end up not working out. Somebody will end up keeping it and then everyone gets mad. Of it takes a person months to ship it to the next person due to some unforeseen issues.

Another idea is to have people donate parts to make 1 or 2 complete working mags. One peraon will keep them and ensure that they work reliably, we can call this person the librarian. Then these mags are sent to people to bring to fields and be lent out. After they are used for a weekend they are returned to the library. That way the librarian knows exactly who has them and the condition they were and are in. People could post in a thread saying "I'm going to XYZ game and I'd like to check the mag out of the library". They take it to the game and let anybody who expresses interest try it for a game. Perhaps a snall banner could be made to go along with the gun. "Try an Aitomag for a game courtesy of Automags.org". They pay for shipping both ways and have it for a set amount of time.

Do to the gun being potentially the first mag somebody could use I would suggest we get a level 10 bolt and classic valve. It wouldn't be a good first impression if the person using it started chopping.

If 2 mags could be built from donated parts then perhaps 1 could be sold or raffled off with the proceeds going to help with shipping costs.

I link this a lot. Although for the last bit, we should either (due to the automags breeding) use them as more Automags to be lent out, or if we do sell them, use the cash to either (like you said) help pay for shipping, or get a larger more important up.

But overall I agree with most of what you said. I have all the parts I listed above I sold be willing to ship for free to anybody who wants to complete it and whatnot.

Also, I would not have done this with any other forum. AO is a very trusted forum where most members have met at least on another at some point in time and are relatively friendly online. So lets say somebody like BTAutoMag said he would take it next, I would be more than happy to do that since he has great feedback, and well he is a very well known member of AO. Same with Bunny, Dayspring etc... Even though I don't know these guys in person, I feel they are trustworthy due to the time they have spent on this forum and their reputation around here,

[BLachance75]

Also, I would not have done this with any other forum. AO is a very trusted forum where most members have met at least on another at some point in time and are relatively friendly online. So lets say somebody like BTAutoMag said he would take it next, I would be more than happy to do that since he has great feedback, and well he is a very well known member of AO. Same with Bunny, Dayspring etc... Even though I don't know these guys in person, I feel they are trustworthy due to the time they have spent on this forum and their reputation around here,

Unfortunatley there have been a few cases of reputable people who have scammed the paintball community. I'm not saying that any of the people you mentioned will do that and I'm sure they wouldn't but it does happen.

I will look through my parts and see if I have anything that I can contribute. I don't mind throwing in a few pieces if I have them.

[Freedy500]

Unfortunatley there have been a few cases of reputable people who have scammed the paintball community. I'm not saying that any of the people you mentioned will do that and I'm sure they wouldn't but it does happen.

I will look through my parts and see if I have anything that I can contribute. I don't mind throwing in a few pieces if I have them.

Yes I totally understand. But looking at AO there hasn't been a theft or BST problem that I have noticed for a long time. On PBN on the other hand I would say one happens everyday. If we could get a reputable list of people going then this could be a solid project. I'm willing to risk it, the lost at the most would be a good deal of parts that we minorly contributed to.

[cougar20th]

From previous experience things like this generally end up not working out. Somebody will end up keeping it and then everyone gets mad. Of it takes a person months to ship it to the next person due to some unforeseen issues.

I also have seen this happen several times. The most memorable was with the AKA users. Someone allowed their toolkit to be sent around for community use. Eventually it never got passed on.

Anyone who participates should fully understand that they are giving the parts away. That they will probably at some point be kept by someone intentionally or not. They also shouldn't get to worked up when it does happen.

[Arstron]

What happens if the mag or parts are lost/stolen/damaged during shipping? IF it is insured who would get that money?

[Freedy500]

I also have seen this happen several times. The most memorable was with the AKA users. Someone allowed their toolkit to be sent around for community use. Eventually it never got passed on.

Anyone who participates should fully understand that they are giving the parts away. That they will probably at some point be kept by someone intentionally or not. They also shouldn't get to worked up when it does happen.

Yes I understand that, but if we keep a close tab of all the good well known members on here, then we will have info on each person and we will know who has had it. If someone does a good job and follows that librarian idea then this would work out well.

[going_home]

I just honestly don't see the point of this.

Pretty much most AO'ers represent every time we play.


dontgetit

[OPBN]

I just honestly don't see the point of this.

Pretty much most AO'ers represent every time we play.


dontgetit

Me neither really. Several issues with it. Firstly, you really only have a couple of people really seeming like they are interested. Its not like any of the people thrown out as reputable AOers has even stepped up to offer to do such a thing. Secondly, if I want someone to play with an Automag and really get a feeling of what they are capable of, I would loan them my XValved, ULE bodied RTPRo, not a basic Classic valved stocker. And I don't see anyone ponying up one of those anytime soon. However, I'm kind of protective of my stuff and there are very few people that I would loan my gear out to. If you are wanting to have something cool to "represent", it needs to be something really nice. No offense guys.

With that said, I would love to be proven wrong, so if you can get people to contribute...awesome!