smart mag & LvL 10 setup

[seven6twomm]

I have a smart mag regulator and recently installed the LvL 10 upgrade...I have noticed that the gun will only perform with the level 7 spring in it...the gun will not work properly with the other springs installed...I understand that the smart mag is a high volume low pressure regulator. anybody out there experience any problems running the LvL 10 with a smart mag regulator?? any advice or info would be great

Thanx

[PyRo]

You mean the PT springs, or the bolt spring. I think it is fine to use the old spring with the level 10 (someone else confirm-disaffirm this?). The smart mag bascially had an 8-hole mod (does nothing), a "high flow" on-off (does nothing), and sucsfully lowered the pressure very little (at the expense of a lower ROF, and no real gains).

[seven6twomm]

The springs which Im talking about are the bolt springs...The level 7 spring or the shortest spring in the LvL 10 kit...I was doing some research on the smartmag and it seems that the majority of the info I have come across seems to be negative..I dont even think smartparts still carries the smartmag...I would be curios to know what people on here think of the smartmag overall..

[FragTek]

Thats too damn bad that the lvl 10 wont work in the smart mag From what I have heard the smart mags were supposed to be pretty awesome. I havent gotten to shoot one, havent seen one in person.

[PyRo]

Smart Mags=Junk.
Name one thing they do better than a stock valve? I can name a bunch of things the retro valve does better, and even more that the level X valve does better.

[FragTek]

Very true, but the X Valve came out after the Smart Mag was taken out of production. I have heard stories from people that have bought them saying that they loved the hell out of them, in their time of course.

[PyRo]

People paid $300 for them, thats why they saw a differance. I bet there range and accuracy doubled

[[NA]WARLORD]

Thats too damn bad that the lvl 10 wont work in the smart mag From what I have heard the smart mags were supposed to be pretty awesome. I havent gotten to shoot one, havent seen one in person.

If you have shot a normal lvl 7 mag, then there was no difference. I will say the SM performed on c02 better in cold weather then any other Mag I have shot (cept HPA)

Smart Mags=Junk.
Name one thing they do better than a stock valve? I can name a bunch of things the retro valve does better, and even more that the level X valve does better.

1 thing is they charged up faster on c02 then a stock valve did in cold weather. I had one when I lived in Md my Mag was the only one that worked one night game in the winter. Everyone else went back to their Tippaman's to keep playing. But now that everyone uses HPA, this is no longer an issue. So tell me Pyro, what does a x valve do better then a retro valve other then weigh a tiny bit less ?

[athomas]

The smartmags only had an improvement on valves with a misaligned hole between the valve halves. Once that problem was fixed, the smartmag offered no improvement over the standard valve. A few of us just drilled a new hole in the back half of the valve so that it lined up with the hole in the front half. Charge problem solved. No more cold weather CO2 issues.

The longer/stiffer bolt springs require more chamber pressure to operate. The smartmag velocity adjuster may not allow you to turn up the pressure/velocity high enough to allow consistent operation. The ideal setting will allow you to shoot the gun at about 20fps above the lowest velocity that the gun will cycle at. So, start with a low setting that the gun will not cycle at and gradually turn up the velocity until the gun starts to shoot. Measure the velocity. The velocity the gun should be shooting at is about 20fps above this value. If that velocity is too high, you need to use a shorter/lighter bolt spring. If the velocity is too low, use a stiffer bolt spring. You can fine tune the setting by gradually clipping back a longer bolt spring to get the exact velocity you need.

[Ando]

I have a smart mag regulator and recently installed the LvL 10 upgrade...I have noticed that the gun will only perform with the level 7 spring in it...the gun will not work properly with the other springs installed...I understand that the smart mag is a high volume low pressure regulator. anybody out there experience any problems running the LvL 10 with a smart mag regulator?? any advice or info would be great

Thanx

What exactly are you having problems with? I've had a lvl 10 on a Stupid Mag valve before with no issues.

Lvl 10's require a higher PSI to operate then a lvl 7. After installing it you'll need to up your velocity to get it firing again.

If your mag starts leaking out the back before it starts firing then you need to replace your reg piston. That's one of the main issues after upgrading to a lvl 10.

[OPBN]

Gawd, after 8 years, I would have thought this debate was over.

[seven6twomm]

8 years later and still going!

Wow! It's interesting to see this thread still lives after 8 years after I started it! Of course, I solved the issue I was having with the mag many years ago. I think I sold the gun about 2 years later. It was an excellent performer with the Level 10 bolt kit. The mag performed well with the original Level 7 bolt spring with the Level 10 bolt kit. Thanks to all who responed and may continue to respond in the future to this thread!

[Silverback]

Smart Mags=Junk.
Name one thing they do better than a stock valve? I can name a bunch of things the retro valve does better, and even more that the level X valve does better.

I am sooooo sick of reading how the Magic Box and the Smart Mag didn't work. Playing Pro Tournament ball would show immediately if the claims of a modification worked or not.

When the "Magic Box" came out then the "Smart Mag" I had a sponsership and didn't pay a dime for either one. What it did was give us the same range as the autocockers, so we could go head to head and take them out. Before the SM and MB, autocockers firing from a closed bolt had range on those of us shooting Mags by about 15 - 20 ft. Afterwards we were on a par, in not a little better. When one day you are being outgunned by a team with cockers, then the very next day after the modified valves showed up you are now able to hit the very same team that could out shoot you (range wise) the day before.... and every subsequent game over the next year and a half when I left tourny ball.... the modification worked..... PERIOD

And OF COURSE the retro valve and the X-valve are better... it's an upgrade in the machanics of the regulators/valves. If they didn't shoot better there would have been no use in releasing them, it wasn't just a reduction in weight, they are better valves.

As for using the LVL 10 on a Smart Mag, why? I've never had any breaking issues with ANY MAG I own.

No short stroky the trigger, no breaky the paint. That's worked for me since 1992.....

[Justus]

When you say that the guys using autocockers were outgunning you by 15 to 20 feet... were they not chrono'd the same? I'm at a loss as to how one marker could shoot farther than another marker if they're chrono'd the same.

[Silverback]

When you say that the guys using autocockers were outgunning you by 15 to 20 feet... were they not chrono'd the same? I'm at a loss as to how one marker could shoot farther than another marker if they're chrono'd the same.

A paintball is a flexible membrane projectile. When it is shot (especially paintball circa early 1990's) it is deformed slightly. If you push it down the barrel hard, it well be more out of shape when it leaves the barrel. When you lower the pressure, as with the SM, that is exerted on the paintball while increasing the volume, the paintball will be less deformed as it exits the barrel. With less deformation the paintball returns to it's shape quicker thereby reducing drag on the paintball and increasing the distance it can go.

As this relates to autocockers and mags.... Autocockers fire from a closed bolt which means the ball is still when it is shot, which puts it at an advantage to begin with. This is because it is not just been jambed into the breech of the marker at the same time it is fired down the barrel. This plus autocockers operate at a lower pressure than Mags do, again you hit the ball with a lower pressure higher volume blast, the ball deforms less and therefore has less drag is more accurate and will go further. These two things made the Autocockers inherently more accurate with longer range at the same velocity as a Mag shooting without the "Magic Box" or Smart Mag".

Hope that helped.