What makes mags so accurate?

[RavishingEddie]

Hello guys and thank you all for posting your findings. Anyway for the record. I used 07 Powerlyte Scepters on the guns and the same average PMI paint.

[robertsr1811]

Mags are quite accurate.

Personally I think it has to do with the overall design. Mags are, at heart, nothing more than a venting regulator. Ergo, they SHOULD be quite consistent since theoretically they are venting the same pressure of gas each time.

Consistency = accuracy. Even if your shot is 6 degrees off center, if it's 6 degrees off center EVERY TIME, you'll still be able to hit what you aim at.

[JAM]

"They were not magically any better than other guns."

"They" don't need magic, "They" have Level 10. All other electro guns REQUIRE eyes, PDS and other acronyms!

1,2,3 are exactly right though. Nice post.

true on the lev10. off-topic I know, but you're right: a working mechanical anti-chop system is really awesome.
Nice work Tom.

[ThePixelGuru]

Clearly, the OP was talking about an E-Mag with a 12 lb battery pack and given that he talked about setting up the LX and the electronic settings, he probably bought it new meaning it probably came with an SS E-Max valve, weighing in at another 12lb.

Clearly, you can not use context clues and hence trolled my post. Troll much?

Oh Jebus. I was trying not to get into this too heavily since the title of this thread sets it up for a nice AO circlejerk, but now I'm gonna do it anyway.

As many have said, most of the accuracy of a marker comes from quality paint matching a quality barrel. Aside from that, all a marker can do is put the same amount of air behind the ball at the same pressure and release that air at the same rate every time. The weight of a marker has no bearing on this at all. Automags tend to be more accurate because their design accomplishes this better than most (not all) markers. It's a fact that spool valve markers, for example, have a harder time doing this than a blow-forward like the 'mag. It's also a fact that a hammer hitting a pin in a valve has a harder time doing this. There's just more to screw up, and more variables where the 'mag has constants. Something solid like a steel chamber has far less variability than, say, a spring. The 'mag has fewer parts which change the volume of the chamber than most (again, not all) markers, and comes stock with a better reg than most (once more, not all) stock markers. Why do you think people change out the regs on almost every marker as one of the first upgrades? Has an aftermarket 'mag reg ever made a 'mag more consistent?

Consistency from the marker is not affected in any way by the weight of the marker. Sure, it affects the recoil so that the shooter has to do less readjustment between shots and it takes less effort to keep it on target, but that has nothing to do with the consistency of the marker. Slap that sucker in a vice and you eliminate a bunch of whacky variables. From what you're saying, it sounds like you're claiming that if I have a heavy classic 'mag, it'll be more consistent than, say, an Ion, but if I were to ULE it so it was lighter than the Ion suddenly I'd be able to hit less. This might hold true for a shooter who has trouble keeping his marker on target, but it won't hold true for a shooter with good technique, and it certainly won't hold true if you put the marker in a vice.

The reason I mentioned the troll thing is that I don't like seeing posts that clearly try to incite argument with crazy claims, like the claim that an EMag weighs in at 400lbs or that the battery pack and valve weigh in at 12lbs apiece. I'm assuming that you were exaggerating your beliefs with these statements, but the fact of the matter is that this is a 'mag forum and you're making clearly bunk claims that appear to be slamming the marker this forum is dedicated to. Honest criticisms are fine, but you have to admit that's a little over the top. If you're addressing the recoil issue, I can think of a load of better and less inflammatory ways to go about discussing the topic, such as "Your EMag is heavier than your friend's Ego, so the diminished recoil probably allows you to keep your marker on target more easily."

Bearing all this in mind, it's easy enough to set up almost any marker to be extremely consistent. There's no reason that a well-equipped, well-maintained marker should be any less consistent than any other, but out of the box the 'mag just plain does this better than most. Take a classic 'mag straight out of the box and I'd bet on it in any vice test against any marker in its price range; there are markers out of its price range that could match it, but in those cases you'd be comparing a nearly perfectly consistent marker against another nearly perfectly consistent marker. Clearly we were answering different questions as you appeared to be responding to the question "Why am I a better shot with my EMag than my friend's Ego" while I was responding to the question of "Why are 'mags more consistent." The other difference between our responses is that mine did not include inflammatory and clearly falsified measurements.

In regards to your attack on me about failing to read context clues, some context which I have noted include the following:
- EMags are not available new, and have not been for some time.
- In the time that he has had it, it's very possible he got some ULE milling done, or bought an X-Valve.
- He could have bought it used with any of these upgrades.
- 'Mags occasionally need tuning, so it's not out of line to consider that perhaps he tuned a used one.
- He mentioned that "once the tempo slowed down and we began to snap shoot" he noticed the difference in accuracy.

Noting these context clues, I feel compelled to further note that recoil is less of an issue in snap shooting than in shooting long strings on the break, and that he had the issue during the former rather than the latter. Being that recoil is now less likely to be the culprit, it is more likely that he was less accurate with the Ego than the EMag because he was used to the EMag. However, he asked about the 'mag, not about his personal shooting habits. That being the case I answered the question about the 'mag and not the one that he didn't ask about his shooting habits, which you answered.

Being that you answered the wrong question with falsified information, I felt the need to call you on it. Thanks for your input, though.

[teufelhunden]

I didn't even read that entire thing because you didn't respond to what I originally said. I was noting that due to the Emag not being a featherweight like todays guns, especially towards the front due to the battery pack, the Emag may seem like it puts paint in tighter groupings because the gun will not move as much as a result of the higher weight.

Point: Take an emag, pull the battery, fire in mech. Put the battery on, fire in mech. Bet the barrel stayed closer to its original position with the battery on.

[Foxworthy]

I didn't even read that entire thing because you didn't respond to what I originally said. I was noting that due to the Emag not being a featherweight like todays guns, especially towards the front due to the battery pack, the Emag may seem like it puts paint in tighter groupings because the gun will not move as much as a result of the higher weight.

Point: Take an emag, pull the battery, fire in mech. Put the battery on, fire in mech. Bet the barrel stayed closer to its original position with the battery on.

But after shooting an Ego I'm sure the e-mag has more of a kick. Granted I've never fired a e-mag but I have fired the ole rental mags and despite their weight they have worse kick. You also said mags in general weighed 400lbs especially his e-mag. Which reads like a dig at mag being heavy which isn't always true.

[CKY_Alliance]

It's because the elves,duh.

[ThePixelGuru]

I didn't even read that entire thing because you didn't respond to what I originally said. I was noting that due to the Emag not being a featherweight like todays guns, especially towards the front due to the battery pack, the Emag may seem like it puts paint in tighter groupings because the gun will not move as much as a result of the higher weight.

Point: Take an emag, pull the battery, fire in mech. Put the battery on, fire in mech. Bet the barrel stayed closer to its original position with the battery on.

Consistency from the marker is not affected in any way by the weight of the marker. Sure, it affects the recoil so that the shooter has to do less readjustment between shots and it takes less effort to keep it on target, but that has nothing to do with the consistency of the marker. Slap that sucker in a vice and you eliminate a bunch of whacky variables. From what you're saying, it sounds like you're claiming that if I have a heavy classic 'mag, it'll be more consistent than, say, an Ion, but if I were to ULE it so it was lighter than the Ion suddenly I'd be able to hit less. This might hold true for a shooter who has trouble keeping his marker on target, but it won't hold true for a shooter with good technique, and it certainly won't hold true if you put the marker in a vice.

....

In regards to your attack on me about failing to read context clues, some context which I have noted include the following:
- EMags are not available new, and have not been for some time.
- In the time that he has had it, it's very possible he got some ULE milling done, or bought an X-Valve.
- He could have bought it used with any of these upgrades.
- 'Mags occasionally need tuning, so it's not out of line to consider that perhaps he tuned a used one.
- He mentioned that "once the tempo slowed down and we began to snap shoot" he noticed the difference in accuracy.

Noting these context clues, I feel compelled to further note that recoil is less of an issue in snap shooting than in shooting long strings on the break, and that he had the issue during the former rather than the latter. Being that recoil is now less likely to be the culprit, it is more likely that he was less accurate with the Ego than the EMag because he was used to the EMag. However, he asked about the 'mag, not about his personal shooting habits. That being the case I answered the question about the 'mag and not the one that he didn't ask about his shooting habits, which you answered.

[MoeMag]

Please tell me you're kidding.

That argument might work with firearms and saying the .308 hits harder farther than the 5.56, but this is PAINTBALL.

a .68 cal paintball leaving the barrel at 300 fps will go exactly the same distance and hit just as hard from ANY gun. Please stop the harder/further talk.

As for accuracy, three things-

1.paint quality (roundness, smooth seams, etc.)
2.paint/barrel match
3. Air pressure consistency

I've found 1 & 2 to be the most important as most decent paintguns have at least respectable air consistency.

Note- longer barrels don't make it more accurate either- they do make shots a little quieter as well as being a good tool to push through the brush or against a supair bunker.

I have owned and played with almost every gun out there from the Splatmaster to my current Ego and given good paint and good barrel fit, they were all equally accurate.

And for the record, I owed a Mag back in '90, then have gone through 2 minimags, a ULT/XValve mag, an RT, an Emag and an XMag. They were not magically any better than other guns.

Oh, and they ALL had the same range.

[REDRT]

I think a lot of the mags accuracy has to do with the shooter behind it. Instead of spraying paint all over and praying to hit someone we maggers tend to aim more. Especially us mechanical guys. We don't have the fastest smallest profile makers on the planet, but we have marker that hardly ever fails and are wickedly capable of delivering the money shot between to opponents eyes. A single paintball from no where is still very cool...

[TnDeathInc]

why are they so accurate,

because the people that shoot them, know their limitations (both themselves and their equipment) and learn to play the game at the fundamental level. YEs they can throw paint and keep up with anything out there. But i would rather have a few people who grew up with mags and know the game to a newbie with a hopped up 1500 dollar gun that pulls the trigger and sprays hoping to get 1 kill off 600 rounds

[nathanjones008]

There are many factors to have an accurate gun, good regulator, paint to barrel match, outgoing pressure, nitro vs co2. The humidity factor(paint swelling)

I have proto rail and a mag, they are equally accurate