Ya know, I am about "over it".....

[chafnerjr]

Maybe... AGD (and the spirit of real science rather than marketing) were on the decline in paintball before the legal issues. TK has already talked about his "dream" marker - and frankly it went so far against all the aggness of today (and especially of a couple years ago) that it would have had a hard time with AGD marketing it. I think its (SP) a convenient out more than a reality.

I know not of this dream marker of which you speak. What did he want?

[Lohman446]

I know not of this dream marker of which you speak. What did he want?

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1291318#post1291318

I already called dibs

[chafnerjr]

http://www.automags.org/forums/showt...18#post1291318

I already called dibs

just read it and I hate SP even more now

[drg]

Uh ... isn't that a joke? I sure hope it is.

[Lohman446]

The great joke involved crown point barrels - this was rereferenced in other threads and was not joke to the best of my knowledge

[Watcher]

Just to get my experience out there.


When I entered this sport, I got a Tippmann 98, a solid little gun. Then as I discovered speedball, I grabbed a used electro off the shelf, a PMI Piranha E-force. I liked it.

As a step up, I saw and heard good things about Ions. I found one at a local shop and used trade in value from the Piranha to get a new Ion.


From day one I hit snags. For one, the reg was set too high and when I aired it up it frose the solenoid shut. I couldn't bleed the pressure well, so I had to pop it off half a psi by half a psi until it finally let off enough to shoot clean.
Problem two, the trigger pin was loose and kept falling out. Also, the trigger was incredibly wobbly.
Problem three, the reg was cross threaded into the vetrical adapter. More on this later.
Problem four, the reg internals coudn't be removed as the tensioning nut was stripped.
Problem five, the grips don't fit the frame well and needed to be sanded.
Problem six, all the screws wanted to strip out.
And I've seen countless other things go wrong with other Ions such as hoses blowing, solenoids blowing, feednecks cracking off in the threads, and the boards going from 3 second holds to one touch on for some reason.

Problem seven with my Ion was contacting Smart-Parts. They have a hotline on thier site. I called it every day for a week, never got anything but the answering machine. I left messages, never got them returned. I sent e-mails, none were replied to. I sent warranty claims, none were ticketed. I went on forums and PM'd people said to work for SP. Never a nod in my direction to show they have recieved them.

That's when I started researching SP and found out their past and history. About this time I picked up a RT classic I saw on Ebay.

I took the Ion to my vice and got the reg off, when I discovered the filter to be jammed into the reg which made it skip a thread and force itself stuck. With a stripped out reg and frame, I wandered Ebay. When I found a frame and reg, I replaced the parts. Got the Ion working as best I could, and ditched it.

A member of AO was interested in it, and I negotiated a trade for a RT Pro. Best deal I ever made, and I was glad to get that POS out of my hands and out of my sight. I'm sure it is working well with whoever bought it off of me, and all the power to it for doing so but I hated it and wanted it gone.


Now I am sure the only revenue SP will make off of me is $0, and they were lucky to get the $100 I payed for their Ion.
I refuse to even consider anything SP. You can even ask GRimm this, I was offered an on/off ASA for free for my Autococker as it needed a rail ASA, not a direct mount, and when I saw the SP crosshair I refused to take it. I did not want to use it for fear of risking my tank reg!


SP not only wronged many companies, but they wronged me and lost a customer, for life.

If they end up dominating the paintball market and own every marker being made, every mask, every loader, every pod pack, and all the paint sales, I will stop playing. It will kill me at heart, but I will stop playing.


They are unjust in their sales, they don't have a backbone when something goes wrong, they are too quiet in some areas, too loud in others, and are run by @$$ holes so shadey that they turn around and kill the ones who made them anything.

I have yet to see anything innovative come from them excepting the freak system, and even that isn't so original.



That Ion I had for a week or two and had seven problems with. My 98 I've had for 5 years and have had 2 problems with it, and one was the cyclone feeder so it barely counts. The other was low velocity from a worn spring.
My RT classic's only problem was sitting neglected in a closet for too many years and having all of it's rubber parts destroyed and some screws stripped. It was an easy fix for me and I knew nothing of mags at the time, and an easy out and some screws fixed the previous owner's carelessness.
My RT Pro's only problem was keeping it full of paint

My Trracer had a valve component break, but it was easily replaced. My Phantom has a bolt issue, but it is an easy fix.
The Autocockers I've owned rarely had any problems, and if they did it was user error or a worn/dry o-ring.

Tippmann is always on the line when I call. Roman always answers e-mails. Mike at CCI always is there when you need him.

Never had I seen so much go so wrong at once in any gun I've owned or used as that Ion.
And never have I seen a company so blatantly avoid a problem a user has had with their product than Smart-Parts.

[Beemer]

^^^^^^Thats classic^^^^^^well done.

My RT Pro's only problem was keeping it full of paint. Roman always answers e-mails

Whats an RT Pro and who is Roman?

The OP is about over it and aint the Mag fan boy and his thread just wont die.

Quality product and good customer service just wont let it I guess. Now where did Maghog go?

Just for the record. Thread started 05-11-2008 to 07-16-09, 172replies, 5,663views

You over it yet Punk?

[[NA]WARLORD]

The captain of the team was none other than Billy Gardner. Billy saw an opportunity to make money, so after talking with Tom Kaye started his company (Smart Parts) to produce aftermarket pieces for the Automag.

Don't know where this was found, but it's not true. TK may have sponsored the AA's at one point in time, however, Smart Parts was making the All American barrel prior to the Automag's introduction to the sport. Hence, Billy G's company was already up and running.

[Lohman446]

However, you have to remember what making consisted of back then. Largely someone in the garage with very basic tools.

[GRimm]

You can even ask GRimm this, I was offered an on/off ASA for free for my Autococker as it needed a rail ASA, not a direct mount, and when I saw the SP crosshair I refused to take it. I did not want to use it for fear of risking my tank reg!

lol, I only took it because it can be used for target practice with a pellet gun.

[Watcher]

lol, I only took it because it can be used for target practice with a pellet gun.

Bring it over tomorow, we can blast it back to hell

[Frizzle Fry]

Don't know where this was found, but it's not true. TK may have sponsored the AA's at one point in time, however, Smart Parts was making the All American barrel prior to the Automag's introduction to the sport. Hence, Billy G's company was already up and running.

The Gardner boys are not the original owners of SP.

[[NA]WARLORD]

The Gardner boys are not the original owners of SP.

Proof or propaganda from the Anti SP bandwagon ?

[Frizzle Fry]

Proof or propaganda from the Anti SP bandwagon ?

*edited because I remembered his name:

Kevin Rayman. He was a standup guy. Every once in a while I hear some SP basher saying he was hired in 1998 or 2002 or 2005 to clean up their act, but that name has been with SP since the earliest years as I recall, and my memory may be a little foggy.

Google result #1: http://www.pbuprising.com/invision/K...ts-t16459.html

[[NA]WARLORD]

*edited because I remembered his name:

Kevin Rayman. He was a standup guy. Every once in a while I hear some SP basher saying he was hired in 1998 or 2002 or 2005 to clean up their act, but that name has been with SP since the earliest years as I recall, and my memory may be a little foggy.

Google result #1: http://www.pbuprising.com/invision/K...ts-t16459.html

To be honest, that proves nothing ...

I found this on Warpig:

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/news/kevinrayman/

Those guys have been around forever, and I would tend to believe them.

As well as an obituary for the "late" Kevin Rayman:

http://www.cannaya.net/?p=903

Found this on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Parts

Prominent members and employees

Smart Parts is a family-owned business that was started by William Gardner jr, reportably out of his garage. The company is jointly owned by him and his younger brother, Adam Gardner, and involves over 300 individual employees spanning two separate locations (manufacturing/engineering in Latrobe PA, and assembly/playfield/offices in Greenburg PA). The majority of the manufacturing employees are machinists and technicians related to the machine shop and/or production lines.

* William Gardner Jr.: Originally a buinessman by trade, however took an interest in manufacturing and pursued it after obtaining his business degree in the 80's. Founded the company Smart Parts in 1989 Kevin Rayman: Advertising and creativity agent for the company since the early years. Passed away in September 2007.

Now, there are 3 different sources showing the "late" Mr.Rayman as an employee, and one with a brief history of the company. Now, we all know that wikipedia is more or less a forum anyone can post on, but so is this one, meaning it is no less a credible source then Wikipedia.