Sydarm FAQ?

[Burphel]

Having owned a Sydarm for a while now, I've been trying to help out with the many folks asking about them because of the re-issue. I got to thinking that maybe I should just write up an FAQ to save energy and maybe answer questions people forgot to ask. Then I got to thinking more, and I'm willing to bet that there's already a manual in existance since these puppies were sold to the military and there's no way they could operate anything without a manual. So how about it? Any chance one of the AGD elves could spare a few moments to scan and upload it for reference?

I'm still more than willing to whip something up, but I don't see much point in spending the time if something's already out there.

[chasden]

I'd love to see a FAQ written up if there isn't a printed manual that comes with the Sydarm (just ordered mine Saturday night!). Documentation is always a good thing.

[chasden]

What kind of threads on the Sydarm barrel? Is it the old twist lock Mag threads?

[Lohman446]

It is a twist lock, vertical feed body from what I can tell, at least on the new ones.

[Jack & Coke]

A Sydarm FAQ is a great idea...

Don't forget to inlcude this important bit of information:

Ok, having owned a Sydarm for about 3 years now and having used it (or tried to use it) quite a few times, I'll tell you what I know.

First off, I am a die hard AGD fan. I think they make great products...that being said, the Sydarm is not one of them.

There is one big problem, it's based on a mag valve. As many know, Mags do not like CO2 (in liquid form). If you pull off five quick rounds from a sydarm, the valve and the 12 gram freeze up. This makes the 6th shot roll out the barrel and at this point you might as well just drop the 12 gram and insert another as it take a really long time for it to warm up.

Yes they are small, yes they are light and yes they are well build. But performance wise, a PT Extreme actually works better and is ALOT cheaper.

You want a good Sidearm, the Squall is the way to go. Or something based on the PGP.

BTW, you get about 15 "good" shots from a Sydarm as long as you shoot slow. The AGD site claims 24, I have no idea how they came up with that number, those last 8 shots would be rolling out the barrel.

On a personal note, it upsets me that AGD did this. There are a lot of us who bought Sydarms for a pretty high price becuase the public could not get them. A few have paid upwards of $700 for the polished bodied ones becuase there were only a few out there (they were stolen by an ex AGD employee and sold). Now, they turn around and sell polished sydarms for $425. That means anyone that bought a sydarm before, now have their value reduced to atleast $425, and my guess much lower than that because it's used.

Although I don't think the freeze-up "problem" is important to limited ammo guns (i.e. 8-10 round spring feeds), or exclusive to the Sydarm, I thought this bit of info was very honest and informative...

[Lohman446]

A Sydarm FAQ is a great idea...

On a personal note, it upsets me that AGD did this. There are a lot of us who bought Sydarms for a pretty high price becuase the public could not get them. A few have paid upwards of $700 for the polished bodied ones becuase there were only a few out there (they were stolen by an ex AGD employee and sold). Now, they turn around and sell polished sydarms for $425. That means anyone that bought a sydarm before, now have their value reduced to atleast $425, and my guess much lower than that because it's used.

Don't take this as a personal attack, take it as more of a question to throw out there. Again, not as an attack, its just sometimes things are worded best if blunt

So you're saying your upset because the STOLEN PROPERTY you were in possession just went down in value because of something its lawful owner did? I guess if it was me I'd kind of keep the tidbit I knew it was stolen to myself.

Edit - I don't know that TK cares how you got them, perhaps somewhere he said well if you have them just keep them or something, and again, I dont mean to be flaming anyone

[Burphel]

The barrels are center feed twist-lock like the old CF RT's. It's an L shaped rather than T-shaped slot. The RT barrel's probably the cheapest you'll find, CF RT's didn't get real good coverage as far as barrel production. I believe Dye and SP made some of their higher-end barrels, but they ain't cheap. You might be able to alter a standard Mag barrel by drilling a pit at the cross of the T, but then there'd be only the spring-pin which is precarious at best.


As for Muz's freeze-up issues, I've never had a problem, nor have the other ones in Evil Inc's grubby little hands (about 4 of them, most from the run of refurbs a year ago). Sure your efficiency goes to hell if you rapid-fire, but I've never had it disable the gun. Don't try to empty the clip in one string and you're fine. It's at it's best if you think of it as a stock class pump that allows you to double-tap if you need to.

The shot count is a bit inflated in my experiency although I've managed 3 clips shooting well fitted paint through a RT Centerfeed barrel on a very hot day at high altitude and shooting once every 5 seconds or so. Pretty much ideal conditions for a 12g gun. I stopped counting how many shots my Phantom got that day. 2 reloads and maybe a few after that in an emergency is more typical.

[MidnightRider]

good idea

I love the idea of a FAQ. I, for one, have questions about the Sydarm.

Burphel, you said that you have been answering questions already, is there a dedicated thread yet? Maybe one I haven't seen yet?

Peace

MR.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

So you're saying your upset because the STOLEN PROPERTY you were in possession just went down in value because of something its lawful owner did? I guess if it was me I'd kind of keep the tidbit I knew it was stolen to myself.

I think he just meant he bought one legitimantly(sp?) and then the rest were stolen and sold off. At least thats what I got out of his post.

[Muzikman]

I personally do not have a polished body Sydarm. I bought mine the same way everyone else up until last year did, someone had one for sale.

As for the polished ones being stolen property. I did not steal them and the people who bought them did not know they were stolen, so don't make me look like the bad guy here. AGD can do what ever they want, but this is the first time that I have actually seen them screw a loyal customer out of money. It might be indirect, but Tom knew the street value of a Sydarm. I have talked to Tom about my Sydarm many times. I begged him to sell me a new body, I offered him $300 to fix it when it was broke. He would not because as he tells me they are too expensive to produce and fix. Now, what he might be doing is flushing out old inventory and raising his revenue this year. For AGD this is a good thing, for us collectors, it is a bad thing.

Someone made a comment on POG that people should not invest in paintball guns. I do not "invest" I collect, there is a difference. But when I pay top dollar for an item because of it's rarity, I usually expect it to hold it's value and not become common. I guess maybe this is why I should just stick to the old guns where the manuf no longer exists.

As for Jack & Coke's comment. It does happen in other 12gram powered semi's, but not nearly as bad. Most of the other guns do not freeze the valve which is the biggest problem. As for why would you ever shoot that much, some times you have to. We are not talking 16bps here, we are talking 5, no matter what, even in stock play I have gone through 5 pretty quick. Big difference is a lot of guns are easier to load balls and 12grams

[Burphel]

There's a couple of threads here asking about them, and more on other forums I frequent.

I've talked to Muz in the chat about this, and I can kinda understand how he feels. But I think the vast majority of people got them to play with them, not to set them on a shelf and look at them and think about how valuable they are. I play with mine and love it. I don't see myself selling it anytime soon, so I don't care what it's resale value is. The way I see it, now there's more people who can play with theirs and hopefully enjoy them. If you speculated on something's future value and conditions change, them's the breaks. If it pisses you off, avoid the stock market and Vegas.

[AGD]

First of all I will state right up front Sydarms SUCK. We quit selling them to the public when we got a lot of complaints about liquid CO2 and efficiency etc. They were never intended to be a real paintball gun, any blow back will perform better on liquid. They were only intended for three shot police training.

Since scenario has come on so strong and most people know what their limitations are now, we have decided to clean out the remaining inventory. For sure we will never have any stainless bodied ones again and I doubt we will ever make aluminum bodies. There will be one more batch of 100 for those of you counting.

AGD

[Empyreal Rogue]

First of all I will state right up front Sydarms SUCK.

Ouch, that's kinda harsh. And coming from TK himself. :\

[Jack & Coke]

First of all I will state right up front Sydarms SUCK. We quit selling them to the public when we got a lot of complaints about liquid CO2 and efficiency etc. They were never intended to be a real paintball gun, any blow back will perform better on liquid. They were only intended for three shot police training.

Since scenario has come on so strong and most people know what their limitations are now, we have decided to clean out the remaining inventory. For sure we will never have any stainless bodied ones again and I doubt we will ever make aluminum bodies. There will be one more batch of 100 for those of you counting.

AGD

big ups to AGD for being honest, and not fluffing us with over-hype in order to boost sales. The sydarm fills a niche notwithstanding it's performance limitations (CO2) as honestly put forth by Muzikman.

Tom, if had to engineer a spring feed 10-shot, 12g semi-auto pistol from the ground up, what are some things you'd consider given your experience these last ten+ years?

[Muzikman]

Tom, if had to engineer a spring feed 10-shot, 12g semi-auto pistol from the ground up, what are some things you'd consider given your experience these last ten+ years?

If I had to do it, I would invent the right sized N2 12grams