Mag or Ion

[Dr*teeth]

ahh so this is what its resorted to?

btw. im purely rec and senario and i have an ion :P getting another

i dont know why u need another "$100" into the ion...

stock feedneck is fine, my stock reg, once broken in was +- 5 fps, took out magnet in trigger, never need a new one

like i said, even with stock barrel, 30+ feet can shoot a wire consistantly

Thank you also for decent review of your markers performance.

[thp]

Neither an Ion or a Mag, these are great in the woods.

[Alpha]

ahh the RAP17, Glock 17. Is that an LE?

[nryche]

[thp]

ahh the RAP17, Glock 17. Is that an LE?

Yuppers.

[AnimalMother]

btw. im purely rec and senario and i have an ion :P getting another

What? Why would you use an ion for rec/scenario? I mean, ions are great for their price and fast, which is good for SPEEDBALL, but you need long-range accuracy (which I admit is impossible to control due to the aerodynamics of a paintball), reliability and durability for rec/scenario. And the ion, which is mostly, cough, cough, plastic, will give you none of those. Stick with a mag, ANY mag, if you're going to play rec/scenario.

[frop]

:sigh: I guess I'll pitch in.

I feel that the reliability of the Ion has yet to be proven. I say this because they haven't been around very long.

Now, most people upgrade their guns right away anyways, be they Ion or Mag, so, ppl, please ditch the out-of-the-box crap.

Really, what you need to do is shoot an Ion and see if you like it more than Mags. It seems that your wallet will support either option, so IMHO, feel is what it comes down to.

[Lohman446]

[QUOTE=Alpha]

1. 26 balls per second, without shoot down. 34+capable.

On a mechanical marker that you can, in any legal mode (pretty hard to ramp a mechanical) shoot about 10BPS. The Ion actually can attain and sustain 15BPS (with ramping) and has a shorter trigger pull than a mechanical mag for true semi. Than again, he said speed wasn't an issue.

2. Very lightweight. A full ULE setup weighs in at under 2.7 pounds.

I beleive Glickman already found the scale... but the Ion is as light as the mag, so for this comparison weight seems to be an "out" issue

3. Very good looking.

Opinion

4. Single tube design.

Umm.. have you ever seen an Ion? Note the basic single tube design (there are air lines running through the rail

5. Rugged Design. Submerge it in water, shake it around, pull it out, and FIRE!

Can't say as I have ever tried this with a marker... any marker. Can't foresee it happening.

6. Impossible to chop (if not tuned right)

Of which only about 1% of the people ever get it tuned right. Most people, even with LX chop from time to time, its part of life. Which brings up the whole issue of what I consider finicky level tens and tuning.

7. Unique mechanisms known only to AGD (LX antichop bolt for example).

Unless you count things like the jam bolt. Besides, who else would copy it if they don't need it.

8. AGD and its dealers has some of the best customer support (aka no business nazis).

Please explain, in rational terms, how you compare a capitalistic company to the third reich either in economic ideas or in the autrocities they committed. Get over the nazi thing, it was stupid when it started and it has only become more stupid as it continues. That being said SP's technical support sucks... then again, they are at nearly every major event (though likely not scenarios, don't know) and when I look at it from an outsiders view are almost certain to be here five years from now.

9. Mechanical marker that reach speeds of reason 1.

In legal controlled methods? This I'd like to see

10. You can be unique. Get off the bandwagon, and GET A MAG NOW!

Ehh.. Uniqueness has its own advantages and disadvantages. Having a mag is unique though.




That being said, it depends how and where you play and how much. I like the Ion, but the Mag is not a bad marker, especially for what you are looking for. Noise and accuracy are manageable with either one through barrel selection, and I have heard some very quiet mags. You will have more barrel choices with a mag, using Cocker threading rather than an Ion using proprietary SP threading. There pretty evenly matched, with only a few issues seperating them
The Ion is electro, you get a better anti-chop feature (to me) which may or may not mean anything. The speeds you sound to be shooting and the few shots you take chopping should not be an issue.

The mag may be more rugged in terms of water... ok it is. But for terms of normal play I have not seen a big issue with the Ions either.

The Ion has a speed advantage over the mag unless you are talking high input pressure to the mag. The Ion in legal modes should be faster (shorter trigger) and has ramping.

The mag has durability of not being used... throw it in your bag, pull it out later, adjust LX maybe some o-rings and your good to go. I would say consider a classic valve though without LX to further increase this. It does away with the "retro climb" in velocity under multiple quick shots, does away with LX (get a HALO) and its tuning, and is to me just simpler maintenance.

[Glickman]

What? Why would you use an ion for rec/scenario? I mean, ions are great for their price and fast, which is good for SPEEDBALL, but you need long-range accuracy (which I admit is impossible to control due to the aerodynamics of a paintball), reliability and durability for rec/scenario. And the ion, which is mostly, cough, cough, plastic, will give you none of those. Stick with a mag, ANY mag, if you're going to play rec/scenario.

of course you know what your talking about if your calling it plastic. jeeze, havent explained this in a long time, the body is a composite, like a polymer, similar to some of the plastic you may have on your car, much much more durable then regular abs plastic, which is why the army is using a varient composite for their new xm8.

what makes it a speedball gun? one day ill make a video of how straight the trajectory is, but my ion has proved itself very efficient for scenario ball. i lube it once every 4-5 days played, throw it in the bag, done. ive gotten water on it, dropped it a bunch of times. personally, for 290 it gives you the trigger feel of a matrix, which ive always loved, but not size wise.

[yakitori]

Mag:

More reliable. ULE is lighter
less efficient
slower w/o rapidfire (illegal at some fields)
More expensive (ive got a used one for about 325)
Not as common
Antichop bolt, but no eyes
Shortstroking

Ion:

2.2 lbs or so
W/ QEV get great efficiency ~1500-1600 per 68/4500 fill
accurate
fast
less kick than a mag
cheaper
more maintainance
less reliable


Ive used mags for a long time, just got an ion. I would go w/ the ion simply because of price/performance.

Its up to you since its your money.

[yakitori]

MAgs.

Top 10 reasons why YOU should have an ION



2. Very lightweight. weighs in at under 2.7 pounds.

3. Very good looking.

4. Single tube design.


6. Impossible to chop (more so than a mag, eyes>LX)

7. Unique mechanisms




I think the ion has like 4 or 5 of those.

fixed it for you

better efficiency, less kick, QEV, quieter.

and the body is not Plastic, the shell is. The rest of the gun is aluminum.

[FlynnRuss Productions]

Get an RT ULE, I have both guns so my opinion definatly matters. They both rock but overall I still pick up my RT when I play.

[Lohman446]

Get an RT ULE, I have both guns so my opinion definatly matters. They both rock but overall I still pick up my RT when I play.

With all due respect your opinion is worth pretty close to ZERO if you do not back it with reasons. Yes I have owned or do own both markers.

[Lee]

mag: batteries will never die when you have a target = priceless.

i own both as well and love each one for what they are. just seems like the good dr. is serious about what he does and needs something that has near zero failure rate.

regarding level 10: they are not that hard to tune and work great. the only down side is that they take a little time to break in, but not alot. maybe a day or two of play. i've also found that not using shims is the way to go.

once it's broken in, you'll never need to mess with it except to change the occasional o-ring.

[AzrealDarkmoonZ]

Range, trajectory, accuracy. On either the Ion or Mag with a properly setup system they will be fine. Both are relatively small and lightweight. The Ion is going to have a higher ROF in legal setup, ie the difference in a microswitch and mechanical pull. In almost every category the Ion is going to trump the mag, except in one or two crucial categories.

One of these is Quality Control, I have seen IONs that have yet to have a problem, don't chop and get excellent consistency, in fact the reg I pulled off of one Ion was as good as the CP reg and better than the Sidewinder. On the other hand I have seen one Ion that has horrible dropoff, hissing hoses ect. I would not order an Ion online, simply because of the QC. If you go to you local shop and pick one up and air it up and fire it a bit and it seems good then it probably a good buy, and trust me spending the extra 20 dollars from online to local will be well worth it for the Ion. The Mag on the other hand, each one performs pretty close to the other, tighter QC.

In terms of long lasting I will say the Mag will long outlast the Ion, but understand that the average paintball player probably plays less than 1 year.

Az