Reliability of Vikings

[Duzzy]

Sorry, I am who I am and saying the Excal is open bolt just kind of came across as silly.

So shoot me all you want, I shall strive valiantly to be a good target.

[CoolHand]

. . . . . . Im just not a biased kung pao chicken like you. . . . . . . .

Now name calling. We have officially reached critical mass, this thread has nowhere left to go.

Seriously man, listen to yourself.

You call me a biased kung pao chicken (whatever that means), and then go right into your poppets suck, spools rule mantra. How can anyone NOT call you a fanboi?

You have a preference, which is fine, everyone does. What kills me is how it's OK for you to voice your preference, cite good points about your marker of choice, and gloss over or dismiss bad points, while calling yourself fair and impartial, and then turn right around and rag on everyone else for doing the exact same thing centered around a different marker.

THAT is what is giving me the chuckle, and THAT is what makes your whole argument moot. It's not even an argument per se, it's just you failing to see that you are in fact doing the very same thing what you are *****ing about all of us doing, but just about a different marker.

Also, just because you didn't say "Dood! Get a Trix, they are the gatzorz!!!111one!!11!!3!!" doesn't change what you are doing.

Besides, I didn't see anyone seriously state "Just get a Viking, nothing is better, all others suck, etc, and so on, whatever."

You just need to chill. It's like you're on a campaign to start as many arguments over how great the trix is/how bad poppets suck, on every board you post on. I have no idea why.

News flash! ---> It makes zero difference in the end, and just makes you look like an *** in the interim.

I don't have anything to prove about the markers I buy. I buy them because I WANT them. No other reason. Some of the markers I have "suck" by other people's standards, but I still like them. I'm not going to make a big production out of trying to convince said people that they do not, in fact, "suck". It's a waste of time and energy, and in the end I don't really care what they think anyway.

To the original poster: Just find a Viking and shoot it. If you like it, don't be afraid to get one, there is support a plenty, and parts to be found in many places. If you don't like them, you've saved yourself some time, and narrowed your search by one marker. Shoot everything you're thinking of buying. Shoot anything. Hell, even shoot markers you don't want to buy. Find one you like and buy it. Simple as that.

Any more, ANYTHING can get the job done.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

If I ever run across an '03 unmilled with eyes and covers for less than $450 I am jumping all over it.

I found a couple 03's on PbN for $425. I can PM you the links if you would like.

[Steelrat]

Pros of the viking
-VERY reliable. I've owned 7 vikings and 5 excals, the viking's big brother, and I only had one problem, related to a new detent design. None of them ever went down on me, ever.
-FAST. As fast as anything out there with the right board and settings. Theres a video of a stock 04 viking I had doing 31 bps (yes, bps) with no noticeable shootdown.
-SOLID. They are built like tanks. Seriously.
-EFFICIENT. Try around 2000 shots off a 68/4500.
-CHEAP. You can get amazing deals on vikings now. I've seen beautiful 04 customs going for under $900, thats just amazing.

Cons
-Can be heavy in stock 03 versions. Stock 04s are lighter, and custom milled ones can be very light, around 2 lbs for some of them.
-AKA is going through a bit of turmoil, but there still seems to be great support in the service network
-Must use a toolkit to work on it, and you must use AKA lube or a high-quality synthetic.


Overall, the guy who mentioned they go down a lot doens't know what he is talking about. The vikings and excals are the proverbial "take it out of the bag and play" kind of guns. Mine were so reliable they made mags look downright tempermental.

As for a recommendation, I'd say an 04 featherlight, DC, or streamline with a tadao board.

BTW, the stuff in red is me pointing out negatives. So please, no one claim that they are the only crusader for truth and justice, willing to point out the horrible downsides to vikings.

And magman, my "have fun with your matricies" comment was not meant to disparage matricies. I think they are fine markers, not really my cup of tea, but fine markers nontheless. However, I know that yak is currently a fan of the matrix line of markers, so the comment was intended for him.

[doc_Zox]

Hey, and don't forget that in order to duck the SP Lawsuit, they shut down production, fired their son and then slandered some of the better AKA techs on the AKA webpage.

its like a soap opera

[rkjunior303]

Hey, and don't forget that in order to duck the SP Lawsuit, they shut down production, fired their son and then slandered some of the better AKA techs on the AKA webpage.

its like a soap opera

there was much more to the Aaron/Dan/Bart saga than most people know. Trust me, it wasn't because they wanted to duck the SP lawsuit -- there was much more going on behind the scenes.

[yakitori]

my bad, I knew an excal is closed bolt. I dont know how that got in there. Nice catch duzzy.

Anyway. Kung pao chicken is no worse a name calling than fanboi so get over it. I didnt go on a matra about how spools are better, I simply said why I PERSONALLY like spool valves over poppets.

I said that dye markers have weak wiring didnt I? Didnt I say that? Yes I did. Hmmmm...what else is bad about them. They are expensive. hmmm.....cant think of much else wrong w/ the 06 guns. Can you?

and a lot of the rest of your post coolhand is misleading and inaccurate about where this thread has gone. I dont have to go back and quote to prove it, but ppl can go read for themselves. I said nothing but good things about a viking at first, then everyone started their "vikings are like the best guns ever made" schpeel and then I stated some negatives. Thats when the guy even says"""""I dont see how I [i]cant[i/] buy a viking" and thats a straight quote even w/ the misused Italics.

Again, more slander.....I thought a person of your status (a dealer, and logic paintball person) would be a bit more insightful and able to read a post.....appearantly I was wrong.

[rkjunior303]

Man, the Viking/Trix debate is almost as bad as the Mag/Cocker debate..

[SCpoloRicker]

rawr!1!

/

[Steelrat]

Best thread evar.

[yakitori]

viking, excals, and trixes are freakin awesome guns. I LOVED mine. I just dont like it when ppl skew the statements Ive made.

at least something is happening on AO w/ this thread. Most other threads are

[magman007]

wow, i cant believe i made it through a thread, with a lengthy post by my self, without even getting a minute amount of criticism, but then again, no one agreed with me. maybe im just on everyones ignore list

[Steelrat]

No, I replied to you, look a few posts up

[yakitori]

I agreed w/ you magman. .

[UTDragun]

I said that dye markers have weak wiring didnt I? Didnt I say that? Yes I did. Hmmmm...what else is bad about them. They are expensive. hmmm.....cant think of much else wrong w/ the 06 guns. Can you?

sure, their anno scratches almost as easily as sp, the proto eye ribbon is a joke, you have mill down some to put no riders on them, inefficient even with mods or stock improvements, they taller than alot of guns, they eat batteries, they have alot of orings.

You can believe the hype or you can believe the truth. Ppl need to stop acting like vikings are the end all of paintball guns. Vikings are getting kinda outdated. Spartans is nice no doubt, so is rkjuniors, but those are pimped out vikings, not unmilled ones..

Right, like Dye doesnt get hype on their markers? some vikings are less than a year old. how many lcd trixes do you see running around? what about mags? theyre old, so they suck too? cockers are old so they must suck too.