Automag - becoming extinct?

[Masta G]

there is some hope

i went from looking for a sniper to buying an X-mag

it basically went like this

i owned a 98 custom for about 3 years and wanted a change
i checked out some sites and found the Special Ops Longbow
i was fascinated and by their description it was exactly what i wanted
i read some reviews and did some research but two things were getting my attention
1. although i wanted a sniper i wanted a gun for speedball also
2. i kept hearing about the *tac-one* base marker

so i did some research and found the AGD site (gosh this is getting long)
so i saved up and decide to get the Etac
after a while i found my local shop had an "Emag" according to my friend
when i walk in guess whats staring me in the face...an Xmag
after reading so much about AGD products i was quick to buy it and figured that i could just buy a gun wrap or something
i talk to some of the employees and one guys there was the stores "AGD specialist" another guys said that if i hadn't bought it, then he was gonna

so there it is, i went from being a woodsballer who knew nothing about AGD to buying an Xmag in less than a year (i worked my *** off to get money for it)

so have some hope, i bought my mag through a series of practically non related things

[JKR]

I live in a rural area with a fair number of players in a 25 mile radius of the area's largest city (Parkersburg WV - population approx 32,000). There are a couple of small fields around and a good bit of renegade play. The primary field that I play probably averages about 25-30 walkons a day on the weekends (in good weather). I have seen as many as 60-70 players at any one time at the field.

Having given a brief summary of the area, one thing I have noticed lately - more and more 'Mags are making it to the field. One day out of about a dozen walkons (slow day) there were six or seven of us with 'Mags at the field. Just recently, one guy who is a big mil-sim fan (digi camos, normally has a decked-out Mil-A5, etc.) showed me his newest acquisition. He had just bought a used Micro-Mag and was extremely proud of it. It brought a little tear to my eye to see this guy excited about a 'Mag - especially considering his normal equipment. Most always, there are a couple of 'Mags at the field besides mine.

Of course, it could also be because of the field owner - he has owned and shot a 'Mag for something like 13-14 years and is a very good player. I believe there are a lot of 'Mags around because he uses his so effectively.

[-B-]

I just got my new Tac One and wanted to add my experiences to the conversation.

After taking a two year "I have no money" break from the game i made a come back only to find that several years of abuse and neglect had taken its toll on my M98. When I started looking for a replacement one of the field/proshop guys told me to look into the Tac One even though they didn't carry it. I've only played a handful of times with it but every time I have gone out I've had a lot of people show interest in it, which is rather embarrassing cause I still know so little about it. The guy who recommended it to me actually reffed one of those days and had a lot of fun in pointing out to everyone I got exactly what got him. Its true I did take some flack from a few of my friends who bought 200$ electro Spyders, but one of those just chopped paint all day. I'll take long term reliability and the fact that I can fix almost any problem myself over the fancy lights and switches on a marker that wont hold up, and I cant fix. And a lot of people around here agree with that point of view

So up in Albany at least interest in the mag is growing and may god help the man who tries to take mine away from me cause i still have that battered old 98 to club him to death with.

[Mind'sEye]

Extinct - def. No longer existing or active. We're not there. I live near the largest Electro-Mag preserve on the CA, Central Coast, A-Tach-One's house, garage, barn, etc. I forsee these things roaming free in the hills and fields for a quite a while yet. Others will continue to be spotted here and there across the US, and even around the world. You can talk about moving on to better, lighter, faster, more efficient guns. There's plenty of them out there, and they may be better suited to today's tournament style play. In terms of just going out there and getting the basic job done, Mag owners will continue exist and flourish.

[tech-chan]

So up in Albany at least interest in the mag is growing and may god help the man who tries to take mine away from me cause i still have that battered old 98 to club him to death with.

Amen to that brother, if we had sigs, that would be going in mine.
tech-chan the pbreview chat famous

[don miguel]

Automags are becoming extinct like dinosaurs. A huge asteroid hit the earth (a SP asteroid) and made them extinct.

[kiltedpainter]

I'm new to mags but i already love the one i have. I traded a Tippmann 68 Special to get an old 68 Classic and am glad i did. It's taken me some work to get my mag up and running but now that it is, I see it being a permanent part of my collection.

Still, i wanted a mag because I wanted a chunk of paintball history. I first found interest in vintage markers when a friend showed me an old Nelson 007. That Tippmann popped up at a garage sale for a price you couldn't beat and right then I began the spiral towards my mag. I love the thing and won't get rid of it for the world.

[__Phoenix__]

Automags are becoming extinct like dinosaurs. A huge asteroid hit the earth (a SP asteroid) and made them extinct.

Will you shut up with the anti Smart parts stuff man?
Mags were falling behind years before smart parts did anything.

[don miguel]

Will you shut up with the anti Smart parts stuff man?

NEVER.

and I know, mags are going down the drain.

[StygShore]

ugghhh

oh... he's back.....

AO Mod Squad ACTIVATE!!!!!


Styg


The dealers have not really chimed in on one thing... about how many NEW mags do you sell each year - rough guestimate?

[commrad]

Wish I'ld known sooner

back in the 90's when I played all the time I used a Tippy ProLine and loved it, one guy showed up with a mag, running CO2 mounted right behind the valve and it was cold that day. any one who knows mags knows that was a bad day for him, not knowing any better i shunned mags for years (stupid me) about 01 some new friends dragged me back out on the field, dusty old Tippy, and a Brass Eagle 280 extreme mask (i didn't know they had been recalled). the shop owner had a mag for sale and asked if i wanted to try it, i laughed and said nah i remember what happened to greg way back when. he convinced me to try it (classic on N2) can you say sold. played 3 games after that and fell in love with that old mag, after that tippmann it was a cadillac. i now have a ule x mag with a hyper frame on the way and the only thing i need to put my classic back together after all the upgrades are a few screws and some macro line.

the kids with their e guns could not believe that an old man with a gun that came while they still thought girls had "cooties" was tearing em up, it killed em that they couldn't hear where the shots were coming from (old school smart parts all american ) and the last game i played there were 8 man teams, 6 of the 8 had pink paint on em and i'm the only one at that field that ever used pink paint, gota add insult to injury lol

some of them were still amazed a marker that small could actually shoot a paint ball.

can't wait till i get my nitro fill station so i can go play with my 17 year old cousin and his friends, the closest place to get HPA or nitro now is 45 miles from my house, half his friends all ready want mags and have never seen one in action, one tryed to trade me an angel for my x mag, i just laughed and told him not for 10 angels if i had to play with one. i think that really got his attention.

personally, i don't think mags are dieing, i think the market is trying to kill them but they won't go away

"i will not go quietly into the dieing of the night" the old mag says

[Tao]

Just like Pump play is making a huge come back so is the Automag.

Notice how CCM is very popular. Tippmann released Propane technology fuel in a Pump marker. Now Sterling ads indicating their return to the paintball scene...............

Have some faith.

......every time you shoot it...........The Return of the Automag!

Wow this is the first thread in a while I read ALL THE WAY through. great thread, nice to hear how much the mag shows up everywhere else.

There was and still is (just not as big) a mag following here. Unfortunately the dealer had a falling out with AGD (I don't know the story) so he sells mostly other stuff now. Also a national paintball store came to town a few years ago and of cource they only sell agg....

It is good to see that pump is making a comeback! Last year I bought myself a sniper 2. They used to say that mag owners and cocker owners would eventually own both and I guess this is my venture into the other camp.

I own a classic mag which was my first REAL gun (asside from ol 3 feed: the Brass Eagle raptor), an x mag which is my tourny gun, and now a classic RT with Z grip, which will be my rec gun which I am sure will stir up the other players as they ask "WHat the hell is that?" for years to come.

I will never sell of my guns since why bother? The only one worth anything is the X mag which I would keep over the others. No mater how my life goes I will always keep a gun since I know I will always play again, or eventually I will have kids who might play. That being said, there is no point selling the others for a $100-200 why bother....that is a week or two or three's spending money, big deal.

Patents only last for a few years 20, but maybe 10 now or pretty soon. Eventually all this patent stuff will blow over and AGD will come back into the business again

[LBX!]

Not dead, just dormant

I will never forget an article i read when i was getting into paintball WAAAY back in the stone ages. It read the top 10 things most often heard on the paintball field.
some where near the top was
"Oh my gawd!! that bush does have an automag!" Yeah, that told me right there how pimp automags were. Heck, i watched ESPN paintball around that time and the All Americans were shooting mags. I think that if the iron men had also shot mags my fate would have been sealed. I whored my way through several markers before winding up with a classic mag. I had 2 expansion chambers 1 on my remote and one as a fore grip. Why? cause i shot so bloody fast that i could not keep from freezing. When i say expansion chamber i dont mean one of those coke can things that is just 1 chamber, no, i spent CASH on mine. You older guys know what i am talking about, the 8 to 14 chamber expansion chamber/marker rest/club. When i was at my local store the owner had a mag that he modified, my school friends and i contemplated the horrors we would accept if it meant we got to shoot that marker. The only reason i dont own a mag right now is that i am not currently playing paintball, i am looking to get back into the sport and i have a WTB thread, my top two considerations right now are an Emag and an Ecocker. I am not dissing any other brands here, but i dont think that i will ever own a marker that is not either a cocker, a mag, or *old sponsor love here* an AKA product. It saddens me that newer players have to have a marker that shoots 30bps with 100 different modes all to cover their inability to play. I could hit half that with a pneumatic marker and it was awesome to me. *eyes glaze over as i think about refs shooting themselves with my marker* Yeah, and then we walked to school, up hill both ways in the snow and hell fire. We were attacked by rabid badgers and we liked it cause it was attention........bloody kids these days *wanders off to his rocker and front porch* GET OFF MY LAWN!

[bornl33t]

some people here dont even play anymore

That's me. I bought a phantom after I sold my mags. I should have kept one of them at least. But who am I kidding I'm not going to play paintball in the next 2 years soooooo........

[Maghog]