Ions: Do they suck that hard?

[Maghog]

I shot an Ion once, on a practice range, and I was impressed with the whole thing.
I was offered to use it on the field and I accepted. On the field, the gun simply did not shoot, at all, and refused to do so for the rest of the day. The owner said that never happened to him before.
I laughed and picked up my Sterling and went out to have some fun.
Ion's are probably fine guns, if they shoot the way it did when I tried it. But the real issue is, do you really want to support a greedy, stop at nothing, throw all morals out the window company like Smart Parts? That's what you're doing when you buy their product.
Dan@Triggernomics

[RRfireblade]

Holy Cow ! ! Dan the man ! !

Sup man , what's goin' on ?

[mag_lover05]

A classic mag for $239? You must have gotten raped. lol

QFT
thats the NIB price.

[Desega]

then all of the upgrades you spent money for on the ion will eventually add up to as much as you could have payed for a shocker. The ion is obviously an entry level cheap shocker, with the same electro-pnuematicness (I just made that word up), but with cheaper parts.

The ion is meant to be an entry level e-gun, not a shocker. There is no comparision. I have played with one and would definatly recomend one for a beginning tourney player. QFT

[SCpoloRicker]

All I'm saying is that Mustang drivers are, by far, the nost obnoxious guys at the track. They spend 10k buying a used 5.0 and throwing cheap mods at it; and all of a sudden they think they're running 12's and claiming to have dropped Z06s.

Wait, what?

[nuclear zombie]

Ions are a great gun for the money. If you want something competitive for all around play, including speedball, for under $300 it's what I would buy. In all reality there's only a few of what I would call 'must have" upgrades for it. First a new trigger the plastic one is horrid, and secondly a clamping feed neck. I wouldn't bother with a new barrel, the stock one will shoot straight like any other barrel with good paint. The body and grips are mostly cosmetic and not worth the money changing. Of course this is based upon getting a good cheap marker for under $300, if you prefer the route of upgrading, spend time researching and asking questions. Personally for me half the fun of having a marker is upgrading/modding it, weather it needs it or not.

Keep it lubed, take care of it, RTFM, and it will last you for years.

[pennywise]

All I'm saying is that Mustang drivers are, by far, the nost obnoxious guys at the track. They spend 10k buying a used 5.0 and throwing cheap mods at it; and all of a sudden they think they're running 12's and claiming to have dropped Z06s.

Wait, what?

QFT

[Desega]

Ions are a great gun for the money. If you want something competitive for all around play, including speedball, for under $300 it's what I would buy. In all reality there's only a few of what I would call 'must have" upgrades for it. First a new trigger the plastic one is horrid, and secondly a clamping feed neck. I wouldn't bother with a new barrel, the stock one will shoot straight like any other barrel with good paint. The body and grips are mostly cosmetic and not worth the money changing. Of course this is based upon getting a good cheap marker for under $300, if you prefer the route of upgrading, spend time researching and asking questions. Personally for me half the fun of having a marker is upgrading/modding it, weather it needs it or not.

Keep it lubed, take care of it, RTFM, and it will last you for years.

gasp! Someone who understands mantainence! I'm not worthy!

[WillyB]

I use an ion as my main with a cocker as my backup. I would have to say that I thoroughly enjoy my ion. Granted, it is modified a bit (blackheart board, CP trigger, clamping feedneck, qev,pepperstick), but i've found it to be an exceptional gun for the money. The one thing that I really don't like about them, as has been stated above many times, is the design. Its a pain to take the entire thing apart to get to the bolt to lube it. On my cocker its one pull-pin and everything falls out that needs to be lubed, which is very nice. This can be remedied with a new body that has BOB. Overall, if you're like me and have an insatiable need to upgrade your guns an Ion is pretty good. It is a "noob" gun, but its also able to hang, with a few modifications, with the very best that other companies have to offer. I would also have to agree that the common Ion owner is what makes Ions have a bad stigma.

[madcrisis]

why the hell does everyone hate smart parts? i personally like their guns. i am a proud owner of an ion. one reason i bought it was because i am always interested in learning new things and the ion is like a cheap marker that u can learn many things from but if u SCREW up ur not out on that much money.

[bentothejam1n]

Do I think IONs suck? No,... I do think MOST ION owners suck. Average age at my field that owns an ION is 15,.... and thats a guess.

qft

[impure]

let me put it this way. (this was told to me by an expierienced paintball store owner) he will not carry ions simply because he doesnt have to buy them new because so many people trade them in. he has three ions now and while i was getting my tank filled someone called him and was trying to trade thier dynasty ion. the kids daddy bought the gun for him because the kid wanted it and now he is trying to sell it because the problems with it. the dude said that ya its a beginners marker trying to be an advanced marker. he said think of buying an intimidator for 50 bucks is there going to be a problem with it? of course.