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Emek thoughts

DonBossi

Active Member
Mar 4, 2021
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39
38
Either way you screw the cylinder onto the ASA

The cylinders regulator turns itself on & off when it’s pin is pressed against the appropriate point of the ASA
The whole cylinder does not lose pressure, it will close its pin and retain pressure. The only air that gets lost is the amount sat in the airline that gets purged

When the pin is pressed the regulator is ‘on’ and air comes out, when the pin is released it seals

With a basic ASA the pin is pressed against a fixed point, air is released as the cylinder is screwed into place.
When you unscrew you only lose a bit of air, but it can be difficult to unscrew as that point is under pressure

With an on/off ASA a second pin in theASA engages and disengages the cylinders regulator pin.
You flick it to off before screwing on, therefore no air is released
You flick it to on when you are ready and it feeds air to the gun

When you are finished, (or inbetween games) you flick the ASA to off and a small amount of air is purged
Theoretically the gun cannot shoot (but there may be enough air beyond the internal regulator for a couple of shots)
There is no pressure at the ASA and you can easily unscrew with no pressure
That makes a lot of sense and very well explained. Thanks very much Tom!

Also explains the need for barrel socks in between games as you're not actually removing the tank from the marker, just flicking the air off switch. That and the possibility of enough air being left in the marker itself for a shot or two, which of course is a shot or two too many when nobody is wearing goggles.
 
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k4p84

Platinum Member
Oct 14, 2009
1,069
243
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www.paintballskirmish.co.uk
Good to hear someone say it's good to go straight out of the box. I've heard that when I started researching but also heard so many people say upgrade the barrel.

Why does being open bolt mean it doesn't really need a barrel kit? I'm not too familiar with this yet.
Some older paintball markers where closed bolt (autococker etc) so the ball was loaded into the barrel when the marker was at rest (ie not cylcing going pew pew pew). This meant if you had a big bore barrel your paint could just roll out (very embarrassing) so you would get different barrels to fit more paint sizes (this is before the evil that was the first freak kit).
An open bolt marker means the ball sits in the breach (held there by the paintballs above it and the detents), it doesnt go anywhere and is only loaded and shot when the firing cycle happens.

This is where I disagree with "people", trying to bore match on an open bolt marker will give better efficiency (that's science) but we are talking maybe 50-100 extra shots from a fill (never actually tested but I think its around there) and for the added expense for minimal gain I don't feel it is something a new player should buy if funds are limited, getting a better mask / loader / air system / actually spending money playing rather than buying kit is a better.

Also old markers used to come with......... no barrel or a pointless tube that was replaced quickly. Modern markers do not come with junk barrels, they may not look as pretty but they are perfectly serviceable.
 
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Tom

Tom
Nov 27, 2006
4,076
1,210
198
Salisbury
www.TaskForceDelta.co.uk
Some older paintball markers where closed bolt (autococker etc) so the ball was loaded into the barrel when the marker was at rest (ie not cylcing going pew pew pew). This meant if you had a big bore barrel your paint could just roll out (very embarrassing) so you would get different barrels to fit more paint sizes (this is before the evil that was the first freak kit).
An open bolt marker means the ball sits in the breach (held there by the paintballs above it and the detents), it doesnt go anywhere and is only loaded and shot when the firing cycle happens.

This is where I disagree with "people", trying to bore match on an open bolt marker will give better efficiency (that's science) but we are talking maybe 50-100 extra shots from a fill (never actually tested but I think its around there) and for the added expense for minimal gain I don't feel it is something a new player should buy if funds are limited, getting a better mask / loader / air system / actually spending money playing rather than buying kit is a better.

Also old markers used to come with......... no barrel or a pointless tube that was replaced quickly. Modern markers do not come with junk barrels, they may not look as pretty but they are perfectly serviceable.
What @k4p84 said

The pros & cons of open bolt vs closed bolt, standard barrel vs after market, single barrel vs bore sizing, under bore vs over bore, etc will be argued forever.

They will all shoot paint out of the box, and anything modern will do what it needs to do.


Save worrying about barrels for the future.
I have spent years building up Freak sets - and most of the time will use the same insert.
I still wanted every size, and then replaced my aluminium set with stainless steel - selling off the aluminium set.
Then I get a Selswords revolver which needs Freak, so might 'need' two of the same size at one time, plus the revolver can fire First Strikes. I don't want a FS to be hard on my nice shiny stainless so I bought another aluminium set.
I also have a few guns and lend them out, so when one was available I bought another aluminium set which may be on behalf of a team mate or I may keep it.

That means I have 3 Freak sets, with 3 of most sizes but not 3 of every size.

Theres more money than sense in paintball
 

DonBossi

Active Member
Mar 4, 2021
84
39
38
Some older paintball markers where closed bolt (autococker etc) so the ball was loaded into the barrel when the marker was at rest (ie not cylcing going pew pew pew). This meant if you had a big bore barrel your paint could just roll out (very embarrassing) so you would get different barrels to fit more paint sizes (this is before the evil that was the first freak kit).
An open bolt marker means the ball sits in the breach (held there by the paintballs above it and the detents), it doesnt go anywhere and is only loaded and shot when the firing cycle happens.

This is where I disagree with "people", trying to bore match on an open bolt marker will give better efficiency (that's science) but we are talking maybe 50-100 extra shots from a fill (never actually tested but I think its around there) and for the added expense for minimal gain I don't feel it is something a new player should buy if funds are limited, getting a better mask / loader / air system / actually spending money playing rather than buying kit is a better.

Also old markers used to come with......... no barrel or a pointless tube that was replaced quickly. Modern markers do not come with junk barrels, they may not look as pretty but they are perfectly serviceable.
This makes sense. I think I remember way back when I played my first few rentals, the paint rolling out of the barrel once or twice. That would have been a good 20-25 yrs ago and markers were primarily one pump one shot, so probably as you've described.

At least I can get started without feeling like a must change the barrel ASAP then. Thanks for the explanation.
 

DonBossi

Active Member
Mar 4, 2021
84
39
38
What @k4p84 said

The pros & cons of open bolt vs closed bolt, standard barrel vs after market, single barrel vs bore sizing, under bore vs over bore, etc will be argued forever.

They will all shoot paint out of the box, and anything modern will do what it needs to do.


Save worrying about barrels for the future.
I have spent years building up Freak sets - and most of the time will use the same insert.
I still wanted every size, and then replaced my aluminium set with stainless steel - selling off the aluminium set.
Then I get a Selswords revolver which needs Freak, so might 'need' two of the same size at one time, plus the revolver can fire First Strikes. I don't want a FS to be hard on my nice shiny stainless so I bought another aluminium set.
I also have a few guns and lend them out, so when one was available I bought another aluminium set which may be on behalf of a team mate or I may keep it.

That means I have 3 Freak sets, with 3 of most sizes but not 3 of every size.

Theres more money than sense in paintball
So if I'm looking to upgrade to a Freak kit, you're the man to speak to :)

Quickly learning Paintball is one of those hobbies where there's always something to buy - and already picked up the bug myself.
 
Last edited:

DonBossi

Active Member
Mar 4, 2021
84
39
38
Nobody needs to fine tune by adjustments of 0.002"!!!!!
When you break it down it is a very tiny adjustment.
I'll probably change the barrel at some point but likely more for the look than anything else.