Empire D'fender

[RichB]

I couldn't get to a walk-on game with it but have put another couple of hundred paint through it in the garden (no real substitute I know). I've gotten the knack of taking it apart which is fast and straightforward although I've not had any breaks so I don't know what a real game test will be like, it feeds very well. It's lighter than I thought it would be and once I corrected for shooting high, accuracy was good.

I fully appreciate that I've paid a premium for being an early adopter, which I was happy to do but I do hope that the design is coppied and improved by other manufacturers as well as Empire as I really like it.

Can't wait to use it properly, which probably won't be until the BZ walkon on the 24th.

 

[H]

I couldn't get to a walk-on game with it but have put another couple of hundred paint through it in the garden (no real substitute I know). I've gotten the knack of taking it apart which is fast and straightforward although I've not had any breaks so I don't know what a real game test will be like, it feeds very well. It's lighter than I thought it would be and once I corrected for shooting high, accuracy was good.

I fully appreciate that I've paid a premium for being an early adopter, which I was happy to do but I do hope that the design is coppied and improved by other manufacturers as well as Empire as I really like it.

Can't wait to use it properly, which probably won't be until the BZ walkon on the 24th.

I assume you've only done the basic remove feed tray and 'engine' field strip, unless you've managed to do the full separation of the body halves? How does the hopper section look for accessibility, can you fit your hand in? I'm a bit concerned about if paint gets broken in there (dumping a pod with broken paint or a knock) the whole thing might need to be taken apart.

How does it feel in the shoulder, are you able to comfortably get your goggles down to sight down the barrel?

 

[RichB]

You're correct in that I've only done the basic feed tray and engine strip. My plan is to spend more time with it hopefully tonight or certainly this week as I share your concerns that a break in the hopper section might be awkward to clean. I'll have to post more once I've had the chance to look at how easily this can be accessed and cleaned.

As for shouldering it, I didn't find wearing goggles/mask an issue, although either goggles with a smaller profile such as i4s (which I wear) or a flexible plate such as JTs might be a bit easier. That said, it's not a MagFed marker firing limited FS paint, so you're still more relying on volume and tracking your shots making sighting down the barrel less critical.

 

[H]

I'd greatly appreciate any information you can share. I really fancy myself one but I'm very anxious about any new product that's fresh off the production line. There's very little in the way of full hands on reports online so any findings you could pass on would be great.

I would assume as the feed system requires pressure from the drive cone, once you go below the number of balls it takes to fill the ramp and tray you aren't gonna get any balls into the breach? Unless it's possible to perform some tilty forward action in an emergency?

 

[RichB]

I agree completely and I really thought long and hard about buying one with so little information around. I'm still suprised that there aren't really any comprehensive reviews doing the rounds now that the marker's been released and I know that I took a gamble in picking one up 'blind' so to speak.

Your second point is correct. You need a minimum number of balls in the feed stack to make the thing function (could be around 8-10 but don't quote me) so once you fall below this number it stops feeding. Good point about forward tilty action (!!) - I'll give it a try at the weekend. What I can say is that when you power-off, it reverse spins the rotor to empty any balls that might be sitting in the tube, thus helping to prevent accidential firing. The manual does reccomend lifting the feed tray out at the end of a days play to doubel check that there are no balls still inside, once you've de-gassed.

 

[H]

Are you going to be running a bottle into the ASA or a remote line? They look a lil unwieldy with a bottle but on the other hand remotes can be a bit of a pain when it comes to switching hands.

 

[RichB]

I've never been a fan of remotes for precisely that reason, so I've been running it with a 1.1 Fuel supralite/Ninja bottle. I'll take a couple of pics with my phone when I get home this evening and post. It's not too unwieldy I found.

 

[Care_Bears]

With No hopper on top why worry about switching hands ???

 

[H]

With No hopper on top why worry about switching hands ???

Because you look like a twat snap shooting out the left with your right hand/shoulder.

 

[Care_Bears]

actually you don`t because you angle the gun sideways, It`s not gravity fed !!