| PCRI Product Evaluation
Maverick Pump Paintgun
The Maverick and Maverick Deluxe are manufactured by Air Concepts Industries
(ACI) of Fontanna, California. For those not familiar, ACI is the company
that manufactured the Trracer for Pursuit Marketing Inc., (PMI). The Maverick
is virtually identical to the Trracer pump-gun which we evaluated several
years ago. Since we did that evaluation so long ago, we felt the Maverick
was worth looking at. We used the Maverick Deluxe for all testing for this
evaluation.
Design/Construction:
The Maverick is about eighteen inches in length and weighs about twenty-six
ounces. The trigger frame, hand grip, and pump handles are manufactured from
a carbon fiber plastic that is very durable. The barrel, receiver, back-bottle
adapter, and sight rail are aluminum. Externally the gun is finished in black.
The Maverick's internals are manufactured from a variety of materials including
stainless steel, brass, and aluminum.
Included with the Maverick is an extra main spring, instruction manual, and
velocity adjusting "down the barrel" allen wrench (with the Maverick Deluxe).
The ACI Maverick features no tool akedown, removable barrel, screw-on sight
rail, "Euro-grips", back-bottle C02 adapter, and auto-trigger. The Maverick
Deluxe comes with all of the above as well as a velocity adjustable bolt
and tool. The Maverick is a very well made paintgun.
Design/Construction rating (4)
Accuracy:
Procedure: With a securely bench mounted paintgun, we fire 200+ rounds of
three different brands at four target distances. At 100 & 125 feet the
target size is 22" x 22". At 50 & 75 feet the target size is reduced
to 8" x 11". All accuracy testing is performed indoors at temperatures of
60-80 degrees (F). For this test we used RP Scherer Marballizer, Proball,
and Zap paintballs.
At a target distance of 125 feet using RP Scherer Marballizer, the Maverick
hit the mark at a rate of 60%. Proball's ratio was 55%, with Zap following
at 54%. At 100 feet the ratios increased to 69% for Marballizer, 68% for
Proball, and 71% for Zap Advantage.
With the reduced target size of 8" X 11", the ratios at 75 feet fell to 56%
for Marballizer, 59% for Proball, and 46% for Zap. At 500 feet the ratios
were 94% for Marballizer, 93% for Proball, and 97% for Advantage.
Observations: Out of the box the Maverick chronographed in the high 270's.
During accuracy testing we fired 2211 rounds of paint encountering five ball
breaks. There were no air leaks or other problems to report. We used a
twenty-ounce regular gas C02 tank for all accuracy testing.
Accuracy rating (3)
Performance tests (field testing, maintenance of velocity, velocity
consistency, etc.)
Field testing: We fired 2350 rounds during field testing in game conditions.
We found no problems with leaks, double feeds, etc., and had four ball breaks.
The auto-trigger worked well and the smooth pump stroke allowed for quick
accurate firing. We were easily able to fire 4+ balls per second using the
Maverick.
Velocity Consistency: All velocity consistency testing was done using a regular
gas C02 tank. Read from right to left.
A sample of what we've found...
277 fps 275 fps 276 fps 272 fps 275 fps 278 fps 278 fps 270 fps 274 fps 273
fps 273 fps 279 fps
average fps 275 fps
low fps 270 fps (-5 fps)
high fps 279 fps (+4 fps)
Maintenance of Velocity shows a gun's ability to hold it's velocity during
rapid firing.
1st shot 274 fps 10th shot 277 fps
1st shot 276 fps 10th shot 270 fps
1st shot 278 fps 25th shot 263 fps
Performance test observations: The Maverick performed great in most areas
of the performance tests. The only weakness appeared to be the velocity drop-off
in long rapid fire strings and slightly above average ball breakage. There
were no malfunctions to report.
Performance test rating (3)
Versatility:
The Maverick is available with a velocity adjuster (on the Deluxe), and with
an under- cocking pump. Standard Trracer barrels will work with the Maverick
as will all other Trracer accessories such as, bottom-lines (Euro style),
spring kits, replacement cup seals, etc. Another nice thing about the Maverick
is that can use a siphon tank in the winter to raise your velocities to useable
levels.
Versatility rating (3)
Maintenance:
Like most Nelson based pump guns, the Maverick is very simple to maintain.
Keep the gun lubricated and cleaned and it should give you very little trouble.
About the only problem you'll have with the Maverick is you'll occasionally
have to change out the cup seal (about a $5 part).
Maintenance rating (4)
Price:
The Maverick retails for just under $100 with the Deluxe selling for around
$10 more. That puts the Maverick close to the lowest priced auto-trigger
pump-gun available (possibly the Tiger Shark is the only lower priced
auto-trigger pump gun available).
Price rating (4)
Conclusion:
The Maverick is a good tough, dependable, inexpensive pump gun. Like the
PMI Trracer, the Maverick will give you the performance of guns costing twice
as much. It won't compete head-to-head with a decent semi, but if you are
looking for a good pump gun, take a closer look at the Maverick.
PCRI IS PLEASED TO AWARD THE ACI MAVERICK OUR FOUR STAR SEAL OF QUALITY. |
