Paintball News/Rumors Welcome to the third edition of PCRInet. There is kind of a down time in the Paintball industry right now, althought there are some things happening.

First off, Sheridan has introduced their new blow-back semi-auto called the JTX. This gun should compete in the Spyder/Tippmann market. The JTX uses the same barrel threads as the Spyder and will be compatable with most aftermarket Spyder barrels. 

JT Paintball has introduced ther new "J-Ball" paintballs, which are available now, mainly on the west coast.  There was a rimor going around that J-Balls were produced by Banner Inc., former encapsulator of the "California Magnum" label. We have been told that this is not true, that J-Balls are manufactured by an encapsulator new to the Paintball industry.

Speaking of paintball manufacturing, Mike Ratko, formerly of Accucaps (Zap), is now with ProCaps, makers of Diablo Paintballs. Brass Eagle's new paintball-only facility has been up and running for a while now and is producing a really first quality paintball (more on this in the PCRI Special Edition).

BACK TO TOP

Product Evaluations

Extreme Rage Gear Bag
Extreme Rage of Fort Meyers, Florida (1.888.8800911) has a new line of butt packs, and apparel, and has recently introduced their new Extreme Rage Gear Bag. This is not your average run-of-the-mill gear bag. It's a well thought out, feature rich bag that will hold most anything you have in the way of Paintball gear.

Design/Construction

The Extreme Rage Gear Bag is manufactured from the usual materials found in a gear bag. However, this one is padded on the sides, top, and bottom, and holds its shape even when there is nothing inside the bag. All stress points on the bag are double and triple stitched.

The bag measures twenty-eight inches in length, twelve inches wide, and sixteen inches high. There are two straps which velcro together, a detachable (heavy duty zipper) goggle compartment, two gun sections, an end compartment, and a main compartment. The two gun sections are velcro'd in and can be removed easily at any time.

The top closure is a double zipper type with a six-inch flap. When closed, the zipper can be covered with another flap that velcros to the center. The Extreme Rage Gear Bag is probably the best made bag we've seen.

Design/Construction rating [4]

Performance/Versatility

When you're talking about performance from your gear bag, there's not really much to say-- the Extreme Rage Gear Bag is very well padded, has many different compartments to keep gear from hitting against each other, and it's large enough to hold two complete gun set-ups, your goggles, shoes, and accessories.

The gear bag is also versatile in that components can be removed or added easily, to fit your needs on any given day.

Performance/Versatility rating [4]

Price

Here's the sticky point--At around $150, the Extreme Rage Gear Bag is one of the higher priced bags out there. However, it is easily one of the better, more versatile, protective bags you'll find anywhere.

Price rating [3]

Conclusion

The more serious you get about playing Paintball, the more and better quality gear you'll get. Hence, protecting and hauling your stuff becomes important. $150 may not be too much to spend if you're hauling two $1500 electronic semi-autos and a trunk full of accessories.

PCRI IS PLEASED TO AWARD THE EXTREME RAGE GEAR BAG OUR FOUR STAR SEAL OF QUALITY.

BACK TO TOP

On The Edge
As the NPPL gets ready for event number three of the 1999 season, we've got the current standings/rankings for you to date. Here's what it looks like as of May 26th.

Pro Division
Avalanche - 1st place (100 ranking points)
Southern California Ironmen - 2nd place (96 points)
All Americans - 3rd place (93 points)
Bad Company - 4th place (76 points)
Team Image - 5th place (75 points)
Lockout - 6th place (72 points)
Ground Zero - 7th place (67 points)
Bob Long's ironmen - 8th place (58 points)
Aftershock - 9th place (39 points)
Rage - 10th place (38 points)

Amateur "A" Division
All Americans II - 1st place (96 ranking points)
OBR - 2nd place (93 points)
Farside - 3rd place (79 points)
Outta Control - 4th place (76 points)
Paraplegic Turtles - 5th place (64 points)
Diggers - 6th place (57 points)
Ground Zero Gold - 7th place (52 points)
Naughty Dogs - 8th place (46 points)
Thunderstruck - 9th place (43 points)
Oh-Nos - 10th place (38 seed points)

We'll have the amateur "B" rankings next issue.

Pro Stuff:

By now you're probably aware that Oh Pawlak left Bob Long's Ironmen at the end of the 1998 season in favor of retirement. We looked at some facts about Oh that may surprize you. When Oh left Bad Company in 1996, they were ranked 4th in the NPPL.  Their highest ranking until this year has been 8th. Oh played with Texas Storm in the 1994 World Cup where they finished 4th in the pro ten-man division.  Texas Storm never reached the NPPL finals (ten-man) again. Bob Long's Ironmen finished the year ranked 1st overall in the NPPL pro division in 1998. In 1999 without Oh, they are ranked 8th.

Looking at Aftershock's current NPPL ranking, you have to wonder if they will ever dominate again like they have in the past. W've heard that 'Shock has lost Dino Yario and Heavy "D" since Dallas as well.  We'll keep you posted as things change.

A quick note on the amateur "A" side......Todd Peverill (yes that's Pev's brother) has recently joined Turbulence of New Jersey. Turbulence is planning on attending the remaining NPPL events this season. 

BACK TO TOP

Tips from the Workbench

The Angel's External Components

Infinity Series Barrel: The Angel's standard barrel is manufactured from hard anodized aluminum and is fourteen-inches in length. The barrel screws into the body (six and one- half turns) and no o-rings are required. The barrel is a smooth bore type and has five rows of drilled ports that help quiet the barrel down when firing.

Main Body: The Angel's main body is also manufactured from hard anodized, polished aluminum (black) and contains a ball detent, Rotabreech, and vertical feed tube. A sight rail is machined into the rear of the main body, but is relatively useless since your vision will be blocked by the vertical feed tube and hopper. The .45 grip-frame is attached to the main body with two allen screws. (Use your 3 mm allen wrench to remove the screws.) The Mini Reg is also attached to the main body via the vertical-bottle adapter (with one allen screw) and is connected to the grip-frame via the air tube.

Rotabreech: The Rotabreech is manufactured from aluminum and is machined to hold the bolt. Opening the Rotabreech is a snap (see "Removing the Bolt" in the "General Maintenance" section of this guide) and is extremely helpful in quick-cleaning the bolt and breech on the field.

Regulator: The Mini Reg regulator that is standard on the Angel is manufactured from the same materials as the body, grip frame, and barrel, and has a matching anodized finish. A Micro-Line adapter is supplied with the regulator. Older versions of the Mini Reg have a push button on/off (red/green). New versions have no on/off valve. It is left to the user to have a bleed valve and on/off somewhere in the system. Most high pressure systems have on/off valves these days, but unless you want to shoot the hose and gun empty of air, you'll need a bleed as well.

To remove the regulator and vertical-bottle adapter from the gun you'll first need to remove the two grip-frame allen screws (3 mm allen wrench). Next unscrew the regulator body from the vertical-bottle adapter. (At first glance you might think the regulator is one piece that is attached to the main body. In fact the regulator simply screws into the vertical-bottle adapter.) You can do this simply be turning the regulator body counterclockwise. Inside the top portion of the vertical-bottle adapter you will find one allen screw (4 mm head) that holds the adapter onto the main body. The air tube is held onto the grip-frame with one black rubber o-ring. Be careful not to lose the small rubber o-ring that rests between the vertical-bottle adapter and the bottom of the main body.

.45 Grip Frame: The aluminum .45 grip-frame houses the trigger assembly and attaches to the main body with two allen screws. The air tube connects the regulator to the grip-frame. The bottom of the trigger guard has a hole machined into it to allow you to use a t-handle allen wrench to loosen the frontmost allen screw. The on/off for the electronics is also mounted in outside of the grip-frame (rear slide switch).

A quick look at the inside of the grip frame will reveal the Angel's brains--the circuit board. To get to the circuit board you'll need to remove the four allen screws that hold the rubber grips on the grip frame. Use your 2.5 mm allen wrench to remove the four screws. With the gun facing forward you'll see the adjustable electronics on the left side of the grip frame--the right side is the back of the board. There are two adjustable switches or screws--the top one is always the rate of fire switch, and the bottom one is the dwell switch (more on these later). These are adjustable using a small flat-head screwdriver.

A note on older boards--these are known to have "heat stroke" problems which will cause very low velocity problems or your gun to shut down completely. If you've experienced these problems you can exchange your board or replace the bad capacitor by going to an Angel service center.

Disconnecting the circuit board: Once the rubber grips are removed, disconnecting the board is simple, but you need to be extremely careful not to damage the board. The easiest way I have found to remove the board is by using a very small flat-head screwdriver and pushing upward a little at a time on each end. Push upward towards the bottom of the main body.

Ball detent: The Angel's ball detent is manufactured from aluminum externally and contains a nylon ball bearing which faces inward. Be careful not to over- tighten the detent as it will protrude too far into the breech where it will be hit by the bolt.

Next issue we'll look the Angel's internal components.

From Square One
(coming June 9th)

BACK TO TOP