I am a paintball pro shop owner and I have shot almost every marker ever made. When we purchased an E-Mag for the shop it sat on the wall for a long time. Everyone was interested in it, and asked many questions about it's performance. Seeing as I had never used one in prolonged tournament or rec ball use, I didn't have many answers to all the questions. This forced me to buy one for myself and give it a good trial by fire.
On my E-Mag I have a Air America Armageddon 88 ci 4,500 psi nitrogen system, AGD Warp Feed system, Viewloader 12 volt Revolution, Dye drop forward, macro line with slide check, and a Smart Parts freak barrel system. After everything is hooked up, gassed up and loaded with paintballs it weighs in at 12 pounds 3 ounces. For a paintball marker that you will be holding all day long, it is heavy.
The opperating pressure of an E-Mag is reccomended between 600 and 800 psi. I set the pressure to 600 psi, and checked velosity over a radar chrono. It had a +/- 5 fps fluxuation at the most. Not too bad over all. With that set, I adjusted the trigger. This is the single most awesome feature of the E-Mag. The trigger has magnets instead of springs. By removing magnets in the main body above the trigger, you decrease the resistance of the trigger pull. I have one magnet with a small spacer under it to give me a super light pull, yet very quick return. The other magnet is on the back side of the trigger itself. This is the magnet that "trips" the hall effect switch that sends the signal to the circut board to fire the marker. A hall effect switch uses magnetic force to create an electrical signal. basically, when a magnetic force is close enough to the hall effect, it will "click on" like a micro switch. This magnet is adjustable with a small grub screw. By moving the magnet closer to the grip frame, (where the hall effect switch is located), you can adjust how far the trigger pull will have to go before the marker will fire. I didn't have to fool around with this too much before I found a very nice trigger set up. Now to set the trigger pull limit, all you have to do is adjust a small grub screw on the "manual/Electronic" lever. Turn the screw in, and you get less pull length, very simple. After all was said and done, it took maybe 15 minutes to get the trigger excactly where I like it. Another benifit of the magnets is the "feel" of the trigger pull. Due to the magnets, the trigger pull get's lighter and lighter the farther it travels. Other triggers that use springs get harder and harder to pull due to you compressing a spring with the pull of a trigger. Pretty sweet.
Ok, now to address the other features. This marker is actually 3 in 1. First you have mechanical mode. In all respects it opperates 100%% like a Auto Mag R/T. It has the reactive trigger, and no use of the electronic's. Next is pure electronic mode. This is where the short, light and crisp trigger pull is. In all respects it is just like any other electonic marker. Now you have the totally revolutionary and unique "Hybrid" mode. This is a mix of both manual and electronic mode's in one. The trigger is the short electronic, but the "kick back" on the trigger from manual mode is present. In this mode, shooting 14+ balls a second with a warp feed is totally possible. I have done it on many occations!
Another great feature is the charging of the battery pack. By removing a thumb screw the battery slides off the grip frame and can then be put on the car charger. No need to leave your nice new, expensive marker in your car for all to see...and steal! Heck, you can play a few games in mechanical mode while your battery is charging in you car! Try that with an Angel LCD!!!
To dissasemble the marker just remove on thumb screw in the back of the grip frame. The whole valve assemble then slides out the back. Very easy, very fast.
Ok, now out to play on a field with it. With the warp feed system and the ability to shoot faster than any other marker ever made, the E-Mag is unstoppable. With the rate of fire and the trigger adjustments, 14 balls a second was possible 100%% of the time. Simply an amazing piece of equiptment.
Weaknesses:
A few things are worth mention here. The weight is a major factor to most people. I got used to it very quickly. It's sort of like driving a compact car for your whole life, then trying to drive a 18 wheeler. You can do it, but it will get some getting used too.
The electronic "Kill" switch is a plastic pin that is inserted into the battery pack to break the electrical connection. I put a lanyard from a nitrogen fill nipple dust cap on it, and connected it to my macro line. A switch would be much better then this "key." I could see it being lost very quickly if not attached by a lanyard to the gun.
The owners manual was a bit dissapointing. AGD has always been a company to let nothing be less then perfect. The owners manual is just a photo copied stack of paper stapled together. A nice spiral bound, full color manual would be appreciated.
To really take full advantage of this marker a warp feed system is almost a must. But then again, the warp feed is something I will never play without!
Conclusion:
After playing with this E-Mag for about 3 months, I can honestly say it is my favorite maker I have ever owned. Like I said before, I own a paintball pro shop and have played with just about every marker ever made. Now if that doesn't say something for the performance of this marker, I don't know what else will.
how much weight does the warp feed add? If you were using this marker just with a force feed loader, would it still be considerably heavier than other markers?
the warp is 15 ounces, plus batteries. you're looking at a full pound. a pound is like...probably about.. half the weight of your keyboard, so you can use it as a benchmark. If you're using JUST a halo, then you're adding the same weight, if not more, 180 balls, 6 AA's, and the motor etc. and then you have something with the same dimensions as an Egg II up top, I'm getting a warp in about a week for my IR3, can't wait :)... everyone hates them and telling me it's a waste. LOL they've never even used one, and i have, so it's their loss.
Last edited on Saturday, April 2nd, 2005 at 11:42 am PST
what the heck, get both! try em both out and sell the one you dont like or keep em both for different situations. thats what i would do..... if i were rich :)
