Newbie to the sport... Appreciate some help from veterans

[Don Yario]

Hey, i just got into the sport and got some questions for you boyz...
I went to a feild with some friends and liked it so went to store and spent a couple hundred bucks with buddies to get started on our own.
Bought:
Brass eagle 14oz. canister
Silver eagle raptor
and the stuff to go with it.. (balls, hopper, etc..)
been hearing a lot of bad stuff bought it and just want to know it i got ripped... good starter setup or what???
Been out to feilds a couple times and am only gettin bought 100 shots with tank i have and gun works pretty well, cept for some accuracy problems...
you guys have any tips or upgrades i can add on to make it a league worthy gun, or just tips to help me make the most of it...
appreciate any info.
thanks:|:confused:

[Duffman989]

Sounds like an ok deal, but you might want to do this (http://pub101.ezboard.com/fbeogfrm5.showMessage?topicID=671.topic) mod.

This way your connecting pin won't break, and it'll last longer.

What kinda of problems are you having with your accuracy?

Also, you should be getting more like 600-700 shots from your 14oz. There might be a leak in the gun, causing the shortage. Or your getting short filled, try getting it filled from a different place.

[Murph1]

I agree with duffman on the Tank problem.

Now, as for making it a tourney worthy gun, I'd say you could probably make it worthy of novice and rookie level tournaments, if you do the mod Duffman recommended already. For accuracy I'd reccomend a new barrel, the CMI Tru-flight barrel, or the Tru-Flight QB (which is supposed to be much quieter thanks to the venting.) are supposed to be solid performers with most kinds of RPS Paintballs. Although the barrel it came from the factory with would be good with RPS/PMI (same thing.) Premium grade paint.

I'd also ask the local proshop if they do modifications. If they say yes, ask them to do a trigger modification to bring the trigger pull stiffness down. While I'm talking about triggers, if you intend to shoot alot, I suggest you get a double trigger if the Raptor you bought didnt already come with one.

For velocity consistancy, which in fact affects accuracy, you are going to want at the least a 6-stage gas expansion chamber, or if you want to go higher-end a Palmer Stabilizer Regulator. Personally I'd go with the gas expansion chamber since the Regulator would go for more than what you probably got the gun for (around 90 bucks nowadays if I'm not mistaken.)

And then once you've got it set up the way you like it, PRACTICE. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. You can never practice enough, work on snapshooting, playing tight into bunkers, sweetspotting, mugging, and all that good speedball tourney crap that I know almost nothing about. :D

[DeFauLt]

if you buy a barrel, dont get a 16" barrel. it wont make you be more accurate. a 12" or 14" will do just as good and let you play your bunker tighter.

[Raptomatic]

Here's some tips for Raptor SE maintainance:

1) Take it apart and clean it after every game. Don't be hesitant, it is easy to put back together.

2) Put some non-petroleum oil in the ASA before you hook up the tank. (nailgun oil works fine, so does Transmission fluid)

3) Don't fire it without gas hooked up.

4) Remember to tighten the grip frame screws very well after taking it apart. This is VERY crucial.

5) Shoot lots of newbies and pro's with it. Gog them if you have to.

6) Don't open up the grip frame unless you totally have to.

7) Modify it until it is completely original!

[Headhunter]

Duffmann: The Silver Eagles pin is more stout than the Green Raptors'. But that mod couldn't hurt.

The Silver Eagle is a decent entry level marker that can be modified to compete with the big dogs.

[Murph1]

The Silver Eagle's pin may be more stout than the old plastic pin used in the Green one, but it's still pot metal, and that's a completely unreliable material unless you're making paperweights. I've bent several pins and outright broken a couple in my SE. That mod is necessary with ALL Raptors.

Oh by the way, I forgot, the Eagleworks barrel is the barrel I use on my Raptor, and for that gun it's my barrel of choice. It's very forgiving to dimpled and oversized paint and very accurate provided it's clean (like all of em.) It just doesnt shoot through breaks that well. But Squeegies are pretty much mandatory with any gun that costs you less than 500 dollars not counting the air source.

[Headhunter]

The Green Raptors' pin is metal. Granted a low grade or poor lathe work, but still metal.

[Duffman989]

Yes, metal or not, it still broke.

Which is why BE came out with the new SS pins.

But I'd still do that mod, since your's probably didn't come with the SS pin. It also helps with double feeding problems.

[Headhunter]

I haven't heard of those. Could you please direct me to a link or something? Thanks.

[paint_suey]

sentenial ts is an excellent marker. it over looked and comes with great features. check it out at pbreview.com forums in the semi reviews. its under a for action sports.

[Don Yario]

thanks alot for the help.. appreciate the info.. just looking around for the hose for that mod. Any other tips like that to make the BE more efficient.
I been lookin round for a decent barrell too, but there's piles of em out there. Instead of given preference, how bout lettin in on whats good to look for in a barrell and what makes 1 shoot better than the other. Then preference and what worked the best :)
Thanks again !

[Murph1]

Here's how you determine if the barrel is good:

1. Is the inside of the barrel polished and very smooth?

2. Is the barrel Ported? (except stock class, porting's illegal.)

3. Does it shoot well through breaks?

4. Does it make my gun too front heavy?

5. Does it fit the paint I usually use?

You gotta read a bunch of tech articles I dont feel like retyping to understand 5, but the gist of them is, the paint should match the barrel. The way you test it is if you can blow the paint through your barrel with just your lungs, you've got a good match.

Also, about the front heavy thing, in general you want your gun balanced so it wants to sit back in the palm of your hand, this makes it easier to maneuver, point shoot, and carry, since you dont feel the weight as much.

[KoRnholio]

Why are people telling the guy about guns he should have bought instead? He already bought the gun. If you want to advertise a gun you like, do it on a thread where someone asked for that, not here.

[gatotsu]

well he is asking if he did make a good choice or not

[Duffman989]

This (http://www.dropzonepaintball.com/dropzone/product.asp?s%5Fid=0&dept%5Fid=686&pf%5Fid=NGDBHLPDAAKEJAAO) one is a new SS pin, I believe.

[Headhunter]

Duffman, Thanks Dude!!:D Exactly what I'm looking for.

[bobalis]

Well don't get me wrong or anything, Brass Eagle is very good for beginners and for people who aren't really into the sport but if you want to upgrade the gun and really get into the sport i suggest a Tippmann Custom 98 or any Spyder brand marker. Both of them are decently priced and can be upgraded a lot. But if you are going to stay at the level right now or do not plan to be really into paintball stick with your Brass Eagle because it perfect for where you are now.

[andy156]

u could have got a gtv1 battle box for about 100 and it comes with every thing u need, or a spyder compact or a black dragun compact.. i had brass eagle evenger.. i took it back and got an xtra. Not to get in the hype or anything i personnaly do not like be guns.

[DeFauLt]

Originally posted by Murph1

2. Is the barrel Ported? (except stock class, porting's illegal.)is this true?

[gatotsu]

i havent heard a such thing -_-

[Headhunter]

I think he means in stock class play ported barrels are not allowed(illegal is another term and can be misleading). Modified-stock class I believe you can have a ported barrel, and a few other "upgrades".

[Murph1]

Ported barrels in stock class guns are not allowed. That's why you can't use the stock phantom barrel in stock class, since it has porting at the end.

The reason why porting in the barrel is better is it vents the excess gas in front of the paintball, as well as behind it, preventing a lot of turbulence that would have made the paintball's flight path rather erratic.

[Headhunter]

Stock class. Has to run on gramlets, right? No upgrades what-so-ever. But if I buy a Phantom, and it has a ported barrel, I can't use it in a stock class tournament if it has a ported barrel? But I can use it in modified stock, right?

And that is only if the barrel is ported? If it's not ported than I'm good to go?

Just need some clarification, thanks for the info.

[Murph1]

Stock class - No porting on barrel (includes muzzle brake), 12 gram co2 powerlets(cartridges) feed tube paralell to the barrel, max capacity of 20 rounds, autotriggering illegal (can have, can't use.) EX: PGP, Splatmaster, Nelspot 007, Palmer super stocker, sidekick stock

Modified stock - Ported barrels allowed, 12 gram powerlets, gravity feed allowed, max capacity 10 rounds gravity-20 paralell, autotriggering illegal (can have, can't use.) EX: Talon, Phantom, Carter Buzzard & Comp.

[folder504]

I was in a similar situation a while back. I had seen paintball, said, hmm, that might be fun, and gone to my local Sports Authority and got the cheapest semi-auto gun they had, the Stingray. To this day, I do not know what pulled me to the Ray, but something told me that it was the gun I MUST get. After I went to some of the online forums, I noticed that the Ray wasn't that great. So I decided to get a new gun, but until I had the money I decided to trick out my Stingray a "little." Well, the first upgrade I bought was a new barrel. Lets just say things exploded from there. I did get a new gun (a Rainmaker) but I haven't stopped tricking the Ray. In less than a year, I turned this:
http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/folder504/stock.jpg

Into this:
http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/folder504/P0001510.jpg

You can do the same.

[Headhunter]

Dude! That is SWEET! And I've heard that people don't respect StingRays'. That is some nice work do there?

[Murph1]

Now all you gotta do is add a magazine kinda like how it is on the AT guns, hehe. A guy gives you crap you just say "How many times a day do YOU get out because of hopper hits?"

[folder504]

Actually, next year (or whenever I can afford it) I want to get a Warp.

[josh_hill]

:eek: folder 504 that is one kick ***** stingray man! what kind of gripframe is that?!!

[folder504]

That's the stock grip frame, heavily modified of course :)
Thank goodness for Dremels!