It's intimidating! It's loud, it's fast, and it's accurate! Out of all the guns I own this is my favorite and see's the most use. At one point I even bought a second one for a back-up. For simplicity I personally think it can't be beat. Maintance is minimal. Regular oiling is all this really needs. In the 6 years I owned my first one the only items to need replacement were the o-rings. No moving parts to jam or break. Barrel removal is as easy as pushing a button and pull. Ball breaks are almost non-existant with it's anti-chop feature. If you have a twitchy trigger finger like me you outright tramatize people with the amount of paint you can lay down with this gun. Even with the stock barrel this is an accurate a gun as they come.
Weaknesses:
I really can't think of anything, but I hear others complain about:
It's loud - but I like it! It scares people!
It's heavy compared to most markers - it's a matter of opinion, I have a 114ci tank mounted on mine with a drop forward. No complaints here!
Conclusion:
People want to see it up close and know what it is when you pull out this monster. You get top quality construction and durability. These days you can find them new and unused for under $240. No need for upgrade gimmicks, this gun comes ready to clean house and with a half decent player handling it, can make a match for anything on the field. If more firepower is needed, you can have it converted to electro-pneumatic for a fraction of what an Angel or E-mag would cost. Spare parts ARE available if needed and there's even an owners group with people who know their stuff at http://air-soldier.com/~apog/ .
This gun is very accurate, I have owned cockers and such and this is by far the most accurate of them all, even with CO2. Rate of fire is very good with a 1/16th of an inch trigger pull, easy to keep a long stream flying, faster than mags and worked cockers. Takes any gas you give it, even liquid CO2 (Siphon tanks, remember those!) with so much as a hiccup. The anti-chop feature worked flawlessly, shot crappy paint and only had to use the reset featur 4 time the whol day, which only takes 1/2 a second anyway.
Stock barrel is awesome, no need to replace. Balance is perfect with a 20oz on the back ASA.
Weaknesses:
It is somewhat heavy if you are a wuss, due to the solid construction of this fine marker. Limited upgrade path (without cusom work), but then you don't really need to do anything to it. Only got 900 shots off of a 20oz, but that is better than some other guns. Hard to get parts, but if you need them go to www.air-soldier.com~apog and contact Justin Beard, he has many parts for great prices. Thats about it.
Conclusion:
I would recommend this marker to anyone who wants something different. It will draw stares and questions when you whip it out. This is the ultimate scenario game gun because it is so versatile and durable. It brought a tear to my good eye when I fired it for the first time. If you want one, go to the site above or try to find one on ebay, either way they are a steal when you consider that the gun was originally sold for 500+ back in 1995!
AWESOME range and accuracy.
Mechanical anti-chop NEVER slices a ball in the case of a misfeed.
Mechanical trigger is a factory stock 1/16 of an inch short.
Straight out of the box it is ready to rumble.
Eats any kind of gas you can put through it and will not freeze.
Can still be found on eBay (sometimes even NEW!!)for under $200.
Each vector was a work of handcrafted art, not just a bunch of stamped out parts slapped together, over-advertised, boxed up and shipped out for sale.
Weaknesses:
Very heavy marker, due to how solid the gun is.
Hard to get parts because the manufacturer is out of business.(but if you need parts go to:
http://air-soldier.com/~apog/
and look for Justin Beard on the message board)
Older models (1993) tended to have a lot of troubles, but later models were tanks!!!!
Conclusion:
Well, out of the box you have an absolute BEAST of a marker. I get looks and questions everytime I pull it out of the case. No upgrade path? don't worry, you really don't need one because it's already there. Though it is a heavy marker, the weight is well worth it to get the kind of range and accuracy it has. The barrel can not be changed for aftermarket barrels (without custom work) and I didn't mark that as a bad point because after shooting with the stock barrel i realized... you just dont need one. Even with crappy, out of round, dimpled up Diablo Midnight paint, I had 0 ball breaks, and it shot like a champ. I didn't give the vector a 10 because it is not a perfect marker. None are. But I would highly recommend a Vector to anyone who is looking for a quality built semi that even 7 years after it's retirement, it still stands head and shoulders above the competition.
