Our most affordable marker ever. We're proud to have produced a paintball marker like no other. The Ion was built to be the marker for anyone who loves the game: simple to maintain, easy to use, designed for winning. It takes abuse like a rental gun, but throws paint with the best of them. You'll get the accuracy, range and rate of fire the Pro's enjoy for just a little more money than an entry level marker. The days of having to spend tons of cash to get what you want are over.
Our Features Presentation
� 17 balls per second semi-auto rate of fire with 3 shot burst, 10 bps full auto and our Rebound firing mode.
� Break-beam Vision Anti-Chop System Reliable and durable, the eyes are mounted on a separate board for perfect alignment and not affected by paint or body color. Just clean and replace (in minutes).
� A Featherweight Prizefighter At 2.2 pounds, the Ion is among the lightest high-end markers made, and it�s tube design imparts an ultra low profile.
� Reliability The Ion was engineered to stand up to the demands of professional players. It will outlast what used to be considered high-end and won't break down the minute you get it home.
� Improved Ball Detents Approximately 10 times the service life of current detents.
� Great Efficiency Expect a reliable 1000-1400 shots from a 68ci, 4500psi bottle without any modifications.
� Accuracy & Range The trademarks you expect from Smart Parts.
� Body Kits A first for paintball. High-quality aluminum internals are protected by composite shells, allowing you to instantly change the color or look of your body. Tired of blue? Switch to red. Or black. Or yellow. And there are more body styles in the works...
� Feed Tube with O-Ring Seals Fits a wider range of hoppers than most guns in this price range.
� Tools 1/8" Allen wrench is all you need for primary disassembly--and it�s included, along with trigger and velocity adjustment wrenches and a handy parts kit.
� Impulse Threads Take advantage of the barrels and feed tubes you may already have.
Product Availability
The Smart Parts Ion is newer, so it should be commonly available, both new and used. Check out the Places to Buy links below for places to purchase it new.
Ion /w ANS gear Drop forward, Warrior SL Trigger, 45cu 3000 psi tank, and Hybrid tank cover /w laces.
Recommended Upgrades:
New trigger, new feedneck, and new ASA.
Strengths:
Light, stock barrel is not bad (in my opinion), decent stock board, break beam eyes.
Weaknesses:
The trigger, the feed neck, and the ASA.
Review:
Over all, its a pretty good gun, despite the drawbacks, I have found all the parts I mentioned that need to be upgrade for relatively affordable. And for $150, it's as cheap if not cheaper than a Spyder with the electronic grip frames. They are also great backup guns say if you cocker or Angel or watever you have whent down, the Ion isn't a bad backup.
Conclusion:
If you can only afford 150 dollar gun, this is probably your best bet.
Rating:
9 out of 10
Last edited on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 1:07 pm PST
all- american 14"
empire magna drive
co2 20 oz/ 90/4500 hpa
blackheart board
shocker nxt clamping feedneck
Recommended Upgrades:
a better feed neck
better board
better barrel
Strengths:
Compact
affordable
Weaknesses:
Feedneck
co2 handling
slow
Review:
now as my usual test goes when I get the gun I drop it to make sure it is durable. The gun did not stand up to the sp1 or the vibe for durability but it is much stronger than any spyder i've ever used. The gun is an ok gun I will say.
Weaknesses
The stock eyes that come with are not the best ive ever used but they are good enough for the speed the gun shoots at. The feed neck was absolutely crap. no locks or clamps on it so my first game with it was awful. my hopper fell off 3 times and really bothered me that my magna almost actually broke. The gun also cannot handle co2 in it. If you do use co2 get an anti siphon for them. The board is also very slow. 10 max BPS. Definitely get a better board.
Strengths
For the price that they sell it for however the gun is fairly good in its price range. Slightly more expensive than the vibe mainly because it uses eyes. The gun is also much smaller than most other guns i've used.
Conclusion:
Get it if you really are tight on money or are using hpa which I do prefer over co2. I actually give the gun an 8.5 but since I cannot writ that ill just put 9.
Blue/Silver SP Ion
68/45 Tank
Eggy 2
QEV
Hybrid Grips
CCM Clamping Feedneck
Recommended Upgrades:
--QEV is a MUST
--Clamping feedneck, you dont want to be weaking a feedneck of a $120 loader by sanding it do you?
--Board, stock board is pretty good but for extra functionalyity, upgrade
--Bolt, lowers dwell and operating pressure
--Regulator, the stock one is great on the ion, but the covers get pretty annoying
Strengths:
Fast
Low Operating Pressure
Easy to Upgrade
Weaknesses:
Very hard to get to the bolt
Can't use Hybrid Grips
Review:
So overall this gun is pretty good for someone who is just getting there first solednoid operated marker. The feedneck needs to upgraded because most loaders won't fit into it, and sanding down the feedneck of you $80+ loader is really bad. The ion doesn't shoot as fast without QEV when you have an uncapped board, it can shoot 18ish bps with uncapped board, stock internals, no QEV, 26-28ish with QEV, same setup. The operating pressure, is about 150ish stock, with 54 dwell. Upgrades drop the dweel pretty well, the operating pressure tends to go down a little bit, I think to lowest the ion can go it about 130.
Conclusion:
Do NOT use Hybrid Grips, find THICK grips, the screws will to into the capacitor on the board and destroy it.
Great marker, giving it a STRONG 8, would be a 9 but grips is hard things to find for it.
tippmann 98 custom
3 position car stock
20 in. barrel
bi-pod adapter
bi-pod
sealed bolt system
daisy scope
raised sight rail
custom mag kit
Recommended Upgrades:
Better Barrel
Blackheart
Strengths:
Speed
Price
Weaknesses:
Stock Board
Review:
I got this marker and was amazed about how fast it shot right out of the box...mine had a leak when i got it, leaked from the front banjo... so i sent it to smart parts and they fixed it...use this marker as my main, and that won't change anytime soon...
Conclusion:
I'd recommend this marker to any player... it's accurate for woodsball and fast for speedball
Halo B W/V35
Ninja 48/300
Clamping Feedneck
Drop Forward
Recommended Upgrades:
NEW TRIGGER
NEW FEEDNECK
Virtue OLED
Strengths:
very, very, very consistent
Light
Extremely quiet
No kickback whatsoever
Weaknesses:
Bad trigger
Hard to take apart
tough to change modes
Power button annoying
Review:
The Smart Parts ion is an amazing gun. I would go as far as to say that it is the best gun under 250. The gun, when you shoot it, feels like nothing at all, probably due to the spool valve. it is far better than the Proto Slg, the Spyder Electra, and the Azodin Blitz
Conclusion:
I reccommend buying the Warrior IOn from ANS gear, because it comes with a clamping feedneck, aluminum body kit and front grip, and a better trigger. the dynasty and redz ions are options too. with a few upgrades, the ion can perform as well as a 300$ to 500$ gun.
Multiple flavors of Spyder
Early Angels (pre-04)
Diablo Wrath
Marker Setup:
Ion with CP Trigger, CP On/Off ASA, CP Clamping Feedneck, Redz Pepperstick 12" Barrel, Spyder Fasta 18v Hopper
Recommended Upgrades:
Feedneck, On/Off ASA, new barrel
Strengths:
Lightweight
Fast
Quiet
Stable
Weaknesses:
Volume of Fire
Trigger
Review:
I've been a recball player since college, playing every once in a while generally with a stock automag or an archaic but tricked Spyder. I've tried out several markers in this class and above, pretty much every one I could get my hands on. I settled on buying an Ion after getting buried in paint one day at the field and realizing my trusted but ancient markers were no longer usable for my playstyle. I also wanted to treat myself to a decent marker.
The Ion is a much maligned marker. I purchased mine stock (save for an aftermarket trigger) and used from eBay with 68/45 tank and Fasta hopper. I was non-plussed by the plastic shroud, but that passed quickly when I compared the heft of it to the automag. Before I even shot it, I replaced the duckbill with an On/Off ASA and the feedneck with a CP clamping feedneck, as the Fasta hopper didn't fit the OEM feedneck at all. I shot a hopper through it, and it felt good. Consistent at the chronograph with the stock LPR; +/- 2 FPS. The gun seems to handle 17 bps without issue, and has a reasonably nice staccato sound when it reaches that rate. Virtually no physical response from the gun when firing (no kick), very stable despite it's relatively light weight (I'm a big guy though, so light may be relative). The stock barrel is decent, though the Redz barrel I threw on there did give some performance improvement.
It's not a top-flight marker. Better players with better markers still beat me in a shootout. However, it's all but ideal for the recball player; cheap enough to splurge on, nice aftermarket options, reasonably fast and very reliable (in my experience). I can play all day without my arm feeling like it's going to fall off, but it doesn't feel wimpy like a lot of light weight markers do. It's as fast as if not faster than most of the other owners I play with, but mellow enough to avoid overshooting (for the most part). It's very paint tolerant, as I tend to shoot the cheapest stuff I can find that isn't banned at the local fields. It's obviously faster than anything a Tippmann can do, and of course outshoots any Spyder I've tried.
I've seen Ions at the field that have problems. I can't really speak to that, as I've not faced the same issues with mine, but I know others have had trouble. I tear mine down and clean and regrease it after every day at the field, and I attribute some of it's all but flawless record to being well maintained. Teardown isn't bad, though it's not necessarily easy either. You do have to tear it down completely to get to the bolt, a minor annoyance for me.
I've now played with it for a year, and it's still running like clockwork. It runs down batteries in a hurry, which is an annoyance. Gas efficiency seems decent enough, nothing out of the ordinary with that.
Conclusion:
The bottom line is this marker puts you at the upper end of the performance curve for recball play. It's a good intermediate marker with plenty of potential. It's not high end, but it's as good as anything at this price point. I have recommended it to friends and collegues looking to spend a little for a lot more performance.
cp feedneck
sp dovetail and on/off
critical trigger
virtue board qev and eyes
freak jr. kit
cp reg
fire bolt
Recommended Upgrades:
feedneck
barrel
asa
bolt
qev
Strengths:
Quick
Super light
Quiet
Small
Air efficiency
Weaknesses:
You have to take the whole gun apart to clean it
Review:
Feedneck: the stock is a complete disaster
Barrel: the stock isn't that bad but it isnt any were near the best
Asa: the duck bill is uncomfortable for most people
Bolt: the stock isnt bad but isnt as air efficient as the others
Board: the stock board kinda sucks. with tadao or virtue it is a much better gun
Qev: the stock is just fine but the virtue is much more air efficient
Reg: the stock reg is just fine but its not as comfortable to me as the cp
Trigger: the stock is ok but with the critical or cp it is so much smoother
Conclusion:
I truly like the ion because of its size and weight. There are many haters out there but dont hate it just to fit in with the crowd. Go and try it for yourself!
Let's start with the board..
It's alright. Good enough for a $165 gun. You take the board and the solenoid coil doesn't even have a cover on it... You have to be very careful when taking this gun apart so you don't damage anything.. All the blinking lights for changing the aspects of the board gave me a headache really fast... Not a big fan of that..
ASA..
Ok... Are you serious??!?!?!? A duckbill ASA? Oh, comon Smart Parts... Are you seriously that cheap? This ASA makes the setup of the gun very uncomfortable..
Trigger..
Haha... Wow... Such a cheap trigger.. It seriously just snapped down the middle and held on by a piece.. So my trigger was seriously just dangling there, off of the top half of it in the middle of a game... So, unless you want to be playing with half of a trigger, you have to get a new one.
Feedneck...
And again, they took the cheap way out and went with the O-Ring feedneck... It takes a lot of force to get a hopper onto this feedneck.. I was one of those people that had to sit there with my gun held between my legs turnign and twisting the hopper to get it on.. If you want to be able to cope with this gun you'll probably need a clamping feedneck.
Bolt..
To be honest, this doesn't really need upgraded.. I just couldn't stand how loud the other one is so i got this one.. And when I took my old bolt out and held it next to the new one, The only difference between them is that Smart Parts was too lazy to mill out the middle of the bolt... They could've easily given us better bold but they were trying tot cut down on costs..
Regulator..
I haven't upgraded this regulator.. I know it would help the gun a lot if I did, but I'm so tired of puting so much money into upgrading this thing that I just said screw it and I just haven't done anything about the reg.. The reg has a frickin +/- 25 fps on each shot.... 25!!!! so that means, if you get the gun going around 280, it will be shooting through the range of probably 255-315... So, as you can imagine, this gun has some bad drop off...
Conclusion:
Unless you want to spend $150 or more in upgrades for this gun, don't buy it... Just save your money a little more and buy a better gun... Or you could even just buy the Vibe which is cheaper then the Ion, but it's actually better!! Haha... That just shows you how cheap Smart Parts is... They make a bad version and sell it for more jsut because it has eyes... Guys, please don't buy this gun.. You'll be a lot happier with something else.
-ANS roller trigger
-Custom made power button
-NDZ diamond body
-Warrior Breech
-Warrior firing can
-Warrior doughnut
-Virtue Eyes
-Empire Clamping Feedneck
-Freak Jr. Barrel
-1911 grips
TechT L7 bolt
CP ASA
^on the way ;)
Recommended Upgrades:
-Trigger
-Feedneck
-Barrel should be upgraded..... If you upgrade it you'll notice how much more accurate the gun is.
Only things that are total garbage on this marker... They will break or screw you up in a game, and buying even a cheap trigger or feedneck will make a HUGE noticeably difference.
Strengths:
-Shoots great
-AFFORDABILITY
-Easy to take apart
-The regulator is VERY consistent
-Shoots great
Weaknesses:
-The stock trigger is very cheap plastic
-The feedneck isn't clamping
Review:
The ion is a great gun, there's so many upgrades out there that you can have you "ION" shooting faster than a dye. The customability of the gun is amazing. Your ion can be uniquely you.
There are so many great things about this gun including the price that makes this gun great for entry level players to pros. Instead of buying a new gun when you get better and your walking the trigger faster than the board shoots, you can just upgrade the gun to your specifications. This allows the player to customize the gun while keeping his/her wallet full of cash.
One thing that I have to say that I dislike about the gun is the board and the stock ASA. The board is capped off at 17bps which isn't too bad, but you would get wrecked playing someone with even a shocker. The worst thing about this is that a new board such as a black heart or a virtue would kill someone's wallet. The ASA after disassembling the gun starts to move around and wiggle slightly and hopefully this isn't because of the frame...Some locktite would probably fix that up really quickly.
Overall, this is an amazing gun and don't listen to all those people who give it horrible reviews just because Smart Parts makes it. It is a great user friendly gun, that shoots pretty good out of the box but can be upgraded to a pro level marker with some time and money.
The stock feedneck is junk. I actually twisted the feedneck out of the top of the marker trying to remove my Halo, aside from that the stock set-up isn't bad. the barrel is reasonably accurate, the regulator is reasonably consistent, the board and eyes work like they should.
Overall I like this marker. I've since upgraded it with a Blackheart board, CP trigger, SP clamping feedneck, Shockteck LP regulator, Freak barrel system, SP firebolt, SP 360 QEV, SP S-rail and on-off ASA, NDZ fire chamber and swivel donut, Lucky spring detents, and have ordered a TechT Sleeper body to make maintenance easier. I can fire my typical 1000 rounds without needed to refill my 68/4500.
I've been using this marker for a little over two years in the woods, beat the crap out of it, and it always performs. The modular design makes upgrading easy, and there's a large variety of upgrades available to choose from. The only thing I'd like to point out is that using a QEV with a very light bolt like the TechT L7 is that the bolt will move forward fast enough to occasionally crack a ball in the breach. If you want an ultra light bolt, skip the QEV.
Conclusion:
I'd recommend this marker to people who like to tinker and upgrade and are capable of handling the upgrading themselves. If you're an entry level player who isn't proficient at modifying markers the Vibe is a better bet.
By the time you're done upgrading, the cost of the marker is in the $650 CDN range, but the performance is excellent. I'm giving the Ion a 9 because it is a basic platform that allows you to get exceptional performance as your budget allows, and I've had no reliability issues. I do not consider upgrading parts to be a negative issue, and aside from the stock feedneck, the marker is fine out of the box.
