This is a somewhat self indulgent and smug article im writing, mainly because ive just achieved one of my biggest paintball related goals; building an autococker.
I started playing paintball back in 2008 when a friend of mine recounted his stories of tournament speedball and his team; Team Zone. This is what got me hooked and, much like most players, I began looking into getting my own kit so that I too could begin walk ons and become an international superstar on a paintball field. My first choice in terms of tools was the Smart Parts Ion which, to my new school eye, looked perfectly suitable for my needs. I thought id consult Rob before I invested in this shiny bit of kit so he could verify my choice before my hard earned pennys disappeared off into the strasophere. I strolled into his office and announced my choice whereby his face crumpled into a look of disappointment and slight disgust. I was quickly told to 'forget all that plastic sh!t' and that he would sell me one of his old team guns that would out shoot anything I could possibly face in the woods. So off I went to buy my very first gun, and a old pro gun at that. Had I had a tail it would have been wagging with vigour. By the end of the day I was the owner of a Planet Eclipse Factory Eblade autococker, although I only found that out much later. All I knew at the time was that it was a pro's gun and that I thought it beautiful. I knew nothing of sweetspotting or timing or the various other complexities associated with cockers, I just assumed this gun was my way to stardom.
So forward 4 years. The autococker had served me very well (until i mistakenly stripped the threading out of my angel air ASA) but It had long been related to the kit bag at the latter end of 2008 when id exchanged an eblade for an SA80. In 2012 I played a punter day out im Cyprus with some mates from work where my love for paintball was rekindled and with my return to the UK being imminent I began looking into kit once again. This time I settled for a Proto Rail and at my first walk on in 4 years it stunned me with its rate of fire, light weight, and sleek looks. I looked darkly at my heavy eblade and decided that I didnt want such an outdated piece of sh!t and that my road to stardom lay in the hands of DYE. I quickly sold the cocker and almost immediately missed it, its weight, its external moving parts, its stupid inability to ramp. The Rail, predictably, broke and I moved onto an 09 ego which came close to satisfying the hole left by my autococker but not quite, it wasnt quite enough. The old school class just wasnt there.
Fast forward 18 months. I was coming to the end of my deployment in Afghanistan and I thought as a welcome home present to myself I would buy the Shocktech SFL 09 body kit and satisfy the hole that had been burning in me since the departure of the eblade. Once again I failed to realise the complexities of the project I had just begun and it wasnt until a few days later that I realised I knew nothing about autocockers. In a rush of panic I bombarded this forum, pbnation and custom cockers for information on what id just got myself into. The ensuing replies were less than reassuring; the sfl took a shocker feed neck, its frame wouldnt work with WGP triggers, shocktech trigger plates were non existent, its lower tube was often too tight for to fit valves that hadnt been shaved down. I was sickened by the realisation that I had neither the skill nor the knowledge on how to bring this project to fruition but decided that if it was going to be a motherf**ker then it would be the most high end motherf**ker that I could make. I contacted Steve Belsey and ordered a full set of EVO pneumatics and internals to compliment the body kit id bought. This is what it looked like in those early stages:
I then began searching for the nuisance parts such as the vertical air source adaptor that screwed into the front block, the shocker feedneck and an HPR What i was left with looked like this:
It was slowly coming together. The trigger frame had proved to be a tough nut to crack but I got a WGP trigger plate to work finally. It was sloppy but it worked. I then searched for a barrel, grips, and an ASA which came in dribs and drabs. Then it was off for anno. Id had a very specific idea of what colour scheme I wanted from the very beginning; it was in homage to planet eclipse's elemental Ego 11 but the dirty earth colour was to be replaced by a British racing green. This is the final result:
The anno was, of course, flawless because I had Renie do it and I couldn't have asked for a better look. I aimed to make a unique, high end autococker and save some LPR hosing and some macroline ive done just that it.
I coin it the ShockSales EvoTech.
I would like to thank @renie, @Everyinchtheanimal, @DR MANHATTAN, @Gee Tee, @Bluey and @user_name for all their help with this project. Without their help, support and knowledge this project would never have been completed. Thankyou gentlemen
And to those who have read this far, I thank you for your patience and interest. I hope youve enjoyed it.
I started playing paintball back in 2008 when a friend of mine recounted his stories of tournament speedball and his team; Team Zone. This is what got me hooked and, much like most players, I began looking into getting my own kit so that I too could begin walk ons and become an international superstar on a paintball field. My first choice in terms of tools was the Smart Parts Ion which, to my new school eye, looked perfectly suitable for my needs. I thought id consult Rob before I invested in this shiny bit of kit so he could verify my choice before my hard earned pennys disappeared off into the strasophere. I strolled into his office and announced my choice whereby his face crumpled into a look of disappointment and slight disgust. I was quickly told to 'forget all that plastic sh!t' and that he would sell me one of his old team guns that would out shoot anything I could possibly face in the woods. So off I went to buy my very first gun, and a old pro gun at that. Had I had a tail it would have been wagging with vigour. By the end of the day I was the owner of a Planet Eclipse Factory Eblade autococker, although I only found that out much later. All I knew at the time was that it was a pro's gun and that I thought it beautiful. I knew nothing of sweetspotting or timing or the various other complexities associated with cockers, I just assumed this gun was my way to stardom.
So forward 4 years. The autococker had served me very well (until i mistakenly stripped the threading out of my angel air ASA) but It had long been related to the kit bag at the latter end of 2008 when id exchanged an eblade for an SA80. In 2012 I played a punter day out im Cyprus with some mates from work where my love for paintball was rekindled and with my return to the UK being imminent I began looking into kit once again. This time I settled for a Proto Rail and at my first walk on in 4 years it stunned me with its rate of fire, light weight, and sleek looks. I looked darkly at my heavy eblade and decided that I didnt want such an outdated piece of sh!t and that my road to stardom lay in the hands of DYE. I quickly sold the cocker and almost immediately missed it, its weight, its external moving parts, its stupid inability to ramp. The Rail, predictably, broke and I moved onto an 09 ego which came close to satisfying the hole left by my autococker but not quite, it wasnt quite enough. The old school class just wasnt there.
Fast forward 18 months. I was coming to the end of my deployment in Afghanistan and I thought as a welcome home present to myself I would buy the Shocktech SFL 09 body kit and satisfy the hole that had been burning in me since the departure of the eblade. Once again I failed to realise the complexities of the project I had just begun and it wasnt until a few days later that I realised I knew nothing about autocockers. In a rush of panic I bombarded this forum, pbnation and custom cockers for information on what id just got myself into. The ensuing replies were less than reassuring; the sfl took a shocker feed neck, its frame wouldnt work with WGP triggers, shocktech trigger plates were non existent, its lower tube was often too tight for to fit valves that hadnt been shaved down. I was sickened by the realisation that I had neither the skill nor the knowledge on how to bring this project to fruition but decided that if it was going to be a motherf**ker then it would be the most high end motherf**ker that I could make. I contacted Steve Belsey and ordered a full set of EVO pneumatics and internals to compliment the body kit id bought. This is what it looked like in those early stages:
I then began searching for the nuisance parts such as the vertical air source adaptor that screwed into the front block, the shocker feedneck and an HPR What i was left with looked like this:
It was slowly coming together. The trigger frame had proved to be a tough nut to crack but I got a WGP trigger plate to work finally. It was sloppy but it worked. I then searched for a barrel, grips, and an ASA which came in dribs and drabs. Then it was off for anno. Id had a very specific idea of what colour scheme I wanted from the very beginning; it was in homage to planet eclipse's elemental Ego 11 but the dirty earth colour was to be replaced by a British racing green. This is the final result:
The anno was, of course, flawless because I had Renie do it and I couldn't have asked for a better look. I aimed to make a unique, high end autococker and save some LPR hosing and some macroline ive done just that it.
I coin it the ShockSales EvoTech.
I would like to thank @renie, @Everyinchtheanimal, @DR MANHATTAN, @Gee Tee, @Bluey and @user_name for all their help with this project. Without their help, support and knowledge this project would never have been completed. Thankyou gentlemen
And to those who have read this far, I thank you for your patience and interest. I hope youve enjoyed it.
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