Paintball x3

Everyone who has spent more than five minutes in paintball already knows that a paintball gun with the word “Ego” on it is light, fast, attractive and reliable. Egos have been that way since they were first released. The hard part for Planet Eclipse, then, is to continually elevate their top-line tournament marker to new levels of style and performance. While this must assuredly be a great challenge, Eclipse rises to it with each passing year and the 2010 model is no exception. Starting with their time-tested formula for success with the Ego, which includes a long list of standard features like the Shaft3 two-piece, ported barrel, offset vertical clamping feed tube, break beam anti-chop eyes with metal eye covers, high and low-pressure regulators, a purging on/off bottle adapter on a strong t-rail instead of a dovetail, comfortable .45 grip frame with a magnetic or spring-returned optical or micro-switch activated blade double trigger and LCD readout, Delrin bolt that removes in a fraction of a second and attractive milling and anodizing, the Ego Ten is off to a great start out of the box. However, Eclipse used this long list of features as a jumping-off point for 2010 rather than a goal, and has attempted to improve upon their proven recipe for success in as many ways as possible.

Added to the already impressive list of standard Ego features for 2010 are a host of new upgrades and updates intended to further refine the already successful Ego marker. The standard bolt on the Ego10 is the Eclipse Cure3 model, itself a culmination of numerous models, now easier on paint than ever before. The Cure3 bolt allows for the use of even the most brittle tournament-grade paintballs without the frustrating chops and breaks that can ruin a point, a game, a match or a tournament. The rammer housed within the bottom tube of this stacked-tube, poppet-valve marker is also an improved model, the Eclipse Zick2, which reduces the perceptible recoil or “kick” during firing and also contributes to the marker’s ability to fire brittle paintballs without breaking them. An added bonus of the improved rammer is reduced wear and tear on internal components, which in-theory should make one of the most reliable tournament paintball guns in the world even more-so.

The electronic systems which power and control the Ego have been drastically improved, overhauled in-fact, according to Planet Eclipse, for the Ego10. Already standard with a user-friendly LCD display, the new transflective LCD display not only remains visible even in bright conditions, but is sealed against water and paint and features an absolutely massive screen, a full 92% larger than that found on the previous model. Almost large enough to watch football on, the LCD display of the Ego10, along with its three sealed buttons, allow the user to control everything from on/off and eye function to shooting modes like ramp and rate of fire and dwell, while viewing information like a game timer, anti-chop eye status, rate of fire and more!

All the advanced features, improvements and upgrades in the world are useless if the marker to which they are applied does not perform well inside the net when the paint is flying. In its natural environment, the Ego10 performs its duties well. Taking the Ego10 from the box in which it was delivered to the start box of a paintball field requires only the assembly of the two halves of the Autococker-threaded barrel, threading it onto the receiver, dropping a hopper into the feed neck and threading a bottle into the air adapter. Attaching a hopper to the Ego10 was simple thanks to the addition of a thumb screw to the lever of the clamping feed neck, allowing the feed tube to be sized to any hopper without the use of an Allen key. At less than two pounds, the Ego10 is very light and because it is so air efficient, many players can move down a bottle size from 68 to 48 or 45 without the fear of running short of air in critical moments. In addition, those players who prefer to keep the “hammer down” can still use their larger air bottle and enjoy reduced weight and extremely high shot counts per fill.

During firing, the improvements to the firing cycle of the Ego10 were noticeable, as the marker, when chronographed at an average of 280 feet per second, exhibited very little felt recoil, keeping the muzzle on-target and shooting smooth at all rates of fire. While the Ego10 still retains the recognizable “bark” when firing that has become the sound signature of the Ego line, the sound of the firing gun has been reduced somewhat. In semi-automatic mode, the smooth trigger of the Ego10 allowed even inexperienced users to quickly learn to shoot in excess of ten shots per second and sustain high rates of fire. When in ramping mode, the Ego10 fires smoothly and neither chops nor breaks paint. Not one single paintball was chopped or broken at any time during testing of the Ego10. Over all ranges, accuracy of the Ego10 was solid. Players looking to eek every ounce of accuracy out of their Ego10 must consider paint quality and ensure an ideal bore-to-ball match to keep groups at their tightest at medium and long ranges.

The Planet Eclipse Ego10 is an outstanding paintball gun that improves over its predecessors in many ways. Though not a drastic or revolutionary departure from the technology or methodology of the Ego models that have come before it, the improvements standard on the Ego10 help it perform better than previous models while maintaining and enhancing the reliability and performance that are now synonymous with the Ego name. Furthermore, the new anodizing finishes and positively gorgeous milling of the Ego10 help it stand apart from the crowded pack of tournament paintball guns, and even from other Egos. Any player serious enough about paintball to spend over one thousand dollars on a marker should head to their local paintball store and put an Ego10 in their hands before making any decisions, as it is the current pinnacle of Ego evolution and an excellent piece of equipment.

Comments

Add New Search

Comments
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Website:
Title:
UBBCode:	-color-aquablackbluefuchsiagraygreenlimemaroonnavyolivepurpleredsilvertealwhiteyellow -size-tinysmallmediumlargehuge

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."