FIRST-STRIKE SNIPERS AT D-DAY

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW YEARS MAKES.

It seems like only yesterday that I was writing a blog entry to respond to a rather high-profile paintball commentator who adamantly proclaimed that paintball snipers just didn't exist. I am not easily riled up, but it really irks me when someone tells me I don’t actually exist.  

Equally frustrating was the war over whether first strikes were ever going to be anything more than just another flash in the old paintball-gadget pan.  When Tiberius introduced them, the naysayers basically challenged the credibility of anyone who accurately reported on their performance.  In addition, they loudly predicted that first strikes would never, ever, be permitted on any significant commercial paintball fields.  The prognosis, put forward by many of the self-appointed paintball experts, was that first strikes would never gain widespread acceptance among players because they were simply too expensive, didn't work as claimed, and wouldn't used by anyone other than a few oddballs who played on outlaw fields.  In their estimation, no manufacturer other than Tiberius would ever deign to make guns for such a limited market and the rounds would gradually just disappear into obscurity.
 

The world has turned a few times since then and paintball has changed quite a lot.  Since the introduction of first strikes we have seen a gradual increase in the number of fields that permit them, we have witnessed the introduction of numerous new rifles designed to chamber first strikes, and we have seen the ranks of first strike shooters swell dramatically. 

The ultimate vindication of first strikes will happen this June in Oklahoma.  For the first time ever, first strike rounds will fly across the fields of D-Day.  A bit ago I happened to see an open invitation for experienced first-strike snipers to join the ranks of the Allied Army.  JJRon99 and I began a dialogue about attending this year’s event and, as a result, started emailing the guys responsible for the invitation, Kelly Corean and Andy Van Der Plaats (Dorsai), and discussing details. I have to say that these guys know how to welcome new people.  Their approach was open and friendly.  They really want and need snipers.  If there are other snipers out there thinking of attending this game then I would urge you to contact them.  The best way to reach them is probably on MCarterBrown’s Forum.  There is a specific thread started by Dorsai that deals with snipers at D-day.  Contact him and tell him you are a sniper and that I sent you to him. 

Am I going to D-Day?  I really want to but I am honestly a bit flummoxed by the 2000 miles between me and the field in Oklahoma.  For most scenario events I get up early on a Friday, throw two gear bags and a couple of rifle cases in the trunk and head out for a long weekend with the understanding i will be home again on Sunday. I know many players travel a lot farther than the distance I mentioned to attend this event but the logistics of being away for that long is a bit daunting.  I will know soon whether I can put it all together. 

SCARAB ARMS ONE TWO ONE STABILIZED ROUNDS 

Here's a little more evidence of just how much the paintball world has shifted. To bring everyone up to speed on the history of this, I am going to show you a picture of the first-generation finned rounds that Scarab Arms was working on not so long ago.  This is what the Company posted on Facebook a few months back:

Scarab Arms has now introduced the rounds pictured below as the final product.  They are calling it a One Two One Round. Anyone notice any differences between the two?

Earlier this week someone emailed me a photo of these new rounds and asked what I knew and what I thought. At the time, all I knew was that Scarab Arms had posted those earlier photos. 

When I first looked at the picture of the new ones from Scarab Arms, my mind processed the photo with the idea that those red paintballs in the center were .68 caliber paintballs and that the black outer ring was rubber. It looked huge and hard. My first thought was, “I definitely do not want to get hit with one of those things.” I also knew that what I was looking at in no way resembled the Scarab Arms prototypes pictured above. I know that Scarab Arms, like Tiberius Arms, does quite a bit of less-than-lethal stuff and I initially came to the conclusion that this just had to be some kind of pepperball round or practice round.
 

Now, obviously we know exactly what they are, and they aren't pepperballs or some kind of fancy practice round.  These are Scarab Arms answer to First Strike rounds.  They are scheduled for release in July of this year. 

I have gotten quite a few emails and personal messages asking me what I thought of this new ammunition. Initially, I wanted to just reserve my comments until the things were introduced. That’s not because I want to play it safe.  It’s because we know so very little about the specifics of the round and I have seen no accuracy tests for it whatsoever. The truth is that regardless of what I say here, the real facts will emerge after some testing this summer.  My speculation really doesn't add much, if anything.

  

On the other hand, I have been asked and I have actually already opened my mouth on this subject in a couple of Internet places so I might just as well stuff the rest of my foot in my mouth (I hate the taste of leather).  The bottom line is that I am not optimistic about these rounds and there are two reasons for that.  

The first reason is the design of the rounds themselves.  Let’s start with what we seem to know about them. The round itself is obviously designed for .68 caliber paintball guns. It has a .50 caliber paintball inserted into a frangible (foam?) ballistic skirt. The .50 caliber paintballs are made of gelatin as are all regular round paintballs. Scarab Arms says they will sell for $29.99 for 100 rounds and that these are regular paintball rounds not some type of reball to be used for practicing.  The ballistic skirt will break up on impact. 

I have run into two schools of thought in my discussions with other players concerning these rounds.  The optimistic school believes that you may actually be able to rotate the .50 caliber paintball in the skirt so that you can put the paintball seams down in line with the skirt.  In addition, they believe that should the round have an imperfection, such as a dimple, that you could rotate it around so that said dimple is not on the nose of the round and acting to screw up its flight.  What's more they believe that the inherent fragility of paintballs isn't really an issue with the Scarab Arms round because it will be the ballistic skirt in contact with the barrel, not the paintball itself.  Lastly, let’s not forget that these are about a dime cheaper per round than first strikes. 

The doubting school of thought (of which I am a member) sees the gelatin shell and hearkens back (not fondly) to the days of dimples and swelling.  Gelatin shells and paintball fills actually absorb moisture.  That is why they swell and dimple.  First strikes are made of polystyrene and I actually tested some of these for Tiberius  by leaving them outside in the rain for several days.  In the end I dried the rounds off and fired them without any discernible degradation in performance. 

Here a few of the unanswered questions that concern me? Is it true that if the .50 caliber paintball round dimples or swells that it won't make any difference because that round is contained inside the inner skirt?  When a paintball round dimples, it’s been my experience that that defect isn't just limited to the area of the dimple.  Dimpling usually means that the shell itself has lost a lot of integrity and the dimple is just the most visible evidence of that loss. Even if you could somehow rotate the dimple so that it doesn't show, I think the dimple will just reappear on the nose when the round is fired and air pressure builds up against the front of the paintball.  

There are lots of other questions that only testing (and testing with dimpled paint) are going to have to answer. Does the dimple itself cause shifting of the fill inside the paintball sufficient to make it off center so that the round doesn't rotate correctly? How about the impact on fligh when the round swells? Swelling means that the round has gotten larger and that it has absorbed moisture. How much heavier does that make it? Does that tiny bit of extra water weight change its performance? How about that ridge between the skirt and the paintball?  How will that impact flight?  Will there be extra drag because of air caught in that ridge?

There are simply too many questions and not enough answers. Here is what I do know. I don’t want to go back to gelatin-covered ammunition.  Saving a few pennies a round simply isn't worth it to me if that is the only incentive to switch.  On the other hand, if there is a significant improvement in accuracy then dealing with gelatin’s failings may be the price we all have to pay to shoot a bit more accurately.  After all, I have been saying for awhile now that we are rapidly reaching the limits of what any paintball gun can do to improve accuracy within the limits of the ballistic profile of the current first strike rounds.

The second reservation I have is the Scarab Arms Company itself and the way it has approached past problems in design. If you have been reading these pages then you know that my hesitancy about trusting their engineering stems from how they introduced the TGR2.  Building a gun without an internal velocity adjuster was not sound in my opinion. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that design flaw because they said they would reexamine the design and fix it.  In the end, the Company decided to not to fix it, but to instead just offer a spring kit to adjust velocity. That makes things easy on Scarab Arms but not on the user.  On top of that, they made the preorder price the regular purchase price thus shafting the very customers who ordered early because of the promise of saving money. 

Does the engineering behind the decision to build a gun without an internal velocity adjuster have anything to do with the One Two One round?  Maybe and maybe not, but it certainly doesn't make me lean their way. 

One thing I want to make clear. I also happen to think that first strike rounds are way, way too expensive, and I believe that that is because, for those of us who shoot for accuracy, there is no alternative. We are stuck paying Tiberius Arms's inflated prices. I, just as much as anyone, have wanted the opportunity to use different ammunition that performed equally well (if not better) than first strikes and cost less.  I am just disappointed with Scarab Arms’s product because I don’t think it is the answer I was hoping to get. 

The bottom line is that I have fired literally thousands of first strike rounds.  They are like old friends.  I know how they perform ballistically over a variety of distances.  I know what barrel bores work best with them.  I haven’t had a first strike break in a barrel since I picked up my SR1 and very, very few in any of my other guns.  I know if I store the ammunition nose down that I can keep them for a year or longer without deterioration in their performance. I am more than happy to take a knee and wait out the testing on this one.  I am sincerely hoping that I am flat wrong on the viability of these new rounds. 

In the meanwhile, I will be loading first strikes.  It will take a lot for me to go back to buying gelatin rounds. I will make you one more prediction.  Even if the Scarab Arms rounds do pan out and are found to be the equal of first strikes, I believe that Tiberius will then lower the price of first strikes to be at or near that of these new rounds.  If Tiberius does that, then unless these new rounds are ballistically superior to first strikes it's going to be tough for Scarab Arms to compete. Tiberius probably has a lot of room on cost to play with.  If the price and performance of each of these rounds is close to the same then it will be a difficult sell to convince people to go back to gelatin rounds.  Any price drop is good for the players but only as long as Scarab Arms is still a competitor.  If it ceases to exist then you can bet that Tiberius will begin to raise those first strike prices right back up.  

While I am on the subject, I also have an opinion as to why we are seeing such a very different round from that of the gen. one rounds that Scarab Arms first developed (see the pictures above and compare them). I think it probably got a patent infringement letter from someone like Full Circle and this radically different concept and shape was the result.  In other words, what we see was not Scarab Arms’s first design choice ( or even its best one) but the one they were probably forced to adopt to avoid litigation if they wanted to have an alternative to first strikes.

TIBERIUS’S T15, NEW TACTICAL GEAR, AND NEW MAGAZINES

With very little in the way of advance notice, Tiberius Arms has just introduced the T15.  It is marketed as a 1:1-size AR15, look alike.  It has a radically different exterior design from the T9.1 and T4.1.  If you just recently purchased a T4.1 then you might not be real happy to find out that this rifle is now for sale. That would have been a good thing to know before you plunked down $900 not so long ago.  

The T15 is an interesting product. It has a select fire switch but will apparently only be a semi-automatic rifle. I happen to like the AR15 look so, quite naturally, I like the look of this. The gun has an entirely new, curved magazine design that holds 19 first strikes or 20 regular paintballs.  For those of you familiar with the Tiberius line, you see the end of the design that puts a 12 gram in the magaine and the addition of the ASA.

The designer of the T15 has been pretty active on the MCarterBrown Forum. According to him, the T15 will take regular real-steel parts like the SAR12 and the SR1.  Don't like the grip ASA, remove it and use a bottle on the back.  He also says you can, in 3 seconds (his words not mine), strip the gun and be looking right through it from front to back.  The actual gun engine is also entirely different than the T8.1/T9.1.  He claims that the magazines are made of a composite material but not the upper and lower receivers (finally real-steel gun terms - how refreshing).  In fact he says that from 3 feet away you would have a hard time distinguishing real AR15 uppers and lowers from that of the T15 in terms of look, weight, and finish. That is quite a claim, but if these are being sold to the military, the police, or the security agencies for training purposes then they would have to be as close as possible to the real thing.  

Tiberius is also introducing a new line of tactical vests.  All I can say at this point is that they look interesting.  There may be too much stuff on the front for belly crawling snipers but for the more vertical-type player and probably the bulk of Tiberius users this may be an very good vest.

Lastly, Tiberius has also introduced what it is calling it's “Generation 2” magazines for the Tiberius 8.1/9.1.  There isn't much information on them yet but they don’t look to be the airless mags that players have wanted for so long.  There is one bright spot though. One of the things that I always disliked about the newer Tiberius mags in comparison to the original T8/T9 magazines, was the Company’s decision to have a depression tab for the ball pusher on only one side of the magazine.  It looks like Tiberius has gone back to putting the tab on both sides.  That alone makes the magazine significantly better. 

It's been a very, very busy few weeks for Tiberius.  First we get the T4.1, and then all of these new products. There’s no doubt about it.  Tiberius is alive and paying attention to its customers.  If you have been reading these Blog entries for any length of time you know that I think that Tiberius’s marketing approach is, let’s just say, peculiar. The information on new products almost always comes out in bits and pieces from a multitude of sources and the Tiberius Forum itself is usually the least newsworthy of those sources.  

I have said it before and I will say it again, I believe that for far too long Tiberius has rested on its laurels.  When it should have been producing lots of new gear to cement its lead in the first-strike world, the Company seemed to be content to market the T9.1/T8.1, and make money on the sale of its first strike rounds.  One of the by-products that seemed to flow from this rather lackadaisical approach was that it left players on its forum with the impression that Tiberius wasn't listening to them.  For example, for years Tiberius had absolutely no presence on its own Forum.  Players were constantly posting up technical questions about their guns, logically thinking that someone from Tiberius would occasionally peruse the site and respond back to them.  Didn't happen.   

I dealt with Tiberius a lot during that period and I don’t believe that that was a correct impression, but unfortunately that didn't prevent lots of people from thinking that it was true. What reinforced the impression was that lots of Tiberius Forum users who were posting those questions for Tiberius were told to forget about getting an answer because Tiberius didn't care enough to come to its own Forum.  The essence of those posts was always the same, "You'll have to call Eric, because no one from Tiberius ever comes here." If Tiberius still harbored any illusion that it could simply coast because it was the first to bring first-strike guns to market  that all changed when companies like Milsig, Carmatech, Scarab Arms, and CCM stepped into the picture.

The T15, T4.1, the new vest, and the generation-2 magainzes all reflect that Tiberius is making a strong attempt to upgrade its product line and get more information out to the buying public. These are important first steps. In addition, Tiberius now has someone named “Justin” who is often present on the Forum and does provide information and answer questions. Finally, they have added a number of active mods who are keeping the forum updated and organized.  All of those things plug major holes in its prior approach to customer service. 

Unfortunately, the Company is still struggling a bit to fine tune its marketing methods. By that I mean that the new-product information is still not being presented in a comprehensive, consistent, logical fashion. I find it interesting how and where all this new product information is being disseminated.  For example, I was impressed that the designer of the T15 was actively putting out lots of behind-the-scenes information on the new gun on the MCarterBrown Forum.  He was posting a lot of really, really good information and answering some important questions. 

Imagine my surprise when I went to Tiberius’s own Forum and found that he hadn't posted anything there. Users were asking the same kinds of questions on the Tiberius Forum. Did Tiberius take steps to to have the designer make an appearance of its Forum or, at the very least, summarize the information posted by him and post it for its users? Nope. Instead of Tiberius asking its gun designer to spread that information wealth to its own Forum so their most loyal users could have the benefit on that information in its own Forum, the users were simply being referred by other posters to the MCarterBrown Forum or to Facebook.  Really?  So if I am interested in this gun I have to go to a multitude of websites and forums in order to piece together the specifics on this new product?  Am I the only one who happens to think that Tiberius should make it as easy for me as possible for me to gather product information by putting it where I think I should logically have he best chance of finding it?

Unfortunately, I think that the T15's designer will probably end up being told to stop his posting altogether, or, at the very least, to limit it. Rather than having the designer start posting on its site, the Tiberius people explained his lack of posting by saying that the designer isn't very Internet savy and probably didn't even know that Tiberius had a forum.  Really? That may be true but if it is that certainly doesn't say much for the Company’s customer outreach efforts if its own employees don’t know about the Company’s forum.

(One interesting note, just prior to uploading this Blog post, I checked in on the multi-page MCarterbrown Forum thread dealing with the T15 and since Justin explained about the designer's lack of Internet knowledge, the designer has stopped posting.  That's too bad.  Of course it could simply be coincidence, but somehow I doubt it. There is nothing better than getting information from the designer of a new gun. So now, instead of the information being put on another Forum lie it should be, we don't get any further information at all.)

The good news in all of this is Tiberius is now moving in the right direction. A quirky and somewhat schizophrenic marketing approach is a lot, lot better than no real approach at all, which is what has been the way of things in the past. We see lots of new products and a concentrated effort to improve its customer outreach. I have to think Tiberius realizes that ironing out the wrinkles it has with its marketing is important and that we will see the Company get even better at it in the future. Fingers crossed.

As for the gun itself, it is too early to say much.  It certainly has generated a lot of excitement. It will probably have a price point of around $600, which, if it functions well, will make it a strong contender against the Milsig Paradigm Pro and the very clear choice over Scarab Arms’s TGR2 with its absent velocity adjuster.

I am a bit puzzled by the introduction of the T4.1 and the T15 coming out at almost the same time. I have made no secret that I wasn't a real fan of the T4.1, or, more precisely, had grave reservations that Tiberius would adequately support the T4.1 in the same way that they didn't really support the T4.  The T15 looks like Tiberius's new main line of guns and it strikes me that the Company should have just focused its efforts on this and simply let the T4 line go.

Tiberius really, really, really needed a winner to stay in the competition and not be reduced to just selling the first strikes for everyone else's guns.  This just may be that for them.

WILL CCM PRODUCE AN SR2?

Maybe the question I most often get asked is whether Bill at CCM is going to produce another lot of SR1 markers. Up until a few days ago I really didn't have a good answer for them so I was routing them to Bill. In a telephone conversation last week, Bill told me that he will be putting out another updated SR1. He doesn't have a date yet, but for those of you who don’t know, I want to give you the inside scoop on why these rifles got bought up so quickly. 

Bill keeps a list of those people wanting a rifle.  CCM doesn't do preorders.  No cash up front.  What a concept. When Bill decides to machine the next batch of guns he will get them into production and go right down his list, just like Santa.  As the rifles become available he contacts those people on the list for any specific requirements.  Do you want a left- or right-hand bolt?  Do you want engraving?  Etc.  When the rifle has been put together and ready to ship you pay for it. 

Some of you have inquired as to whether there will be magazines in the next iteration of the SR1. The answer is probably not.  If you want a magazine or a semi-automatic rifle then I would suggest the SAR12.  From my perspective, I am happy with CCM's approach.  At this stage in my playing career I want two things from a paintball gun, (1) accuracy, and (2) absolute reliability.  I don’t want to buy or mess with magazines.  I want to feed a first strike into the breach and I want it to go where I point it every single time I pull the trigger. No broken paint.  No loading issues.  No jams. No mechanical issues.  If I need to put paint downrange at really close range then something has gone wrong in my field position. In those situations, I transition to my T9 and make a tactical advance to the rear.  A first-strike pistol at close range, that you have practiced with and know how to shoot, is an awesome piece of equipment for a sniper.

I am not the only one who thinks that the SR1 is the perfect rifle for a shooter.  I ran across this SR1 review on MCarterBrown’s Forum by DSA.  He is the real deal with a pretty impressive background.  DSA gave me permission to reprint his review here in its entirety.  Pay special attention to the photographs accompanying the article.  They are gorgeous.  Thanks DSA. 

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CCM SR-1 Sniper Rifle SN007

Specifications:

Mfg.: Chipley Machine aka CCM

Platform: Bolt Action

Feed: Single shot shell ejecting casing

Power Source: 12gm C02 or HPA

Length: To be determined by you

Weight: To be determined by you. Mine is 7lbs 10.5oz

Barrel length: 14in., unrifled

Projectiles: Paintballs, Re-Balls, First Strike rounds, Buggers

Cost: $450.00-$600.00

FIRST THOUGHTS:

 THE SR1 JOURNEY:

Like many of you, the journey began for me when Bill Holstein decided to make "his" gun. What started as a thread on this money pit we all know and love evolved into something really evolutionary in design. Over the course of a couple of years the good folks at CCM kept us informed and even joined in the discussion on a regular basis. This in turn led to a slow but continued build-up of anticipation.

Manufactures take note, this is how you create a classic!

Step 1) Design a killer concept that everyone wants, especially if they don't know it!

Although CCM is known for delivering World Class craftsmanship. Their target audience in my opinion has always been tournament oriented. That being said, CCM could afford to rest on their laurels and play it safe. Why take a chance and venture into unsafe territory? Doing so and failing could prove costly, especially in today's economy. I mean seriously these guys do a great job selling to the bright, colored-jersey crowd, what are they thinking right?

Although I don't fall in the latter category, I'm no Mil-Sim'er either. If you've read any of my threads, 99% are Stock Class in nature. The other 1% is just gibberish, babbling that causes the mods heartache on a regular basis. So you may ask why I even ventured into CCM's cyber turf, they don't do Nelson, so I don't need their product, right.........

Step 2) Redesign, refine, trash, start over, redesign, refine and deliver what the masses want, even if they don't know it.

If you have followed the evolution of the SR-1 you know exactly what I'm talking about and that is exactly what those crazy engineers at CCM did. If you haven't followed the thread, start here (http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/ccm/124058-new-ccm-sniper-rifle-thread.html). I suspect you will discover that the original design was spectacularly simplistic with a touch of innovation sprinkled in for good measure. That being said, the finished product truly evolved into something special.

Step 3) Keep your customers informed by interacting with them on a regular basis. 

In my opinion what sets CCM apart is what makes CCM one of the top customer-oriented companies in the paintball industry. They communicate with their audience and more importantly accept feedback in order to bring the best possible product to you the buying public. Because of this interaction, although I have never personally met them, I feel as if I know them. Therefore, I am more inclined to buy their product. At least that is how I felt interacting with everyone.

As the concept evolved one was hard pressed not to think all the SR-1 threads weren't created in an effort to maximize future sales, you'd be wrong. The SR-1 was honestly one man's quest to create the perfect sniper platform. What Bill may not have bargained for was a pack of loyal cyber stalkers who logged in daily for updates and kept the phones ringing.

Step 4) Deliver over the top functionality while breaking new ground in concept design.

If you are new to paintball, you might think the phrases "over the top functionality" and "concept design" refer to what some old timers call the arms race. I mean seriously, with today's boards, rate of fire and "on the fly" switches; what else could it mean? Some might even think mag-feed might qualify. Sure mag-design is still in its infancy and is improving with every new mil-sim marker that has seen the light of day. It's cool as all get out and adds a touch of realism for a vast majority of would be weekend warriors, but adding to the herd is hardly ground breaking and not the direction Bill wanted for "his" gun. Manufactures you must break new ground or design a concept that improves ones performance on the field.

"The SR-1 won’t shoot further or straighter than any other well-tuned paintball gun, what it will do is refine the shooters skills to the point of perfection because of its simplistic nature."

I like to think being a former US Army Drill Sergeant and a graduate of the Ft. Benning's Marksmenship Unit Trainer Course gives me a special insight into marksmanship training and into improving ones shooting skills. In my opinion, the SR-1 is an invaluable tool in accomplishing the later. If one can master the field with the single shot CCM SR-1, imagine what you could accomplish with a higher ROF shooter.

Paradigm Shift:

"Bill is fond of telling everyone he built "his" gun. But what this sly devil didn't tell you is that he built "everyone's" gun. Instead of shipping you what the SR-1 should be, he ships you what the SR-1 "could" be."

What sets the SR-1 aside from any marker I have ever owned is its lack of direction. I mean think about it. Manufacturers dictate design to the unsuspecting masses with simple nuances like grip choice and feed options. In the early years, just about every paintball gun came stock with a Lone Star or Nelson style grips. So the choice was simple "tactical or fun?" Sure, the buyer could search his local gun shop or mall for aftermarket options but the pickings were slim. After all,  the Internet had not yet taken off. So for most of the players these things were dictated to us, even if we didn't realize it at the time. Blowbacks although creative with their beautiful color schemes continued to dictate the direction of the finished product as did the electro's. Although they were unlike anything that has ever graced our sport, at the end of the day the only choice left to the purchaser was Duracell or Energizer. Somewhere in between Tippmann set the ground work for what Mil-Sim would be defined by and life was good or was it.......

"For me what sets the SR-1 aside from anything that has been was its lack of direction of what the finished product will be. It is something I didn't quite understand until I got knee deep into it. Something that truly wasn't appreciated until I took the journey."

Enter the Three Horsemen:

If I ever met a group of stand-up guys I would have to include Shadawg, Crimson Death, and The $aint. While the rest of us were waiting on the first run, these guys set things in motion. In all honesty, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Maybe three Tippmann lookalikes, who knows? Instead what we got was three SR-1's with their own unique personalities. Sure, they were identical leaving the factory, but by the end of that first day we were all greeted with three surprisingly different concepts.

"What Bill delivered was, by all definitions, one hell of a fun trip to the gun shop."

OPINIONS, WE ALL HAVE THEM:

By now, you’re either playing catch up on the Original Thread [MCarterBrown Forum CCM section] or are scratching your head wondering what happened to the mag-feed version. Although I have no real statistics, I would say more than half of the original thread followers were of the opinion that a shell-fed,  magazine-loading SR-1 would have been the best direction for the initial project.

I

These folks might fall into the ROF mindset that faster is better in order to compete with their T2 toting adversaries. I mean really, who in their right mind would want to limit their chances of competing on  the field? Fret not mag-feeders, rumor has it the SR-2 is already whirling around in those kooky engineers heads over at CCM. If you have ever shot a well-tuned RAM-43, the "clink, clink", of casing hitting the ground have you salivating at what the SR-2 might become.

MIL-SIM, OR IS IT?

For many, the term Mil-Sim is a turn off, much like batteries to Nel-spoters; it just turns some folks green. For those of you on the fence keep in mind the SR-1 is anything but mil-sim. The SR-1 is what you want it to be and that is the real genius behind the concept. So far the vast majority appears mil-sim in nature, but look around, thus far we have several AR variants, match-type sniper rifles complete with digital range finders, a machine pistol concept and even a Space Gun.

As for me, I choose to stick with my interests and went with the tactical Zombie Hunter look, but there is so much more there than meets the eye. At first glance, what appears to be your ordinary walking dead splatter gun capable of meeting Carl's standard of self defense, is in actuality a very sophisticated platform. In essence, that is what the SR-1 is all about, a unique experience with a personalized touch. If the iSniper Concept is any indication of how unique one can make the SR-1 their own, then I can't wait to see what you all make of it. It really is a platform that can be built upon, refined and redefined. In this day and age of bigger, faster and more, the CCM SR-1 is a refreshing change.

LAST THOUGHTS …

Sure, my motto is "One in the Pipe" and I find it truly challenging to engage the opposition in this fashion. But at the end of the day "One in the Pipe" is only a pump stroke from another one in the pipe. What sets the SR-1 aside from anything that has ever come before was innovation in concept design and I'm not talking about bolt action, shell fed. I am talking about the totality of the concept. The SR-1 truly epitomizes the phrase "One in the Pipe!"

SR-1 REFERENCES:

CUSTOMIZATION

OPTICS

ISNIPER CONCEPT

TRINITY'S SNIPER BLOG [This Blog]

TIPS AND TRICKS

THE SR-1 STORY SO FAR

PAINTBALL SNIPER FORUM

Paintball Sniper Forum

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Thanks DSA.  Great stuff. The absolute best part of doing this Blog is having the chance to interact with other really knowledgeable players.

In DSA’s reference pages I ran across a few more of his SR1 photos and because these photographs combine my two passions (good photography and paintball) I just had to add them in.

CARMATECH SAR 12 IS SUPPOSED TO SHIP THIS MONTH!

Those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the first shipments of the SAR 12 should get your wish this month.  The word is that SAR12s will begin shipping very soon.

I have purchased Carmatech's 20" Hammerhead barrel and will be running some side-by-side comparison tests in the next few days (weather permitting) against the 14" Mojo barrel by Hammerhead.  Stay tuned for that.

This blog can make it a bit difficult to post comments because it asks for a URL and user name.  At the bottom of this page is a link for comments (if no comments have yet been left then the link will read "No Comment,"  Click on link and post your comment.  When you finish, pick any user name you like and you can simply cut and paste the URL for this blog.  That will work just fine.  Here it is: http://trinity-tangodown.blogspot.com/