Autococker, Yay or Nay

If you have ever shopped for a paintball marker there is a good chance that you have seen an Autococker and noticed that it is a little different from other markers. That's because they function differently than other markers. Where most of the markers out today are open-bolt, the Autococker is closed-bolt. They essentially work like a pump gun. The only difference is that an Autococker, like its name suggests, cocks itself. A lot of people think that this open bolt operation makes the gun more accurate but this theory is actually incorrect. The reason autocockers are so accurate is because they require a very close paint-to-barrel match. In an open-bolt marker the ball detents hold the ball in place. In a closed-bolt marker the barrel is the only thing holding the ball in place. Without a good paint-to-barrel match paintballs have a tendency to fall out the end of the barrel when it is pointed down. When you have a close paint-to-barrel match the ball does not have as much room to move around in the barrel and this allows the paintball to maintain its path more effectively. However, autocockers are a little more complicated than your standard open-bolt marker. They use a piece called a front block that is comprised of three different parts, the lower pressure regulator (LPR), the 4-way, and the ram. For the sake of saving time, the LPR lowers the air pressure the 4-way sends that air to different parts of the gun and the ram uses that air to cock the gun after it has been fired. Because these guns are so different from other guns I have found that many people do not like them that much, but the people that do like them love them and would not use anything else. I have a WGP Karnivor and my brother has some other autococker, I’m not really sure what it is, it’s not really important. What I trying to talk about is the fact that we both hate them. We both have everything we need and they just never seem to work correctly. So a word of advice to those of you that are in the market for a new gun. If you are not familiar with autocockers and don’t really feel like taking the time figure them out then do not under any circumstances buy one. If you have the patience and like how they work then by all means pick one up. It all really comes down to personal preference.