Anyone have any information on this? Quick Google search found nothing.
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Hopefully someone will chime in. I remember seeing information on this on old MCB. -
Couple magazine scans and some images
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One of the better montneel z1 clonesComment
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The marker is dumping air down the barrel. I have the marker disassembled down to.the hammer/valve assembly. But I can't tell if the valve assembly/body/power tube thingy is threaded on or pressed on or what. Guess I'll take a gamble and put it in the vice and see if she turnsComment
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I'd recommend finding a Z1 break down..... Fyi some parts are cross compatible but not all..... And there's zero spares for the ak1 out thereComment
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THe short story was that Montneel released the Icon-Z way back around 1992. But, they did not have a real machine shop. So, they had subcontractors make all the parts, then shipped to Montneel for final assembly, and finishing. Fun trivia- This was in a barn at Wolfs Lair.
Around this time, they got involved in a distribution deal with Gino.... and it went bad. Gino threatened to block them from selling guns anywhere (the same thing basically happened with the Vector).
Long story short, none of the Montneel guys were businessmen, and the company went out of business in 1993.
One of those subcontractors was "Akraturn Machine" in New York. They also got screwed when Montneel closed, so they took the opportunity to make and sell a clone of the Icon-Z with some improvements.
They formed a company called "Avenger", and the gun was called "AK-1", short for Akraturn model #1. They could not find anyone who would distribute the gun. By 1993, prices of blowbacks had dropped dramatically from $400+ in 1990 to $200 in 1993. So instead they gave away hundreds at tournaments hoping to drum interest.
Interest never came about, and Montneel restarted shortly after, bigger and better. There just wasnt a market for the AK1. I talked to the owner about 10 years ago for montneel.com and he told me he still had a pallet of AK1s, unassembled. He lots a ton of money on paintball, and was a little bitter.
Thats the story. Probably all I've seen were once tournament prizes. They are good montneel clones, but not 100%. Parts are none existent, but they make nice wall trophies.
That one is nicer then the one I have if you want to sell, or trade.
For disassembly-
If you remove the forward 2 thumb screws, the forward receiver should slide right off. This is handy for cleaning.
To remove the valve, you will need to remove the rear grip screw. Careful, it is easily stripped. With that removed, the valve should wiggled right out.
I'm sure the seals are all toast. Montneel used mostly standard sizes for the seals. Not sure if the AK1 was the same.
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Picked it up in trade. Always wanted one. I have all the other clones (ie patriot, Eliminator, boxer, checkmate, hog, tfx, etc). This was the only one I was missing
I didn't think much about it. "Just another clone". But it actually had a few neat features.
The grip, for example, all the screws are CAPTIVE. Maybe I have watched too many episodes of "forgotten weapons", but it was such a cool thing o see. I'm not sure I've seen another paintgun where nearly all the screws are captive. (meaning, they do not fall out when unscrewed). The sear is removable and fixed with a setscrew on both sides. The trigger is wider then the montneel version.
The receiver is mostly Montneel style, but it has 2 hardened steel pins for extra stability. All the screw holes have STEEL INSERTS. Such a good idea.
Also, all the steel parts had bronze-colored coated (hammer, sear etc). Hard to see in the picture.
Adjustable iron sites. hilarious. I've never seen this either. Pointless, for sure. Just weird and cool.
The forward receiver is also pretty neat. All the screw holes also have steel inserts. It has a double thumb-screw for the barrel, and a 3-way foregrip (foregrps briefly popular in the early 90s). Knurled feed block. Lastly, the body not annodized, but a brushed nickel. Brushed nickel... so weird.
It wasnt workng, and I knew that. Gas just blows down the barrel. took the valve apart, and the cupseal was toast. I have Montneel parts kits, but this cupseal is slightly different in size.
Fortunetly, the montneel valve popped right and it cycled perfectly fine.
Such a neat gun. Way, way over engineered. The company mainly made high-end aircraft parts and it shows.
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[QUOTENormally they are Teflon annoed a weird light green][/QUOTE]
Its green. The camera washed out the finish giving it a silver color.
Last time I talked to the builder was 15 years ago, but I remember him telling it was an expensive and multi-step process. He already had all the equipment from the aircraft-parts business.Comment
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Its green. The camera washed out the finish giving it a silver color.Originally posted by Hp_lovecraft View Post
Last time I talked to the builder was 15 years ago, but I remember him telling it was an expensive and multi-step process. He already had all the equipment from the aircraft-parts business.[/QUOTE]
I think it's an alodine coating.... Definitely not nickel plating.
I loved the color, owned two in my career.... One as my first semi and the other much later on when I started to collect montneel and clonesComment
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A little bit of bad news.
I remember talking to the owners of Akraturn 15 years ago. Doug and David Gardner. Akraturn was the original Montneel contractor, then split to make the AK1. David Gardner formed Protofab, and became a new contractor for Montneel. They had told me that they had a large stockpile of AK1 and Montneel parts sitting in the warehouse.
I just called to check on those parts, and unfortnetly, Doug had passed away a few years ago. Akraturn closed, David moved to Florida, and the warehouse, and shop, were sold. All the remaining AK1 and Montneel parts were sold for scrap!
Scrap!
oh well. Nothing last foreverComment
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It's unfortunately inevitable.
Scrap prices are high because material costs are high.... There's a timeline I run with selling things if it sits around too long and isn't selling even in bulk blow out costs I scrap it out....
RIP
Broken prolites, spyder double trigger shoes, all my co2 tanks, a few hundred ally cat parts kits, and useless drop forwards.
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Called Perry. He was a former employee for Protofab with the gardners. He started his own machine shop, was a subcontractor for Montneel, and eventually bought them out.
He said he still has a large supply of parts kits, etc, but all the seals are all dry-rotted.
So there is that. Fortunetly, the seals are all standard sizes.Comment
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