Satco 700

[Flyboy172]

This is my first post on this forum; I posted over on Reddit and, someone recommended that I ask this question over here.

Yesterday, I went to a garage sale with the intention of looking at some fishing gear. I was browsing around the sale and found a box full of paintball stuff. I have only played paintball a couple of times, so I’m not an expert on paintball equipment. The paintball gun caught my eye, and I could tell that it was a really high quality piece. The price was right, so I bought the whole pile. After I got home, I did a google search about the company and was only able to find one article. From what I can tell, this is an extremely rare gun and only a couple dozen were produced. Does anyone know how much these things are worth? Overall, the gun is in really good condition. The only issue that I can see is that the detent spring that holds the safety button in place is broken. Other than that, it appears to be good to go.

Any information on this thing would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking!

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Im assuming you already checked out Doc's write up?

[Flyboy172]

Yes, I read that article. So far, that’s the only information that I have seen about it.

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Great, then you know you got a fun project if you want to work on it. Enjoy you cool piece

[Meleager7]

FlyBoy,

Welcome to MCB ! Your recent find is super weird and totally belongs here on this forum for this group to analyze it! Subscribing this thread....

[Siress]

That's pretty cool! Did you get the whole kit, such as shown on Doc's article?

[Flyboy172]

No, I didn’t get anything else with it.

[Meleager7]

I just finished Doc's article, the Satco is deliciously complex! I wonder if Elon Musk has actually created a time machine, travelled back to '95 and designed this paintball gun!??

[DocsMachine]

Yes, I read that article. So far, that’s the only information that I have seen about it.

-And very likely that's the only information there will be.

The overall story of that gun, as I recall, is a small garage-shop company came up with the design, and made a very limited number. One, we know, was sent to an magazine called PCRI, or Paintball Consumer Reports-something. Nowhere near as official as actual Consumer Reports, they were just some players that did paintball equipment reviews.

I have the issue somewhere, but it's long buried. I do recall one line, as noted in my article, where the author joked that "SATCO 700" referred to the number of parts that made up the gun.

Another MCB irregular named Have Blue, many years ago, spotted one on I think eBay. His was the one I tested. The seller, like you, had found it in... I think a storage unit in Texas? And not really needing it, put it up for sale. HB bought it, had it shipped straight to me, and I did the write-up. I believe he still owns it. The article you saw, by the way, dates to something like 2004.

HB also apparently contacted the makers, and as I recall (hopefully HB will chime in) it was a case where the inventor/developer (the RA. Williams in the signature on the side) apparently passed away shortly after production started, and that kind of put an end to the gun right there. The heirs supposedly still have some of the rest of the inventory in storage, but are reluctant to sell due to liability concerns.

But, it was never going to be a popular gun in the first place, with an MSRP of something like $700, and being ludicrously complicated. I seem to recall HB paid $300 for his, with the case and all.

Long story short, it was a niche-market gun, made by a flash-in-the-pan company that only lasted about a year, using technology that no other maker in their right mind would use, and whose inventor died over twenty years ago.

Doc.

[Meleager7]

I think we need a Satco section in The Armory

[Knuckle Dragger]

Welcome to MCB! Sweet score you have there. Stick around and see how much more you want to play paintball now, especially with your new find. You can keep us updated on how it performs.

[russc]

Doc's Satco article makes me think of the Juicero boondoggle. An insanely high quality and over engineered juicer, made complex for no reason.

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Doc's Satco article makes me think of the Juicero boondoggle. An insanely high quality and over engineered juicer, made complex for no reason.

Only problem with your comparison. The satco doesn't work just by squeezing it.

[Siress]

just throw the paintballs.

[RuleOfSines]

Oh I do so want one of those.

[Have Blue]

Discovered this thread just now... HO-LEE-HELL, it's the other SATCO 700 in the wild!!! So, many many years ago when Punisher and I made the pilgrimage to EMR, I brought along the SATCO as a super-rare acquisition (this was after Doc had done his tear down and review, I believe) to let others have a hands-on look at this near-mythical gun. I knew at that point from having contacted someone who knew the creator that there were only 2 guns that were 'in the wild'. Someone at EMR told me that the other one was somewhere on the east coast, but there were no real details. Rumors of rumors, as it were - these guns are among the cryptids of paintball.

To add to Doc's recollections and add my own foggier recollections, the creator had either played at a field that was using Mokal Mirages or had purchased a Mirage for themselves and determined... "I can build a better one". And that 'better one' turned out to be the AN-94 of paintball guns.

The company wasn't really a garage shop, just the owner tasking the machine shop of his company with "here, make this". The '700' was supposed to be the 700 units of the 'signature series' which would have the creator's signature engraved on the side (later ones would not). Only 30 examples were manufactured before the creator's passing, 2 of which made it 'into the wild'. The one leading off this thread, the other sitting in my basement (I need to send it off to Bacci at some point for him to do a teardown/review of as well).

Where are the other 28, you ask? Still in a warehouse in Texas. Every year or two I email my contact, asking if there is any change in their status. As of last contact, they are still safely in storage, but cannot be disenterred. Hopefully one of these decades they can be released (srsly, this is like a 20-year quest so far; it's my 'white whale' of paintball collection).

[RuleOfSines]

Discovered this thread just now... HO-LEE-HELL, it's the other SATCO 700 in the wild!!! So, many many years ago when Punisher and I made the pilgrimage to EMR, I brought along the SATCO as a super-rare acquisition (this was after Doc had done his tear down and review, I believe) to let others have a hands-on look at this near-mythical gun. I knew at that point from having contacted someone who knew the creator that there were only 2 guns that were 'in the wild'. Someone at EMR told me that the other one was somewhere on the east coast, but there were no real details. Rumors of rumors, as it were - these guns are among the cryptids of paintball.

To add to Doc's recollections and add my own foggier recollections, the creator had either played at a field that was using Mokal Mirages or had purchased a Mirage for themselves and determined... "I can build a better one". And that 'better one' turned out to be the AN-94 of paintball guns.

The company wasn't really a garage shop, just the owner tasking the machine shop of his company with "here, make this". The '700' was supposed to be the 700 units of the 'signature series' which would have the creator's signature engraved on the side (later ones would not). Only 30 examples were manufactured before the creator's passing, 2 of which made it 'into the wild'. The one leading off this thread, the other sitting in my basement (I need to send it off to Bacci at some point for him to do a teardown/review of as well).

Where are the other 28, you ask? Still in a warehouse in Texas. Every year or two I email my contact, asking if there is any change in their status. As of last contact, they are still safely in storage, but cannot be disenterred. Hopefully one of these decades they can be released (srsly, this is like a 20-year quest so far; it's my 'white whale' of paintball collection).

This particular one lives here now:

[Trbo323]

Holy crap. A production run of 30 and only 2 made it into player hands. That is wild

Subscribing for sure

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[martix_agent]

Holy crap. A production run of 30 and only 2 made it into player hands. That is wild

Subscribing for sure

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And they both eventually ended up here on this website!

Have Blue, are the ones in storage being kept there for a reason? Who owns them?