Why side feed?

[lew]

One thing I've wondered since I started playing in the mid-late '90's: With vertical feed a very early innovation, why was right (and the odd left feed for the sinister types) so prevalent on semi-autos up until the early 2000's? Cockers, Mags, Shockers, Tippmanns, et al... all offered it as a standard option.

Don't get me wrong, I actually prefer right feed on my Shockers, and two of my four Cockers are right feed. With vertical feed offering a more streamlined profile, likely easier to manufacture, and offering the same, albeit mirrored, visual profile when sighting down either side, I'm at a loss to explain it. The only thing I can think of is that feed elbows could accommodate various hopper neck sizes easily, but, around 2000, clamping feednecks were widely available.

[The Inflicted]

In the '80s, people prioritized having a useable sight rail on the gun over having the gun be symmetrical. Until speedball became the dominant format, vertical feeds just weren't in demand.

Even in the early '90s, vertical feeds weren't especially popular because the semi-autos of the time, especially automags and blowbacks, had issues with balls popping back up the feed- thus leading to the popularity of powerfeeds.

[KMDPB]

You also get more balls between the breech and the curvature of your hopper resulting in less "missed" shots when you're only using a gravity fed hopper.

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[Chappy]

I can’t hit squat when I sight down the side of a gun. Does not compute.

Single trigger and right feed forever!!!

[lew]

Good points.

The sight rail thing is weird because I remember a lot of people wanting that feature, but few ever mounted any sort of sighting apparatus and most folks I knew sighted down the side anyway, and that was definitely the case with a powerfeed. Automags and Shockers didn't even have an integral sight rail, although an add-on could be had for the former.

[glaman5266]

You also get more balls between the breech and the curvature of your hopper resulting in less "missed" shots when you're only using a gravity fed hopper.

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Yup. This is something people don’t think of anymore. Doesn’t really matter w/current loaders but it’s still handy with gravity feed hoppers.

Another thing with powerfeeds is you can rotate the plug on the bottom to shut off the feed to the breech.

[lew]

I can’t hit squat when I sight down the side of a gun. Does not compute.

Single trigger and right feed forever!!!

Easier to adjust for elevation without the gun blocking most of the view. Being able to see over the top of the gun without a feedneck in the way is not a bad thing, though.

[fullofpaint]

Ok followup question. Why did we standardize on right feed over left feed? Since most of us are right handed wouldn't it make more sense to have left feed as standard? Moore tucked in behind cover and all that?

[Beaver]

Since most of us are right handed wouldn't it make more sense to have left feed as standard?

That would help for staying in cover... but would also put your hopper directly in front of your face.

[Rusty Brass]

Ok followup question. Why did we standardize on right feed over left feed? Since most of us are right handed wouldn't it make more sense to have left feed as standard? Moore tucked in behind cover and all that?

Don't know. I always thought left feed would have been a better way to go as well. I eventually modified my Pro/Am to be powerfeed left just because I couldn't find a gun made that way. Not one that worked in winter anyhow.

[lew]

Powerfeed left is fine because a right-handed, right-eyed shooter can still sight along the body underneath the feed tube. No can do with left feed.

[The Inflicted]

Good points.

The sight rail thing is weird because I remember a lot of people wanting that feature, but few ever mounted any sort of sighting apparatus and most folks I knew sighted down the side anyway, and that was definitely the case with a powerfeed. Automags and Shockers didn't even have an integral sight rail, although an add-on could be had for the former.

My understanding is that the first several generations of Shockers did indeed have sight rails.

[lew]

Forgot about the sight rail on the PVI's. The Smart Parts Shockers did not have a rail, so it obviously wasn't an issue.

[BigRed]

That poster is full of menacing foreboding! "Patents Pending"!

[lew]

It's Ultra Lightweight, too. At least compared to a Typhoon or WM-68.

[SignOfZeta]

Why are there so few firearms that lack sites?

When paintball first started we didn’t aim via tracer fire. We used sites. Vertical feed = can’t site. Eventually we figured out that paint was cheap and to aim with this weird set of techniques only used in paintball but in the beginning it was about one shotting people. I don’t think too many people wanted a Sniper with no sites, for example.

[SignOfZeta]

Ok followup question. Why did we standardize on right feed over left feed? Since most of us are right handed wouldn't it make more sense to have left feed as standard? Moore tucked in behind cover and all that?

There was no speedball. I think we can answer it that simply. “Tucking in” isn’t something you care about when shooting though a bush. Also consider that hoppers were 45 rounds back then and didn’t seem that big until Viewloader 200 or whatever.

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Ok followup question. Why did we standardize on right feed over left feed? Since most of us are right handed wouldn't it make more sense to have left feed as standard? Moore tucked in behind cover and all that?

I sight down the side of my raptor since it has a power feed. Its perfect that way. So yeah i do think left is probably better.

[lew]

Why are there so few firearms that lack sites?

When paintball first started we didn’t aim via tracer fire. We used sites. Vertical feed = can’t site. Eventually we figured out that paint was cheap and to aim with this weird set of techniques only used in paintball but in the beginning it was about one shotting people. I don’t think too many people wanted a Sniper with no sites, for example.

Regardless of how much paint one wants to sling, sighting down the side (10-11 o'clock) works fine. Most Snipers are vertical feed. Pretty hard to use your previous shots as tracers when your ROF is diminished, but that doesn't seem to stop most from getting first round hits. With good paint, I can long ball an opposing player at a hundred feet with a vertical feed. Not much of a problem.