My new to me Nova N3 arrived in the mail today, and I am quite excited about it.
Disclosure: bought this marker used with my own hard earned cash. I have no association with Nova at all. Your results may vary and side effects may include impulsive purchasing of paintball gear or regret from reading all this dribble.
I have read a lot about these on MCB and seen some people really like them and others, well not so much. So let’s take a look!
First Impressions:
I was very excited to learn my Nova would be delivered today. Took an educated risk on purchasing from Kijiji but there were no red flags in communication with seller so I jumped at the chance. I still could have received a box of rocks instead of a Nova. Thankfully the box did contain a well packaged Nova, an extra insert, bag of orings and a card showing how to maintain the Nova on one side and a parts explosion on the other.
The marker itself? Once freed from its bubble wrap and foam packing peanut prison it proved to be in excellent condition with barely a mark on it. One of the inserts has some minor wear, but others in great shape.
Picking up the marker, it is lighter than I expected and feels good in my hands. I would describe the anno as more basic, especially when compared to a nice cocker, but suits the marker. The grey colour contrasts well the the black parts and is simple but good looking.
Running my finger around the marker I note almost all of the edges on the Nova are smooth and rounded off. No sharp edges on the trigger guard, which is great. The only piece that has a bit of an edge is the on/off lever. It’s not sharp, but definitely has an edge on both sides. You can see some of the marks from the milling on the body, but I like that. It’s still clean, but ads an important smaller scale to these markers. This is no massively produced Ion on Emek, it’s a labour of love and effort from a few individuals. Paintball could use a lot more of this feeling, as it’s been missing for a long time.
While on the topic for the trigger frame, I found the grips to be quite comfortable using both a single finger and dual fingers on the trigger. The finger grips may be uncomfortable for those with gorilla-sized hands, but for me they were great. I did switch the grips over to a pair of Empire 45 grips that provided a little more style, but did not find them comfortable. Due to the beveled edge of the trigger frame the Empire grips stuck out a little bit as well. So the stock grips will be put back on.
The trigger when not aired up is a bit flaccid feeling and lacks the feel of the nice movement you get with say a cocker slide or hinge, or an upgraded Emek trigger. It just feels rather dead like a mag trigger. Throw on the air however, and you get a very light, responsive trigger that feels good to pull, at least in my initial use. I’ll have more to say once I’ve shot some paint through the marker.
One thing I was disappointed with was the barrel reciprocation. Yes, it does happen, but in my mind the movement was more pronounced. Why did I think this?! No idea. In all honesty I will like get one of their reciprocationless Autococker barrel adaptors if I keep this marker. Would love to throw a nice DW CF barrel on this.
Full disclosure, I have yet to shoot paint out of this yet. I cracked open a vintage bag of balls from 15+ years ago that still look better than recent field paint. I quickly tested a ball with the largest insert I have and the balls are just too big. I confirmed with a Freak kit these vintage balls were running in the 687 range, just too big for my 682 insert. Trying to shoot this paint would just end barrel breaks and sadness.
So on that bombshell, I’ll wrap up my first impressions.
TLDR: got new shiny toy, manhandled toy, balls too big to use shiny toy. Must wait until I get balls and air.
Disclosure: bought this marker used with my own hard earned cash. I have no association with Nova at all. Your results may vary and side effects may include impulsive purchasing of paintball gear or regret from reading all this dribble.
I have read a lot about these on MCB and seen some people really like them and others, well not so much. So let’s take a look!
First Impressions:
I was very excited to learn my Nova would be delivered today. Took an educated risk on purchasing from Kijiji but there were no red flags in communication with seller so I jumped at the chance. I still could have received a box of rocks instead of a Nova. Thankfully the box did contain a well packaged Nova, an extra insert, bag of orings and a card showing how to maintain the Nova on one side and a parts explosion on the other.
The marker itself? Once freed from its bubble wrap and foam packing peanut prison it proved to be in excellent condition with barely a mark on it. One of the inserts has some minor wear, but others in great shape.
Picking up the marker, it is lighter than I expected and feels good in my hands. I would describe the anno as more basic, especially when compared to a nice cocker, but suits the marker. The grey colour contrasts well the the black parts and is simple but good looking.
Running my finger around the marker I note almost all of the edges on the Nova are smooth and rounded off. No sharp edges on the trigger guard, which is great. The only piece that has a bit of an edge is the on/off lever. It’s not sharp, but definitely has an edge on both sides. You can see some of the marks from the milling on the body, but I like that. It’s still clean, but ads an important smaller scale to these markers. This is no massively produced Ion on Emek, it’s a labour of love and effort from a few individuals. Paintball could use a lot more of this feeling, as it’s been missing for a long time.
While on the topic for the trigger frame, I found the grips to be quite comfortable using both a single finger and dual fingers on the trigger. The finger grips may be uncomfortable for those with gorilla-sized hands, but for me they were great. I did switch the grips over to a pair of Empire 45 grips that provided a little more style, but did not find them comfortable. Due to the beveled edge of the trigger frame the Empire grips stuck out a little bit as well. So the stock grips will be put back on.
The trigger when not aired up is a bit flaccid feeling and lacks the feel of the nice movement you get with say a cocker slide or hinge, or an upgraded Emek trigger. It just feels rather dead like a mag trigger. Throw on the air however, and you get a very light, responsive trigger that feels good to pull, at least in my initial use. I’ll have more to say once I’ve shot some paint through the marker.
One thing I was disappointed with was the barrel reciprocation. Yes, it does happen, but in my mind the movement was more pronounced. Why did I think this?! No idea. In all honesty I will like get one of their reciprocationless Autococker barrel adaptors if I keep this marker. Would love to throw a nice DW CF barrel on this.
Full disclosure, I have yet to shoot paint out of this yet. I cracked open a vintage bag of balls from 15+ years ago that still look better than recent field paint. I quickly tested a ball with the largest insert I have and the balls are just too big. I confirmed with a Freak kit these vintage balls were running in the 687 range, just too big for my 682 insert. Trying to shoot this paint would just end barrel breaks and sadness.
So on that bombshell, I’ll wrap up my first impressions.
TLDR: got new shiny toy, manhandled toy, balls too big to use shiny toy. Must wait until I get balls and air.
You spoke a bit on aesthetics. I like how the trigger frame cuts, trigger guard front & foregrip are pretty much parallel. Very pleasing to look at.
Comment