So, as most of you know I've come back to paintball after a long hiatus. I played hardcore in the mid-to-late 90s, played sporadically in the 2000s/2010s, and by 2014 had pretty much hung up my gear. Then late last year my SO brought home a Tippmann A-5 from her job as a hotel clerk that was about to be thrown out, and I took it as a sign that I needed to get back into the game. So I did. Since I'd never thrown away/sold all my old gear, outside of buying a new mask and tank I decided to try to use my old stuff on the field.
It was a letdown to find out its basically rental-grade these days.
Even the A-5 after mods just can't compete. And its not the gun's fault, its really the paint. The paint you can load in a blowback these days is quite frankly terrible; its out-of-round, inconsistently sized, tiny, thick-shelled...blech. So I started shopping for a new-style gun, something that could cycle the good paint.
Unfortunately all the ones I tried were just...boring. The EMEK that everyone on Reddit recommended shot good and was nicely balanced, but using it was like driving a Toyota Corolla; nice, safe, sensible, reliable and about as exciting as eating a plain bagel. There was no spark of joy. Worse, every mechanical gun out there seems to be copying the EMEK. I wanted something more interesting.
Then one day I was on the field and got tagged by someone who was (I thought) way out of range. My first thought was "How the (BLEEP) did you hit me??" and my second was "What the (BLEEPITY BLEEP) gun are you using??" . So on my way off the field I walked past him, just to see what he had.
Y'all, let's be real; these days most modern mechs are so similar you basically have to either read the stamping or see a manufacturer's logo to tell them apart...but when I walked up on this guy, from 20 feet away I could tell this guy's gun was Different. And I very much liked the look of it; what I saw was basically a blood-red TEC-9. Right away I was like "oooh, me want". I found him in the staging area and asked about his gun; he told me it was a Nova N-1 and asked if I wanted to shoot it. I was like "um, yes please".
Shooting it was even more fun. The two-stage Autococker-style trigger, the absolutely silent operation (which I assumed was something aftermarket; more on that later)....man, I was sold. Trouble was, I didn't have the money for a new marker.
Enter my SO (again). She listened to me when I raved about how cool this marker was, asked me what version I would buy if I had the money, listened to me more about what I'd need to run it, etc. The result was her rallying my family to buy me this package as an early birthday present;
So, I thought I'd take some time to actually review what I got.
First Impressions
Y'all, right away the N-1 impressed me. Taking it out of the box for the first time I was flabbergasted by how well-made it is, especially considering the $250 price point. Pretty much from stem to stern mine is "right and tight". The finish is rich and full and the lines are clean. Definitely both better made than an EMEK and much prettier. My only two bum notes were 1: the marker was supposed to come with lubricant and it didn't and 2: the lower part of the trigger guard is a bit sharp in a way it shouldn't be (as in, there's a noticeable burr on the inside edge). Other than those fails, the quality is top-notch.
Secondly, the build itself is just...well, clever. Example; unlike every other marker I've ever seen with a regulator gauge, the N-1's gauge is built into the back of the marker and deeply inset into the frame, rather than hanging out somewhere on the side of the ASA or the front grip where A: you can't see what its reading unless you stop shooting and glance at it and B: its vulnerable to all kinds of damage. I'm trying to figure out a situation where the N-1's gauge could get damaged and I'm drawing a blank. Plus, you can see it while you're shooting. A neat bonus.
Another example; doing some handling in my living room, I found the lack of a front grip isn't a problem...you can just put your off-hand against the oversized,squared-off trigger guard and that's fine. Your hand being there also makes switching shooting hands a real quick exercise. At least that was my result in practice, we'll see what happens on the field. But right away, even without pressure in it I'm already loving this gun.
Airing it up
Most of the videos I watched about setting up an N-1 referenced a lot of stuff that I didn't end up needing to do; people said the feedneck could be loose and you might need to loctite it (I didn't, the feedneck on mine ain't going nowhere) there were bolts on the front collar that could be loose (nope) and the o-rings on the reciprocating barrel might need to be lubed (I did that anyway, but there was already lube on them). So, Nova apparently has improved their out-of-the-box functionality a lot in the year since those videos were shot. Long story short, I was basically able to plug the front half into the back half and air it up without a problem. So, good on them for that.
Airing this thing up though...man, for someone who is used to running and shooting vintage Tippmanns, the N-1 is mind-boggling. Flip the on-off ASA to the rear (!!), screw the tank in, flip the switch back and it comes to life. Such a nice feature. De-gassing it is even easier. This little honey might have spoiled me forever regarding guns that don't have on/off ASAs.
Pulling the trigger
...Yeah, remember how I said that the first N-1 I tried was whisper-quiet and I assumed that was due to aftermarket mods? Well, apparently I was quite wrong. Out of the box they are totally like that. Even inside my house, my SO could not hear it discharge from another room. And when I went outside, the thing was so damn silent I wouldn't recognize its sound as that of a paintgun. These things have to be heard to be believed. It is more silent than my vintage Phantom with a "rain cover" installed was. That is just wild.
Tomorrow I take the N-1 to the field and actually put paint through it...will report on that experience, but so far I love this thing. We shall see how it actually performs on the field. Stay tuned!
It was a letdown to find out its basically rental-grade these days.
Even the A-5 after mods just can't compete. And its not the gun's fault, its really the paint. The paint you can load in a blowback these days is quite frankly terrible; its out-of-round, inconsistently sized, tiny, thick-shelled...blech. So I started shopping for a new-style gun, something that could cycle the good paint.
Unfortunately all the ones I tried were just...boring. The EMEK that everyone on Reddit recommended shot good and was nicely balanced, but using it was like driving a Toyota Corolla; nice, safe, sensible, reliable and about as exciting as eating a plain bagel. There was no spark of joy. Worse, every mechanical gun out there seems to be copying the EMEK. I wanted something more interesting.
Then one day I was on the field and got tagged by someone who was (I thought) way out of range. My first thought was "How the (BLEEP) did you hit me??" and my second was "What the (BLEEPITY BLEEP) gun are you using??" . So on my way off the field I walked past him, just to see what he had.
Y'all, let's be real; these days most modern mechs are so similar you basically have to either read the stamping or see a manufacturer's logo to tell them apart...but when I walked up on this guy, from 20 feet away I could tell this guy's gun was Different. And I very much liked the look of it; what I saw was basically a blood-red TEC-9. Right away I was like "oooh, me want". I found him in the staging area and asked about his gun; he told me it was a Nova N-1 and asked if I wanted to shoot it. I was like "um, yes please".
Shooting it was even more fun. The two-stage Autococker-style trigger, the absolutely silent operation (which I assumed was something aftermarket; more on that later)....man, I was sold. Trouble was, I didn't have the money for a new marker.
Enter my SO (again). She listened to me when I raved about how cool this marker was, asked me what version I would buy if I had the money, listened to me more about what I'd need to run it, etc. The result was her rallying my family to buy me this package as an early birthday present;
So, I thought I'd take some time to actually review what I got.
First Impressions
Y'all, right away the N-1 impressed me. Taking it out of the box for the first time I was flabbergasted by how well-made it is, especially considering the $250 price point. Pretty much from stem to stern mine is "right and tight". The finish is rich and full and the lines are clean. Definitely both better made than an EMEK and much prettier. My only two bum notes were 1: the marker was supposed to come with lubricant and it didn't and 2: the lower part of the trigger guard is a bit sharp in a way it shouldn't be (as in, there's a noticeable burr on the inside edge). Other than those fails, the quality is top-notch.
Secondly, the build itself is just...well, clever. Example; unlike every other marker I've ever seen with a regulator gauge, the N-1's gauge is built into the back of the marker and deeply inset into the frame, rather than hanging out somewhere on the side of the ASA or the front grip where A: you can't see what its reading unless you stop shooting and glance at it and B: its vulnerable to all kinds of damage. I'm trying to figure out a situation where the N-1's gauge could get damaged and I'm drawing a blank. Plus, you can see it while you're shooting. A neat bonus.
Another example; doing some handling in my living room, I found the lack of a front grip isn't a problem...you can just put your off-hand against the oversized,squared-off trigger guard and that's fine. Your hand being there also makes switching shooting hands a real quick exercise. At least that was my result in practice, we'll see what happens on the field. But right away, even without pressure in it I'm already loving this gun.
Airing it up
Most of the videos I watched about setting up an N-1 referenced a lot of stuff that I didn't end up needing to do; people said the feedneck could be loose and you might need to loctite it (I didn't, the feedneck on mine ain't going nowhere) there were bolts on the front collar that could be loose (nope) and the o-rings on the reciprocating barrel might need to be lubed (I did that anyway, but there was already lube on them). So, Nova apparently has improved their out-of-the-box functionality a lot in the year since those videos were shot. Long story short, I was basically able to plug the front half into the back half and air it up without a problem. So, good on them for that.
Airing this thing up though...man, for someone who is used to running and shooting vintage Tippmanns, the N-1 is mind-boggling. Flip the on-off ASA to the rear (!!), screw the tank in, flip the switch back and it comes to life. Such a nice feature. De-gassing it is even easier. This little honey might have spoiled me forever regarding guns that don't have on/off ASAs.
Pulling the trigger
...Yeah, remember how I said that the first N-1 I tried was whisper-quiet and I assumed that was due to aftermarket mods? Well, apparently I was quite wrong. Out of the box they are totally like that. Even inside my house, my SO could not hear it discharge from another room. And when I went outside, the thing was so damn silent I wouldn't recognize its sound as that of a paintgun. These things have to be heard to be believed. It is more silent than my vintage Phantom with a "rain cover" installed was. That is just wild.
Tomorrow I take the N-1 to the field and actually put paint through it...will report on that experience, but so far I love this thing. We shall see how it actually performs on the field. Stay tuned!
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