Hey guys, I'm relatively new to autocockers. This question is for the guys that have experience with multiple brands and combinations. What do you guys like and why? Performance, ease of use, rebuild ability. I only have experience with new Shocktech pneumatics. What do you guys think about Inception, AKA LPR, ANS jackhammer 2 and their 3-way? I have a cocker coming in the mail and I bought a meteor box 3way im going to try and report on. But hey letβs hear your opinions and experiences.
-
-
I can tell you my experience:- Buy a cocker with fancy pneumatics
- Have slight issue with fancy pneumatics that could be easily fixed with patience.
- Pump it
Last edited by Jonnydread; 10-14-2025, 04:02 PM.π PK x Ragnastock π -
I've been back to the sport for less than year at this point but heres my opinion.
Inception makes a great product. I prefer the 3-way. They do however have some proprietary orings for all thier components.
Shocktech makes a great product. I think the LPR is very well made.
Dye also seems pretty well made other than some rough machine marks. I only have these items on a FF Reflex but its very smooth and has never given me an issue.
When i get to swappin stuff or start a new build it will be ID ram and 3-way and ST LPC and LPR.Comment
-
Iβve had good results with a lot of different brands of pneumatics, including stock WGP pneumatics.
But Inception Designs makes some great pneumatics that are readily available new and with a ton of user friendly features like a spot on the ram shaft to so you donβt maul up the shaft threads during installation.Check out my YouTube channel for overview videos of the WGP Karnivor and WGP Orracle!
https://www.youtube.com/@ScrambledEggs71Comment
-
Hears my buying points.
- common available seals
- proven and tested design
- easy to work on if needed
- not being used as an R&D subject
I almost always lean shocktech... I've had issues with inception and modern dye lprs... Ans lprs I like but the rest no. Palmer lprs are annoying to get into and almost always leak used.Comment
-
In my experience, and Iβm not a guy who likes to tune stuff and mess around with new parts for minimal performance increases, the 3 way is the only thing that actually makes a difference.
I like the wgp pneumatics.Comment
-
Cracks Knuckles..... I have seen a ton of pneumatics come across my bench and i will say most pneumatics have some quirks so it really is worth knowing what you are getting into before you buy. I have been tending towards shocktech or inception as of late. Mostly because I'm a retailer for both, but i would still say that i prefer them over most other pneumatics on the market. I have built a ton of cockers with both and it really is nice having some of the features they have to install and make adjustments when assembled.
Shocktech:
ram has a longer stroke than most others.
broached 3way shaft for adjustment after loosening the locking collar.
broached ram shaft for install and removal.
nylon lpr locking screw for the knob
removable volumizer to make install easier. (base is typically larger than most standard front blocks, can be machined to fit.... I offer them machined to fit)
Inception:
Uses a 5-40 timing rod and most lengths are not standard. ( i typically order the custom length and cut them to length for each build)
broached 3 way shaft for adjustment (Uses nylon locking screws, often times set to loose before install)
ram shaft has flats for install (ram bumpers wear out quickly. Some rams tubes were a bit on the loose side for tolerances, piston oring can be replaced with a metric oring to resolve leaking)
ram bumpers tend to wear out or swell.
early lpr's didn't have enough spring tension to get to higher pressures, may require a small shim for additional pressure.
Dye/Freeflow:
Early LPR's had issues with the reg seat coming loose and not providing an output pressure. Was resolved with new reg pin.
Ram's are not rebuildable and are modified SMC rams. Does not provide a way to install the pump arm with out grabbing the shaft.
3ways some of the early one's had terrible machine marks in the bore and did not feel great. Requires a unique seal only available from dye.
3 way shaft is aluminum, broached front for adjustment.
Empire:
3 way is broached for install, stroke is longer than shocktech or inception, similar to traditional wgp 3 way.
lpr is similar to inception, may require a shim for higher pressure.
ram used the same bumpers as the inception ram, that tend to wear out or swell.
Meteor:
3 way, really hasn't been out that long and seems to be nice for certain setups. Hasn't had alot of testing yet.
AKA:
LPR is nice and most people like them, using urethane orings is kind of a pain when it comes time to rebuild though.
BeardedWorks.com (Your Inception Designs and Shocktech Dealer)
BW Youtube
BW Ebay
BW Email
I buy Automags and Mag Parts also.Comment
-
Beware of cartridge rams!
There are a handful of rams out there like the freeflow that are sealed and CANNOT be rebuilt. So. Have a slight leak? Throw the whole ram out.
I absolutely despise sealed components and proprietary seals. With the seals if the company just decides to stop making them you are stuck.
I really like the jackhammer2 the really nice part about it is once you have it positioned and as long as you are careful about the direction the 4 tiny screws that hold the body to the base are facing, you never have to take the base off of the front block. You can remove the 4 screws (and really if one is going to always be blocked just use 3) and the whole body comes off and you have access to all the internals.
I like inceptions ram for the ease of maintenance as well
Also. Be cool, buy an automag =P
Sent from my motorola edge 2024 using Tapatalk
I use Tapatalk which does NOT display comments. If you want me to see it, make it a post not a comment.
Feedback
https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/b...323-s-feedbackComment
-
Im fresh to cockers too and the biggest thing i see is inception and shockteck are the way to go. I have a set of each with the ID off at anno and my ST is waiting for some other parts where I will send it to annoComment
-
I've never owned Shocktech pneumatics, but I have worked on a few in my time as a tech. And to be fair, it was all their old stuff. I was never impressed. I would use later WGP stuff over them every day of the week (STO 3way, Outkast or Bullet LPR, STO ram). The newer stuff being easier to install/disassemble is nice, but their 3way still uses prorpietary o-rings. That's a deal-breaker for me. The WGP stuff is simple. They offered 95% the performance of the high end stuff, and cost half as much. Just avoid any of the adjustable 3ways (Orracle or CT). Added complexity with no gain.
My favorite is Belsales, but you pay thru the nose for them. Not as convenient to install as the newer stuff, but they're smoother than Shocktech. I care less about the actuation length (which is shorter on Shocktech 3ways). I also like Macdev and AKA LPRs. Not that it matters anymore, but they were the fastest recharging LPRs back in the day, meaning they'd keep up with high ROF eblades better. Macdev is smaller, AKA is more traditional; which I'd prefer depends on build and what makes more sense aesthetically.
ANS used to be a decent budget option... the 3ways were decent but they also had no stop, meaning you could thread them all the way thru the front block. Always found that pretty annoying. Not wild about the LPRs, just based on weight and size. They worked fine. Rams were trash. They're one of those one-piece, not rebuildable ones Trbo was talking about.
To be honest, on a mech it pretty much doesn't matter. You'll never outshoot an LPR or ram. So ease of installation and ease of maintenance become much higher priority. Inception will always be my preference there. Only downsides are aesthetics (doesn't look good on more classic cockers) and apparently they're a different grade of aluminum from most paintball parts, so they come out differently when ano'd.
Comment
-
superman or Ecapnation is there any reason you can't use regular buna 70d 003's in the shocktech three ways? I am assuming they wouldn't seal up properly or everyone would be doing it.
-
-
Belsales, this is the way! and you will pay more than you need too, but you will feel cool.
and if you want to know more, please enjoy this word salad:
Inception LPRs are inconsistent, the double oring design is not ideal. I do have some that work fine, but they seem to need more maintenance, rams are good, 3ways are great or very finicky (with certain frames). I have palmers that are fantastic and last 20yrs, and others that suck and leak all the time, luck of the draw on that one. WGP they are boring but work well, low flow on some, long slider pull with the 3way. Shocktech, I have set on my SFL that is one of my top shooters, butter, butter, - used a ton of their parts over the years - positive experience all around. AKA LPR one of my favorites. CCM have 5 different ram styles, there are 2 that stand out and love them, 3 ways are nice on swing frames, LPRs are finicky - the piston likes to get cattywampus - the reason some manufactures used two orings to keep the piston squared, but this was a mistake. Dye lowest bidder overseas manufacturing and lost interest with the brand after the lawsuit. macdev LPR good fast little recharger. ANS they are a copy cat and seem to work fine, also boring for me. Meteor 3way only a few hundred rounds, but so far so good, another interesting design, seems to snap back for me better than the traditional spring method, feels more like having a return QEV on the ram. Nova for me was squeaky leaky leaky with loose tolerances - Another overseas lowest bidder manufacturer - 3way is very interesting design and not my style, hate their LPR, and ram is bulky. AIM, see comments on WGP. kapp see comments on WGP. moody rams are awesome if you can find one, freeflow OG rams are also by similar to the moody from the same manufacture but moody was spec'd slightly different. OG dye pneumatics avoid unless it's a period piece build. disruptive customs ram is nice. empire are designed by Simon from inception designs, the quality is really low compared to inception, I would just pay for inception.
with 3ways pay attention to the distance between the barbs, if you are using a swing frame choose something wider set. For sliders you can push the distance closer like ST, ans, bels, ID. yes you can use any of those with a swing but more challenging for a first build, as you will need to have cam or trigger stops.
with all that said, anything will work if you put the effort to get it to work, so buy whatever looks the best for your build.Comment
-
Simple........Shocktech, because it just works.! I have had them all. Also Shocktech is MADE IN AMERICA. Am I a ST shill, YES because they work and are consistent.Comment
-
Do people see the extra throw on the Shocktech ram as a benefit, or a detriment?
I've always felt that was a lazy/sloppy implementation to allow people less familiar with autocockers to have a chance at better success, at best. I've never had a single gun where I wished there was more ram throw available...it has never been a problem to get the bolt position right relative to the feedneck, and in fact, it feels like extra throw would make all that worse/only introduce room for problems.
In actual practice, I realize an extra quarter of an inch on a slow moving bolt like in the autococker rarely hurts anything, but things like bolt run-up to the ball, and/or the ball rolling back in the breach are very real problems in other gun platforms that are actively and specifically designed around. It always felt strange to me to intentionally design *for* that in an autococker with a Shocktech ram.Comment
-
Uh, okay, so if the Shocktech bolt is also longer, does that mean that any purported benefits ("reduced paint chopping" in Shocktech's words) evaporates when you're using their bolt, and the ram stroke is simply compensating for a non-standard bolt length at that point?
I feel like I'm missing something here.
-
can't go wrong with WGP stuff IMO. the only thing ive found just as reliable, and better than WGP, is shocktech bomb. otherwise, for LPRs, the WGP adjustable can/bullet is the best. and for rams, everything WGP made was just as good and way more reliable than almost everything else.Comment
β
Comment