I have a Clock I don’t use. I picked up a Big Red. I don’t notice a difference between the two other then the Clock is much easier to transport. I have compared the numbers and they read identical.
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Worked a bunch of overtime, spent a bunch of money.
I went with 500x Pyramyd Air 12 gram cartridges. $250 or .50 a piece. Seemed like a good price and the company has been good to work with in the past. I will weigh them all as recommended.
Athlon Rangecraft Velocity Pro Chronograph. $300 on GovX, essentially a knock off of the Garmin with great reviews. A pocket sized hands free chronograph will be extremely nice for this.
Next up is sorting my Phantom parts bin and finding a couple Phantoms to test with. One with the ASP mod and one without it. They’ll get a full breakdown, new seals, tested for any leaks with soapy water, etc.
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So I’ll throw my 2 cents in here for science.
suggest real paintballs , you’ll need a bag of something in the .677-.679 range since most field paint is running around there. Good 12 g, Leland’s are a plus - special forces brand off eBay , bulk boxes of 25 become $20 when ordering 4 or more.
of course bore to paint match . Velocity 280.
now the science : 11” barrel , back bottle - standard CCI , not a stubby PMI tracer one, if you can find a # 4 powertube and cut it down to fit a phantom . Start with stock springs unless have the old 4 pk ( red/silver/blue/silver valve)
the key is getting the dwell down right for the #4 powertube and getting that little bit of CO2 to expand behind the ball. Giving you 40+ shots @ 75° ambient . Today every goes with stock silver springs and 30 shots at 280 which is by all means perfect but some like to bend the laws of physics and get the higher shot count .
looking forward to the findings and what information comes about from the testing .Comment
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Old Nelsons came with numbered tubes, 0 through 6. Each "number" was x10 fps, so a 6 would shoot 60fps hotter then a 0.
The #6 was pretty fragile sometimes, the 0 is stock Nelspot, so the 4 is a popular choice. It all comes down to the tube ID. Phantoms are more like a 6 which does flow well, but can give the gas a hair more room to expand before the ball.
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Gotcha! Might be outside the scope of this first run of tests then unless I can easily procure some power tubes but good information regardless.
Like I said this will be a slow burn. Got some certification tests coming up for work and still sorting the Phantoms and parts bin, along with getting my cabin ready for winter.
The 12 grams and chronograph are here. I also picked up some HK paint. Wanted to ship it in before the weather got crazy. Work to be done before the testing:
1. Sort Phantom Stuff
2. Figure out what I need to purchase for testing (think I need some XL inserts, and maybe some different barrel lengths)
3. Build something to shoot paint into (PVC?)
4. Figure out vice/chrono setup for consistent shots
This post may become more of a Maxwell’s blog post for the time being.
Organization is happening!
The goods have arrived!
Last edited by Maxwell; 10-18-2026, 07:57 AM.Comment
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Good luck with the progress. I had my Phleet, to almost a complete 10. Before, "Life" decided to pull the "rug" again! The Phleet of mine, is mostly a shadow, of what it was or had been. I'll be interested to see the results, in efficiency. I do still have a few markers, laying around here, some where's. Backyard testing was a fun, at one time, thing for me.
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Because no one sells aftermarket power tubes for phantoms I'd say they are out of the scope. It would be nice to have different hammers and power tubes but that's from another era.
Its nice that extreme velocity has different valve spring weights now. CCI only sold one for a long time. And nelson spring kits are kinda rare and cocker ones aren't quite right.Comment
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Another slight variable you might want to consider. A sealed 12g CO2 cartridge has an absolute internal pressure set almost entirely by temperature. Elevation does not change that absolute pressure. Maybe 1-2psi in the extremes.
What does change slightly is gauge pressure (pressure relative to the surrounding atmosphere), because atmospheric pressure drops with elevation. Just another variable to consider when testing. Not sure how deep you’re looking to dive into your testing. But elevation might be something you want to note in your testing.Comment
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Interesting. At the very least take note of the elevation I am at. I do have a nearby “mountain” (like 1,500 feet only) that maybe some testing could be done at. Ultimately my expectation is that the best parts will be the best parts and factors like altitude, temperature, paint, etc. are just going to be “it is what it is”.
Speaking of paint though, I am very interested in the effects of weighing each paintball and consistency. If I’m shooting a case of paint a day I’m obviously not going to weigh my paintballs. But for stock class players if you buy your paint the night before a multi day event….Could be viable for the most detail oriented.
With the goal of this test being to find the most efficient load out, a more consistent spread could allow for some serious fine tuning on the TPC. Lowering the spread could allow for a tighter setting and maybe an extra ball or two.
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The difference is very little but just something I was thinking about you could note for science. Not worth testing at different altitudes. I always thought altitudes played a much bigger part in shots per cart. After looking into it. It’s very little real variation however the gages read differently. So gauge pressure rises by roughly the amount atmospheric pressure falls about 0.5 psi per 1,000 ft near sea level, slowing a bit higher up.
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If you want to go a little crazy... get a magnetic thermocouple. Put it on the 12g with a logger as you shoot, as temp will be the most significant source of uncontrolled variation.Feedback
www.PhrameworkDesigns.com < Nelspot, Sterling, and Phantom parts, plus the occasional big project.Comment
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Chuck, that’s the first order of business for this testing. I think it’s vital for the consistency of future testing. It will also take by far the most time and 12 grams.
My plan is to start at some ridiculous length of time like 10 minutes per shot and half it until a reduction in efficiency begins, then refine. I may also try longer time frames of time allows. 35 shots at a half hour between shots gets to be lengthy.Comment
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