ICD Alley Cat vs Thunder Cat

[bellicose]

I am interested in getting an old cat, but I don't know the difference between the two (I also know nothing about them in general, so if you could point me to a guide, that would be great). I have seen that some (all?) parts can be swapped between the two.

[Axel]

I want to say it's something simple; like the Thunder Cat has both back bottle and vertical ASAs and the Alley Cat just has back bottle.

Just posting that to see if my gut reaction was correct, when someone who knows what they're talking about shows up

[Axel]

Well I'm dumb

[capitalpaintball]

The Alley Cat was sold by National Paintball. The only difference at the time was some(not all) came with a plastic trigger shoe instead of aluminum, and a different M16 grip(euro i believe)
Alley Cats came in all the ICD types and colors. although I am sure mine was re annoed

[Toestr]

Ya, Alleys were just the rebranded version. Not sure on the grips though, because my Thundercat came with a euro.

You'll have a good time with a Cat. Imo, the highest quality blowback ever made, and I believe have the smallest body dimensions. They are very tuneable, with both an rva and choke screws for recock and velocity (but these actually limit the amount of air expelled, unlike a Tippmann). Mine with a small gas through grip as a volume chamber handles HPA with ease (at all the lowest settings). Parts are also available new through ICD.

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[bellicose]

So that I understand correctly, they are functionally and dimensionally identical? What threads are they?

[Toestr]

So that I understand correctly, they are functionally and dimensionally identical? What threads are they?

Yes, these two models are identical. They are ICD threaded. It's a 4 lead thread, so it's pretty fast; 1.5 turns if I'm not mistaken.

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[un2xs]

if you are buying one... get one that has both back and bottom ASAs. This will give you the most flexibility... some people have said that their particular Cat needed the extra air upfront that an expansion chamber might give. Of course, its also possible that they had their cat tuned so tight that the extra air mattered. A well tuned cat might not recock without a ball in the chamber.

[bellicose]

I do want one with air in front of back. What do they look like with no ASA?

Nevermind, I found some pics.

In a side note, is the PRP a Nelson?

[Myrkul]

I used to have multiple cats back in the day, they are incredibly smooth blow backs, (if tuned to only recock after firing a paintball) and they do like a bit of volume up front to handle HPA well. Unfortunately they hate the local field paint so much they were unusable when I moved so I sold them off. Damn Stack clipping

[mike@nds]

Love my Cats. Mine run fine on HPA if you add a gas through grip and bottom line. Can't see it in this older pic, but it has one from a Spyder Xtra now. Gave me enough air that I had to dial back my tuning screws a bit.

[bellicose]

What grip do you use to mount an ASA?

[Lionelolguin]

What spyder xtra parts were you able to use?