Pmi tracer pump?

[ElectricBullshark]

So ive been thinking about getting a little more into stock class/pump style play. I recently bought an umarex t4e pump shotgun, which is still in the mail. Lol it is pump action, and milsim. As you can tell by my profile picture i also have an a5 fully tooled out with egrip as well. I might be getting a pistol to go with the shotgun loadout as well. (I am a collection whore, yes). But i also like different styles of play, and the gear to match.

Ive wanted to expand my loadouts to include a full stock classs setup as well. The shotgun/pistol setup is more magfed/milsim set. The a-5 is normal woodsball/scenario or recball setup.

I've sen some pmi tracer pumps on ebay for pretty cheap. Ive been playing for a long time, but never owned a pump gun. mostly tippmanns, a couple pistols and electros.

i wanted to know if anyone has any input on pmi tacers, as they seem absurdly simple. Does anyone know how/where to get parts? Any personal experiences with them? tips? I've had a friend let me play with a phantom, and it was awesome. loved the style of play, and the cheap factor. I dont alsays feel like buying a case on top of field fee. Plus the tactical style of play forces you to think and move.

i am just looking for a simple cheap durable pump gun. Not a 500 dollar tooled out pump. Im talking tippmann durability, ease of stripdown and cleaning, and NOT a cheap p.o.s. brass eagle plastic toy. a pmi tracer seems to fit fhe bill. Any reccomendations?

[KMDPB]

I think the pmi tracer is an excellent budget pump! I would even say under rated. Try to find one with an adjustable bolt. Bacci has some parts on his site. But if you buy the gun completely you will probably never need any parts, they are super simple and reliable. The only downside is they can be hard to find. They occasionally pop up on here or ebay. There are also a lot of very similar nelson based pumps that can be had for cheap. You just may want to avoid unibodys as they'll have big bores and will most likely have roll outs. If you handy I would recommend adding palmers style detents in those situations.

[Jimmydee]

I have a lapco grey ghost I’m selling. You will love it. Pm
me for info and pictures

[scottieb]

I think the Trracer is a great pump. The one big drawback with these is the barrel. It is too thin to freak bore and decent aftermarket options are hard to find. I think the best way around this is to have the body 'cocker threaded.

[SignOfZeta]

The Trracer is the best gun I’ve ever had. I bought mine new in 1992 and nothing has ever broken on it.

Some notes:

This gun was never sold as stock class. They are all direct feed (right). So if you want actual stock significant modification is required.

They also didn’t come with adjustable bolts so you’ll want to address that.

There was no HPA when they were invented so you’ll need to crank that adjustable bolt up or modify springs if using air. On big bottle CO2 they need to be in the sun for an hour to shoot hot.

Consider a Phantom. They cost more than Tippmans but that’s because they aren’t Chinese plastic crap. Save money and buy used since the current owners seem to have their head up their ass. For the Phantom there is a factory option for any config you’d ever want or need including freek barrels, adjustable bolts, and stock class feeds.

If you get a good clean Trracer you’ll never need parts. The only Trracers that ever need parts are peoples effed up projects. Mine still has the original seal. I have an official PMI rebuild kit from the Bush I years and I’ve never used a part out of it. There are more premium guns for sure but nothing actually better than a Trracer.

Modern paint is small so you will need a detent system of some kind. I recommend a small piece of electrical tape or nail polish. Barrels are very hard to find and I’m not sure if freaking is even possible.

[ElectricBullshark]

Thats kind of what im hoping for if i buy old/vintage/cheap. Something that just works, and doesnt need surgery. My main experience is tippmanns, but when it comes to other electros or pumps, anything parts or maintenance wise would be a complete learning experience. Especially finding parts.

[Trbo323]

I just got a tracer in a lot of gear, I don't need it for anything. If you are interested I'll sell it cheap and I can rebuild it before it goes out the door.

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[Psycho91]

My trracer is the one marker I always keep and will never sell, hell I was digging through my parts the other day and came across a pmi tagmaster, it's a trracer but kinda built like a phantom

[Refoogee]

I run an old style Trracer, with the long power tube. They're probably the single most underrated platform in all of paintball, imho. That being said, they require some work to really get up and running these days. You'll have velocity issues, and rollouts, if you try to run it stock. The barrel bore is too large for modern paint, and can't be freak bored. You'll also need a different set of springs if you're running off HPA. For the most part, they shouldn't have any problems. Mine had a leak I couldn't pin down, so I replaced the valve assembly with a Lapco one. I switched out the springs with Phantom springs, and they get me up to speed. Mine does not have a velocity adjustable bolt, but I think people are right in saying that it's not necessary. An Empire Trracer bolt might be able to be used as a replacement if you want that feature, but I have not tried it.

As for the barrel, I use a freak bored cocker barrel on mine. SSC carries Trracer to Cocker adapters, and they work well. I eventually had Kit rethread the body with cocker threads, and it seems to work despite cocker barrels going quite a bit deeper into the body than the standard Trracer barrel. Kit does good work, he's done work on a few of my markers. I'd sell the adapters to you if you'd want them. The next problem is that your pump arm will not fit around your cocker barrel, and that will need replacement. I use a pump arm from a Tiger Shark, and it fits like a glove. Bacci sells those for 10 bucks.

After getting it up and running, you'll have a marker that many people feel is about 90% of the way to a Phantom, at a cheaper price. Enjoy.

[SignOfZeta]

I run an old style Trracer, with the long power tube. They're probably the single most underrated platform in all of paintball, imho. That being said, they require some work to really get up and running these days. You'll have velocity issues, and rollouts, if you try to run it stock. The barrel bore is too large for modern paint, and can't be freak bored. You'll also need a different set of springs if you're running off HPA. For the most part, they shouldn't have any problems. Mine had a leak I couldn't pin down, so I replaced the valve assembly with a Lapco one. I switched out the springs with Phantom springs, and they get me up to speed. Mine does not have a velocity adjustable bolt, but I think people are right in saying that it's not necessary. An Empire Trracer bolt might be able to be used as a replacement if you want that feature, but I have not tried it.

As for the barrel, I use a freak bored cocker barrel on mine. SSC carries Trracer to Cocker adapters, and they work well. I eventually had Kit rethread the body with cocker threads, and it seems to work despite cocker barrels going quite a bit deeper into the body than the standard Trracer barrel. Kit does good work, he's done work on a few of my markers. I'd sell the adapters to you if you'd want them. The next problem is that your pump arm will not fit around your cocker barrel, and that will need replacement. I use a pump arm from a Tiger Shark, and it fits like a glove. Bacci sells those for 10 bucks.

After getting it up and running, you'll have a marker that many people feel is about 90% of the way to a Phantom, at a cheaper price. Enjoy.

New barrel, barrel adaptor, springs, valve, pump arm, and probably a bolt. Is that *really* cheaper than a used Phantom by any meaningful measure? You’ve replaced the majority of the gun by weight.

[Refoogee]

I'd factor in the cost of a barrel kit into getting a Phantom in the first place, if you don't have one. So, I wouldn't factor it against the Trracer. You also typically would not have to replace the valve, mine was just bad in some way I'd rather throw money at than figure out. But, even if you did, you're still beating out the cheapest used Phantom that you typically see by a good 100 bucks. Depends on if that's significant to you or not.

[RAZRBAKK]

I'm sub $200 USD on a very custom Trracer build. That being said, if I was looking for a Nelson style gun to go immediately hit the field with, the Phantom is the way to go.