Old Sterling vs New Sterling - any differences?

[pinwheel]

Question is - are there any differences or reasons to buy an old sterling vs brand new one? Still just as well built?

I am interested in buying a sterling but looking at some of the used ones - the pricing seems very close/similar to the new ones (one poster even noted buying new was cheaper in some cases). Or am i off on the pricing and they can be had for cheaper?

New one would mean no initial rebuild and I would have easy choice of a preferred anno color which i get to personally ruin scarping it off 1 game at a time, rather than pre-ruined anno.

Thanks all!

[BLachance75]

Unfortunately you are very limited when trying to get a new Sterling. The only place that I know of is in Australia and they have limited stock.

[SignOfZeta]

Although the newest Sterling and the oldest Sterling are fundamentally very very similar in truth nearly every part has changed, often more than once. I think maybe the bolt is unchanged but I’m not even sure about that.

OGs had pot metal WGP grips. They eventually made a nice composite version and then eventually a billet one. The barrels used to be their own thread but at some point changed to Spyder. There are at least two pump handles. Early guns were all right feed, modern ones are center feed and based on a different extrusion die. OGs had one hole wood grips new ones used wrap around rubber Hogue. They added a detent at some point. The valves aren’t angled for bottles anymore.

Then there is the optional gas through grip and stock class stuff which are options that didn’t exist early on.

If you buy an old one I wouldn’t assume it would need a rebuild. They use a very reliable seal. They are made for CO2 though and have no velocity adjustment. If you plan on playing with it and right away I recommend a new one.

If you buy a new one I think you’re getting the best pump for the money in 2025 by some margin. It pumps very nice and is super accurate even with the stock barrel that people never seem to want to use.

There are “mid period” Sterlings that seem to have issues with…something, I can’t remember. I can’t say I have any experience with those.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Stock barrel is very short it has a large handle so it hard to get a good sight picture on the stock barrel from behind the marker. The longer barrel makes it point more natural.

[flyweightnate]

The biggest functional differences to me are the barrel threads and hammers.

The oldest Sterlings had very long barrel threads, similar to a Raptor (and sometimes interchangeable) but proprietary. This allowed the bolt to put the ball right into the barrel. Newer ones have Spyder threads, but the ball sits behind the barrel. Some people don't care; I do. It's easier to get Spyder barrels but it's really almost a breech drop instead of a bore drop, if you're familiar with Nelson terminology, or like comparing a Phantom breech drop to a Carter breech drop.

The other thing is adjustable hammers. Not sure when, but at some point right around the switch to Spyder threads, the hammer (and therefore velocity) became adjustable with a long Allen wrench through the pump handle.

Other than that, they all feel very similar to me. And everything is visually different beyond the hammer and barrel threads. I like them all. It's hard to find old pattern barrels, though.

I haven't tested this, but I think WGP cup seals work (very similar size) and my brand new Sterling had a cup seal fail in a year. Only reason to get a spare part, unless you get the newest had through one, where I hear the "Q-nectors" fail/ break easily.

Oh... and they use different rail/ frame patterns. No functional difference but it's a gamble to swap parts around.

[Spec]

So much this.... the move to spyder threads without milling off the front of the upper tube of the body about an inch was such a facepalm move. The ball can roll back-and-forth about an inch before it hits the barrel. So if you use a ball sized barrel insert, like you would for a cocker to grip the ball, the ball flies forward in the breach then hits the smaller diameter of the barrel.

The Sterling was always a case of what might have been. If they actually had a designer with half a brain who played paintball, they could have brought something to market that would have slammed directly into Ccm's T2 market at half the price and easily the quality.

I still love them so....

An externally adjustable tank reg is super helpful for velocity adjustment across a wide range of temperatures and paint sizes.

[pinwheel]

BLachance75 & SignOfZeta & flyweightnate
Thank you all for the info. Im glad I asked and much appreciated on the list of differences. Yes planning to play on field with it.
Adjustable hammer would be a positive, what was done on the older style sterlings to raise velocity - spring swap?

[Funsi00]

I use an inline regulator to increase psi above 700 - 900. PPS inline regulator high pressure 200-900 psi

[SignOfZeta]

BLachance75 & SignOfZeta & flyweightnate
Thank you all for the info. Im glad I asked and much appreciated on the list of differences. Yes planning to play on field with it.
Adjustable hammer would be a positive, what was done on the older style sterlings to raise velocity - spring swap?

Yeah, same as every other gun back then.

[Hellion360]

I have a recent sterling I was thinking about selling, I have two and definitely don't need them both.
I'll tag you in it when I do, likely tomorrow.

[BLachance75]

I hear the "Q-nectors" fail/ break easily.

The banjo screw that holds them on is very thin and can snap if you over tighten it. I have had issues with getting a good seal between the hardline and fitting. It can take trying a few different orings and the pressure that you put on the nut holding it into the fitting to get it working without a leak.

[Laserlips]

I owned an older sterling and aside from NEEDING a custom barrel from Palmers, and the trigger being super mushy it was great. I fixed the trigger by removing some aluminum from the body. Over the years the hammer sear had smashed the metal down but it was an easy fix with a small file. My main issue was the length of pull from my tank to the grip. The original ASA on that thing was one nautical mile long. I ended up selling it for around 450 or so.

I've never owned a new sterling, but that might be the way to go. Centerfeed and spyder barrels AND detents. You'd feel spoiled.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I much prefer the newer Spyder threaded ones. I never had a an issue with how the ball sits in the breach mine shoots fantastic. It dose require different springs for CO2 but after swapping them out for the CO2 springs it works fine on Higher pressure HPA systems as well. (800psi tank input pressure) I still get 280fps out of mine on HPA with the CO2 springs.

If you don’t care about being center feed as long as you find an older one with a small bore barrel (.681 ish) you will be happy. I wanted a center feed with all the stock class mods so I went new. The exchange rates pretty good so it helps eat at the fees. But double check to see if there are new tariffs on the imports now. Back when I got mine there wasn’t.

They are approx $560 USD + about $30 to ship another $10 if you want the stock barrel freak bored. There might be terrif on that as well. That you would need to check on.

But you should be into a new one shipped for about $600 looks like all the colors are available Blue black pink purple gold silver green.

*Oh make sure you get the Co2 springs from them if you order new they are cheap to get and you will need them to run 12g on the setup. My SC sterling did not come with the co2 spring setup. I found that out the hard way.

I know Hellions Sterling is well sorted so that will be ready to go and you won’t need to worry about extra fees of ordering overseas if you want to go used.

https://paintballshop.com/sterling-stock-class-gold/

[pinwheel]

Cool - good to know on the springs for CO2. Was planning to run it on HPA initially but I agree I'd like the option to run 12g in the future. I will make sure to include the extra spring set

[Chuck E Ducky]

You can also get just an open class STP. Around $400 + shipping but for the extra $200 you really do get a lot more value I think with the Stock Class STP.

[Walker]

As for me, I've always liked the old ones.....