Nova Sentinel Autococker

[Vegabond]

has anyone gotten there's yet? Are they timed from Nova or need timing?

[ChoSanJuan]

I don't have mine yet, but there are lots of videos out of people doing videos of them out of the box.

[Impactfour]

These annos are really fun, I hope they release a series of body kits eventually, as I'd love to make a pump marker from one of the banzai's but don't want a double trigger frame

[Myrkul]

Has anyone received theirs yet?

[Jivesauce]

I received a shipping notification on mine a couple days ago, but so far the post office hasn’t even picked up the package yet. They got hit by Hurricane Helene, so things are a little behind while everything gets up and running.

[russc]

I was watching a video review on YouTube and he was making it sound like you can't short stroke, and it's just a binary on/off. Does that mean the 3way forces the trigger back? At least that was how I interpreted it. Can anyone comment on whether that's true?

[Myrkul]

Yep, I saw that one too. I don't think it forces the trigger back, I think the throw on it is just so short that you can't actually short stroke it.

We definitely need one of the cocker experts here to get one and really dig into it to be sure though.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Nova has a video going over there cocker and they talk about and show their 5-way valve and how it works.

[Jivesauce]

Got mine today! I don’t have any air, so I’m going to be a huge disappointment to everyone, but I’ll try to get my little compressor set back up this weekend so I can fill my tanks and do some shooting.

Just visually my first impressions are positive. I’m not super knowledgeable about machining like some of the guys here, but to my eyes it looks very well made and the grip feels
comfortable. The trigger feels short and light without air, with kind of a softer stop than I’m used to, almost like it has a rubber bumper limiting travel or something, I need to take the grip off and see if it’s something there, or if the travel is limited by something in the new 5-way.

I watched part of a video of Jason Antle giving first impressions and his came a little poorly timed, but he seemed impressed after fixing that. He also offered free help for anyone who wasn’t familiar with Cockers to get theirs timed if it wasn’t right out of the box, which I thought was nice of him.

[Myrkul]

I saw that Antle video too. Overall this is looking like a really good gun. It's getting harder and harder to not smash that "add to cart button".

[cfos00]

It seems like a good budget cocker for players that don't want to drop a grand on one. The 3 way is what I thought it was, and seems like it should be great as long as you like swing triggers.

[latches109]

I really wanted to take it easy on nova since the hurricane. Ordered a NX1. Like usual Nova fashion for all 3 markers I have purchased NEW, was leaking out of the box. This one had a split ram barb and leaking cup seal. I did not receive a tuned marker. Back block length was not set correctly. timing was too tight, pump arm threads extend into the body causing rub and damage. I doubt anyone tested it before it shipped. no way to miss that leak. I like the 3way idea, the finish on the body was nice, and it did shoot 300fps with the leak.
docfire lets see how things proceed.


some bubbles to find the leak

pulled on the hose without much force and it cam right off.


Poorly planned pump arms bother me. Why so many threads?


edit: In Nova's defense there are a lot of parts to assemble for each marker. I have my serial number is in the 400s so if that is true, then we are talking about thousands of parts. A few errors like over tightening a barb is not a big deal.

[zinger565]

I think TJ just sees your name on the order and goes "ah, he'll figure it out, no need to test this one" lmao.

In all seriousness though, disappointing for sure.

It is funny (to me) how much people punch down on Nova for a $500 cocker when the "big boys" can't even ship a marker release without some sort of issue.

[latches109]

zinger565 100% I can fix it, not a big deal. Just reporting the condition for others, so you know what to expect. The value is there for the price. I like to support small paintball companies and I'll continue to buy Nova stuff, even though they send me leaking markers.

[docfire]

Mine was delayed due to the storm.

[jetenginekyle]

Does the 3way thing allow it to be walk-able? Im thinking that if it is truly impossible to short stroke then tuning it to be walked shouldn't be too hard

[Myrkul]

Individual pneumatic components are available on the Nova website now:

Keep in mind the "5-way" is for hing frames only.

https://novapb.com/collections/autoc...ERxLY_8mWgVYuA

[superman]

It is for forward pushing hinge frames only. Will not work with the inception rip frame.

[Cdn_Cuda]

superman - thanks for clarifying that! Was thinking about getting their 5 way for my Dragon but it was a Rip frame.

[jetenginekyle]

thanks! just bought one

[Myrkul]

Actually got to handle one of these at the Jaegers Pro-shop today. It was a purple Banzai, and holy shit the anno was gorgeous. 10/10 on the Anno.

It needed timing and loctite. I dry fired it a bit, and it felt REALLY good. Overall balance felt super solid, it just plain old felt good in the hands. It could have just been the timing, but the sear did skip more then I wanted. Maybe a flat lug on the hammer or just better timing overall can sort that out, I'll leave that to the cocker pros, It's not a mag or ICD so the finesse of that aspect is out of my wheel house if we are being honest.

Overall: The Pro-shop is grabbing several for the more seasoned vetrain players and the head ref, and one to hang on the wall.

If you can get one that doesn't need to be sent back to Nova for functional parts this gun is looking like a clear win.

[latches109]

I have tried 3 brands of nut drivers. Milwaukee, Klein, Craftsman - None of them fit. I don’t have a harbor freight close by. Which brand will fit?

[Frmrspec]

Yeah, nothing I found at a big box store worked.. I ended up turning mine down on my lathe… you can also 3D print an adapter…. There’s a free file online

[latches109]

I'll figure out a time to make a trip up to harbor freight. Greaterthenjake no way I'm buying Gucci tools for this. I don't have access to a 3d printer anymore. Unless someone wants to print me one

[Greaterthenjake]

I have mine from being a grease monkey for years lol. So I did not buy it just for this.

[Greaterthenjake]

I used a snap on thin wall socket and a 1/4" extension on mine.

[Jivesauce]

Alright finally got my little compressor hooked back up and got some air. I only dry-fired it last night since it was late, but it feels great. No leaks on mine fortunately, and the setup was actually pretty solid. I backed off the back block one turn and need to add some thread locker to the cocking rod. The timing is suuuuuper tight and could probably be opened up slightly, but I didn’t check for blowback yet.

Not a whole lot to add to what others have said. The trigger feels great, I was only able to short stroke it once while playing around with it. The trigger pull is light for a cocker, but I was still not able to walk it, maybe someone better at walking mech guns than me could do it. I’ll try again when I play with it more.

[latches109]

What parts of the nx1 are made “overseas”? Which I assume is China.

[docfire]

From my understanding

Made in Taiwan - Body, FB and BB, Feed neck, Barrel and inserts, timing rod and pump arm, grips, sear
USA made Valve, Springs, Pneumatics (as of now)
UNK - Frame, hammer, cocking rod, bolt

Keep in mind many Taiwan shops sub contract with chinA shops. ALSO most paintball manufactures are in chinA or Taiwan. As of now the only a small part are not overseas, Shocktech (minus barrel), Field 1 (minus barrel and electronics), ID (most parts in china), NOVA (moving more over seas)

[RAZRBAKK]

docfire is there something wrong with your shift key?

[latches109]

That’s disappointing, I thought they were all made domestically, until I saw the overview video.

[latches109]

Notes on my NX1 Experience:

Nova sent 2 replacement valves, one for this marker and one for a miss-machined valve I purchased earlier this year. The machining, finishing, and anodizing quality seems to have improved. They were almost identical in size, with a slightly smaller hole on the top of the stem and a reduced center part, likely to increase cup face pressure.

I bought a Harbor Freight tool to service the valve, as the original design required a specific tool brand, which is a significant oversight. I disassembled the marker, cleaned all grease (including pneumatics), inspected all O-rings, and replaced a few. I regreased with Dow 33 light variant. After reassembly, there were no leaks, and the new valve fixed the barrel leak.

The stock springs aren't ideal. The stock valve spring works, but the hammer spring was not an ideal spring rate. The lowest achievable pressure was 250psi with the IVG flush and my custom hammer spring.

The 3-way... 5-way valve is interesting. I like the forced cycle completion, but the trigger pull is limited. Longer trigger pulls require increased timing, which affect my shot rhythm. The swing frame feels good, but the shooting experience is unusual, as I kept using it as a single-finger trigger. The banjo metal is low quality and not hard enough, it dented easily from normal removal.

Overall, for the price, the marker is decent, but it had issues out of the box, including leaks and erratic velocity. Even after the valve replacement, velocity was still inconsistent. After a full rebuild, I achieved +/-2fps consistency over many shots, which is my typical tuning standard. The HPR has a significant 20psi pressure drop per shot, indicating insufficient flow. In comparison, a 2-liter and Palmer regulators only drop 2-5psi. I did not outshoot the flow on the nova regulator, but I am curious how it will perform with heat, dirty field air, and real dirt. The 5way makes the marker feel snappy, and I was able to get it very consistent.

I was relatively disappointed in my initial nova support, but TJ did come through and made everything right. It's good to see they have sorted out some of the poor machining they were getting back from asia, I will reiterate, quality defiantly increased. If you buy one consider the cost of sending it to one of the members like docfire to get it tuned and built properly.

[gtsjames]

Just wanted to say thank you so much for this post. I picked up the exact same Sentinal at Fulda a couple weeks; it's about to Arc for a custom anno job, then straight to Docfire to be put back together and tuned!

[MullerTime]

I think it was Angry paintball's video that mentioned the trigger frame did not have a trigger stop or adjustment to shorten the trigger pull. Can anyone confirm is that is true? Thanks.

Seems to me you'd want to be able to adjust a trigger stop to shorten the trigger pull since one of the NX1s claims to fame is the new 5 way valve and how little pull it takes to actuate. Even the old WGP hinges had a stop that you could adjust, it just wasn't as easy as some of the nicer frames.