Nova Sentinel Autococker

[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.

[docfire]

Free Vulcan Tail. Get your Spock on......

Vulcan Tail S179-276SP (Spock Edition) NOVA™ NX1 only – Docfire Paintball

[Psycho91]

Nice that it's free but it's kinda ugly, then again I find most beaver tails ugly

[docfire]

I agree .....Its like lipstick on a pig. Just kidding...

[latches109]

better than the inception tail, that thing was ugly! You're still the best Simon