A short review and pictures of the "Blazer"
NOTE: MoDem Users - there are many pictures on this page and may require several minutes to download.
By Brent Hoefling AKA RamboPreacher PoG#6- "A Player, Not A Pro"
Sn# BZ006
This Particular Blazer has the optional bottom line attachment (notice that a vertical bottle can still be set up). Blazer 006 also has a 12 inch ported barrel, instead of the standard 10 inch non-ported barrel. Otherwise it is completely stock (Of course it is a Palmer gun, it needs no tweaking). There were a few things I noticed right off the bat, after opening the box.
After a short period of "starting up" my Blazer, and finding the sweet spot, I adjusted the velocity (actually it was just about perfect from the "factory", but I wanted to "play" with it a bit to get to know my new gun). Though it has not yet been "broken in", I shot it over a radar chronograph and it was very stable. 285, 287, 285. I played a few rec. games and then re-chroney'ed the gun; 283, 285, 285. Pretty good for a NEW, not broke-in regulated airgun. The effective range and accuracy are very, very good; better than any cocker I have ever owned or shot (that's quite a few, folks), and of course better than any mag (again, there has been many). Now don't get me wrong, I am making apple to apple comparisons. Except this blazer, with longer barrel - is comparable to any mag costing even twice as much or a cocker that I have seen cost three times as much!
Though this is not a comprehensive covering of the Blazer, it is a recreational players judgment. I will refrain from getting into technical details as there are other better suited writers and reviewers. In my humble opinion, and being versed in many kinds and forms of markers, I would have to give this baby two thumbs up. Definitely worth the $400 (stock) price. If you are thinking of an Automag RT - make sure you at least check this out first. If you have a bit more than a cheap budget for a semi-automatic marker, take a look at this marker. For those of you that like Ugly markers, and may be considering a Mega-Z, unless you need a Siphon gun - save the hundred bucks and get a Blazer. I would even, now - hesitantly - but nevertheless, say that it is much better than a stock Mega-Z (again, I can say this cause I have two, yes, 2 of these).
The only thing I can think of that would make the Blazer a better gun is - nothing, I can think of nothing. (well, okay, lighter, and more effective range, etc... all the normal wish-list stuff, but with current technologies in milling, metallurgy, airsmithing and the like, I can't see how that is possible) Of course if Glenn got stupid and started giving them away - that would be nice. But hey, this is his job too, he has bills and plays paintball too, just like the rest of us.
thanks - Brently
Addendum - 980601...
NOTE: Since writing this article, I have upgraded "Charity", my Blazer's name. (I have fond-names for all my Palmer Guns). The first upgrade was a vertical Stabilizer. No I wasn't having any problems with velocity. I was looking to have a forward grip and bottom line (I use remote almost exclusively), and since I was going to have one, I went ahead and used a "Stabe".
Secondly; I sent the unit back for a pro-touch trigger job. Again, I wasn't dis-satisfied with the factory trigger, I just wanted to "trick" my blazer a bit more for performance reasons (besides, have you Blazer owners ever let someone "borrow" your blazer, with stock trigger, and heard some ugly comment about it? Even if you explain that it is an "out of the box" blazer, and compare that to an out of the box autogag or autochunker! - Stock blazer blows the bolts off either!) Personally, I can't outshoot a vl2000 anyway (a couple of my teammates have to have shredders or the new vl's, cause they can outshoot a vl2000 easily). So for me, the trigger job was an aesthetic issue (It is nice to let someone "borrow" it now and watch their eyes light up when they rip off a bunch of rounds over the chroney). No, I didn't get the double finger trigger. I have this thing against those Frankenstein contraptions, especially seeing others with them and the trigger guard getting lopped off - eeeyuuuck!
Thirdly, I added a "T" stock. This was done for performance reasons as well. As a Nasty Typhoon owner, I got in the habit of "shooting from the hip" (see Jeb's article on the Nasty). This was a bad habit with the light Blazer and inaccurate, when I started playing in tourneys and contests. The "T" stock got me out of the spray-&-pray habit, and has saved me money in paint as well.
Fourthly was the second Barrel, I was tired of screwing on and off the Activator for Night/scenario games, so I got an extra barrel, for just those occasions. This addition was completely for convenience - mine! Both Barrels are great and perform as well as a Palmer Barrel should.
Lastly, I got a sight ring or "hood" (not pictured). This is basically a tube that slides over the sight rail, that allows you to sight to the end of the barrel and gain a more accurate sight on the target. I use this quite a bit when "snipeing", though that only happens once or twice in a days play of recreational paintball. This too was for cosmetics, it looks really nice on the sight rail, and I had PPS engrave/stamp her name - Charity - in the side of the hood. (All my Palmer guns have names and they all have matching hoods with names.)
990726 Addendum:
I have been using this gun now for several seasons (since they first came
out). Though I have changed a couple things, mostly for aesthetics, it
remains my primary paintball gun. I now have wooden grips, a HV/LP chamber
added, I can run her at about 300 psi, but keep the stabe set to 400psi (or
so). I keep a very constant velocity of 285 in hot and cold weather.
I continue to be amazed at it's performance and accuracy. A couple more
recent Pictures: Blazer 1, Blazer
2. They are kinda bright, but you can see the HP/LV chamber and the
wood pmi grips.
991103 Addendum: I am not recommending that anyone do this modification, but it does work for me (The Tempest Blazer is setup this way as well.). I have had many questions about the pro-feed setup. let me explain a bit about it. When putting it on the Blazer (or any paintgun for that matter), you will probably need to cut down the direct feed tube. This makes it so that balls don't get chopped when turning the feed on/off. If installing this device, you will need to drop some balls in your feed tube and measure where you want the pro-feed to sit and not chop a ball if turned on/off. Remember to you are cutting your paintgun and it is a permanent decision. Carefully cut the tube down, making small moves. You can always cut a little more off, but if it is too short - you can't "cut it back on". Be patient and take it slowly, you will be happy with the results. The following graphic (not to scale, anyone want to volunteer a better one?) displays how you can have a R/H (or even a L/H) feed and still have the hopper over the top of your paintgun.
Update of current pictures - 030110:
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