If you have a PGP that's collecting dust in your closet, I have to recommend getting it Palmerized! At the beginning of this year, I sent in two PGPs to Palmer's. On the first, I had them do a performance tune ($60), which includes honing the barrel, improving the bolt for easier removal, reworking the valve and adding a velocity adjuster. On the second, I had them do the PGP upgrade package ($90), which includes velocity adjuster, reworked valve, new 12" barrel with ball detent and wedgits, new quick strip center-fire bolt, and direct feed nipple. I did some informal "before and after" testing on the PGP's. One word summary: "WOW!" One sentence summary: "Get your PGP Palmerized!"

Okay, the details. I made a simple shooting stand using a Black & Decker Workmate bench, wood, and clamps. Not the most rock solid, stable platform, but with pumps, during actual play you'll never pump & shoot as consistent as the stand anyways. Shooting old Nelson Challenger paint at my backyard fence (I have no backyard neighbors :-) ), I tested shot clustering at approximately 60 feet and 100 feet.

Pre-Palmer: I shot 30 rounds at 60 feet, giving 238fps down to 146fps. The spread was approximately 18" wide by 12" high, ignoring one wild shot from an obviously swollen ball, and 2 shots from low fps. Most clustered within a foot square. I then changed the 12gram CO2 and shot 20 shots at 100 feet, giving 247fps down to 180fps with a spread of a pathetic random 2.5 feet wide by 3 feet high. Most of the shots were done at about an average of one every 5 seconds, so there was some frosting on the 12gram. I also did some comparison shots using a 6" barrel extension that I got from I&I Sports. Accuracy did not improve. It may actually have gotten worse. But the sound using the extension was lower in tone and didn't seem as loud.

Palmerized: The weather wasn't cooperating with me as well - evening cloud cover hindered consistent velocity readings from my cheap light sensor chrony. I used approximately the same firing rate, with about the same age (maybe older), old Nelson Challenger paint. PGP #1 (PPGP for "P"erformace) with unknown starting fps, got 36 shots before dropping below 200fps. Part of the reason for getting this many shots was that I had several ball breaks in the barrel, giving the 12gram time to warm up. But before the breaks, and after cleaning the barrel, the clustering was 10" by 10", with most within 4" wide by 6" (one fence rail!)! Shooting 20 balls at 100 feet (chrono oblivious to the world...) and having some problems keeping the shooting platform immobile, I didn't break out the tape measure. But the spread was probably around 2 feet by 2 feet. I also had some ball breaks again. I'll have to give PPGP a thorough cleaning and inspection to see if there's anything damaging the balls or whether I can just blame it on old paint.

Now, PGP #2 (UPGP for "U"pgrade) is the jaw dropper. I didn't pay for any nickel plating or other cosmetic enhancements, so the finish is a dull matte brass. Kinda gives it an antique look - at first I thought it looked kinda ugly, but I'm liking it more and more. Only the pump handle and trigger frame identify it as a PGP. Okay, and maybe the ffast-change knob. Gives a sense of false security to your opponents, "look at that pathetic pump! he won't hit the side of a barn!" Ah, but with Palmer's performance, they'll never know what hit them! This thing ROCKS! At 60 feet, shooting faster than one every 5 seconds (no ball breaks - UPGP got quite cool to the touch), starting at 274fps, I got 24 shots before dropping below 200fps. 20 shots got a tight cluster of 6" by 7", most of them practically on top of each other! Moving to 100 feet, the cluster was probably somewhere around 1 - 1.5 feet square. Remember that my platform wasn't as solid at 100 feet, and my chrony was daydreaming.

Comparison: I set up my Phantom pump for a few shots at 60 feet. Bottom line microline setup with a quick change 12gram attached. Who knows what the fps was. Using the 'stock' CCI 14" ported barrel, the clustering was no better than (and probably slightly worse) than UPGP. Using my BOA Concealer barrel, it gave about the same spread as the CCI barrel. And I LIKE both barrels in games. "Someday" I'll improve my shooting platform for a more thorough test. The Phantom didn't sit as well since I had designed it for the PGPs.

My take on this? When I've used my PGP in (pump or semi) games, it was usually with the 6" barrel extension. I'd take 20 - 25 shots before changing the 12gram. Now I'll probably take a good 30 - 35 shots before changing out. We'll see when I actually use UPGP in a game. The quick strip bolt is very nice - loosen the knob, pull out the pump rod, twist and pull the bolt out. Now you have a straight shot squeegee pull through the barrel. Even on PPGP, the modified bolt and slot cut in the barrel gives for easier cleaning. Undo the hex screw, pull out the pump rod, twist and pull. The ball bearings don't pop out of the bolt. You can even upgrade to Palmer's Ultra Quick strip bolt system if these aren't good enough for you.

Well, if I want to carry more paint, CO2 and be able to autotrigger, I've got my Phantom - still a GREAT pump. But if I want to travel light and snipe the daylights out of the opponents, I now have UPGP! Plus, I have PPGP as backup to my Blazer! (I still occasionally chop paint-blame my flakey VL2000, and gum up the feed elbow -ugh- not good in a firefight. I'm shooting air!)

"Me? I'm no threat. All I have is this old 12gram pump."
UPGP! heh, heh...

Ray
Ray_Uehara@sil.org
TIP#3104
POG#137 Blazer#160, UPGP, PPGP
PPIG #18

Followup: My first day with UPGP - I got toasted. No fault of UPGP, I just wasn't aiming very straight that day, and I was up against a number of experienced players with serious hardware and loads of paint. Still, UPGP performed admirably. I'm currently adapting some hardware to make it take a bottle - I tapped a 12gram, and I mounted a bottom line. I don't have the proper size and length of microline yet. I did use the bottom line to mount a T-stock during an all pump play day and it was very sweet - parking shots where ever I could aim. Got several very sweet eliminations through thick tree cover. I do need to retighten the bottom line and I'm concerned that the PGP handle frame isn't very strong to hold up over time with the added stress and weight of a CO2 tank and/or stock. One minor nit-pick, I'm finding that the thumb screw that holds the pump rod in the bolt works itself loose easily - I had to constantly check to tighten it during and after every game. I don't think the rod will pop out of the bolt, but I'd hate to lose the thumb screw.

pog site design and contents Copyright pog members