My Palmer's modified stockgun began it's long life as a PMI-1. This Sheridan marker was basically a long barrelled PGP. They later came out in direct feed models known as PMI-1 DF. Mine was made LONG before that. I received it in a somewhat "worse for wear" condition. It had been converted to a MacMurray and Son's 'Annihilator'-clone. The Annihilator was a Sheridan marker whose barrel was removed and replaced with a longer, direct feed barrel. They were known for their accuracy, consistency and durability. It is my belief that the Annihilator was one of the first popular constant airguns, as well. Anyways, my marker was called an "Intimidator" and was made by a shop called 'RTP Custom' out in California way. It had a stainless steel barrel that was slowly separating itself from the lower tube. Because of the appalling condition it was in, I got it for a song. I sent it down to Palmer's (I had a Typhoon at the time, so I valued Glenn's work immensely--and still do) to have the following done:

This baby is a work of art. Not only is it good looking, it shoots flat out until around 125 feet. A couple of months later I found an old Sheridan hammer in a parts box at a local paintball store. It was the

Designs made it, but they don't remember making it because it was that long ago. The special thing about this hammer is that it is a lightened version of the Sheridan hammer. It looks like the letter "I", or a small dumbbell. Why is this important, you ask? Because of 'rebound'. If the hammer is too heavy (as most hammers are) the weight allows the hammer to strike the valve harder when it rebounds (kinetic energy and all that). Some paintmarkers, because of heavy hammer rebounding, will use CO2 for another half of a shot. So for every two shots, you're loosing one shot of CO2, and that extra "rebounding CO2" does nothing but go out your barrel (your ball is gone by the time the hammer rebounds). A light hammer won't rebound hard enough to reopen the valve. This is due to the fact that the lighter something is, the less kinetic energy it has, compared to something heavier travelling at the same speed. I was dubious about this as well, until I went to the chronograph. With a fresh 12 gram inserted, the first shot (not the priming shot) was a decent 280 feet per second (fps). I cracked off all twenty shots at the targets. I was curious how the new hammer would work. I got twenty five good shots with the old hammer. (When the velocity starts dropping below the 240 fps range, you better start getting closer to guarantee a break.) I borrowed one paintball off a buddy and chronoed the 21st shot. It chronoed at 274 fps!!!!!!!!! I can get FORTY SHOTS from a single twelve gram (I only take 25 before changing, however--just to be sure and to maintain consistency.) I have witnesses who will vouch for me and saw the chrono readings. I've been pestering Glenn to start making lightened hammers as part of the performance tuning packages, but he's still pondering on it. If everybody in the PoG pestered him . . . So, after all that, what I have now is a very reliable and accurate stock-class marker, basically made by Palmer's. It's the best money I ever spent.
Play hard! Play fast! Play safe!

PS: If anybody knows where I can get an original model Typhoon, I'd appreciate it. (You can tell the difference as the originals had a M-16 grip and the four-way switch was mounted on the outside of the marker, not in the grip, like present models.) Glenn won't sell me Camelia, so I'm stuck looking for one on my own.

Durty Dan
durtydan@cyberus.ca
TIP 177, PoG 125
Durty Dan Experience page
http://www.warpig.com/durtydan
President For Life of the Canadian Contingent Paintball Club
http://www.cyberus.ca/~wread/cancon.html

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