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The Automag is a paintball marker designed by Tom Kaye and produced by Airgun Designs, Inc. It bears the distinction of being the first semi-automatic marker ever to win a paintball tournament. Team Swarm used Automags in their victory at the 1991 International Masters.〔(Paintmagazine.com ) - "Behind The AutoMag", by Mike Wallis, May 1996〕 ==History== The first Automag was invented in 1985, but was revised several times before its release in 1988. As one of the first generation of semi-automatic paintball markers, its blow forward design was unique. Made mostly from stainless steel, the valve system was the first to incorporate a pressure regulator directly into the marker. The design also allowed for disassembly in the field without tools. The marker also introduced other innovations including a quick release twist lock barrel and the Power Feed, which was an angled feed system that prevented balls from being blown back up into the hopper. The Panther was the first prototype semi-automatic marker designed by Tom Kaye of Airgun Designs in 1988. Since it was only a prototype it was never offered to the public. The design was sold to Direct Connect, but was never manufactured. AGD bought the design rights back in 1989 through a non-performance clause in the original contract. The blow back design was deemed to be too primitive (because pump markers changed in 1988, they got removable barrels and quickstrip pins) so a second generation prototype "P2" (for Panther Prototype Two) was developed. This second design was also a blow back, and had many problems. It was decided to give up on blow back technology and re-engineer the entire action into a "blow-forward" design. This eliminated many problems inherent in blow-backs, such as their dependence on full, constant operating pressure in order to cycle reliably. This hearalded the beginning of the Automag design which went through two revisions; P3 and P4. The P4 design was released to the public in 1990. The Automag had several problems when first introduced and the company fixed them through free updates called Level 6 through Level 7. This inspired a loyal customer base and the marker rose to become the most popular tournament marker in the mid-nineties. The Minimag and the Sydarm were introduced as variants, with the Sydarm targeted specifically at police training. Later came the RT which incorporated an all new regulator that made shootdown impossible (it could recharge 25 times per second), and had "reactive trigger" technology; after the marker fired, input pressure manipulated the mechanical link to force the trigger to return to its resting position, which reduced problems with "short-stroking". The Level 10 bolt was designed to eliminate ball-chop during high rates of fire. AGD now sells the X-valve, which is the RT Pro valve made from aluminum instead of stainless steel, and is combined with the Level 10 bolt. Airgun Designs briefly produced the E-mag and the X-Mag, manufactured by Airgun Designs Europe, to compete in tournaments that have come to be dominated by electro-pneumatic models. They have since discontinued their production. The E-Mag's design is unique in that it retains a mechanical link between the trigger and firing mechanism; the electronics work with manipulate electromagnets that lessen the pull strength. With a dead battery, the magnets are simply not functional and the gun reverts to mechanical operation similar to an RT. Therefore, the E-mag remained the only electro-pneumatic marker that would fire with a dead battery until the production of the Tippmann X-7 Phenom with its E-grip in 2009. The "Reactive Trigger" of the RT and subsequent E-Mag and X-Mag designs proved to be detrimental to AGD; it was found that, given an HPA tank with sufficient output pressure, the reactive trigger could be set to push back after firing with greater strength than was required to pull it, allowing simulated full-auto operation by finding a "sweet spot" on the trigger, squeezing it with just enough force to fire it but less than the return strength. This was determined by the NPPL and other tournament leagues to confer an unfair advantage, and the rules were changed to specifically prohibit triggers set up to "bounce" (defined as registering more than one mechanical "pull" of the trigger per conscious application of pressure to the trigger by the player, whether by mechanical or electronic means). The paintball market has since evolved into fully electronic markers, which provide higher rates of fire and much lighter trigger pulls, many at lower cost than the all-mechanical Automag. However, the Automag today retains its reputation as one of the most reliable mechanical markers ever made. Airgun Designs remains in business despite having all but exited the tournament market. It remains known for its good tech support, and the Automag enjoys a small following of loyal customers who customize and maintain their markers. Mechanical Automags have had a resurgence in popularity with woodsball and scenario players due to their reliability, compact design, and water resistant qualities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Automag (paintball marker)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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