Review of Angel A1 Fly Paintball Gun!

Out of the Box

When you open the box the first thing you notice is this gorgeous paintball gun. Once you finish drooling over the marker, it's time to start playing. The A1 Fly does not run at top performance out of the box, some tuning is required. Adjusting the settings on the A1 is easily accomplished with the color LCD screen and scroll wheel (which also is used to turn the gun on and off and put it into safe mode). The A1 Fly's full color manual is very well written and contains all the information you'll need to completely disassemble and reassemble the gun as well as a comprehensive explanation of how to tune it to fit your needs.

To get the gun tuned perfectly you'll need to get an additional gauge (available from APS) to help you tune the LPR. While the stock settings work perfectly for the intermediate player, if you really want to get your dwell, de-bounce and LPR settings ideal, APS released the settings they use for the professional teams they sponsor.

Basic tuning of the A1 is not too difficult though advanced settings (such as Joy or Rage) should probably be done by a professional. The trigger pull is easy to get just like you want it and the scroll wheel and LCD screen are very easy to use. There are many settings (breakout, ramping, full auto, etc.) so you can get your gun to play just like you want it to.

The A1 comes with a tool kit, gun oil, a barrel plug (I recommend getting a barrel sock as soon as possible) and a two-piece barrel with three backs (.691, .693 and .695).

Design

Angel Paintball Sport's Angel 1 Fly (also known as the A1 Fly) has kept the Angel recognized three-bore design which keeps the gun compact and its low-rise clamping feed neck gives it a very low and tight profile. Internally, the fore-grip houses a primary regulator; the two lower chambers contain the low pressure regulator and the ram; while the upper chamber holds the bolt. The A1 Fly comes with a standard with an LED screen and scroll wheel to manage your settings. The electronic board comes with a USB port to update the gun's software via your computer. With all these awesome features, Angel still manages to design the A1 Fly as one of the best looking guns available today.

As can be expected for a high-end gun, all the components are very well made. As with most Angel paintball guns there really aren't very many upgrades available (or even needed other than a barrel kit).

Performance

First the disclaimer; don’t expect perfection from the A1 Fly out of the box. Angel paintball guns need a little breaking in before they shoot super consistently and get maximum shot efficiency. Additionally, like all high-end guns, the A1 needs to be tuned properly before it will fire just like you want it.

If you are a casual player just playing in semi-automatic mode, there's not a whole lot to be done other than adjust your ball speed. If you want to tune the gun to act like the professionals' guns it will take a little bit of time to get things just right. One great feature is the customization of the trigger pull - it's easy to do and very precise.

The A1 Fly comes with three barrel backs, though unfortunately the smallest size is .691 (which is larger than many paintballs). So again, out of the box adjustments need to be made. With a good paint to barrel match, the A1 can lay down ball on top of ball at thirty feet.

Like most high-end guns, it fires as fast as you can pull the trigger so your firing speed becomes limited by your hopper speed.

A common issue that seems to arise with A1 Fly owners is the efficiency. A well tuned gun is very efficient, but if you are getting less than 1000 shots with a full 68/4500 tank, you may want to have a professional tune your gun.

Recommend Upgrades

The A1 Fly comes stock with so many options out of the box, there are not many updated needed before you take it into your first game. If you are an avid paintballer, I would recommend getting a barrel kit that will give you more options on bore sizes. There are many kits to choose from, pick the one that suits you best.

Summary

The Angel A1 Fly comes with a high-end price but also packs high-end performance. Depending on your play style it may or may not be the best paintball gun, but it definitely competes with any gun out there.

Well that is it for this review of the Angel A1 Fly paintball gun. I know what I’m playing with next time I’m at the field. If you're thinking about getting your own A1 Fly paintball gun, get a great deal here!

Paintball Gun Safety - Play Safe & Have Fun!

Recently while playing at my local paintball field, I noticed quiet a lot of safety violations that concerned me. So I thought I would write an article to help stress some of the important safety regulations and why they are so important.

1. Barrel Bag/Plugs need to be on at all times while in public areas (not on the field). Chances are that people not of the field (players, visitors & ref’s) don’t have their goggles or masks on. This makes for an easy accident especially with today’s guns and their hair-pin triggers. While this is strongly enforced at the fields by the refs, I still see people carelessly walking off the field without a stopping device or taking the barrel bag off to check something on their gun. Please be sure to put your barrel cover on well before exiting the field.
2. Masks off while on the field. This goes back to my above point. Especially while one the field people have there barrel bags off and firing all over the place. IF you are hit or your mask is fogged up, get off the field as quickly and safely before you remove your mask. Do everyone a favor and protect yourself. If you find that your lenses fog often, then invest a little money in an anti-fog product.
3. Keep your safety equipment safe. Now I know everyone wants to look cool while paintballing, but safety is safety. The mask and lenses are designed to keep your facial area safe. I often see people with damaged, cracked or unsafe modifications to their masks and lenses. Paintball goggles & lenses go through vigorous safety tests and standards before they are allowed to be sold. Any minor crack or modification could compromise the integrity safety of the lens. This could place you in a position where the lens could crack or shatter caused possible damage to your face and eyes. Please play safe, protect your face!
4. Shooting foreign objects. You don’t see this really on the field, but I’ve heard people discussing different objects that’s they have shot through their marker. These can be things like, rocks, marble, frozen paintballs, or even removable football cleats. Although some may think that it is cool to try shooting different things from there marker, its not. First off, markers are designed for paintballs, any foreign could potentially damage for awesome marker. Secondly, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE SHOOT OTHER PEOPLE OR ANIMALS WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN A PAINTBALL. Shooting someone with anything other than a paintball could seriously injure them or even KILL them.
5. Chrono to the right speed. I know that every field has their own set limit for chrono speed usually between 275 – 300 fps (feet per second). Please ensure that you understand what the appropriate limit is for your field and that your marker is set accordingly. The fields set the chrono limit for their field accordingly for safety reasons. If you have your marker set too “hot” it could cause injury to another player. It also runs the risk of damaging somebody safety equipment. I don’t like getting hit with a “hot” shot, and I’m sure you don’t either. Keep your marker chrono’ed within the limits. If you’re playing away from the field, it’s maybe a good idea to buy your own hand held chronograph. You can usually find them online for $70 - $ 90.
6. Shoot the right target. All to often you hear on the news about teenagers or drunken frat boys getting arrested for firing their paintball guns at things outside of paint ball. These include dogs, cats, birds, passing cars etc. News like this puts a very negative spin on the sport as a whole. As an avid player I work hard to build a positive name for paintball to help grow the sport so we can enjoy is for years to come. If you feel the need to shoot something, pick up one of these Paintball Auto Reset Targets.

Paintball is a fun but potentially dangerous sport; but when everyone follows the rules, the margin for injury goes way down and the fun factor goes way up. Stay safe and have fun!

New Angel Paintball Field Opening

According to APS another Angel training field opens this weekend, this time at the Angel home field in Birmingham England. The training field has been some time in the making and will feature 4500psi air fills from the on site state of the art compressor, the latest SupAir inflatable fields, player viewing gallery, and one of the best playing surfaces money can buy the UEFA approved Tiger Turf. To mark the launch of this training facility members of Joy Division will be providing a training clinic on Friday, and taking part in an open 5 man tournament on Saturday before taking part in the Diamond Wars event on Sunday. For more information on this weekends action, or to book time on the training field check out www.nationalpaintballfields.com possibly one of the best paintball fields in the world.

New Angel Paintball Clothing Line!

Angel Paintball Sports has released some information and pictures of their newest clothing line named "Arabis" This new clothing line is designed with Woodsball & Scenario players in mind. Your usual speedball clothing lines, are lightweight, provides good ventilation which in a hot outdoors game would be very handy, though their typical bright colors do not harmonize so well while trying to blend in amounts the trees. The collection of clothing will include a jersey, pants and shemag in a camo-esque pattern and available in two colors; Olive Drab and Brown.



Along with the new clothing line Angel is also releasing a stock for the A1 & A1 Fly. This will allow great flexibility while playing in a scenario game as you will be able to connect to your tank via a remote line decreasing the weight of the gun.



There have been mixed reviews so far for these new products by Angel which is not surprising as the majority of Angel owners are Speedball/Tourny players. I am personally excited for this new release and feel that this is a great opportunity for Angel to branch into a vastly untapped market.

US Paitnball League - DC Challenge

The US Paintball League (USPL) will be hosting their 3rd of 4 events in Washington DC. The Event named "DC Challenge is scheduled for Friday August 28th to Sunday August 30th. The sign up deadline for this event is Thursday August 20th. Depending on your division prize money can total upto $9000 for first place. Make sure to go to uspaintballleague.com for all the information regarding signups.

Don't have a team, well then make sure to stop by to see the torunament live. All of the top pro teams are scheduled for this event, including DC Arsenal & DYNASTY. This is going to be one action packed event.

8 Tips for Maintaining A Better Angel One

Got an Angel A1? Think it might need maintenance, or a tweak but unsure what to do. Below is a list of 8 tips, quoted from Ken Crane to keep your Angel Paintball gun in top form.

1) Don’t buy garbage batteries. No ifs ands or buts.

2) Don’t run your dwell below 6.5. I don’t care if you are the smartest physics major in the world. It won’t work!

3) Don’t lower the LPR below 6o. Just don’t; It won’t work any better,

4) If you upgrade the software on your gun, download it and follow the instructions exactly as they are written. Don’t try and be smarter than the guys that wrote the directions; they work as designed. Insert a new battery before flashing the gun as it uses more power to flash than using the gun.

5) Don’t try and make the ASA a drop back or drop forward. It isn’t and was never meant to be moved forward or back. If you do you will break the frame. Evenly tighten the front and rear pinch bolts to assure a tight but not over tight fit.

6) ALL bounce is being created by customers incorrectly adjusting the trigger magnet. If you remove too much magnetic tension from the front adjustment it will bounce. Make sure you can feel and hear the magnet grab the front adjustment screw.

6) Don’t use cheap tools to work on your Angel. Buy good quality ball end allen wrenches. It will make your life and ours much easier.

7) Before you assume drop off, poor velocity, slow rate of fire or like issues are affecting your A1; check the output pressure of your air system. We cannot even tell you how many guns we get in that work fine only to find it’s a below 400 output tank causing the issue. It happens every day; Make sure your tank puts out at least 450. DO NOT ASSUME ITS FINE. TEST IT!!!

8) Proper removal of the A1 eye covers requires some skill. De-gas the gun, remove the exhaust valve end cap. Carefully get a pointed or sharp flat object started under each eye strap at the rear most part of the cover. Don’t pull the arms away from the body any more than it takes to slide them forward. Pull them towards the front of the gun and remove. To reinstall again, don’t pull the cover arms any more than it takes to slide them over the body.

Win an Angel A1 Fly Paintball Gun!!!!!

Hot off the press.!!! Angel Paintball Sports announces that they have teamed up with Kerry “Viper” Rosenberry of Viper Scenario. With this announcement Viper & APS are giving you the chance to win a new Angel A1 Fly. The game – Find Viper! Details below.

How to enter:

1) Find Viper

2) Tell him "Hey Viper, I need a new Angel!"

3) Take the ticket he gives you and place it in an envelope along with an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with the following information printed or typed on it:
* Name
* Mailing/shipping address
* Phone number
* Email address
* Where you found Viper

4) Apply proper postage and mail it to:

Viper Paintball Angel Contest
PO Box 920
Winnsboro, TX 75494

On December 31st, 2009 we will draw a name and contact that person using the information they have provided. If there is no response within seven days the entry will be voided and we will draw a new potential winner. Once the winner contacts us to claim their prize their name will be posted and their Angel will be shipped directly to them!

Contest rules:

1) One entry per person

2) One entry per household

3) One entry per envelope

4) Each entry must include a ticket acquired from Viper

5) You cannot "Find Viper" for an entry in
* Mt Vernon, TX
* Winnsboro, TX
* his house or neighborhood

6) Anyone acting in an unsafe or obnoxious manner will be refused an entry. This includes paintball events or on the highway.

7) All information must be accurate and legible or the entry will be voided. Provided information becomes the property of Viper Paintball and Angel Paintball Sports, and may be used for marketing by these companies. It will not be sold or transferred to any other persons or entities.
8) Winner will be contacted using the information they provide. If they cannot be contacted using that information, or do not respond within seven days of notification their award is forfeit, and a new winner will be chosen.

For more information on how to find Viper check out Viperpaintball.com.