If you own an F4, you know of the limited upgrade parts this marker has.  Other markers with similar price range (i.e. spyder) have loads of upgrade options.  The F4 however, does not.  Basically the marker accepts Prolite/Carbine barrels (some companies are making F4 only barrels), there is a HVC out, expansion chambers and sights will fit on the F4, and the standard .45 frame will accept after market grips.  You can rip off decent strings of paint when needed, yet you can also have those well placed shots when you want.  You can play in most weather since the valve is easily one of best in its class.  So the after market accessories aren't really needed, a stock F4 runs great right out of the box.  There is one noticeable absence in the upgrade market that most people like to get that isn't offered by any company for the F4.  I am referring to the double trigger.  Most people like the feel of the double trigger because it is more comfortable.  It can also help you get another shot or two a second out of your gun.

            Enter K&P customs.  Ken Wenclasky, a fellow F4 owner who frequents the two F4 owner's groups on the net saw a few people inquiring about a double trigger for their F4’s.  With 17+ years in machining and owing a couple of F4’s himself, Ken saw a way to give back to the F4 owning community.  He offers double triggers for ’98 F4s, double triggers for ’99 F4s, double trigger frames for the ’99 F4 and double triggers to fit the frame for the ’99 F4.  He also makes other custom parts that can be obtained.  A listing of what he offers can be obtained by emailing him or checking out his website (links at end).  He can also custom make almost anything you can think of.  All you have to do is give him specs and he works from there.

            His double triggers are made of quality materials.  The triggers are made out of 0-1-tool steel, flame hardened to 60 Rockwell where the sear hits the trigger and around 30 Rockwell for the rest of the trigger.  You can get them in a number of colors to suit your gun.  You can get them in black, red, green, blue, and a silver/blue color.  The frame itself is made out of 6016-t6 aluminum and comes in black, clear polish aluminum (chrome), aluminum, cast iron, gloss black, and semi gloss black.  There will be other colors available for both the frame and the trigger after the new year.  The entire coloring in the frame and trigger is done with a method known as powder coating, which generally holds up better than anodizing.  I realized this when I scratched my newly acquired frame and I still couldn't see the aluminum underneath, all I saw was the black of the powder coating.  Whereas any scratches on my silver anodized marker show right through to the base metal.  Powder coating is a bit tougher than anodizing and it is thicker.  This doesn't add to the weight as you may think, simply because the frame is made out of aluminum, it is already really light, and the powder coating doesn't add enough weight to be noticeable.

            This is how the actual transaction with Ken went (all business is done directly through him).  I emailed him for a quote, and found out what kind of choices I had.  He gave me my choices, I decided on what I liked, got his mailing address and sent my stock trigger frame and money order to him.  Now no matter what you are ordering, Ken is willing to send the parts to you for you to install them, or he will do the install himself for no extra charge.  In my case, I could’ve done the install myself, but I preferred to have him do it.  But some people don’t want to have to be without their frame for the two to three weeks he may take.  The reason he has you send your frame in is because he takes the sear and springs out of your stock frame and uses them on the new frame/trigger.  I had no problem with this since I didn’t have any plans to play paintball any time soon.

            The whole time he had my frame he kept me up to date on the progress.  He made sure of my choices numerous times to make sure he had everything right.  One other good thing about having him install the parts is that he did a trigger job for me, this included adding a trigger stop to the new frame.  As soon as he was finished, he put the frame on one of his markers and made sure it fired and there weren’t any problems.  Once he sent it out, he informed me.  I of course was checking my mail every half hour on the day it was supposed to arrive.  When I got it I was pleasantly surprised.  The packaging was nice, the new frame and old frame were both in there, along with an invoice and some neat business cards and a magnet.  Not bad for a personal business.  I noticed my old frame had all of the old parts he didn’t use in it, and he had placed tape over any holes in which small pieces could fall out of so that they didn’t get lost.

            I picked up my new frame and checked it over.  It was beautifully made and not a blemish was to be found.  The powder coating job on the frame and trigger was well done.  I immediately attached it to my gun and I waited.  I eventually had the time to go and play.  This happened to be the Saturday after thanksgiving.  So the field wasn’t crowded and I had time to really get to know my new trigger.  The first thing I noticed when I gassed the gun up was that the gun wouldn’t always recock after every shot.  I thought about it for a second and then adjusted the trigger stop Ken had put in behind my trigger.  The nice part about the stop is the only thing you need to adjust it is an allen wrench.  I backed it out some, and that eliminated the problem.  It seemed that the stop was set just as the gun fired.  But the gun needed a little bit of extra pull to fully complete the cycle.  Ken had told me he had no problems when testing the frame out, so this just goes to show that not every gun is exactly the same and a little tweaking may be needed.  I had already put my regulator and bottomline on, Ken puts standard bottomline threads into the frame so it accepts any bottomline that will fit on a .45 frame.  So I was set to go.

            The first thing I noticed was the pull was much much lighter.  I didn’t have any way of measuring it, but it definitely was much lighter than the stock pull.  My first game was fun, I found that I was able to get more consistent accuracy because I had a lighter pull and didn’t have to jerk the trigger like I used to.  This allowed for more accurate shots.  I was able to get a decent rate of fire also but I did notice the one flaw with the F4 trigger design.  This is not something that can be fixed by a double trigger either, so it isn't anything wrong with K&P’s design.  But the F4 requires that you allow your trigger to full return forward.  There is quite a bit of slack before the trigger engages the sear.  If you try to put a stop above the trigger to get rid of this it will cause problems.  This is due to the fact that the trigger has to come forward fully in order for the sear to catch the hammer.  So that took some getting used to.  It isn't a big deal once you are used to it, but it took me about three games before I was comfortable with that.  Again this is an ACI design and K&P has tried a few different things but hasn’t found a way around it.

            Overall I was very happy.  The craftsmanship was good, the trigger worked flawlessly.  The only problems were the slight trigger stop adjustment and the trigger mechanism design itself.  The trigger and guard run sort of pricey but you expect that for custom work.  And even though it seems high, it’s not a big difference compared to a DYE or Benchmark frame and trigger, and you won’t get the service from them that you will from Ken.

Even though Ken was technically finished in his dealings with me once I received the new frame and trigger, he asked me to relay to him my thoughts after I had had the day to test them.  This is a very good example of the customer service that should be provided by every paintball manufacturer but sometimes isn't.   To get in contact with Ken you can visit his website at K&P Customs   or you can email him at millpro62@aol.com.  He will get back to you as soon as possible and this usually means same day unless you email him late in the evening.  Again for F4 owner's I would recommend this upgrade any day.  And I would also recommend Ken if you have any custom work you may want done.  There are examples on his web page of his work
 

Timothy Young
MPN Columnist