I have always hated WGP Autocockers for their boxy looks and perceived mechanical problems. I came from a field were most players used an Automag and the cockers that did show up at the field usually never worked. The owner of the cocker either used a back up Mag or rented a gun.

Bud Orr released his 1997 model cockers. The 97s seemed to be a smash hit. Several guys still complained the cocker was still not up to full running speed and the usual performance complaints. The 97s that showed the cocker was coming out of the dark ages and players started to noticed them as good guns out of the box. Upgrades on the 97 models included an in line reg, and a beaver tail. Some players were happy the gun was tourney legal out of the box.

A year had past and Bud released the latest cocker model, the 1998 version. This version came with some bells and whistles making the gun operate smoother and more reliable. There was an added STO hammer kit, Nelson springs, lower operating pressure, S/S pump and cocking rods, WPG reg, refined pneumatics and so on. The body was milled a bit to make the gun look less boxy. Most of the players looked forward to the threaded timing rod that did not appear the 1997 version which Bud still didn't do in the 1998 model. But with all things considered, the gun was pretty much ready to go out of the box.

Well being skeptical of the cocker from the horror stories of other players owning the gun made me shy away from it. I finally got to try out the 98 model at Top Gun Paintball Games in Jackson, New Jersey. Ray told me some information about the gun and how the gun has changed. He allowed to take it out on the range for a few shots which after firing really changed my mind about the gun. I thought the gun was pretty good stock but not up to par with my Typhoon. I thanked him for the info about the gun and told him that firing the gun really changed my mind about the gun.

A few months later, I helped my local dealer move into his new location. he said I would be taken care of after things were settled. Once things in his new location were settled, he gave me an ultimatum that I could buy anything I wanted in one order at cost. This was the chance to get a cocker for real cheap I thought. I took his offer. A few days later his wife calls me and said he had the gun sitting at thier home ready to go. As a former cocker owner, he admitted the gun looked not that bad from the
one he owned in 93. He said there seemed to be some changes from what he had. He wished me luck with it and out the door I was.

While researching the gun between the time I test fired the gun to the time I bought, I found out what to buy in the beginning. I had a KAPP threaded timing rod and a duck bill ASA were added to the order. I wanted to make sure I could attach a bottle to this thing as soon as I got it going. Once I figured out how to install the threaded rod with some help from Doc Nickel, I was on my way to shooting a cocker.

The first time playing with the gun, I didn't know much about it. I ran 750 PSI into the gun to make it work and stuff like that. I didn't understand the WPG reg with its internal adjustment. So basically the gun was loud and barely worked. The regulars at the field ranked on me about the gun. One player that owned a cocker was using his mag because his cocker when down and it was in a million pieces. So my first time after I played with the gun, I had second thoughts about the gun. I E mailed Doc
Nickel again about the gun and he said I should hook up my stock in line reg or use my V stab. I could use the gun at 300 PSI instead of 750 PSI direct. I sat down figured out how to configure the gun. I played with it one more time and said " I'm going to send it to Palmer's for a real make over."

A Palmerized Cocker is born!

Well on Friday the 13th, one day before my birthday, I called PPS and talked to Craig Palmer about my options. He stated the Quik Pro set up, barrel, and Performance tune was the way to go. He said I could have a trigger job done is I wanted to. Due my limited playing time withte gun, I should play with the gun to see if a trigger job was needed. Before I send the gun in Craig told me I should set the reg's pressure to a low setting around 325 PSI for the Performance tune. I had the gun tuned to HPA with
325 PSI In line reg output. The price tag would be about $350 all together. I worked it out on paper and said I would have the gun out to you tomorrow. I got cocker back in early December.

Figure 1 is what the cocker looked like before the Palmerization. Figure 2 is after Palmerization. 

Palmer Pneumatics

The cocker pneumatics are pretty simple once one can understand the function of each part. The three main parts are the Rock reg, Quickswitch and Quikram.(see figure 3) These three components form the base of the autococking gun. 

The Rock reg is considered the best and industry standard of the pneumatic regs available on the market. The rock is consistent and performs well under most playing conditions. Some players believe this is the only thing Palmer is truly recognized for. The Rock reg is used in all gun made by Palmer. The Rock carries a price tag of $57.

The Quikswitch is the staple 4 way of Palmer guns. The Quikswitch is considered one of the more part heavy(6 internal parts) 3 ways but also one of the best on the market. the 4 way is used in the Typhoon, Blazer, Stroker and any other closed bolt semi autos that Palmer builds or repairs. The price tag of the component is $39. According to Palmer, the 4 way has a cycle life of 750,000 shots.

The Quikram is considered the latest development out of PPS's drive for an all Palmer front end. Before the intro of the Quikram, Palmer was using Clippard ram. Craig considers this Quikram a mini Typhoon ram. I am not sure of the shot life cycle but after researching the Quikswitch I would have to say the Ram is probably just as durable. The price tag of the ram is $48.

All of these components listed here can be combined into a Quik Pro kit. This is a Palmer installed front end. The installation of course requires the owner to part with the gun for several weeks so Palmer can install the kit. If you are handy with your cocker or cockers in general, Palmer will gladly sell the kit to you for do it yourself installation. The price tag for the Quik Pro kit is $140 installed. As always, the parts are of the highest quality and meet Palmer's standards

Palmer Barrel

While the gun was out at Palmer's, I had a barrel made for the gun. Palmer's uses brass stock for his barrels. Palmer believes Brass gives the best deal for accuracy, finish, and low drag. The barrel I got was nickel plated and spiral ported. The length was 12 inches. The barrel is J&J vintage. The barrel was tuned under the Performance Tune. I cannot go into the numbers with efficiency and range. I have not had the gun very long to gather data. I can tell you the barrel is in true Palmer form. The barrel can shoot just about any paint without a problem. That I have already tried.

One thing that did bum me about the barrel was the poor nickel plating job. It was thin unlike the Typhoon's heavier plating job. I attempting to slide on the shroud only pealing off the layer on the ring of the barrel. I placed some electrical tape to stop the pealing and aid in the shroud damage. As you can see the shroud is no longer on the gun when the Palmer barrel is on. This is why you see a black ring on the barrel. Also there was several small spots on the barrel that were black in nature towards the base of the barrel. It looks like the nickel got burned or did not take too well to the brass. 

Palmer's Performance Tune

This was the last part of the work I had done to the Autococker. The performance tune is the tuning of the barrel, valve, firing components, and gas set up, HPA or Co². When I sent my cocker in for this performance tune, I set the WPG reg for 325 PSI off a special gauge I have for setting pressures under 500 PSI. According to Doc Nickel, the cocker will fire at 300 FPS around 300 PSI. I figured 325 PSI sounded good and it will work. I figured I might as well have the gun tuned for 325. The firing components were tuned for 325 PSI as well. This resulted in a nicer cycling operation.

The barrel was tuned also. It was typical Palmer's with the tolerance for paint. It was the elliptical honing process he uses to create the tight-loose-tight barrel bore. Glenn attempts to give the ball every chance of its short life down the barrel before it gets thrown out into the world of Paintball where the rest takes over.

The hammer end seemed to be slightly snapper than the stock set up. It looks like Palmer did some work in that region of the gun. The trigger pull seems to be somewhat lighter, snappier, sweeter than the stock pull. the gun has an unbelievable pull rate where my finger can achieve a high fire rate without thinking about it. I some informal test, I clocked myself at about 6.3 balls a second. Not bad for a stock gun out of the box. I could certainly reach a faster speed with a descent trigger job and some other high performance modifications.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Recently, after having some problems before a really good test could be preformed, I had my doubts about the gun. I was experiencing the minor headaches that some cocker owners face. After some frantic situations and some guidance from Tim Bratton aka STINGER and I got my cocker back up again. I thought the Vertical Stabilizer I was using was bad. I E mailed Glenn explaining the sitch and he said he would have to look at the gun and Stab to find the problem. At this point, I'm not really interested in sending the gun back out to PPS spend 40 bucks in shipping to hear nothing's wrong. So I took down my cocker and found the valve spring was not seated correctly in the gun's valve chamber. This was user error from a previous time I took out the valve after getting the gun back from Palmer's.

What I have found so far is, the gun is about as much fun to shoot as my Phoon. The cocker has come along way. The gun can always be improved somehow. A cocker Palmerized by PPS can be a heck of a deal. The intial money output is high but you get what you pay for. This time I know the gun will finally perform like it should and I can't wait to get it back out on the field for a full report on field performance. Testing performance is one thing, field performance is what counts.

Odds and Ends

I also have a LAPCO Autospirt barrel for the gun. It's pretty nice to say the least. The price is reasonable for a barrel. Most places sell the barrel for $60. I m also going to get another J&J Ceramic barrel. I loved the one on my Mag! It should work just as well on the cocker. I replaced the stock cocking rod with a nicer one. It's adjustable and has the same machined features as the bolt's tail end. Looks very nice. (see pic below)

Photo Gallery

Here are some photos of the cocker.