Sean Takeda's converted Autococker #6497 into "Stock Class" Sniper featuring cuts and anodizing from B&M Pro Shop, DYE 12" S/S barrel, Check-It Products "Ultimate Seal", Armson "Red Dot" sight, Taso S/S cocking rod, Taso Beaver Tail, Carter Machine modified Rat Attack, Budd Orr Regulator, Microline, Smart Parts Wooden Grips.  Bolt, Trigger frame are both stock  Believe it or not, this gun gets 28 shots on a 12-gram C02 @ 285 FPS.

       Let's face it, pump play is coming back, along with stock.  Every form of paintball has its following.  It is also true that one of the best and most popular paintball guns is the WGP autococker.  Well I have got some news for ya.  The cocker was based of a pump gun called the sniper 2 long ago.  Since then the cocker has grown and has been upgraded.  Now WGP has upgraded its sniper 2 to 98 specs, like the cockers.  Get ready to take a look at one of the best pump guns on the market.

Out of the Box:
 

        Out of the box, the Sniper 2 looks essentially like a cocker.  Well, I should say that a cocker looks like a sniper 2.  This is because all a cocker is, is a sniper pump with a pneumatic system in place of a pump to cock the gun and automatically chamber another ball.

98 Upgrades:
 

        WGP has really changed the sniper.  Now snipers come with a slide trigger like the auto cocker.  While there is no timing rod attached to it, it still has a place in the trigger plate for one.  The sight rail is now ramped, purely cosmetic, but looks nice. There is even a sear lug adjustment hole up top in the middle of the sight rail.  Now to put that in laments terms, it is a whole
in which an allen wrench is able to adjust a lug that is connected to the hammer and the sear.  By moving this, one can determine when in the trigger pull the gun will fire.  This can come in handy for performing trigger jobs as you can set the pull to early in the pull, and place a stop to prevent trigger over travel.
        Other upgrades are a cut block, stainless rods, lightened back block, ball détente, nelson springs, enlarged valve chamber, an STO velocity adjuster, and carbon fiber frame.  Also the stock barrels have been improved.  They are now tighter bore.  So, if using a good paint/barrel fit, it will be more efficient.  Also it self cleans easier in theory, but I would still carry a squeegee, as it does not do this well.
        Another thing that one may notice is the sniper lack of an auto trigger.  One can be installed, but I think I can fire fine without it.  Without it, it fires damn fast too.

Upgrades:
 

        Well the sniper can accept just about every cocker upgrade.  The only thing different is that it uses a different pump rod. However the cockers pump rod and pneumatic can be installed and it can be made an autococker.  Other wise, it accepts all cocker barrels, bolts, valves, and all other neat toys.

Performance:
 

        I will make this short. It shot very well out of the box.  Use good paint and get the bottle position you want and you are ready to go, period.  However you can still get a higher degree of accuracy with a new barrel, but it is just fine out of the box.

The sniper goes for about $275.  For more info or you just have a question, mail me at bspeiser@thempn.com.
 
Brain Speiser
MPN Columnist