Paintball

[CJOttawa]

EDIT - "Out of the box" the Redux still suffers the pinch problem that is a major element of this review.

I have modified my Redux to solve the problem and believe it would be a fairly easy factory modification. Details here: http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/r...x-success.html

___________________________

The David Lynch film "Mulholland Drive" is surreal and dreamlike. You either get or you don't, one reviewer rating it "either 10/10 or 0/10" depending on which - do or don't - camp you fall in to.

My review of the DD68 Redux is exactly that.

It can't fairly be given either a ten or a zero without explaining why it deserves exactly the opposite.

Background
I've shot two DD68 Reduxes - my own s/n 043 (one of the last built) and one of the first built, s/n 015.

I bought '043 directly from Duck Works for $1,095 USD ($1,223 CAD) on 28 July 2009. I've played about 50 days of paintball since and if we assume 200 shots per day, that's about 10,000 paintballs.

'015 has made its rounds through four or more owners and when I examined it on "owner number three" it had a fraction of the wear I'd put on '043.

Why do these guns trade hands so often? Read on.

I used to play paintball using an electro with a huge force feed loader on top. I didn't like the size so I started using a 50-round hopper. Then I ditched the electro for several mechanical semi-automatics.

Here's an excerpt of my 9 March 2007 paintball log entry:

Originally Posted by cjottawa

...Entry for non-members is a bit pricey at $38 if you have your own gear. That includes 125 paintballs...I used exactly 122 paintballs, including about 10 shot over the chrono.

I only had 9 paintballs left at the start of the last game and had 3 left at the end after getting 2 outs (a surrender and a hit).I'm starting to think I could play stock class and do well...

At the time I was shooting a Blazer with a 50-round Winchester hopper.

By the time I saw the Redux, I was using 100-200 paintballs a day and switching to a stock class marker wasn't a major leap.

Enter the Duck
I live by this quote:

Originally Posted by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

When I saw the DD68 Redux, I appreciated the simplicity. I could get by with the paint limitation and I liked the self-contained gas-in-grip.

After asking the usual questions here on the forum, I took the plunge and bought the last Redux still available from the factory.

The first thing you notice about the DD68 Redux is just how well machined it is. Forget words. A photo is worth a thousand of them:





Quack Quack You're Dead
The DD68 Redux does one thing really, really well:

1. shoot a single paintball

No, really. Read that again.

I frequently tag players at 100+ feet with one ball.
ReDUX review (By proxy)

The Redux section of the armory is filled with discussions about consistency, accuracy and efficiency which I won't repeat here.

Further reading:
Brass Freak compatible inserts
12 gram comparison/discussion
ASP TPC and Hammer Review

Exit the Duck
So, if the gun is that good, why do they seem to change hands so often? What earns the DD68 Redux a possible "0/10"?

Two key flaws in the design:

1. the 12-gram pierce-pin assembly outlet dumps CO2 directly into the powertube inlet vents; this siphons liquid CO2 and will result in broken paint under many conditions
2. the feed system contributes to pinching paint - if you pinch, your game is over as the whole breech and slide will be covered in fill and shell, requiring disassembly to clean

Flaw one is easy to solve with a valve insert to which we have a thread entirely devoted, here: Redux Valve insert - success

The second flaw is the Achilles heel of the design and there is an entire thread devoted to it, here: http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/r...d68-redux.html

• I am dedicated to limited paint play.
• I like the simplicity and efficiency of a pump and don't have any interest in a semi-automatic marker.
• I like the self-contained nature of the Redux - the gas in grip and low-profile feed system.
• I dislike carrying tanks, pods, packs and other gear.
• I recognize the rate of fire limitations of a stock class gun and do not engage targets on their terms, such as gunfights that lean on high rates of fire.
• I love the extreme one-ball accuracy, with high-grade paint and gas and appropriately under-bored insert.
• I hate the pinch tendency of the DD68 Redux. This is a design flaw and requires a solution.

I suspect the pinch-inducing design flaw cancels out all of the positives for some users, causing them to resell.

Conclusion
Ferrari only sells their high-zoot, limited edition cars to registered owners of other Ferraris. The prerequisites ensure people don't get in over their heads which would ultimately reflect poorly on their designs.

If you're contemplating a DD68 Redux, try PGP or Nelspot first.

The DD68 Redux creature comforts - Freak inserts, Colt sights, gas in grip - are nice but they don't make it any easier to use than any other gun.

The tendency to pinch at the most inopportune times will:

• frustrate you to the point of selling the gun
• have you pumping, as I do, so cautiously you'll max out at about one ball per three seconds - making the gun a very expensive, if accurate, breech loading musket

DD68 Redux: 10/10 or 0/10, there is no middle-ground.
Fix the pinch tendency and it's a 10/10. Until then, a shadow hangs over the design.

I won't give up the gun because of my love of the strengths listed above but my minimalist tendencies likely put me in the minority.

EDIT - I did eventually sell my DD68 Redux. One too many pinches at inopportune times, dismantling the gun on field, and trying to clean goo out of the breech were too frustrating for me. I currently own a stock class micro-Phantom that will soon have a Dukie Slide Pump and slider grip frame with gas in grip.

[Stilgar]

Good review.

I can attest to CJ's insanely accurate shots at 100+ ft...I have been one balled by him I don't know how many times...

CJ's limited paint games don't put him at a disadvantage at all...when we play, the game is often more along the line of "who can survive the longest against CJ..."

[PB Weasel]

How dare you slander the good and noble name of R018 sir! I challenge you to a dual of gentalmen! Redux at 10 paces high noon . I don't know or care why others have sold this gun in the past, she has been good to me.

[CJOttawa]

Originally Posted by PB Weasel

How dare you slander the good and noble name of R018 sir! I challenge you to a dual of gentalmen! Redux at 10 paces high noon . I don't know or care why others have sold this gun in the past, she has been good to me.

Wait a second. YOU have R018?

...?

What s/n did Mar have? His was the other one I tried.

EDIT - thanks folks. R015 is Mar's former Redux and the other one I teched and shot.

[PB Weasel]

Idk, that sounds like a query for the pervo himself. Lol

[ironchef97]

I think Mar's was SN015....

CJ, you forgot the 3rd and most important reason why a Redux would have 4 owners...

3. The Redux holds its value extremely well, and can be used as a great gun whoring trade chip.


I think you should post DSA's super fast loading Redux video as a counterpoint to the pinched balls problem, DSA has the loading 'technique' down perfectly it seems

[Magoo]

I have never had a pinching problem with my Dux. The problem I do have, however, is velocity. I'm STILL working that out...

[CJOttawa]

Originally Posted by Magoo

I have never had a pinching problem with my Dux. The problem I do have, however, is velocity. I'm STILL working that out...

Could you provide us with some more data, Magoo?

Paint size?
Insert used?
Pump technique?

Can you get a macro photo of the snub, on the feed block side?

The EXACT spot on R043 where paint gets pinched is sharp, flat, forward edge of the feed port on the snub.

[PB Weasel]

"Its all in the hips" happy gilmore, lol, it is all down to technique for loading. My gun had an unmodded snub and it loads fine, I just need to be aware that it can pinch and not slam the slide forward. It is tricky at first, but only at first, everytime I have given friends the chance to use the dux it comes back soaked inside and out and they are never smiling, though I am.

[Magoo]

^^^ Yeah, I did the same thing with my friend. He borrowed the 'Dux for like 3 shots, hands it back and starts griping about how it feeds! For me, I rotate the gun a bit to the left, rock it down, pump it sharply, and kinda let the return spring do its job. I only loosely pump forward, so if it does grab a ball, my hand slips and there's no painty goo. After a while of doing this, the motion is quite fluid if I do say so myself.

CJ, I'll get those photos up later. I'm using a .684 Freak. Paint is whatever the field has handy. I don't use a consistent brand because I usually play scenario, and it's FPO (the different fields use different paint). I'd like to get a smaller insert, but that's a future plan. I've tried various spring configurations, and can't seem to get more than 15 useable shots. I don't have the extended barrel, and nor do I want one as I'm getting a fitted holster, and couldn't use the extension.