General

[JLuke]

Originally Posted by broder

it uses springs right?

I was thinking the same thing, all you need is hinged fingers with a very weak spring below them, just enough so they snap back in place, and make the fingers so that they cant bend outward past the closed position. Hell while they're at it, put ball bearings on each of the fingers so it's "super smooth reloading"

[ThisIsPaintball.ca]

Virtue Paintball Secret Prototype Teaser - YouTube

Stupid embed option isn't working for me.

[broder]

Exactly, just look at this vid @ 0:32. I think the fingers are hard plastic too. There's no reason to make them bendable.

Originally Posted by JLuke

I was thinking the same thing, all you need is hinged fingers with a very weak spring below them, just enough so they snap back in place, and make the fingers so that they cant bend outward past the closed position. Hell while they're at it, put ball bearings on each of the fingers so it's "super smooth reloading"

[knis2me]

Have to say I am super impressed!

Used my spire this past weekend and it worked perfect! Its quite, fast, and so ease to use!

[tymcneer]

I got to handle and tinker with one today. I am very impressed. I will post more after I get to play on sunday. I may even hook it up to a stupid fast Automag and see just how fast it can go

Ty

[[MOOSE]]

Anyone else have any experience with it.

[tymcneer]

I got to shoot one for a few hundred rounds...

It keeps up. I like the faster the you shoot the faster it spins feature.

I did not like the pulsing after I stopped shooting.

All in all it looks and works well. I will need to run it in a game or two.

Ty

[moving_target]

Pulsing?

[p8ntninja]

The pulse allows the hopper to still feed whether or not you shoot. In essence it assures there is always a ball in the stack and no misfeeds which could result in a chop. Could be an annoyance for those that do not constantly sling paint during a game.

[Cottontail]

I used the Prophecy Z2 for half the season and a few weeks ago it went on the fritz, first it was spinning very slowly when it was off, then it wouldnt turn off at all. So I called Empire and they sent a board out to me no questions asked, took 5 days to get to me. Not bad for free shipping and new board.

I broke the z2 down, and up until then I was happy with it. But its just too complicated compared to the Rotor. If you get shot inside the hopper and dont have a backup theres really no efficient way to fully clean it at the field between games in a quick manner. So I switched to rotors, I love how slim the rear end of the rotor is compared to the Z2. I havnt had any issues with my Rotors yet, and Im happy to have made the switch.

Then yesterday, my local field decided they had to post up that they had Spires in stock. (5 total, they sold out within like 3 hours) so, knowing I could have it in my hands in less than a few hours I jumped on it just to see how it worked, and because I love buying new toys for paintball.

I'm thoroughly impressed with the Spire, but before I go further this is based on aesthetics/responsiveness to vibration/quality, not feed capabilities because I have not run paint through the Spire yet. The plastic shell feels a bit thinner than a Rotor, but less flimsy than a z2. I'd say its a very nice, happy medium and Im confident it will hold up to the rigors of play without issue. The shell DOES split in half, so if you wanted you could swap with a buddy, or it leaves room open in the future for high capacity shell tops ala the Rotor and older Prophecies.

Upon removing the tray I found everything to be very tidy and organized, wires tucked away nicely under a shroud of sorts on the bottom. The Rotor does a good job with this as well, where as the Z2 seems to be lacking in that department with wires protruding out of the side beneath its tray.

The Velcro on that hold the batteries in place looks to be of very high quality, and is even branded with the Virtue V, a very nice touch I think. This ones again is in contrast to the Rotor which has what I feel to be lower quality Velcro holding the batteries in. Mine is frayed, and the adhesive has come undone, seperating the top and bottom half of the Velcro. It doesnt really affect anything, its just annoying when trying to secure the batteries. The Prophecy Z2s battery area is once again pretty sloppy in comparison to both, nothing secures it but the tray above it. While that does an okay job, when you remove the tray if you arnt careful the batteries easily fall off to the side. I just always feel like at some point when I take my Z2 apart and the batteries drop theres a chance one of the wires may fray, or solder points might snap under the weight of the 4AA batteries.

I have a 5man tomorrow so I'll be putting 5+ cases through it, then Ill be able to comment on its performance in game, as I said thus far this is just a first impression review in comparison to the other popular high end loaders.



UPDATE: I missed the 5man, but played on Sunday, the spire never missed a beat. I do think it could use a more extreme ramp on the tray, when I ran low on paint occasionally I would need to tilt it back. This can be fixed by being able to properly shoot/reload.

Whoever said the crown fingers are hard plastic is wrong, they are the exact opposite. Similar to any other speed feed. They are a bit stiff, but you only need to stuff a pod in the tray for a day or 3 to break it in before you go play.

Originally Posted by p8ntninja

The pulse allows the hopper to still feed whether or not you shoot. In essence it assures there is always a ball in the stack and no misfeeds which could result in a chop. Could be an annoyance for those that do not constantly sling paint during a game.

The Spire isnt designed to constantly "pulse" it only does so when vibration is detected, or paint isnt fed into the raceway.