What can I say about Autocockers that hasn't already been said?   When they first came onto the scene they were regarded as too touchy and too hard to work with.   Suitable only for players who had too much free time on their hands and liked to spend their days at the field standing around working on their markers.  My how things have changed.  The early Autocockers did have their problems.  And because we were all new to working on them even the simple problems were sometimes baffling.   But ingenious and determined players overcame.  They had good reason to want to.  Even the early Autocockers had obvious performance advantages- when they were working.   Trick was, keeping them there.

     But it was a whole lot more than that.  Once a 'cocker owner had the skill to keep his marker running, other options presented themselves.  There were just loads of different ways that a creative person could 'tweak' an autococker.  Trigger springs could be lightened, and trigger pulls could be shortened.  Timing adjustments could squeeze just a few more shots per second out of the beast.  The key was accessibility.  Everything in the Autococker could be worked on by the owner.  There were no 'black boxes' that were beyond the layman's ability to modify.  The Autococker was a simple pump-gun that had been crudely converted into a semi-auto.  True to form, WGP didn't give much thought to 'user friendliness.  They just kept it simple, selling what worked. They can't be blamed, the modifications that have resulted in today's Autococker are the results of many sleepless nights work by a vast number of people.   User friendliness was never a key concern with the autococker.  Anyone who owned one of the early ones can tell you that.   All of the critical adjustments were difficult to make.   The Regulator, Cocking Rod, and 3-way coupler were not designed for simple adjustment.  As such they were difficult to tinker with, they slipped out of adjustment, or were damaged from careless work.  Floods of after market parts hit the shelves offering a 'better way'.   Self-adjusting regulators, threaded 3-way connectors, quick release bolt pins, the list goes on and on.   Every single part of the Autococker can be replaced with an after market version, even the body itself.

     1996. WGP introduces the '97 model autocockers.  The game had changed.   Autocockers were becoming the tourney gun of choice, suddenly overwhelming the .68 Automag.  And WGP had truly gotten with the program.  Gone were the frustrating Regulators, slipping three-way couplers, and easily ruined cocking rods.   Replacing them came a new self-adjusting Sledgehammer Regulator, so named as a poke at it's chief competitor on the market Palmer's 'Rock' Regulator.   A new threaded 3-way coupler replaced the old smooth style.  A new hex headed cocking rod with a set screw replaced the former knurled knob.   In addition to this, a lightweight fiber grip frame had been added and a much needed ball detent had become stock.  Rounding out the line-up of new features was a Bob Long barrel and an inline Regulator.

     The '97 Autococker was a whole new breed of beast.  Suddenly for the same money as a 'cocker had previously cost, you could have what amounted to a moderately tricked out, tourney ready machine.   Sales began to boom as players in the know snatched the new markers up.  Still, the old talk persisted, as it does to this day, that 'Cockers had to be tricked out before they were tourney ready.  I've said it a dozen times before and I will say it again here, This is pure B.S.  I spent $$$ buying after market goodies for my '97 after I got it and when all was said and done I found myself still using the same parts that had come on the marker stock!   After a half dozen barrels, a trio of different bolts, and a complete swap of the cocking components, I settled back on the stock barrel and bolt as the best combination of components.  I did later move permanently to a Lapco Autospirit barrel.

     You have to judge paintguns fairly and unbiased.  It's difficult to do.  Considering the limits imposed by paintballs themselves, it's a little on the lame side to say brand 'x' paintgun always outperforms brand 'y' because of so and so.  Here's what I can honestly say about Autocockers.  They perform more consistently at longer range than other models of paintgun.   One could argue that this is due to the closed bolt though I haven't seen any real evidence that makes this argument hold water.   At best, the closed bolt may give a perceived performance improvement simply because the paintball is more consistently positioned in the bore than it is in the breech of other brands of paintball gun.  A paintball, properly aligned and tightly sealed in the bore theoretically at least, will wobble less, encounter less turbulence, and maintain momentum better than a ball that is loosely setting in the breech area.   Gas escaping past an unsealed ball creates turbulence in the balls path and can set up an un desireable spin in the ball.   Whatever the reasons, the Autococker seems to have some mystical edge in overall accuracy.  This was an advantage that early buyers paid dearly to attain.  Now, it's available to the masses.

     The Pro's.  The '97 and it's follow up the '98, are the most trouble free Autocockers ever.  They are capable tourney guns straight out of the box.  Accuracy is top notch.   Reliability is par with anything else on the market.  Despite its bulky appearance the Autococker is still lighter than a Mag.

     The Con's.  Nothing serious.  Some minor fit problems may be encountered.  My Mini's stock barrel works loose, as does the cocking rod.   A quick wrap of teflon tape cures both of those problems.

     The Final Say.  Ignore those know-it-alls who say you can't use a 'cocker without such and such.  If you want a low-cost tourney grade marker the Autococker is THE choice.   Gas 'er up and go.   Down the road if you want to trick it out, the way is always clear.   The '97 and beyond 'Cocker is the way to go if you are serious about the game.