The normal procedure for product reviews is to obtain a product that is new on the market and run it through a performance analysis.  The idea is to give people some idea of what they are getting BEFORE they buy.  This article is not so much a product review but a dissection of a product that is no longer being made.

        The Air Power Vector is numbered among the 'Guns that Failed.'  It's a growing list of oddballs, misfits, and 'vapor' guns that were never made.  Many paintguns have been designed, advertized, marketed, even sold in small numbers but eventually disappeared from the scene.  The Vector is unique among them, not because it truly belongs on the list, but because it doesn't belong there at all.  That it should end up relegated to the list is the greatest tragedy of them all.  The Vector stands as perhaps the most accurate, out of the box semi-auto ever made.  During the initial years of its release, Vector's consistently won target shoots at national tourneys.  In short order they had attained a legendary reputation for accuracy.  But all the while bad luck and misfortune were eroding away at the foundation of the Vector's early successes.

        First was price.  Vector's were not cheap.  The cost of a new, bone stock Vector was often a $100 higher than competitive Automags and Autocockers.  This caused many players to think twice about purchasing the Vector.  Had the marker not attained such a legendary reputation so soon, the price alone would have killed Vector sales.  The tragedy of this is that once you handle a Vector you understand why they were so expensive.  The quality of construction is absolutely mind numbing.  I have never held in my hand anything so precise and lovingly engineered as my Vector.  The fit of the components is astonishing, the seams are nearly invisible, edges are crisp, there are no tooling marks or flaws.  This alone would have added $100 to the cost of production.

        Second.  Complexity.  This is a somewhat 'phantom' problem.  The Vector is not terribly complex.  But it looks to be.  Every component looks as if it came straight from NASA.  It's down right intimidating.  For this reason few airsmiths would chance working on the marker and thus, they had to be sent to Air Power to be repaired.  This exaggerated the third problem.

        Third.  This is what really killed the Vector.  Early models developed leaks that were not repairable by the owner.  This problem plagued the Vector for the first couple of years of it's production.  On top of their reputation for accuracy, Vectors gained a reputation for being plagued with technical problems.  Couple this with the high purchase cost and only limited advertising efforts by Air Power and failure became eminent.  These technical problems were cured by '94, but by then it was too late, the foundation was already in place.  Sales were slumping.

        Three design problems that helped kill the Vector.  It wasn't just bad marketing, high cost, and early technical problems.  Many other markers have overcome the same problems and thrived.  Three major design flaws helped to bring about the Vector's demise.

        First and foremost was the Barrel/Feed port combo.  The Vector's barrel and receiver were a single unit.  The feed port and rear receiver were all a permament part of the barrel itself.  Because of this, barrels were not easily interchangeable.  A few manufacturers did endeavour to produce replacements for the Vector, but these units were much higher in cost than a traditional barrel only unit.  BOA was one of the leaders in the production of after market barrels for the Vector.  Their products included a 'Concealer' barrel with a built in silencer.  This design flaw is a prime factor in the failure of the Vector.  The inability to customize the marker to suit one's own taste, even if no tangible benefit is gained, is critical in the design of paintball guns.  Vector owners could not help but feel that their hands were tied as far as custom work went.  The inability to change barrels left players feeling as if they were unable to achieve peak accuracy.  Because Vector owners were buying the markers with the hope of attaining the maximum potential, this design oversight planted the seed of doubt in their minds.

        The second area that plagued customizers was the trigger.  While the Vector trigger does have an extremely short pull, it is exceptionally stiff.  Due to the incredible complexity of the mechanism, few would even attempt to modify it in order to lighten the pull.  The stiff trigger hampered accuracy and slaughtered rate of fire.  While the Vector is not physically capable of attaining a rate of fire much in excess of 10 bps, one felt that if the trigger were only lighter, a much higher rate could be attained.  Like the barrel problems, this problem planted a lingering doubt.

        The Anti-Chop mechanism.  This design feature became much maligned.  Sadly because it worked.  The Vector's bolt was designed to disengage if it encountered resistance when returning to the forward position.  This prevented the Vector from chopping paintballs.  Unfortunately, when the bolt disengaged, it had to be manually reengaged by flipping the safety on and off.  It only takes a fraction of a second to do so, but players began to grumble about having to take even this minimal action.  Sadly, they didn't pause to think what their situation might have been had they actually chopped a paintball.  The feature worked so well that players forgot what sort of problems it prevented and focused on the much lesser problem that remained.  As word of this stoppage spread, Vector sales were furthered harmed.  Many Vector owners looked for ways to disable the anti-chop.

        More Fuel for the Fire. . .

        There were still a few more problems, somewhat technical, somewhat aesthetic that whittled away at the Vector's success.

        Vector's were loud.  Because of the peculiarities of the gas flow path, the burst of gas that fired the marker exceeded the sound barrier after exiting the valve.  This produced a pronounced 'crack' that made the Vector much louder than other paintball guns.  No amount of porting or silencing could cure this 'crack'.

        The Shroud over the pneumatics was poorly cast.  Pits and air bubbles were readily evident in the shroud over the cocking components.  The fit was also poor.  This had a negative effect on the marker's aesthetics.

        The Handgrip and trigger guard also lacked aesthetics.  The trigger guard being notably gawky looking.

        Bad design of the velocity control mechanism made velocity control difficult.  It was not until a regulator was added that consistent velocity with the Vector became a reality.  A regulator is a true boon to the Vector in other regards as well, being expecially useful in preventing blown hoses and lock-ups when the marker is initially charged up.

        The design of the 4-way valve required that it 'weep' excess pressure.  It did this by leaking gas out a small port in its manifold.  While normal to the Vector's operation, any gas leak in a paintgun is somewhat unnerving to it's owner.  Just knowing that while you stood around you were loosing pressure was enough to wear away at a Vector users nerve.

        Advertising.  Air Power just simply didn't push hard enough to advertise their wares.  One had to look hard to find Vector ads.  With new buyers unaware of the existance of the Vector, they spent their $$$ on the guns in the ads that they saw.  I can recall seeing only one Vector ad and If memory serves it was text only.

        The final say.  With so many things present that could be pointed to as problems, its a wonder that the Vector enjoyed any success at all.  Yet performance speaks for itself.  The Vector had some great things going for it, and they made a big difference in keeping the marker alive.

        Foremost was accuracy.  It's the Holy Grail of paintball gun attributes.  A paintgun that won't shoot straight is worthless, and the Vector shoots straighter than any of them.  I attribute this primarily to the Vector's unique gas flow.  The gas path is long and relatively straight after the initial turn.  This gives the gas a chance to stabilize and reduce turbulence.  This in turn, results in a more even ball push and thus, more accuracy.  

       Uniqueness.  Many players purchased Vector's simply because no one else had them.  To this day, my Vector is the only one I have ever seen.

       Looks.  The Vector has an interesting, high tech look to it that appeals to some.

        Compactness.  The design of the Vector's valve kept the overall length of the marker very short.  A key advantage during play.

        Heavy Duty Construction.  Once you handle a Vector, everything else is junk.

        Closing.  Air Power folded some time after 1994 selling name and machinery out to another firm as I understand it.   Air Power is no longer in the paintball business.  This left the Vector an orphan and eventually doomed it all together.  Because the Vector uses almost exclusively unique internals it is only a matter of time before they vanish entirely from the field.  With a variety of fragile seals inside them and no source for replacement, all too soon the Vector's will be gone.  And with them, a small piece of paintball history.
 
    Flash  Eastern Paintball still has Vector's in stock! !  Price is $245  This may be your last chance to own the finest Semi-Auto paintball gun ever made!  Buy Now!
 

        Post Script.  Some say the Vector lives on.  In whispered rumors and even loud finger pointing accusations there are some who say that the Vector did not die.  Pick up Brass Eagle's Rainmaker some day and pull it apart.  Inside you will see just what they are talking about.  Underneath the shroud, just past the batteries, beyond all the electronics, you will see the pneumatic heart and backbone of a Vector.