Much like Cinderella's pumpkin became a carriage, my Enmey magically became an Automag!
I really was going to buy an Enmey, really. I wanted a new woodsball gun that could perform well, and it wouldn't matter if it got abused. This gun would be kept purposely bare bones, and not take me on an endless money draining upgrade spiral. I researched the Enmey thoroughly and liked the concept and simplicity of the thing, plus they get glowing reviews while costing almost nothing. What's not to like, right?
However, and this shows the thinking of a mag lover or anyone who likes 'old skool', I remembered I still had a leftover sear assembly, thumbscrew, and Lvl10 bolt from my old Minimag I parted out years ago. "Hell, that's half the gun right there," I thought. I figured I'd pick up the other odds and ends online and the mag could still come out almost as cheap as an Enmey, yet be classic, American made heavy-metal paintball awesomeness! Of course, instead of the perfectly usable, and far cheaper, classic valve option I opted for the increased performance of the Retro Valve, which incidentally used cost almost as much as an Enmey. I also wanted to be able to use cocker threaded barrels on a classic steel body so I purchased a Doc's adapter and nice new Lapco Bigshot. Unlike most people, I actually prefer the hopper right configuration, because it gives my dominant right eye a nice sight line down the body and barrel on the right side of the mag.
Then I had to have a good, functional on/off so here came the CP mini combo. Everything came together this weekend and I got her Lvl10 bolt tuned perfectly. This thing shoots darts, even with the crappy field paint I had for testing. She's very simple, but she turned out real nice. However, to be truthful the final tally of this simple, 'bare bones' mag came out to about $315.. or about the cost of TWO Enmey's! I could have saved a lot of money buying a used complete classic valved mag, but I would have had to sell the crap on it I didn't want and that just seemed like a hassle. Maybe this gun wasn't a "logical" choice for my purpose, and maybe it isn't as "efficient", or "light weight", or whatever silly terms those crazy kids use now, but what does that have to do with anything? It's an Automag!!!