I recently started thinking about getting my first Autococker after all these years. I know next to nothing about them. I love mech guns though and have faithfully shot mags from the very beginning. When I bought my first mag in 1995, I very nearly got an Autococker instead - that beefy shroud with the ribs going over the barrel looked so cool - but the .68 Automag ultimately won out simply because my local paintball store had that one in stock at the time. I've been an Automag guy ever since and haven't looked back. Until now. I've heard about the special character that only cockers have and how fun they are to shoot - all those sounds and moving parts make them gleefully over-complicated like a Rube Goldberg machine. I'm intrigued and I think I'm ready to make the leap.

There's lots of different cockers out there to choose from it seems. It's a little daunting. I do know that, above all, I want a "fun gun" - something to putt around with in recball games. As such, it doesn't need to be high performance but it's got to be non-problematic. The 4 key aspects I require are good reliability, ease of maintenance/disassembly, a fluid single-finger trigger pull, and reasonably balanced ergonomics. Not so important qualities include rate of fire, overall weight, air efficiency/consistency, upgradability, and cost (to an extent). As far as marker appearance, I generally find pimped out, chrome glistening, brightly anodized, rediculously milled, aftermarket-upgraded guns to be a bit of a turn off. Just not my style. You lose a little history with customization, especially when it's altered to someone else's liking. For me, the more OEM the gun is, the better.

One of my first choices is a late 90s WGP specimen that is bone stock. I think the '98s in particular look great and they positively reek of paintball history. I'm a little concerned about their overall practicality, though. I hear that ball rollout, short stroking, and centerfeed necks are issues. I'm also concerned that numerous upgrades might be a necessity for the gun to function well (i.e. deal breaker, I don't want a project build). School me if my apprehensions here are unwarranted.

The other option I'm seriously considering is an Empire Resurrection. On the downside, it's missing that classic back-block as well as the pneumatics-shroud, and I don't care for the big "Empire" logo that's billboarded onto the side of the body, either. Nevertheless, they still look quite good. And apparently they function really well, too...though short stroking is still a thing. It has a clamping vertical feedneck, a purging ASA, and a matching barrel kit...all stock. Oh, and gone is the dreaded valve tool. Just not sure whether I prefer black or gray more.

There are other cocker variants too, such as AKAs and Shocktechs, but I know nothing about any of them. Tell me what you think would be the best choice for me. I'd especially like to hear opinions about my top 2 picks, but any cocker recommendation is welcome.