Shocker (paintball marker)
The Shocker is a popular electropneumatic paintball marker manufactured by Smart Parts. The original Shocker, now discontinued, bears the distinction of being the first electropneumatic paintball marker on the market. First introduced in the US market in 1995, it was originally built by PneuVentures and distributed by Smart Parts. In 2003 Smart Parts released a completely redesigned paintball marker under the same name.
Shocker Sport (1995-2002)
The first generation Shocker was the one of the first mass-produced electropneumatic paintball markers on the market, effectively making it the "grandfather" of most markers used in tournament paintball today. Its closed bolt, hammerless design operated using two solenoids, rather than a hammer and spring, to open and close the valve and cycle the bolt independently. Due to its large boxlike shape and significant weight, it was often referred to by the nicknames "shoebox" or "brick." The first generation Shocker was manufacturered by a company called pneuVentures and sold through Smart Parts. This marker was discontinued in 1997, when Smart Parts redesigned it and began producing it themselves. This marker became known as the Shocker Sport (pictured) and was used up until 2002. The Shocker Sport was a popular choice in paintball markers at the time, however to todays standards wasn't up to par. It was large, had a limited firing speed (12-13 bps maximum), and was inefficient in terms of tank usage. However, the large weight of these markers gave them the unyielding reputation of being extremely accurate from shot to shot, due to low recoil.
Shocker SFT (2003-2006)
In 2003 Smart Parts released a completely new marker under the name Shocker SFT (which stood for Seal Forward Technology, one particular aspect of its design). The New Shocker was completely redesigned from the ground-up, and was essentially a totally new marker compared to the older Shocker Sport. Due to SP marketing it was given the name "Shocker" since the previous Shockers were discontinued. The Shocker SFT mainly features a single tube, open bolt spool valve design, capable of high firing speeds, and a small body design. It uses Shocker threaded barrels like its predecessor and operates with a pressure of 160-200 psi. Shocker SFTs had an optional reflective anti-chop Vision eye which was an added accessory until 2006, when it became standard.
Private Label Shocker SFTs
Some teams and companies produce their own customized versions of the Shocker SFT:
- Dynasty
- Ton Ton
- Shocktech
- Hybrid
- Strange
- Tremor
- FreeFlow Tech.
- Nasty
- Dark
Shocker NXT (2007+)
In late 2006, Smart Parts released the Shocker NXT, which is an improved version of the Shocker SFT. It has the same basic shape and operation as the Shocker SFT, same internals and solenoid, and nearly the same electronics. However, it features a number of enhancements from the factory, which are designed to drive it to a higher preformance and greater reliability. Of these include the following:
- Impulse/Ion threaded barrel (this became the "standard" Smart Parts barrel thread)
- New feedneck threading, incompatible with the previous models
- Break beam Vision eye system (standard)
- High Efficiency bolt (HE) standard
- Redesigned vertical ASA adapter, shifted the foregrip forward
- Redesigned vertical regulator
- Integrated bottomline dovetail rail
- Larger trigger guard space
- Redesigned detent/eye covers
- Redesigned frame and trigger setup
- Constructed of 6061 grade aluminum, standard anodizing finish is "blasted" instead of gloss.
Smart Parts Shocker NXT labels
- Dynasty
- Naughty Dog
- Strange
- Shocktech
- Hybrid
- Russian Legion
- Tremor
- Ton Ton
- Evil
- Octane
- Nasty
