When I first saw these about a year ago, I remember thinking what a cheap, ugly looking marker. It looks like someone decided to simply take an Ion, stick some plastic on it, and call it a woodsball gun.

I kept hearing good things however, which got me thinking.

Smart Corps, who have taken the SPPL for the last 3 years, use these markers, often in nearly stock form. People who play with them say nothing but great things about them. One person I talked to at Bragg last year used a 20oz CO2 bottle the entire day and shot almost a case without having to refill the tank.

Figuring what the hell, I finally got one instead of an A5 as I had been planning earlier.

Operating at 180 psi, it's a fairly quiet platform. That quiet operation goes with the SMG look, making for a tight little marker you feel you can carry forever. The stock board comes with 3 firing modes, semi, burst and full auto all capped at 11bps. I don't see too much point in upgrading beyond that 11bps cap for playing in the bush, but you can if you want to with the blackheart and virtue board upgrades.

Taking care of this marker is simple, as it only has one moving part besides the trigger. You pop off 2 bolts on the back, remove the plate, and unscrew the bolt assembly. Then, using a long poker (chopsticks are recommended in the manual) such as a stick off the ground, push the entire thing out. Examine, clean, replace O-rings if needed, and grease the whole works, shove it back in and screw it in place. It's that easy. You can do it in a minute.

While durability may be questioned, the SP-1 has been proven to be very rugged. There are videos floating around of it being fired under water, and while that's not recommended in the manual, heavy rains are no concern.

I got to play with mine for a few hours this saturday, and it performed great in the cold when other markers were having issues. Ions that were not working were left to the side and the SP-1 rolled on with the tippmanns. I managed to pack the entire thing with snow, paint, and dirt, and it continued to operate like new. At one point I had to lightly bang it on a tree to get the snow out of it, but I felt very safe doing so because this thing feels like a rock.

Now there are some things to turn off people. It's a centre feed, which means any sights will have to be mounted offset. There are no where near the milsim upgrades other companies offer. The only choices for limited ammo are 50 round shaker hoppers and a Qloader set up. There is a stock adapter that lets it use 98 Custom stocks... but only the carbine ones.

At slightly less than the cost of an egriped 98 Custom, the SP-1 is a very nice marker to pick up. As a backup, you know it'll always work, and if your like me, it might just stop being a backup once you start playing with it. People report getting more than 2000 shots with A/S 20oz tanks, so for long games this little marker may just keep you in it for the long haul.

Sounds like a good marker. I honestly don't like guns with electronics though.

Well that's up to you, paintball has come a long way from 1995 though. Markers like the SP-1 and Vibe are as tough as any mech, but they are smoother, more accurate, have better consistency, and last far longer on the bottle than anything Tippmann, BT, or Kingman makes - all of which are important to me. When I play competitive woodsball, never running out of air means never having to say your sorry (to your team).

i want one of these too... iam sure you could do some milling or something and stick a "longbow" feeder on it... but those are expensive too... about the price of the marker... and you prob couldnt switch it back to a hopper later down the road... which would stink... but maybe you could work it out who knows...

there are sites out there bashing these guns.. but from what ive read they dont know what there talking about and dont give it the chance it deserves... sounded like they were more mad at the company ,smart parts than the sp1 its self...

i too plan to buy this gun... after i sell off some of my collection...

i get the feeling that iama sell my tippman first though... which is disheartening

i mean... well i dont know what i mean... i know i would like to put this gun though its paces ( MY, paces)

iam die hard tippmann and tiberusand well any pump guns fan , but the thought of a electro is something i salavate about and if i could have one thats as tough as my tippy and excellent on air... well thats all i would want is that...

my tipp eats though bottles like no tommorow...


i want this gun... once i pay of my credit cards this is my next paintball gun purchase... hoepfully i can find a deal and lower than the 175$ price... cant even find one of the MSRP price which is 150.$ that pisses me off a bit...

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The MSRP of the SP1 is more than the Vibe, and has gone up since the select fire board became standard, which is something to keep in mind. It's still a very low cost marker though.

I don't think any milling is needed to fit the longbow stock and feedneck on the SP1, as SpecOps sells a kit with converting the SP1 in mind and they wouldn't require milling on a kit like that.

For those that bash the business practices of Smart Parts and use that as a club against the product lineup itself, I think that stems from thier production line of cheap, affordable markers that bring tournament performance to everybody.

I own one of these with the blackheart board and its a great gun never let me down.Easy to clean and maintain,nice and lite and compact.Trinity paintball makes a couple ups forit,and they have a double trigger kit available and ion bolts fit,and as far as stocks you can get just about any 98 stock on there with some slight modding.The benifit of the bh board besides the modes is the adjustability,dwell rate of fire abs,plus it comes with a qev.I will agree with syam though you got to get used to it being center feed.

PLEASE tell me more about the BH board... its real functions and capabilites, qevs and such.... i kno nothing of electros... yet.... tried and true mech. and pumps all the way... till now... kinda...


i agree with you guys... i was very disheartned to read all those people bashing smart parts... but the sp1 is and will be where the PB market is headed... sad to say... pumps are never gonna make it in the hands of newbies, TRUE SKILLS will never be attained and only respect will be given by the few that get shot wondering how it takes the one shot and hit them out is painfull to some...

i started out with spyders and such... so the whole feed neck thing is no big deal in my eyes... you aim down the barrel anyways... and use your shot the gauge the next one on target... never i think people actually used the sight and or sighted down the gun... if they do or have thats probably why i shot them in the first place... REACTION makes the world of differance... not aiming and shooting... its paintballs we are talking here not bullets....

(i can never stay just on topic, sucks but ohh well!)

i of course am not one to waste paint at someone that isnt there hoping for a kill... these electros... is why i havnt picked on up... i may be lazy in real life but never in THE GAME... the "sport" of pb that i see on tv makes me laugh and throw up at the same time... its sickening, i have totally streered clear of anything ta do with electros and have not been swayed until this marker.

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I thought if you used a qev on the SP1 it eliminated the "low force bolt" effect, or at least that is what I read on the PBN forum. That is what stops you from chopping paint since it doesn't have eyes. BTW, my son has one of these and it's a great marker especially for the price. We got it new in the box off e-bay right before the prices were goin up from 150 to 175.

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I don't see how anything can negate the low force bolt, all that means is that the bolt cycles at a low pressure and if it encounters resistance will not complete it's cycle. The QEV effects the cycle rate, allowing it to cycle faster by attaining a higher recharge rate, but it shouldn't effect how it cycles. DM9's and a few other high ends also use low force cycling bolts. The blackheart board should also comes with a new body to allow you to install eyes.

Luke, just remember, you don't need to take this thing out of semi-auto if you don't want to - so one shot tags are possible and in fact easier with a smoother shooting platform.

As an update, I found the video for the 'moisture' test done on the SP1, check it out:

Smart Parts SP1 Moisture Test Video by PaintballandHobby.com - MySpace Video