Custom Products

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CP Hopper Adapter
by Bill Mills

One of the things that makes them unique in the sport is that they build their products, start to finish.  Many manufacturers sub-contract some, or all of their construction.  CP not only does their machine work, but their anodizing, and laser engraving as well.  The result is that they can bring out new products very quickly, and for a reasonable cost.

The tale of the changing neck

One of the beauties of standards is that everyone seems to have one.  While there is no written in stone standard for hopper necks, in the early '90s, almost everyone ended up settling on putting a one inch neck on their hoppers.

Without a public explanation, the Viewloader Revolution was unveiled with a feed neck that was approximately 1-1/16 inches in size.  The size change was commonly blamed by airsmiths as a molding error.   Most feed elbows could stretch enough to accommodate the larger size, especially if the neck and elbow were softened with hot water.

Then along came the popularity of vertical feed paintgun bodies.  The Angel, STO Autococker and other paintguns heralded the age of vertical feed.  Not needing an elbow, designers built feed necks cupped to accept the loader directly.  Since the Revolution was the predominant loader in use by tournament players, feed necks hit the market built for the 1-1/16 inch hopper necks.

Brass Eagle fixes the problem and gets blamed

Revolution loaders shipping shortly after the Brass Eagle purchase of Viewloader were made from a corrected mold - returning to the 1 inch feed neck standard in the rest of the Viewloader product line (VL 200, VL2000, VL Shredder).  Making the Revolution "standard" should have made everyone happy.... It didn't.

Since paintguns are now manufactured for 1-1/16 inch necks, new Revolution loaders don't wedge tightly into them.  In many, the Revolution fits so loose that it will spin around and or fall out.  Players have been left to come up with their own solutions to a snug loader fit - replacing the feed tube with an aftermarket piece, or wrapping the loader neck with tape.  "Revolutions are the wrong size since BE bought Viewloader," is a common complaint amongst Brass Eagle's detractors, when the Revolution is finally the right size, and paintguns are still being built to the wrong size.

An elegant solution

Custom Products has come up with another solution to this problem that has left a lot of people saying "why didn't anyone think of that before?"  

The CP Hopper Adapter is a short aluminum tube with three stepped outer diameters.  It slides inside the feed neck of the Revolution.  The further it is slid into the neck, the wider it spreads the outside.  Taking it out, and inserting it wide end first will further expand the neck until the perfect fit is found.  The interior of the adapter is tapered on the ends, and in field testing causes no noticeable interference with the feeding of the paintballs.  

That's it - so simple and elegant that a whole article explains why it is needed, but only a single paragraph describes the product.   

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