The Angel

Arguably the world’s finest and most technically advanced professional grade semi-automatic paintball gun available today. Simply stated, the Angel is designed and engineered for those who want only the finest.

*Full auto chip

*Nitrogen or Compressed Air powered

*15+ shots per second

*Electronic trigger with NiCad battery pack and charger

*Length 20.5"

*Weight 3.6 lbs.

Retail $1500

Here's an article some one sent me about the angel it answers lots of questions.

"I realize that some of you have been waiting for some time for this article, but as usual, we take the time to make sure that the guns we test get put through the ringer, and the Angel is no exception.

The Angel has sparked a lot of attention due to its high price tag (up to $1,500 US) and dazzling good looks. Having tested (and owned) practically every major tournament paintgun on the market, I have always approached the "hottest, latest" gun with a bit of skepticism.  Before I give you  the driver's seat perspective on the performance of the Angel, lets go over some key design elements with the gun.  At first glance, there does not seem to be much different about the Angel when compared to other high-end electronic guns on the market like the Shocker and others.  But to stop there would be like saying that a Testarossa should perform the same way as a Mustang because they both have four wheels.  The Angel is by far the best tournament paintball gun that we have ever tested. Yes it is better than the RT, and  yes the Angel is the worlds most expensive paintball gun. The Angel is also the classiest paintball gun in the world.   It is sort of like James Bond in the sense that even though the gun is always classy, it is also all about taking care of business.  Everything about the Angel is class.

Power Source

The closest gun on paper as far as specifications is the "Shocker" manufactured by Smart Parts. Personally I felt very let down by the Shocker because I don't feel that the bugs were ever worked out of the gun (I feel the same about the RT - more later).  Since the Shocker most resembles the Angel, let's compare the two. The Angels firing mechanism is powered by a large rechargeable NiCad battery that is fitted inside a tube down the side of the gun. WDP claims that you can get in excess of 400,000 shots with one charge.  This is a step up from the "AA" batteries that the Shocker requires. Who on earth wants to constantly change batteries?   Haven't we had enough of that with the VL Shredder and now the Revolution?    Enough whining.....Let's continue.

The Trigger

There is no other gun on the planet with a better trigger than the Angel.  Why?  It is light, short, smooth, narrow, forgiving, gold anodized, adjustable electronically, and scary fast.  Having grown accustomed to the double trigger fitted on my RT, the thought of going back to a single trigger made me feel naked and vulnerable.   That felling quickly went away after electronically dry-firing the gun without air.    The stamped metal trigger of the Shocker looks and feels cheap compared to the Angel's trigger. The trigger pull is not clicky (like the Vector), and is not long and mushy (like the Shocker).  It it short, very light, and adjustable. When I say adjustable I don't mean adjustable like a Bob Long trigger that uses screws to limit trigger movement, I mean that the actual point when the gun fires is adjustable ELECTRONICALLY. The "brain" of the gun is a small circuit board that lies within the 45 grip frame. There are two little dials on the board that can be turned with a small screwdriver to adjust the rate of fire and the valve dwell time.  The top dial adjusts the rate of fire and the bottom dial controls the valve dwell.   Turning the top dial counterclockwise reduces the rate of fire.   Turning it all the way will reduce the rate of fire to 6 shots/second.    Turning it all the way to the right increases the rate of fire to 15 shots/second.  Turning the lower dial clockwise shortens the dwell time, and turning it counterclockwise casuses a longer dwell time.  As with every paintball gun the Angel has a unique trigger that demands practice to get your trigger timing just right.   The Angel is very loud when dry firing and "cracks".   Shooting paintballs the gun is louder than an Automag (with Smart parts AA barrel), and louder than a Shocker.   The Angel is definitely quieter than the Vector.    Players told me that they knew where I was on  the field because the gun sounded like a "typewriter".

Quality of Manufacture

The trigger, the gun body, and the barrel are all anodized with a first-class anodization job. Veteran players will know what I mean when I say that the finish of the gun body and the trigger is the same as that of the famous Sterling pump guns that are also made in England. This anodization makes Smart Parts' splash look as silly as a Stingray with a nitro tank.   It has a deep luster that literally puts you into a trance.   Even the on/off button is anodized with green on one side and red on the other - very nice.

Ball Breakage

Every mag owner likes to dry-fire his gun as fast as possible using wrist action to show how fast their gun is.    The Angel is the only gun I have ever seen that can actually fire PAINTBALLS that fast without breaking them.  In shooting the Angel I laughed at myself for believing the RT hype about a computer in the AGD lab shooting the RT at 25 balls/second.  WHO CARES!!!  There isn't a loader around that can feed that fast anyway!  One major advance over the Automag and the Automag RT is that the Angel comes with a plastic ball detent as an anti-double-feeding device.  I detest the Automag wire nubbin.   The hardened bolt on the Automag RT BREAKS nubbins badly and then proceeds to crunch balls.  That is why the RT stock barrel comes with two nubbins as standard equipment.  I will never understand why AGD hasn't replaced the wire nubbin with some sort of composite material by now.  Automag owners know the misery of cleaning broken balls from the power feed and having to strip the gun between games to clean the bolt.   The Angel bolt can be popped pout of the gun in two seconds with no tools.  There is a small plastic pull-knob that is screwed onto a spring-loaded rod on the right side of the gun.    When the knob is pulled, the entire breach rotates over to the left of the gun - sort of as if it were on a hinge.  The bolt then slides easily out of the breach.  The bolt is very small and made of black plastic with venturi holes in the face.  One caveat: The Angel comes with a Jacko barrel which is .691 ID.  This bore does not care for small-bore paint.

   "I will go so far as to say that the combination of this loader and vertical feed makes the Automag power feed completely obsolete"

Aaaaaaaah.  That brings me to the VL2001 that came with our test gun.  This is the smartest design I have ever seen for a loader.  The paddle is HUGE.   It is thin so that it can bend and curve up the sides of the loader.  After using the VL2001, my Revolution loader sits in my gear bag along side my RT.   No more buying value packs of Duracells because the NiCad battery in the gun powers the loader.   No more dirty VL2000 LED sensors to make your loader stop spinning.   The loader is controlled by the gun's circuit board.    No more accidental battery-draining switch-ons in your gear bag.  The VL2001 plugs into the back of the gun and only spins when the trigger is pulled faster than two shots per second.  After the trigger has been pulled the loader spins for an additional 2 seconds.    This is a KEY FEATURE and should not be underestimated.   By spinning after a burst, the loader primes the gun with a stack of fresh balls.    Vertically stacked balls feed faster than any power feed.    I will go so far as to say that the combination of this loader and vertical feed makes the Automag power feed completely obsolete.    There is only so much that you can do with "residual air pressure".   The gun and the loader will not function when the power switch is turned off (even at full pressure).   We did notice that the gun can hold pressure for one or two shots after disconnecting the air source.   I got into the habit of using the on/off as a bleed after disconnecting the tank.   Centering the on/off will bleed the line and the Govnair.  The Angel comes with a really nice cigarette lighter charger that is made especially for the gun.  It can't be overcharged and is capable of charging the gun in 3-4 hours.   WDP claims that you can get in excess of 400,000 shots with one charge.  My guess is that this would be without powering the loader, too.