Stryker! New from JT Sports, the EMX-1000 brings electro speed to a solid, basic performer. With this stacked tube, open bolt, blowback marker, field cleaning is very quick.

Choose one of three modes using the grip frame control: semi-auto, 3-shot burst, and full auto. Speed? The Stryker EMX-1000 is rated and set at 13 bps. Packaged with the markers is a VL Revolution C.A.T. (Continuous agitation Technology) loader, also rated at 13 bps-a good match for consistent performance!

At the heart of the EMX-1000 is the reliable operating system design. Bolt and striker operate in a strictly mechanical mode.

First looks found a good fit and finish overall. Tested: a dark pink fade to black finish, with black grip frame and grip covers. Connector pins added a touch of flash, for good looks.

The Inside Look
The dialer plug assembly is held in place by a push pin, so removal and replacement is easy. The dialer itself is a 1/8-inch Allen drive.

JT Sports includes an interesting feature on several of their markers, including this one. It's a spacer that fits on the spring follower, and it's used to offset the velocity range. This allows for more sensitive adjustments with the dialer.

The spring guide contributes to consistent velocities, by keeping the spring lined up in the center of the tube. Why it matters: If it were allowed to curl, it would rub on the side walls of the lower tube, randomly slowing the striker assembly.

A simple plug screws into the front of the lower tube and holds the valve spring and valve in place against the valve body.

The valve stem protrudes through the valve body, where it is hit by the striker to open the valve and let air move through. How it works: When the valve opens, air is released into a passage to the upper tube. This air moves through the bolt and propels the paintball out the barrel. Some air goes past the valve stem and blows the striker-bolt assembly back to its cocked position, where the striker catches on the sear.

The center feed-for faster ball feeding-has a 2-inch-tall feed neck. Welded in place, it accepts a loader directly.

Anti-Chop Bolt
A collapsing anti-chop bolt is yet another better performance feature of the EMX-1000. As long as paintballs feed in a timely manner, the bolt acts like a normal bolt. The bolt pushes the paintball into the barrel, and acts as a conduit for the propelling air.

What if a paintball is slow in feeding? The anti-chop feature takes over.

The bolt is a two-piece assembly with an internal spring that normally keeps the nose fully extended. If the nose contacts a partially fed paintball, it stops moving. The core is connected to the striker and keeps moving forward, compressing the internal spring. The nose of the bolt will put pressure on the paintball, but should not chop a healthy paintball.

As the striker is blown back, the bolt core also moves back, and the spring extends until the bolt is fully extended. Then the bolt continues to move back and clears the drop, giving the paintball another chance to move completely into the drop. Result: fewer chopped balls.

A cross bolt mechanical safety can lock the bolt in the cocked position or it can block the bolt so it cannot cock.

Power!
Designed for both CO2 and compressed air operation, the Stryker EMX-1000 should be cocked before the air is fed into the marker.

A tank may be screwed into the bottom line ASA. From the ASA, steel braided hose carries the air forward, to the air-through foregrip. The grip screws into in the marker body and seals with an o-ring. The gas then feeds into the chamber behind the main valve.

Speed!
Adjusting velocity is easy. The dialer and the spring follower spacer control the velocity. Screw the air system into the ASA. Check the velocity with a chronograph. Adjust the velocity using the dialer.

If the dialer is all the way out and the velocity still needs to come down, remove the spring follower spacer. This will offset the velocity to a lower range. Finish adjusting the velocity using the dialer.

Velocity adjustment instructions are included.

Grip Controls
The molded composite grip frame holds the trigger, battery, electronics, and sear release solenoid. The grip covers are a molded firm composite, and fine decorative grooves make the marker easier hold.

A single button on the grip spine turns the Stryker EMX-1000 on or off, and steps through the modes.

How it works: The upper LED on the spine will show the mode. Pushing the button for 2-3 seconds turns the Stryker EMX-1000 on.

The marker comes live in semi-auto only mode, with the LED shining green. Push the button once and the mode shifts to 3-shot burst with the LED shining orange. Push the button again and the mode shifts to full auto, with the LED shining red.

One feature missing is a tournament lock, to keep the mode from being changed during game play.

What's the lower LED? A battery status light. It is green with a good battery. It is red when the battery needs to be replaced.

Push and hold the button for 2-3 seconds and the marker turns off.

Double Trigger
The double-finger trigger, not adjustable, features a flat face. A slight hook at the bottom helps hold the fingers in place.

From the factory, there was 1/8-inch movement to the trip point, and 1/16-inch over travel after the trip point. The spring return strength was modest but consistent.The trigger guard offers plenty of room for gloved fingers.

Field Tests
The APG test team set up the Stryker EMX-1000 with the VL Revolution C.A.T loader included with the marker. Did the loader neck fit securely in the feed neck? Yes.

We put a few drops of oil in the ASA, as recommended in the manual.

First air: 12-ounce CO2 tank. The bottom line ASA angles down to help keep liquid CO2 out of the EMX-1000. With a full tank, the marker pulled in liquid a couple of times, resulting in a short velocity hike.

Second air: Pure Energy fixed output high-pressure air system set at 800 psi out. As expected, the velocity was very stable with HPA.

Big bore: absolutely! The 10-inch barrel was a very consistent .694 inches all the way through, measured with the Stan Baker Bore Gauge from Brownells (www.brownells.com).

The tested barrel had a very small blemish about one inch from the end of the barrel, where there was a one one-thousandth inch flaw about 1/4 inch by 3/8 inch. Two scratches about one one-thousandth deep ran lengthwise along the barrel porting.

Four rows of porting holes in the last 3 inches of the barrel help to quiet the marker's sound.

Temperatures were in the mid 30s on the first field test day, with off-and-on breezes. Humidity ran high, about 65 percent. The first chrono (speed) checks read 230 fps at first. It was easy to adjust the velocity up, until with the dialer set at maximum and two spacers on the spring follower, the velocities varied from 240s to the 270s, depending on the paint. Tests were run in that chrono
range first.

The Stryker EMX-1000 chrono'd at an average of 241 fps, with a standard deviation of 15.8 fps, on Marballizer. Shooting X-Ball Podium Gold paintballs, the measured string averaged 224 fps, with a standard deviation of 8.5 fps. With Karnage Rip, the measured string averaged 237 fps, with a standard deviation of 9.4 fps. Shooting Brass Eagle Monster Balls, the measured string averaged 260 fps, with a standard deviation of 11.7 fps.

The Stryker EMX-1000 modes all worked and were easy to change.
Performance was essentially the same in woods or on a field with tournament bunkers.

With an air system and full loader attached, the Stryker EMX-1000 was still easy for the test team members to hold. The stippled finish muted any flash of sunlight, but the pink parts occasionally stood out in the woods.

Blowback can show up if the loader is very low on paint, so the word is, keep it near full. Double feeds occurred now and then. One double feed led to a barrel break, which triggered another break at the drop, but the quick strip bolt made cleaning of the barrel and upper tube reasonably easy.

Performance shooting speed: In 3 shot mode, the measured balls per second (bps) using a Custom Chronograph Field Radar was a consistent 13; full-auto tested the same.

Impressions
Moving up to electro? The Stryker EMX-1000 from JT Sports offers electro-performance, at a moderate price. This fairly

lightweight marker looks good and because it's uncomplicated, lets you concentrate on your game. Look for the Stryker EMX-1000 at your favorite paintball store!