Empire Paintball Axe Marker Review

The Empire Axe is one of Empire Paintballs’ best markers available. If you’re looking for a top-end electro-pneumatic marker to bring to your local field, or something to start out with in lower level tournaments, get the Empire Axe.

Easy to maintain, great for use, with its light weight and unsurpassed manufacture and material, it’ll give you the bang for your buck.

The Next Level

When looking for an electro-pneumatic paintball gun, key things to look for if you are going to pay over two hundred dollars are quite a list. First things first – weight. The weight of a marker can really affect your playstyle and comfort. After an entire season of paintball, you will definitely feel those extra 3 or 4 pounds on your arms and shoulders, along with the paint being shit at you because you couldn’t snap around corners fast enough.

Secondly, related to weight is the size. This may not be much of an issue if you play woodsball in a static role or playstyle, while lying down prone. However this will affect speedball, as running around and gunning requires a sure and firm hold on your marker to get accuracy and speed on the field to hit your opponents.

Thirdly – construction and design build. The build and design of your marker, specifically the materials it is made from really affect both the weight and size of the marker. Usually aluminum is used, and polymer or plastic. Even then, there are different grades that affect how durable and hardy your marker is, and also the quality of the inner electric board which is extremely important.

Fourthly, the specific components of the marker make up and affect the performance of the entire marker set adversely or positively. The inline circuit board affects the entire performance, from fire rate to gas pressure control, also known as PSI, which determines the distance and effective range of your marker.

The trigger, while not very notable for beginners when just starting out in paintball now is a main concern. When firing of thousands of paintball rounds and pulling the trigger almost as many times each hour during paintball season, a good trigger customized or at least optimized can improve comfort and performance by leaps and bounds.

The barrel gets a pass on the checklist, although notable and probably adequate for recreational paintball is always recommended to be replaced for better accuracy and consistency, as well as effective range. The method and accessibility of access to the inner system for cleaning and maintenance is also a good thing to look at, since during paintball season you might want to clean out any paint or dirt that you think might have gotten in.

Butterfly Trigger

The Empire Axe shines in this category – if it could be summed up, it would be float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The lightweight construction and durability of the die cast aluminum body combined with the magnet returned firing trigger that offers ‘smooth firing action’ makes it help you hit hard and fast.

However, do keep in mind that even with a great trigger like that, nothing is going to work unless you get the essentials right. That’s where the clamping feed neck offers hassle free attachment of the hopper or loader to your marker easily; making switching hoppers in between friendly or competitive tournament matches a breeze.

On top of that, the low pressure operation of the marker in sync with the integrated break beam anti-chop eyes eliminates chopped balls, making blank round shooting a rare occurrence, if it even happens at all.

The three fire modes available are pretty standard, however are more than adequate. The key point that makes the Empire Axe shine above the competition is its durability actually. In comparison, you won’t have to worry so much about wet weather, dirt and mud affecting it, making it a great marker for those wanting a reliable marker that doesn’t need maintenance all that often and repairs. This is made possible due to the single push button bolt for easy cleaning, and the fact that the circuit board is housed in the foregrip and the micro switch above the trigger.

Make It Better!

Add a barrel, a better one, since the stock barrel is adequate, but not exactly satisfactory. Apart from that though, there isn’t much to modify. However, do consider changing the hopper or loader, and maybe change the tank or use a better one for consistency.