Nelspot 007 Review

By Ryan DeForge

Paintball players often recall the first game of paintball, played in the woods of New Hampshire. As the first twelve players warriors stalked each other in the forest for eliminations and flags, they probably were not concerned with the impact the simple experiment would have on extreme sports. As the historic game drew to a conclusion, the players packed away their markers of choice, the Nelspot 007, a marking pistol that would come to influence the next two generations of paintball.

The Nelspot 007 is a bolt action or pump action pistol. It is powered by 12 gram CO2 cartridges but can also be set up with an ASA to accept CO2, HPA systems, 12 gram quick changers, and remote lines. The Nelspot is stock class legal. While Nelson Paintball no longer makes these markers, there are many still floating round on the used market, mostly on eBay and used marker web forums.

In its most basic configuration, a bolt action Nelspot may seem like an awkward marker to use. The bolt of the gun must be manually pushed rearwards to activate the sear and then returned to the original “locking” position, similar to the action of bolt action rifles. However, almost all used Nelspots come with a pump, so the user simply needs to pump the marker while tilting the gun slightly to load a round.

The CO2 cartridges are stored in the grip. The left plastic grip panel is removed via a small indent in the bottom of the grip. This exposes the inside of the grip. A user needs to insert a 12 gram cartridge into the gun and then screw in a mechanism to pierce the cartridge. The pierce pin also has a seal around it to help keep air from leaking. The grip is then snapped back into place.

Loading paint is much easier. Users just need to find a 10 round “cigar” tube, fill it with paint, and slide it into the back of the upper tube of the gun. Older Nelspots may include a ballstop, where balls are loaded into the upper tube section one by one and then the ball plug is put into place. A stock class ball gate may also be modified to fit the upper magazine tube of the 007.

Why is the Nelspot 007 still carried by stock class players when newer pump options such as the ACI Maverick and CCI Phantom are easily obtained? Besides the nostalgic and collectors value, the 007 is a solid marker. Its steel body makes it impervious to regular falls, dives, and dings from the field. The pistol comes with fixed rear and front iron sights which, quite surprisingly, are very accurate. The Nelspot 007 is one of the only paintball markers I know of that have functional iron sights. The barrel is integrated into the gun and is non removable, but has a high tolerance for paints of different sizes and brands. The Nelspot seems to get around twenty five to thirty shots on a 12 gram cartridge. Simply put, it is the “meat and potatoes” of stock class markers.

The greatest asset of the 007 is its accuracy. Despite the short, smooth bore barrel, the Nelspot 007 had tight groupings at a range of 30 feet when using non-elevated iron sights. Elevating the gun could bring about hits to targets as far as 45 – 50 feet. While accuracy suffered at longer ranges, this range is impressive when considering the marker is run off 12 gram cartridges and has a short barrel.

There aren’t many faults to be had with this model. Some of the problems were not even known at the time of the 007’s development and so they could not be averted. Even so they did little to dramatically effect the performance of the markers.

The pump return stroke on some of the 007s is comparatively stiff to other pump markers. This is due to kinking of the bolt and the hammer, and their friction against the inside of the body. The stiffer stroke can be fixed with different styles of bolts and hammers. The stock hammer of the 007 is rather heavy and knocks the valve open after bouncing off the main spring. This wastes small amounts of gas frequently, but in a stock game the potentially wasted three shots can be a matter of life and death.

Once again, this is a simple problem to fix as the stock bolts can be modified at home or new, lighter hammers can be purchased. The stock 12 gram system in the grip takes a long time, especially in a heated game. Users can search for Nelspot “Battle Grips” or bucket style quick changers for easier loading. The final issue is the annoying manner of changing velocity. Most major velocity tweaks involve disassembly of the gun. Different combinations of main and valve springs need to be installed and tested for the proper velocities. This can be an annoyance when going from field to field when there are so many different chrono limits but the internals of the 007 are so simple that changing the springs isn’t too difficult or time consuming after practice.

Stock class markers are known for their simplicity. We often look back at the history of paintball markers and laugh at some of the complex and horribly inefficient systems that were designed. While the Nelspot 007 has earned its place in paintball history as the marker that started it all, its solid design, reliability, and simplicity place it in the gear bags of many stock class and scenario players today.

Price: $50.00 – 130.00 Used Only
Looks: 9
Customizable Potential: 5
Durability: 10
Ease of use: 9
Out-of-the-box readiness: 10
Over all rating: 8.6