CCI Phantom
Encyclopedia
The CCI Phantom is a Nelson-based pump action paintball
marker developed and produced by Mike Casady. Production of the Phantom began in 1987 after about six months of prototype work. The name for the marker
was derived from the much more stealth-oriented and drawn-out style of play that was typical when the game was first developing. The Phantom was originally designed to be powered by a single 12 gram CO2
powerlet
, but larger tanks
may also be used by removing the powerlet adapter or using a dummy powerlet. When first introduced the marker featured a fixed barrel
assembly referred to as a "unibody" combined with a modified Crosman
air pistol
frame and brass bead sight. However, since roughly 1989 the body and barrel of the marker have been two distinct parts and no longer feature the bead style sight. The marker is also capable of supporting bulk gravity fed hopper
s by using a different breech type. The Phantom is recognized as an extremely versatile marker because of the many possible configurations and is also one of only a handful of readily available markers acceptable for use in the various forms of stock class
paintball. However, because the Phantom is capable of auto-triggering and features barrel porting it is considered to be a modified stock class marker.
Component Concepts, Inc. (CCI) is located in Newberg, Oregon
and was originally founded in 1979 to provide product design assistance and manufacturing expertise, namely, in dental equipment design.
and hammer
are connected by the sear. At this time a single ball drops into the breech. Next, during the forward pump stroke, both the bolt and hammer move forward, chambering
the paintball sealing the breech. Next, as the trigger is pulled, the sear
pivots and releases the hammer from the bolt. The compressed main spring forces the hammer back until it reaches the rear of the power tube and provides enough energy to force the power tube back. As the power tube is pushed back the valve opens and compressed gas flows through the power tube and the tuned port compensator (TPC), projecting the paintball out of the barrel.
markers or horizontal feed tubes. There are two general styles available for the Phantom; gravity feed and stock class. Another feature of the Phantom which may differ depending on user preference is the grip frame. The two most common grip frames available for the CCI Phantom paintball marker are the .45 style and M-16 style. The .45 is an offshoot of the common grip structure for handguns chambered for the .45 ACP
pistol cartridge such as the M1911 Colt pistol. However, the .45 grip frame is a purely visual replica of its firearm relative as the Phantom cannot be fed by a magazine. The standard grip on the .45 grip frame is the government model rubber grip with finger grooves produced by Hogue Inc.. The M-16 style grip frame is derived from the structure of the rifle of the same name, the M-16 rifle, the grip used in the Phantom is produced by Ram-Line and is made of plastic. What also varies is the power source that the phantom uses. The two main ones are 12 gram powerletts filled with CO2 or a person can use a tank either filled with CO2 or compressed air.
there are a few purely aesthetic alterations that are popular. Because the body of the Phantom is aluminum the popularity of anodizing has superseded powder coating
as the preferred method for imparting a more customized appearance.
which was activated by an on-board computer system and microphone
which responded to the sound of the marker being fired. Another notable innovation in the Revolution was its boltless design. The breech, which rotated on an axis in a similar fashion to that of the cylinder
of a revolver
, allowed a paintball to be fed into the breech which would then align with the firing chamber, creating a seal. The maximum rate of fire was 7 balls per second, or 14 with a two-hole breech. A few working prototypes were demonstrated at the 1996 National Professional Paintball League
World Cup in Orlando, Florida
by Mike Casady. However, production was halted indefinitely in 1996 due to a technical problem with the motor pinion
drive. Additionally, there were several markers being produced or developed at the time which used a switch for a trigger and a circuit board to control the feed and/or the pneumatic firing sequence such as the Smart Parts Shocker
. The sport of paintball itself saw explosive growth during this decade and as the industry became more lucrative, many patent disputes and lawsuits occurred. CCI effectively sidestepped them by focusing solely on the pump paintball market. All together enough parts for 50 prototype
s were fabricated, 12 were assembled, and all but two have been accounted for by Casady.
Paintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
marker developed and produced by Mike Casady. Production of the Phantom began in 1987 after about six months of prototype work. The name for the marker
Paintball marker
A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, is the main piece of equipment in the sport of paintball. Markers use an expanding gas, such as carbon dioxide or compressed air, to propel paintballs through the barrel. Some paintball players refer to the piece of equipment as a "marker" rather...
was derived from the much more stealth-oriented and drawn-out style of play that was typical when the game was first developing. The Phantom was originally designed to be powered by a single 12 gram CO2
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
powerlet
Powerlet
A Powerlet cartridge is a small disposable metal container holding of liquid CO2 and often a small quantity of oil, used as a power source for certain air guns, paintball markers, and a few airsoft guns...
, but larger tanks
Gas cylinder
A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel used to store gases at above atmospheric pressure. High pressure gas cylinders are also called bottles. Although they are sometimes colloquially called "tanks", this is technically incorrect, as a tank is a vessel used to store liquids at ambient pressure and...
may also be used by removing the powerlet adapter or using a dummy powerlet. When first introduced the marker featured a fixed barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....
assembly referred to as a "unibody" combined with a modified Crosman
Crosman
Crosman Corporation is a leading, worldwide designer, manufacturer and supplier of products for the shooting sports. The company has a long standing presence in airgun design and a proud tradition of producing high quality pellet and BB air rifles and pistols...
air pistol
Air gun
An air gun is a rifle , pistol , or shotgun that fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, in contrast to a firearm, which burns a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. Air guns that only use plastic projectiles are classified as airsoft...
frame and brass bead sight. However, since roughly 1989 the body and barrel of the marker have been two distinct parts and no longer feature the bead style sight. The marker is also capable of supporting bulk gravity fed hopper
Hopper
Hopper may refer to:-Mechanical parts:* A general term for a chute with additional width and depth for temporary storage* Hopper , a large container used for dust collection* Part of a combine harvester...
s by using a different breech type. The Phantom is recognized as an extremely versatile marker because of the many possible configurations and is also one of only a handful of readily available markers acceptable for use in the various forms of stock class
Stock paintball
Stockclass paintball is a paintball game variant, in which players are restricted to use the most basic paintball markers to tag opponents with.-The rules:Stock paintball players must adhere to the following rules, in regards to usable paintball markers....
paintball. However, because the Phantom is capable of auto-triggering and features barrel porting it is considered to be a modified stock class marker.
Component Concepts, Inc. (CCI) is located in Newberg, Oregon
Newberg, Oregon
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 18,064 people, 6,099 households, and 4,348 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,599.4 people per square mile . There were 6,435 housing units at an average density of 1,282.2 per square mile...
and was originally founded in 1979 to provide product design assistance and manufacturing expertise, namely, in dental equipment design.
Operation
Compressed gas enters the valve of the Phantom, pressing the cup seal assembly against the retainer with the aide of the valve spring. This gas forces the valve to stay sealed and allows the gun to be cocked which prepares the hammer of the paintball marker for firing. Without the pressure of the gas in the valve the gun cannot be cocked. As indicated by the term pump action the first step in firing the marker is the pump stroke which uses the rod connecting the pump handle and bolt to cock the marker. The pump stroke consists of two parts; the backward pump stroke and the forward pump stroke. On the backward pump stroke the bolt moves back, compressing the main spring until the boltBolt (firearm)
A bolt is a mechanical part of a firearm that blocks the rear of the chamber while the propellant burns.In manually-operated firearms, such as bolt-action, lever-action, and pump-action rifles and shotguns, the bolt is held fixed by its locking lugs during firing, forcing all the expanding gas...
and hammer
Hammer (firearm)
thumb|150px|Hammer with an integral [[firing pin]] on a [[S&W Model 13]] revolver The hammer of a firearm was given its name for both resemblance and functional similarity to the common tool...
are connected by the sear. At this time a single ball drops into the breech. Next, during the forward pump stroke, both the bolt and hammer move forward, chambering
Chamber (weaponry)
In firearms, the chamber is that portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted prior to being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinders and no chamber in their barrel...
the paintball sealing the breech. Next, as the trigger is pulled, the sear
Sear (firearm)
In a firearm, the sear is the part of the trigger mechanism which holds the hammer or striker back until the correct amount of pressure has been applied to the trigger; at which point the hammer or striker is released to discharge the weapon...
pivots and releases the hammer from the bolt. The compressed main spring forces the hammer back until it reaches the rear of the power tube and provides enough energy to force the power tube back. As the power tube is pushed back the valve opens and compressed gas flows through the power tube and the tuned port compensator (TPC), projecting the paintball out of the barrel.
Design
The term Nelson-based lends itself from the Nelson Paint Company and its first marker, the Nel-Spot 007. The basic valve design found in these early markers laid the groundwork for many other manufacturers, including CCI, to develop their own paintball guns. The Nelson design is in-line which means that the bolt, hammer, and valve follow the barrel and form a line as opposed to being stacked. It fires from a closed bolt position meaning that when it fires the bolt is secured into the breech end of the barrel with a paintball loaded. In comparison, the bolt in an open bolt marker is not secured until the marker fires, at which point the paintball is chambered, fired, and the bolt is then re-opened. There is no evidence showing that either design is more or less efficient than the other in the sport of paintball. Another characteristic of the Phantom that varies within the Nelson-based family of markers is that it features the original breech drop design as opposed to the bore drop variation of the design, meaning that the paintballs drop into breech, or rear of the barrel, rather than dropping into the bore of the barrel. Again, there is no evidence showing that one variation is noticeably superior to the other in this case.Variants
While keeping in mind the basic internal structure of the Phantom paintball marker, there are many different configurations that change the way the marker looks and feels. Different breech layouts allow players to use larger hoppers that are more common among contemporary semi-automaticSemi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
markers or horizontal feed tubes. There are two general styles available for the Phantom; gravity feed and stock class. Another feature of the Phantom which may differ depending on user preference is the grip frame. The two most common grip frames available for the CCI Phantom paintball marker are the .45 style and M-16 style. The .45 is an offshoot of the common grip structure for handguns chambered for the .45 ACP
.45 ACP
The .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...
pistol cartridge such as the M1911 Colt pistol. However, the .45 grip frame is a purely visual replica of its firearm relative as the Phantom cannot be fed by a magazine. The standard grip on the .45 grip frame is the government model rubber grip with finger grooves produced by Hogue Inc.. The M-16 style grip frame is derived from the structure of the rifle of the same name, the M-16 rifle, the grip used in the Phantom is produced by Ram-Line and is made of plastic. What also varies is the power source that the phantom uses. The two main ones are 12 gram powerletts filled with CO2 or a person can use a tank either filled with CO2 or compressed air.
Aesthetics
Due to its simplistic design, the Phantom provides the possibility for a high degree of customization with very little inherent conflict between form and function. Most of the varying setups available for the Phantom can be modified and personalized in order to make the marker unique with various sub-configurations such as "Island" style (The tank is run from the bottomline, however, it is reversed). In addition to the more practical variations and modifications that can be custom tailored for each player by a dealer or an airsmithAirsmith
An airsmith is a gunsmith that services, repairs or modifies airguns rather than firearms. The term is most commonly applied to those who work on paintball guns but can also apply to those who service pellet guns....
there are a few purely aesthetic alterations that are popular. Because the body of the Phantom is aluminum the popularity of anodizing has superseded powder coating
Powder coating
thumb|right|Aluminium extrusions being powder coatedPowder coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. The main difference between a conventional liquid paint and a powder coating is that the powder coating does not require a solvent to keep the binder and filler...
as the preferred method for imparting a more customized appearance.
The Phantom Revolution
The Phantom Revolution was an unfinished semi-automatic paintball marker developed during the early 1990s. It featured an electrically powered rotary breechBreech-loading weapon
A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....
which was activated by an on-board computer system and microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
which responded to the sound of the marker being fired. Another notable innovation in the Revolution was its boltless design. The breech, which rotated on an axis in a similar fashion to that of the cylinder
Cylinder (firearms)
In firearms terminology, the Cylinder refers to the cylindrical, rotating part of a revolver containing multiple cartridge chambers. The cylinder revolves around a central axis in the revolver to bring each individual chamber into alignment with the barrel for firing...
of a revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
, allowed a paintball to be fed into the breech which would then align with the firing chamber, creating a seal. The maximum rate of fire was 7 balls per second, or 14 with a two-hole breech. A few working prototypes were demonstrated at the 1996 National Professional Paintball League
National Professional Paintball League
The National Professional Paintball League is one of two American paintball national tournament series that travel throughout the United States each year, and was also the largest professional seven-man paintball league in the world.-History:...
World Cup in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
by Mike Casady. However, production was halted indefinitely in 1996 due to a technical problem with the motor pinion
Pinion
A pinion is a round gear used in several applications:*usually the smallest gear in a gear drive train, although in the case of John Blenkinsop's Salamanca, the pinion was rather large...
drive. Additionally, there were several markers being produced or developed at the time which used a switch for a trigger and a circuit board to control the feed and/or the pneumatic firing sequence such as the Smart Parts Shocker
Shocker (paintball marker)
The Shocker is a series of electropneumatic paintball markers manufactured by Smart Parts. The original Shocker was built by PneuVentures and distributed by Smart Parts in the US in 1995. It is now discontinued, but was the first electropneumatic paintball marker on the market at the time...
. The sport of paintball itself saw explosive growth during this decade and as the industry became more lucrative, many patent disputes and lawsuits occurred. CCI effectively sidestepped them by focusing solely on the pump paintball market. All together enough parts for 50 prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s were fabricated, 12 were assembled, and all but two have been accounted for by Casady.