Dangerous Power G3 Review

[THE CHAIRMAN]

Make & Model: Dangerous Power G3

Period of use: Used three times, for about 4/5 hours each time.

Playing Paintball Since: 2004 I think?

Marker setup:

• Stock Dangerous Power G3
  Halo B
  DXS air system

Recommended upgrades: The new board when it comes out and for some, a new trigger, barrel kit for those fussy about paint matching.

Strengths: One of a kind and unique, small, light, needs no upgrades out of the box, cheap (around 400 USD) Ease of operation (one button operation, one press for on, one more for eyes off) Reasonably quiet operation and smooth spool dump-valve allows for very little to no kick. Extremely good accuracy and consistency.

Weaknesses: Stock board, and trigger for some, does not come lubed, hard to get, anodising.

Review:
Got my G3 a few weeks ago and just outta the box the thing is stunning Shiny gloss anodising and great silver accents. However, there were some very very small marks in the anodising, and the frame is polished smooth whereas the body has milling lines along it, so they do not match at very close scrutiny. There are also some imperfections on the cast-aluminium parts. All these imperfections are very very small and hardly noticeable, but may be an issue for some people.
It comes in a great little box with a carry handle, and includes allen keys, a parts kit, great fold-out manual that doubles as a poster, and a dinky little barrel sock that you can just throw away..I keep the allen keys in it . There is also a snatch-grip hook that is removeable. This is a great addition, although more for novelty value than anything. You can just hook it on one finger while grabbing all your pods, and I personally think it looks great on the marker. If removed, there is a rubber plug that fits in with a small DP insignia.

[OUT OF THE BOX WARNINGS]
The G3 does NOT come lubed, and the bolt and regulator must be lubed before play, otherwise O-ring problems and huge inconsistencies will occur. Also, for the first few hundred shots, the G3 is EXTREMELY loud, and has huge barrel rise. As i was firing the marker out of the box, I held the front reg really loosely and as I was walking the trigger, the G3 literally started to lift up due to recoil! However, this will all disappear very quickly and the marker will shoot amazingly.

First, looks. I've got a bright gloss red, and I think everyone who's seen this marker has gone "wow" at least a little bit It looks a little like a tiny Ego, and has a little snatch grip at the back with a hook for easy carrying (can be removed) which I personally think looks great! The G3 comes with metal eye-plates, a great adjustable clamping feedneck with grooves to grip the loader better, RAPS ASA, no LPR. The RAPS ASA is an amazing type of on/off, just a little lever on the bottom that flips to gas or degas the marker,

It comes with NPPL(semi) NXL, Millenium and PSP modes, adjustable with tiny little dip-switches inside. A combination of dip-switches selects the mode, max rate of fire, and dwell. However, the PSP mode is only PSP ramp, not PSP 3-shot, and the rof selections are only 12, 13, 15 and 25 bps, nothing else. Dwell can only be set at 12, 14 or 16ms, and there is a first-shot dwell of 16ms to prevent bolt stick. Thus, the stock board is extremely limited in customisability when it comes to modes, although there are a few hidden modes not given in the manual. However, there is an aftermarket board in the works from APE which will be on sale soon at a competitive price.

The stock barrel is a 14 inch DP barrel that matches the marker. It is slightly heavy considering the lightness of the rest of the marker, with a thicker end adding to the weight. However, the marker weighs 1.86 pounds WITH the barrel, so I decided to leave it on. It actually seems to balance the marker better than if I had stuck on a lighter barrel. I have only shot Draxxus tournament grade paint through it, but the accuracy is amazing even with long strings of paint, pretty much ball on ball up to about 45 feet. The barrel has yet to have a break in it, but I have accidentally broken quite a few in the barrel sock, and it always shoots clean after 2 or 3 shots.

The G3 has a curved trigger, scythe shaped I believe, and has quite a bit of side to side play. I would advise leaving the trigger set as it is stock, as I have been playing without adjusting it and I love the trigger. However, many others have said the trigger is terrible and difficult to use. Personally, I found myself shooting faster and more consistently than I did with the Ultralite trigger on my previous PM7.

The regulator is the same as on the Dangerous Power Threshold, and is one of the most consistent regulators out there. Over the chrono, it fired at a maximum +/- 3fps deviation, with generally a +/-2fps. This allows for very very good consistency, and thus accuracy. It has a locking swivel so you can set your macroline setup so it does not interfere with your grip.
The stock bolt is a Venturi bolt, which some people do not like, but I personally do not mind. The G3's has a spool-valve operation, more accurately, a dump-valve. This means that the bolt is already under forward pressure at the beginning of the cycle instead of the usual balanced spool-valves which have the air fill in behind the bolt to push it forwards. It is slightly louder than a normal spool-valve marker, but not by much at all. Efficiency is quite good on the marker, much better than the Proto Matrix I was using, I never actually checked the efficiency, but it was pretty much the same as any other marker.

The stock G3 grips are well designed, and have a cut in the middle for a tighter hold. The grip is not too thin, nor too wide. There are also metal plates in the grips to prevent warping over time, but this adds some weight, for those who are concerned about this.

In my opinion, this marker feels and handles very very well. It is slightly difficult to hold if covered in paint, but if you are wearing gloves (which if you're smart you should be..) this will not be a problem at all. Switching hands and maneuvering it is extremely easy due to its weight. I have yet to have a break in the bolt or barrel, although this could be due to the good paint rather than the marker. It shoots reasonably quietly, and amazingly accurately. A teammate shot it once and immediately went and got one

There are not many upgrades for the G3 as it does not need any at all. An interesting one is the back-pressure gauge, a first in paintball. The back cap of the bolt is replaced with a new one with an inbuilt pressure gauge. Grips can be acquired from Stinger Paintball Designs. Custom grips and triggers can be found on PBNation.

Conclusion: My favourite marker yet, very very happy with it, and I can see myself keeping this for awhile. Very eye-catching and it's great when people stop and stare and ask "What the heck is that?" and then hold it and go "Whoa!" The lightest marker out on the market at the moment, while still being very nicely balanced. The stock board is 08 legal and is adequate, although an upgrade may be desirable. It is, however, difficult to find.
There is an Dangerous Power IQ, which is the European version, which is not as good (does not come with as many things) There is also an Inspire Nano marker which is a separate company that licenses the G3. This comes with a Carbon fibre barrel stock.
Great marker. If you can find one, buy it!

Rating: 9.3/10

Pictures:
Red G3

Manual:

Blue G3:

Black G3:

[Richie]

YouTube - The REAL Dangerous Power G3 Review