Eclipse EMek Paintball Gun Review
Posted by Josh Silverman on 15th Sep 2020
The Planet Eclipse EMek
One of the best paintball guns in the world - at ANY price!
It's rare in any industry that a product can come along and do many things amazingly well. This is even more rare in paintball, as different types of paintball, like tournament speedball, woodsball, mechanical paintball and weekend recreational paintball often require different types and styles of equipment. However, it's happened in paintball: a paintball gun has come along that can do just about everything very, very well, and that paintball gun is the EMek, from Planet Eclipse. Light, compact, efficient, upgradeable to suit almost any style of play, reliable, simple to maintain and surprisingly affordable, the Planet Eclipse EMek has stormed into paintball from the local field rental fleet to tournament competition and shows no signs of slowing down!
But what IS the Emek? Beyond its simplest definition as an affordably priced paintball gun from Planet Eclipse, makers of such legendary paintball gear as the Ego and Geo line of paintball guns and sponsors of top teams like San Antonio X-Factor and Edmonton Impact in pro-level competition, the EMek is a spool valve mechanical paintball gun designed to be easy to maintain, robust and reliable on the field, accurate and quiet while shooting and easy to upgrade. Long story short, Eclipse nailed it.
The beating heart of the Planet Eclipse EMek Paintball Gun is its Gamma Core drivetrain. Now proven in numerous paintball gun models, the Gamma Core spool valve operating system operates at low pressure, is extremely easy to dismantle for cleaning and maintenance, and most importantly, doesn't have or require a sear or springs to fire and re-cock, making maintenance a breeze and reliability absolutely stellar. Pull the entire system out the rear of the paintball gun, wipe down, apply a little grease and get back in the game. The entire system is kept lightweight thanks to the paintball gun's glass-reinforced nylon outer shell.
The Eclipse EMek paintball gun offers a good list of standard features for its price, from hose-free air with no external air lines and a crisp, smooth single trigger to a clamping feed neck and Autococker barrel threads, plus the aforementioned simple maintenance. There are now a myriad of aftermarket upgrades available for the EMek available both from Planet Eclipse and other companies, like barrels, on/off bottle adapters, feed necks, complete replacement body kits and triggers, allowing owners to take their stock Eclipse EMek and build the paintball gun of their dreams!
But what is it about the Eclipse EMek that has the paintball world jumping on the bandwagon, from local paintball fields adopting it for their rental fleets to tournament players picking one up to shoot at the next mechanical paintball tournament? Put simply, it's the combination of all that stuff we listed above, and how all those features come together to create an impressive paintball gun that just plain shoots great. The Eclipse EMek is consistent over the chronograph, it's quiet and accurate (especially with a longer, ported barrel), it's as fast as it needs to be and thanks to its simple operating system and solid construction, it just doesn't break down. Press a hopper into the feed neck, thread in a compressed air tank, load up with paintballs and go play. This weekend, next weekend, next month, next season. Hot or cold, wet or dry, the EMek just keeps right on blasting. Rental players who are handed an EMek are certain to have a great time and fall in love with the game of paintball, recreational players can take it out of the box and have a good day of paintball and more serious players can spend money adding upgrades to create an even lighter, faster and more accurate version of an already solid shooter.
The Planet Eclipse EMek is a great paintball gun at any price - and price is one of its best features! For new players learning the game, mechanical paintball players looking to enjoy the game without batteries or paintball fields looking for a great addition to the rental fleet, the Eclipse EMek paintball gun is an outstanding option!