Montneel Designs Makers of the Worlds finest paintball guns

MONTNEEL History MONTNEEL Paintguns The Marcus Clones Why is the Mega-Z the Finest? MONTNEEL Adverts and Articles Paintgun Pictures FAQs, Guides Manuals and Misc Mods, and Tricks My Montneel Guns Run liquid? Are you Crazy? Where can I get Guns and Parts? Montneel Forum Montneel & Clone Cross-reference Credits and Contact Info Site History

The term "Montneel Clone" refers to a variety of guns that were directly, or indirectly based on the original Montneel Icon-Z paintgun. Typical characteristics include an INLINE BLOWBACK with the following features: 1- TWO-PIECE, detachable Receiver 2- "Slip Fit" Bushmaster-style barrels 3- Right Cocking 4- Delayed Blowback system 5- Montneel liquid valve 6- Pivoting Sear 7- Cosmetics (ie Squared body, Trigger Guard) Many of the clones were build using ACTUAL MONTNEEL blueprints, sold by Marcus after he left the company. Some clones were build by original Montneel sub-contractors, who left to produce there own version. Other clones were produced by Marcus himself, after he left the company. And many other companies simply stole the design, since the Icon-Z represented a stable, and reliable platform to develop a new gun on. PMI had the "Boxer", NPS had the "Icon", TASO has the "Checkmate", USI had the "Eliminator" and so on. The idea of "clones" is nothing new. All the major companies had "Nelson" clones from 1989-1993. Then Montneel Clones from 1993-1997, then Spyder Clones from 1997 on. Check out the Quick Clone Reference Guide to tell if you have a clone Boxer Typical Z-clone. Similar appearence, except visiable machine marks, poor finish, and threaded barrel. Gas valve with removable feed. Imported by Paintball Game Supplies of Texas and distributed through PMI. Boxers had a black-oxide finish, which scratched easily. As a result, Boxers are usually found stripped. An easy way to spot a Boxer is the site-rail is longer, and the forward breech is shorter. Click Here for more info on the BOXER Sam Patriot Also known as the Daystate, or the Daystate Patriot. Made in the UK, and advertised as "Englands first semi-auto". Similar appearence, with lightly rounded edges. A good quality clone that used automag-style barrels, and and featured a trendy power-feed. A popular option was a custom hard-case with cutouts for the Patriot, tank, hopper and barrel. Distributed in the US by Pro-Star Sports and by Mayhem in the UK. Made from 93-97. Click Here for more info on the PATRIOT NPS Icon The NPS sued Montneel over the name "ICON", then turned around and sold a Montneel clone called an "ICON". It was a generic clone with poor machine work,a gas-valve and threaded barrel. It looks just like the Boxer and Medusa (below) because all three came from the same factory in China. 10 years later in 2003, NPS released a NEW ICON-Z, except this is a rip-off of a Spyder and NOT a Montneel. It is a totally different gun, only sharing the name "Icon" Click Here for more info on the BOXER AK1 Avenger Perhaps the best Montneel clone. Body was streched, and a foregrip was added. Machine work was improved over previous clones, and finish was a matte dull-green. Built by Akraturn, who actually built parts for Montneel as a sub-contractor. Given "4 Stars" by PCRI, which is actually more then they gave the original Icon-Z! Distributed by NPS, and later APL.Click Here for more info on the AK1 Avenger Checkmate The Checkmate was actually designed and built by Marcus Neeley himself to compete with the Mega-Z, and distributed through TASO from 1995-96. It had vert ASA like the MegaZ, and a few interesting features. Marcus sponsored a handful of teams in the mid 90s. Click Here for more info on the Checkmate Cheater Z (94-96) Not technically a Clone, but also sold by Marcus. The Cheater-Z was an actual MONTNEEL Mega-Z, that was modified internally and externally by Marcus Neely. Officially, the reason for the modification was so the Mega-Z could run Nitrogen. But unofficially, it allowed the the MegaZ to chrono at 290fps, but would jump to 350-400fps on the field when using Co2, which led to the derogatory name "Cheater Z". Falcon This gun was also made by Marcus himself BEFORE the Checkmate, and shares similar external features. However, internally, there is no hammer. Instead, it has been retrofitted with a blowforward/spool valve. Very few were made due to a dispute between Marcus and the owners of paintball heaven. Click Here for more info on the Falcon USI Eliminator Sold in high numbers when USI was around. Popular as rentals, and entry-level guns due to low price (around $200). Released in 1993, the Eliminator was the first Z-clone, from a company that cloned a variety of guns. The Elliminator suffered from a variety of design and QC problems. The most famous was the bolt-rod snapping, causing the bolt to shoot out of the barrel! Click Here for more info on the Eliminator! APACHE Mustang The Mustang is a near identical copy of the USI Eliminator. The reason for the simularity is that these guns were originally produced by USI, specifically for PMI, to be called the PMI Mustang. However, PMI refused the entire order citing quality concerns, and USI crated the entire batch. Then, when USI went out of business in 1994, the equipment and field was bought, and renamed as APACHE Paintball. Apache cleaned up the guns and sold them as APACHE Mustangs Not many were produced, as Apache Paintball never lasted very long. Click Here for more info on the Eliminator! Black Night An interesting clone made from high-strength plastics, designed to compete with the Stingray instead of the Montneel Z-1. Popular as rentals due to the low price, and good reliability. Produced by Burgfield International for much of the 1990s. It was primarily distributed by PMI in America, and was also very popular in Europe. Click Here for more info on the BLACK KNIGHT Safari Another "plastic" Montneel Z-1 clone. This was also made by Burgfield International in the early 90s. Similar to the Black Knight, except the Gas Line was internal, and it had a better barrel and feed-block. They switched to the Black Knight simply because it was cheaper to manafacture. Click Here for more info on the SAFARI Safe-T Macho-Fire The most unique of all clones. The Macho-Fire was designed to shoot football-shaped paintballs from a 30rnd magazine! Safe-T also advertised a "bolt on" kit for Montneel guns, but neither ever actually reached production status. Prototypes were built by USI under contract, which is why they look very much like the USI Elliminator CMI Autohog The 'Hog was well regarded in its day. Based on the Icon, but was redesigned with "traditional" features (ie left cock, bottomline, etc). CMI Mini-Hog The Mini-Hog followed the trend in the mid 90s to make paintguns more compact, and added a vert ASA. Less then 100 Mini-Hogs were produced RX Turbo The RX was a low quality Icon-Z clone made by EPS (European Paintball Supply). None were imported to the US, and are rare because few were made before EPS switched to making Clonials (Mag-clones). Daystate TFX 2000 The TFX 2000 is a newer version of the old Daystate Patriot. Made cheaper and lighter, and designed as an entry level gun. Built by Daystate, and distributed by Powergames of UK. Never imported to the USA. Obvious changes are a switch to a square body, left-cock, integrated grip/bottomline. Made from 97-99. Less obvious in a very unique internal cocking system, where the bolt-link is routed THROUGH the center of the valve. Color options were black, silver, Green/Gold splash, and Purplse/Gold Splash. Click Here for more info on the TFX Phoenix/Venom A later version of the TFX-2000. Changes include a center-feed, instead of power-feed. Ambidextrous house mounts, and lack of "gills" on the body. The name progression went from "Pheonix" to "Pheonix V-1" to "Pheonix Venom" to "Venom". Made from 2000-2003. Production stopped when the price of chinese imports were being sold cheaper then Daystate could manafacturer the guns. Click Here for more info on the TFX Medusa The Medusa was the first paintgun made in China, and designed to be identical to the Montneel Icon-Z. Made for the European market in the mid 90s. Same gun as the NPS Icon, and PMI Boxer. Click Here for more info on the BOXER Marq/Onyx The MARQ is a modern electro-pneumatic, made by Bob Long. It appears to be based on the TFX-2000 listed above. Not a Montneel clone at all, but included because it is a distance relative. Essentially, the spring-loaded hammer of the TFX-2000 was replaced with a pneumatic hammer, controlled by a noid.