The Palmer Nasty Typhoon is the creation that came about when former
employee
It was only a matter of time before word of the creation spread, and
other players
The Nasty Typhoon can be had in one of two configurations: over/under
or side by
The first thing you notice with a Nasty is its weight. Its all-brass
construction and dual
The Nasty also shares the Typhoon's accuracy. With the gun set up in
a single-barrel
Dan Debone asked Glenn Palmer to combine a double-barrel pump with
the
then-new Hurricane/Typhoon pneumatics system and build a double-barreled
semiautomatic. Said Glenn in a Warpig interview, "The second Hurricane
that I built
was a double-barreled version in a pistol format (IOW, a Typhoon -
JH) that wasn't a
conversion but built entirely from scratch. Dan (who became Palmer's
Service
Manager - JH) came to me and said, Œyou build double barrels and you
have a good
semi, can you marry the two and build me a double semi in a pistol
format.' I said that
I would give it a go and that it would take some time and money but
I would let him
know when it was done. Well, three months and $900.00 later I presented
Dan with
Hugo (the only hurricane that I could think of that was "badder" than
Camille)." Glenn
soon built himself one as well, and named it Domination.
wanting an extremely unusual and effective paintball gun came forth.
Since then, about
65 Nastys have been built, along with 25-30 Nasty pumps. I found that
of the seven
listed Nasty owners in POG, two had two Nastys, another guy also had
a Nasty
pump, and five had at least one other Palmer gun. Whenever I pull out
my Nasty
Typhoon, I can usually count on some player practically dropping his
Mag or Cocker
and coming over to check it out. And just imagineÖwhen the first
"production" Nasty
Hurricane appeared in 1990 (some non-SN# Nastys were produced even
before
then), the standard for semis was the F1/PMI-3/Pro-Am generation, and
it was
Domination that Glenn used to show Budd Orr how the autococking mechanism
worked. (These very early guns used a sliding trigger and more of a
Cocker-type
layout).
side barrels, with any of the normal Typhoon's bottle-mounting options,
and also as a
Hurricane variant with a wooden stock. The first "production" Nasty
Typhoon, which
I own, is a side-by-side, as are most other Nastys. The over/under
configuration
mounts the barrels one on top of another, and the barrels sit on top
of the
regulator/valve housing. The gun (before putting on hoppers) looks
(to me) like a
really long nickel-plated PGP, and I refer to this configuration as
"the plank." Only
four have been built in this configuration, and one was pictured in
APG's Paintgun
Roundup (Dec.96). All Nastys are built from scratch, so there are no
Nasty Strokers.
barrels make it a good deal heavier than many paintguns (I wish I still
had my
featherweight (2lb.?) F2 for comparison), and with dual loaded VL2000s
and a 20oz
tank, the gun weighs about 10 pounds. The second thing you notice is
that you don't
care, because very few paintguns can match the Nasty's business end
for sheer
menace. With the black muzzle brakes on the nickel barrels, the twin
barrels resemble
(IMHO) an aircraft's cannon and the prospect of having two .68" holes
pointed at you
instead of just one is a bit unnerving. Other than that, the Nasty
shares all of the
Typhoon's features: battle grips, easily accessed adjustments for velocity
and
pneumatic pressure, a wide trigger shoe, integral sight rail (which
bridges the gap
between the barrels), valve-matched barrels and Quikstrip bolts (well,
except on
mineÖit predates them, I believe).
configuration (more on this later), I found myself landing many of
the same shots that I
can with my single-barreled Typhoon, despite my Nasty's back-bottle
connection that
bumped my mask when I tried sighting (I need a bottomline). The sound
signature
was a bit higher and more distinct, which I attribute to the non-ported
barrel versus
my single's porting. However, there is a caveat. In my experience shooting
with both
barrels (and for the other players who've also used it in double mode),
I've found that
it's rather distracting trying to aim by tracing the path of your shots.
Trying to see two
balls moving at 285fps while not losing your target behind the two
view-blocking
hoppers is tough. A red-dot sight zeroed for one of the barrels might
help. Or you
could just concentrate on high-volume fire support. Or even low-volumeÖBrent
Hoefling, on being rushed by two players: "They were both spraying,
yelling and
running. I stood up, fired one time and took them BOTH out! My Nasty
Typhoon is
sure one sweet gun!"
As with the Typhoon, use of agitated hoppers is highly recommended.
Otherwise, ball
misfeeds can cause firing errors unlike anything you can imagine. Since
both bolts are
linked and fire from one valve, chopping paint on one side can cause
the other to also
chop, to shoot erratically (from splooged paint making it onto the
other ball
detentÖit's happened to me), to shoot with low velocity due to
the bolt not fully
coming forward or high velocity due to the splooged side providing
extra gas flow
resistance, or for the whole thing to jam. If there's a downside to
such a paintgun, this
is it. Here's why.
The Nasty Typhoon, except for the twin barrels, is essentially the same
gun as the
standard Typhoon. It uses a single valve and hammer/sear assembly,
and is powered
by a single Rock regulator. The difference starts where the valve feeds
the barrels.
The gas flow is split, so each barrel has a port that flows into the
bolt and fires the
ball. On the over/under, the gas actually flows to the top barrel through
the bottom;
Glenn says it's "a little tougher to get the velocities matched in
both barrels." Of
course, the actual volume of gas used by the Nasty is almost double
the Typhoon's
usage, but that's what it takes to fire twice as much paint per trigger
pull.
(For the purposes of this walkaround, I refer to the side-by-side variant.
The
over/under corresponds by having the lower barrel work like the left
barrel, and the
upper like the right.) The hammer is actuated by a pin in the left
bolt, just like the
standard Typhoon. On the left side, the bolt connects to the pump rod
and the pin
notches into the hammer. On the right, the bolt has no protrusions
except for the pin at
the back that connects it to the left bolt. This is the linkage that
makes the right bolt
cycle in conjunction with the left. (On my Nasty, the bolts are connected
by
thumbscrews, again because it predates Quikstrip bolts.) The barrels
mirror each
other, including feed ports and ball detents, and ideally will shoot
at the same FPS.
You do want to make sure that both are clean and that you're firing
the same paint
through each, otherwise you'll have velocity variations between barrels.
"The biggest
trick," says Glenn, "with the doubles is getting both barrels to put
paintballs in
relatively the same place at the same time. It gets to be quite a balancing
act
sometimes."
It's a simple, perfectly logical system that suffers only in that what
happens to one side
affects the other. Call it the yin and yang effect. As long as paint
is feeding on both
sides, the gun will shoot and shoot. But if you chop one side, the
other (usually) has
problems. If you run out of paint on one side, the other will shoot
a much lower
velocity. Gas follows the path of least resistance, and that will be
the side without a
paintball. With the Nasty, keeping an eye on your paint load is important.
Also,
keeping both bolts properly lubed is essential. One Nasty I've heard
about had
problems with "binding," which I took to mean problems getting both
bolts to cycle
without sticking. (Of course, even though the owner called it a lemon
that he wanted
to sell, other Typhoon lovers engaged in a bidding war for the gun.
Go figure.)
Switching the Nasty from double-barrel to single-barrel operation really
shows why
making sure the barrels are "balanced," i.e. both feeding paint and
both clean, is
important. Switching over actually is simple. All you have to do is
unlink the two bolts,
and rotate the right side one so that the gas port is not aligned with
the valve port. The
o-rings in the bolt create a seal, and all the gas from the valve flows
through the other
bolt. Adjust the Rock down a bit (it has a good bit less of a load
to deal with now),
and chrono. I'd generally see at least a 100 fps increase or decrease
going to or from
single-barrel mode. The velocity variation when one barrel's out of
paint or obstructed
by paintball fragments and the other one isn't shouldn't be as extreme,
but it is
noticeable. Also, when you switch from single to double, there's actually
some kick
from the extra mass of the other bolt and the extra gas flowing through
the barrels.
The valve and valve chamber are larger than on standard Typhoons, in
order to deal
with the extra gas flow, which would also suggest a lower operating
pressure (and
very nice efficiency) in single-barrel configuration.
The Nasty runs well on CO2, but of course in extended shooting the Nasty
will chill a
tank much more than the single-barrel will. Glenn Palmer has stated
that the CO2
usage from the Nasty is a little less than double that of a standard
Typhoon. Probably
the ideal setup for a Nasty would be a remote line to a 68ci regulated
tank full of
CO2 (if not HPA), since that would create more room for expansion,
a larger, more
consistent supply of CO2, and would take some of the weight off the
gun. But I use
my Nasty (currently) as stock, with two VL2000s and a 20oz antisiphon
in the back
bottle, and other than sighting and weight, it's fine. In fact, my
teammate Mike
switched to the Nasty on a 40-degree morning after his Cocker got balky.
For the
first game or two, the Nasty was spitting snowflakes of CO2 when it
fired, but it still
worked perfectly (which I think finally convinced him to get his own
Typhoon). The
only mod I foresee is a bottomline, but that's not a big deal.
So the big issue is shooting experience. What's it like? Again, the
first thing you
notice is the weight. I jury-rigged a sling from a 6+1 suspender that
is most helpful
between games. If you don't have it, two or three games later you'll
wish you did. Of
course, when you're seeing action, you don't notice the weight so much.
The second
thing is (are) the hoppers. The two of them rise up into your field
of view, and
basically block out a decent-sized area. You have to carry the Nasty
low or
shouldered in order to maintain your field of view, because it's tough
to carry
shouldered all the time; this gun calls for shoot-from-the-hip accuracy,
although the
trough formed by the two barrels makes for a natural sighting plane.
The third thing is
the trigger. Mine is longer than and at least as heavy as a Pro-Am's,
although
smoother. It's a rhythm trigger... you can't rip off a quick burst
without shortstroking,
but there is a definite cadence to rapid fire. True, a trigger job
could help, but IMO
it's not in fitting with the gun.
Re-reading that, I realize it sounds like it's all work and no play.
This is not true; the
Nasty is one of the most entertaining guns you can put to your shoulder,
about dead
even on the grin-meter with the TS-1 in full-auto. But you do have
to position yourself
to take advantage of the gun's strengths while negotiating with its
faults. That means
don't try to take the upfront bunker. The Nasty is at its best when
following front
players, as mobile suppressive fire. You can put a sheet of longball
at opposing
players, giving your point opportunities to move, and it's accurate
enough to take out
opponents before your flankers can. And a Nasty at full cry is impressive
indeed. The
Viewloaders start buzzing, the pneumatics are pumping, and both barrels
are popping
away at 3 bps or so (I told you, the trigger's stiff) EACH. Imagine
the Minigun in
Predator, and you've got a bit of an idea. Glenn's comment in response
to someone
saying Nastys are just for show was "You've never been on the receiving
end of a
well-used double." Indeed.
Jeb Hoge
POG #007