In the past, when a company created a new tournament level paintball gun, they sought out the best teams they could acquire to shoot it. Planet Eclipse, never the type of company that followed the pack, did the opposite and created one of the best tournament paintball guns ever to hit the market, and then watched the teams come to them. Come they did, in droves. Now the official paintball gun sponsor of a massive stable of top teams in both seven-man and X-Ball formats including XSV, X-Factor, the Bushwackers, Avalanche and Infamous, the Ego, since its release two years ago, has become the weapon of choice of famous players like Rich Telford, Jon Richardson, Thomas Taylor, Rusty Glaze, Neil Eberle, Andy Kopcok, Ron Kilbourne, Matt Schuster and Danny Tiljack. What was already a great, tournament winning paintball gun in the hands of great players has been made even better for 2007, lightened, improved and indeed perfected beyond all expectations to become one of the very best paint-shooting machines in the world.

The Ego and its successor, the Ego6, boasted high rates of fire, small size, light weight, attractive milling and popular colors that attracted both major professional teams and local players alike. Consistent, reliable, simple to maintain and supported by a long-standing, reputable industry company, the Ego has garnered tens of thousands of fans around the world. Already a top seller, Ego sales exploded yet again with the mid-year release of the ETek, a simplified, more affordable version. With the Ego and ETek, as well as several private label, custom versions of the Ego6 selling well and shooting great, many were left wondering what, other than different anodizing or fancy milling cuts, Planet Eclipse might do to their tournament-winning paintball gun for 2007. At the 2006 Paintball Sports Promotions World Cup at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, the world found out that Eclipse wasn't done with their drawing board quite yet, as the Ego7 exploded onto the scene in the hands of some members of XSV and the Ego Maniacs.

Lighter, smaller, faster, simpler and packed full of more features than ever, the Ego 7 takes the platform to another level of its evolution. The receiver has been cut and carved to an unprecedented size and weight, smaller and lighter than any other Ego and most other paintball guns, with a total weight of just over two pounds. Available in dust and polished colors including red, blue, black and a platinum grey, the Ego7 boasts numerous new features that improve its performance, including a new electronically-activated solenoid that cycles via battery power rather than air for guaranteed consistency, a body that houses the ram directly, without a ram sleeve and a circuit board that activates the trigger by either an optical switch like previous Ego models, or a micro switch for players who prefer it. A blade double trigger is easily adjustable and utilizes both magnetic and spring return for a smooth, silky pull capable of ridiculous rates of fire.

The Ego7's grip frame is narrow and features an LCD screen at the rear through which modes, rate of fire and other features are adjusted and comfortable wrap-around rubber pistol grips. At the bottom of the new grip frame is a durable “t-slot” mating system for the standard on/off bottom line adapter that features two set screws, putting an end to snapped dovetail mounting rails forever. Bottom line holes are still present at the bottom of the grip frame for those who may wish to use a standard rail or drop forward. Once it has left the bottle adapter, air enters the Ego7 via an ergonomic vertical high pressure regulator with a swiveling air fitting, and the low pressure regulator still sits at the front of the receiver, beneath the barrel. Other standard features of the Ego7 included an improved, Autococker threaded two-piece Shaft barrel which is fourteen inches in length and standard in .693 bore to shoot any paint from any manufacturer, dual ball detents and anti-chop eyes protected by new eye covers that fit flawlessly against either side of the receiver. A Cure bolt that helps eradicate broken or chopped paint and the offset vertical feed tube now features a standard lever-lock, rather than requiring the use of an Allen wrench.

Adding up to the most feature-packed, high performance Ego to come out of the factory yet, the new and old features of the Ego7 come together to create an impressive package on the field, where it matters most. Quieter than any other Ego and with less kick, the Ego7 points onto target more quickly thanks to the improved angle of its grip frame, and delivers paint onto target more accurately thanks to its more consistent velocity. Over all ranges, the Ego7 proves itself a ridiculously accurate machine, and once put into ramping mode, it delivers laser beams of paint accurately onto targets from one end of a field to the other, making laning, controlling a zone and even snap shooting a joy. For best results in both accuracy and consistency, a good ball-to-barrel match is best, so many users may desire to swap the stock barrel for something with a bit smaller bore size, should they plan to shoot anything smaller than golf balls. Light and tight, the Ego7 was easy to run and crawl with on the field, feeling more like an extension of the arm than a tool to be lugged around.

Fast, accurate, reliable, simple and now smaller and more technologically advanced than ever before, the Ego for the 2007 model year is an impressive piece of equipment. Likely to help power the veritable army of Ego-shooting teams to even more victories than were seen in 2006 and attract more teams and players to the Planet Eclipse camp, the Ego7 is undoubtedly one of the best tournament paintball guns currently on the market. For more information on Planet Eclipse or the Ego7, visit PlanetEclipse.com.