The Bob Long Marq 6
Text and Photography by Joshua D. Silverman
Printed Paintball Games International Magazine

When word started to leak out of the inner circle that Bob Long was about to release a new paintball gun, that was pretty big news, at least to me. After all, the last time I remember Bob Long releasing an entirely new paintball gun it was a ray gun-looking thing with two horizontal regulators under the barrel called an Intimidator, and we all know how that ended up. I know, I know, stop waving your arms and yelling “new Defiant” I don't want to hear it. It's my story I'll tell it like I want to. Of course, the times and the affiliations have changed and now Bobby is out on his own, away from National Paintball Supply. Now not only does he have to design and build it, but he has to sell it too and in a world of flashy colorful new guns coming out every other week with new features and electronics and the latest technology designed to make every twelve year old kid a ‘baller without the benefit of practice if he can just talk his parents into buying it for him, that's not easy. On the up-side, though, I suppose it doesn't hurt to be Bob Long when it comes to selling a gun.

Before long, rumors about a new gun from Bobby became fact and I was able to check out the new hotness from Bob Long in the pits at NXL events, as it was used by his new team, San Diego Legacy. While many members of the team continued to use Intimidators throughout the latter half of the season, some players, like Bob's son Zack, made the switch to what was at that time called the Onyx, and had plenty of good things to say about it. Meanwhile, before general information was readily available on the new machine, the internet rumors flew, with most convinced it was simply a spool valve in a fancy body. Once released, though, this was quickly proven not to be the case, as the final product model, now called the Marq 6, features an in-line poppet valve operating system.

While it functions in a somewhat different manner than the paintball guns on the market already, the operating system of the Marq 6 isn't too complicated to understand after a little studying. Low pressure air still moves a shaft back and forth, and high pressure air still makes the ball come out and the gun go “bang.” The poppet, the centerpiece of the system both literally and figuratively, retains the high pressure air until the low pressure air moves the ram forward to open the poppet, simultaneously pushing the bolt, and a paintball in front of it, forward into the barrel where it is sent downrange into someone's goggles. I'm sure someone with more technical knowledge could explain this better; I just talked to the friendly people at Bob Long Technologies and then stared at an animated diagram of the firing cycle until I figured it out.

Originality wasn't enough for Bobby and company when they put together the Marq 6 platform, however, they had to go and make it a feature-packed piece as well. Two anti-chop eyes weren't enough for Bob this time, as he made four eyes an upgraded option. Again, I sought out Bob and his employees for an explanation of why I might want this in my paintball gun, and I was told that with four eyes, the paintball gun knows not only when a paintball is present in the breech and ready to be fired, but how quickly the attached hopper can make this happen, allowing the gun and hopper to work together to achieve the highest and most consistent rates of fire. Autococker barrel threads are standard, and the usual Bob Long stock barrel is included with the Marq 6. I've been seeing this “Assassins” milled, one-piece barrel on Intimidators for some time, and it seems that Bob is of the understanding that most customers will simply replace it, if they bother to shoot it at all, though thanks to plentiful porting and a decent inner finish, it's not a terrible barrel. Available colors from the factory include polished black, blue, red, olive and silver.

The only real disappointment, likely to be remedied soon by the company, is the fact that no owners manual is delivered with the Marq 6, rather a single printed page acting as a quick start guide. However, in all fairness, the quick start guide did provide all the information necessary to break out the Marq 6 and put it to use without difficulty. I was able to learn, via the quick start manual, that I had been sent a two-eye version of the gun, and that to switch it to ramping mode capped at fifteen paintballs per second, as is the rule in my neighborhood, I needed only to flip dip switch four to the on position, a painless process requiring only a few minutes with a small Allen key. The grip frame of the Marq 6 is very thin and comfortable in the hand, thanks in no small part to its comfy Bob Long grip panels. A simple on/off button with LED light is set into the upper rear portion of the grip frame and is simple to use, while the nine volt battery drops into the grip directly, without the bother of a battery harness with wires that might pull out or pinch.

The Marq 6 stock trigger is an attractive, swooping blade design that, while not perfectly smooth in actuation, has literally no side-to-side slop or wasted action, making for a solid, quality feel. A basic bottle adapter of direct-mount style is bolted standard to the bottom of the grip frame, and while an on/off would be nice, the quality of the basic ASA proved such that replacing it shouldn't be necessary. As the macro line fitting protrudes from the front of the adapter, switching from the left to right hand and back while playing a bunker is not hindered by an air fitting. Adding to ergonomic comfort, the vertical, inline regulator standard on the Marq 6 is both attractive and smooth, with a swivel top that can adjust the ninety degree macro fitting to any desired position. Velocity adjustment is accomplished via an Allen screw, recessed into the bottom of the regulator.

The receiver of the Marq 6 is machined with dramatic, swooping cuts reminiscent of the Ripper line of Intimidators, and the milling and anodizing finish are smooth and well-polished, if not completely free of lines when closely examined. The low pressure regulator is housed within the receiver, and internals are accessed at the rear. A unique, low rise vertical feed port that clamps onto a hopper with a wedge that can be tightened or loosened with an Allen key, is a permanent fixture at the top of the receiver, leaving few if any possibilities for aftermarket upgrade at the present time, though as the gun sells I feel confident that many companies will start to manufacture upgraded attachments for the feed neck.

Twisting a Boost upgraded HALO into the feed neck and threading a Crossfire low pressure 68 cubic inch, 4,500psi air system into the ASA, the Marq 6 was ready for action. Over the chronograph, the hammer was down as the first string of shots came in at about 320 feet per second! However, a quick turn of the inline regulator's adjusting nut immediately dropped the pressure to a very consistent 275, with only a few feet per second of variance. A nudge back in set the Marq 6 to a perfect and consistent 285 with a high of 289 and a low of 280, even with the barrel completely mismatched to very small paintballs. A few strings ripped downrange were impressive, and even when the hopper was completely emptied during shooting, no chops or barrel breaks were encountered at any time. While slightly heftier in the hand than many of its competitors, the Marq 6 feels solid and well-balanced, and recoils very little during shooting. Accuracy over all ranges is commendable, though at the longest ranges a proper ball-to-barrel match and longer barrel will keep things in line slightly better than the stock barrel, though even it performed very well.

Bob Long's latest endeavor, the Marq 6, is an excellent tournament paintball gun across the board. Attractive, innovative and well-built, most importantly the Marq 6 delivers the accuracy, rate of fire and list of features to be expected of a paintball gun with a thousand dollar price tag in the era of the Ion and Rail.