The CCM SS-25 Pump
Text and Photography by Joshua D. Silverman
Printed Paintball Games International Magazine 2006

While the rest of the paintball world, including nearly all the companies making paintball guns, are focused on balls per second, ramping and accuracy by volume, one company still takes an old school concept, accuracy by accuracy one ball at a time, seriously. CCM's line of custom, WGP Sniper-based pump paintball guns like the J2 and Series 5 have culminated in the 2006 SS-25. Convertible from a basic, direct-feed pump into a rock-and-cock, stock class model for the hardest core pump players, the SS-25 is as high tech and accessorized as a pump gun can get, without the addition of propane, fuel injectors and spark plugs. With every accessory and upgrade available for most pumps installed standard, as well as excellent craftsmanship and some design ingenuity, the CCM SS-25 is a classy high-end pump for the discriminating player.

At nearly five hundred dollars retail, the SS-25 is no plastic Wal-mart banger for the back yard fence painter. Rather, CCM, based in Northern California , caters to the niche market of serious pump players. The real question, however, is whether a pump paintball gun costing almost five bills is worth the price of admission in a world of three hundred dollar Ions shooting seventeen paintballs per second. The only way to be sure was, luckily for me, to poke at it, prod it, weigh it, chronograph it, target shoot it, analyze it and of course play with it.

With players like Garett “G-Max” Maxwell of the Philadelphia Americans and now Dynasty on staff, CCM is a company that understands what it takes to make a paintball product for serious players. Their feed necks, air adapters, rails, wide array of Autococker upgrades, barrels and in-line regulators have all proven to be solid products, as have all their paintball guns dating back several years. The SS-25 is indeed a result of CCM's experience, as each of the company's best products are included in its design. Like Henry Ford's great Model T, the SS-25 is available in any color a prospective customer might like, as long as that color is black.

The most interesting and unique feature of CCM's latest paintgun is its ability to quickly and easily switch from a direct, hopper-fed paintball gun to a stock gun fed by a horizontal tube. Using an accessory they already manufacture, a clamping feed neck for a Spyder that attaches via small “ears” and two screws, the SS-25's vertical feed, a matching anodized no-rise clamp model, can be removed and replaced with the included stock feed tube in only a few minutes. Another CCM innovation, an 86-degree grip frame with integrated snatch grip, beaver tail and rubber grips, is standard, anodized in a bead blasted black to match the receiver. The standard trigger is an extremely smooth, roller bearing swing trigger with a very short, crisp pull once the gun is cocked and ready to fire. Increasing rate of fire and adding yet another standard feature, a “slam fire” auto trigger system is installed allowing the shooter to hold the trigger and pump as fast as skill (or constant practice) allows, firing with each completed pump stroke.

Delrin is almost as integral a substance to the construction of the SS-25 as aluminum, as both the bolt and entire pump handle are constructed from it. For added consistency and simplicity when adjusting velocity, a CCM in-line regulator is standard, threaded into the vertical bottle adapter. A wire ball detent prevents double feeds while pumping, but only a good ball-to-barrel match will prevent roll-outs as the gun first from a closed bolt. Autococker threads allow for a barrel from practically any company in the world to be added immediately, though an extremely lightweight and fairly attractive CCM carbon fiber barrel was included for this test and continues to ship as the factory barrel. Thanks in no small part to the Delrin and carbon fiber components of the SS-25, it is a fairly lightweight paintball gun, sliding just under the three pound bar with a CCM rail and on/off ASA adapter. Adding a light but still-motorized Revolution hopper and Crossfire compressed air tank made a package comparable in weight to any of the top tournament paintball guns.

Much more comfortable than the basic .45 frame that has become the industry standard, the 86 degree hinge frame fits easily into the hand but is not at such a strange angle to the receiver that it detracts from cool points at the local field like many vertical frames. The pump stroke of the SS-25 is, like other CCM pumps before it, so smooth that simply rocking the gun back and forth briskly is enough to cock it. Thanks to both the Crossfire air system used for testing and the included CCM inline regulator, the 25 performed well over the chronograph with fresh Draxxus paintballs, delivering velocities in the 280 range with little fluctuation. Players must take care to carefully match their paintballs to their bore size, as tipping the gun forward with mismatched paint can lead to roll-outs or less than accurate velocity readings.

Overall, the accuracy of the SS-25 was stellar. The light carbon fiber barrel is not drilled full of big holes so while its report was ever so slightly louder than with other barrel choices, it still delivered ball after ball accurately to targets both near and far. For the utmost in long range accuracy and silence, a highly ported fourteen or sixteen inch barrel is recommended. Auto-triggering the 25 vigorously produced an impressive rate of fire of three to four paintballs per second, though accuracy was somewhat diminished by the pump motion.

At a recommended retail price of 479 dollars, the SS-25 is not exactly a pump for the masses. However, for the serious player who enjoys both stock and regular pump play, the SS-25 delivers impressive performance, modern style and a unique ability to act as two paintguns in one. A Cadillac in a parking lot full of tuned-up Hondas with body kits, for those who enjoy the trip more than hauling ass.