Helix Mag Fallow up.

In my last article, I wrote about my personal experience with the new Rap4 Helix mags. When we released the article online we had a hail storm of comments and couldn’t have been happier with the way things went. One comment though stood out to us though, one reader asked us to do a follow up article on how the mags actually handled feeding the paintballs themselves. So, here it is.

Let’s start at the very beginning of using these magazines: The loading system for the Helix is fantastic to say the least. It is based on the Dmag system of using a push rod to lock the follower in place, rather then a winding mechanism found in most other mag systems, excluding the Dye Dam. The main difference with the Helix mag is the standard plastic push rod has been replaced by a series of large plastic beads on a string, and yes they look like what you think they look like, but they work and that’s what matters.

Loading this magazine into the well of the marker is like what you would expect in a mag-fed paintball marker. You take the mag and you push it into the mag well. With the Helix mag design, based on the Dmag design, you have to give it a slap to lock it into place. Doing this releases the follower and allows the magazine to begin feeding paintballs. To some people the slap is as routine as breathing and to others it’s a single point of failure in there muscle memory, all depends on what you’re used to.

Once the mags are loaded into the marker they work pretty well. During my use of the Helix mags in the Rap4 468 I found, that for every 5 mags I used one would jam the follower towards the bottom of the mag. This jam in the magazine is not a game breaker as all it requires is another slap to the bottom of the mag and the follower would begin moving, at most I had to hit the mag twice to get the follower working properly. This jamming of the follower can be solved by some light sanding of the follower track as well as a healthy dose of lubricant. I suggest a good grease over for staying power, and the follower should move as smooth as butter. Unfortunately, due the lack of Shaped Projectile springs, which are required to effectively use First Strike rounds in the Helix Mag, I could not do any testing of this nature.

In conclusion, with the Helix mag follower jamming only about 20% of the time, but only requiring a bit of sanding and lube or a good slap to get things going, I would say they work great on the field for those who are fluent in the “Dmag slap” or are willing to learn some new muscle memory.