Many people believe that drop forwards are no longer used in paintball, but I have proof to the contrary! In current times I am the only manufacturer (through my company Nummech Products) that produces drop forwards for markers using gas-thru grip frames whcih aren't compatible with "standard" drop forwards that use 3/4" spaced bolt-on screws. That mounting method was once the standard bottomline attachment system used on most markers, but it's largely been abandonned and most companies use a different mounting method for every marker, which necessitates a redesign for every type of drop forward (or drop back).
Myself I usually don't like drop forwards because my style of play doesn't take advantage of them. However, I want to make the option available for people if they enjoy the new feel you get from a drop forward. It's for that reason we make the items available for everyone. I also make drop-backs for many similar markers, which have the exact opposite effect on your marker, but again the goal is to give people the choice to use the parts if they prefer.
At the time of this writing (2017) Nummech Products is perhaps the only manufactuer producing drop forwards for the paintball industry. We produce so many different styles, in fact, that I've created an entirely modular fabrication method that allows our machine shop to go effortlessly from one drop forward to the next. Through this means we need not fabricate a huge production batch of any product, instead we can mix-and-match the quantities and make just enough to satisfy demand. This type of modular production method is one of the main ways that I've been able to supply drop forwards and drop backs for so many different markers.
The projects on this page are listed in chronological order (Invert Mini drop forward was my first).
My first Mini/Axe accessory was a gas-thru drop forward made back in 2009. I drew up a couple initial drop forward ideas which are shown below. The first picture shows the original "quick draft" of a drop forward, just messing around with the hardware layout. Later I evolved the design into the second picture, which is more or less the version that was created in 2009. The last picture shows my original prototype.
I tested it out, and the design worked nicely. I was excited to show people so I made a quick video that basically re-tells everything on this page.
Tippmann X7 drop forward:
My second gas-thru drop forward was designed for the X7 Phenom marker. It also uses an internal air connection, but naturally it's a completely different system. However, I can still use the same manufacturing methods for this new product because the overall manufactring process is very similar. The main design difference is that the X7 drop forward is meant to be less curvy and more tactical in appearance. In some ways this design is easier to fabricate, but overall it's very similar.
Tippmann's frame-routed air supply method usually involves a brass tube ("air pipe") which is precisely bent to fit inside the marker's grip frame. Each end of the air pipe has some added shapes to allow an o-ring to seal with the ASA on bottom and marker valve on top. My X7 drop forward uses a new air coupling component which emulates the air pipe connection. The air couplings are a fairly cheap and easy component to make, so the decision to use the simple coupling design is easily made.
Tippmann Crossover drop forward:
The X7 Phenom community began to use my drop forwards with good results. Quickly people started to ask about a similar version that could be used with their Crossover markers. Crossovers and X7 Phenoms use a similar "air pipe" routed through the grip frame, so it seemed that a new hypothetical Crossover drop forward would be easy to make, but it actually ended up being more complicated due to the redesigned mounting method. The markers share similar mounting systems but the Crossover is not meant to be compatible with a bolt-on ASA, whereas the X7 is meant to be downwards-compatible with bolt-on ASAs if the player doesn't wish to use the integrated airline. The end result is that we had to, again, redesign the drop forward's mounting method for this new product. And yet again it uses a similar process compared to the previous drop forwards, but requires altered production fixtures. No problem, it's the same story for everything on this page!
This is a product that was never released. We spent the time to develop the drop forward, which turned out very sleek and stylish, but there was a compatibility issue that limited it for only the "old style" ASA adapters (from 2010 and older). We ended up creating three prototypes for testing, but the final product was never released because there were too few older markers that could use this adapter. Demand was low. I made plans to redesign the item for use with newer systems, but it would not happen until 2017 (further down the page).
Look here, it's another drop forward! Empire finally fixed the troublesome design of the classic Mini/Axe bottomline regulator mount, so both the Mini-GS and AxePro 2015+ use the improved mounting method. The new mounting method is more straightforward and drastically more reliable compared to that of the older Empire markers. To follow suit, I used the sleek design of my Crossover drop forward and altered its mounting system to accomodate the new Emprie design. This drop forward also uses a small air coupling to perform the correct seal with the ASA. I also began using a better dusting process on the parts before anodizing, which can be seen in the picture below.
This drop forward is meant to be comaptible with 2011+ markers that use the "sideways screw" mounting pattern, which was shared between many other BLAST markers such as the MVP, Victory, VCOM, Phase, Onslaught, Victus, and others. The design is very similar to the earlier BLAST drop forward, but the mounting system is different and the position of the air ports had to be adjusted to accomodate it. Otherwise the shape was largely based on the earlier version. We produced a batch of these in 2017.
Several players requested drop forwards (or drop backs) for their Luxe, so I reverse-engineered it's frame and ASA in order to supply those parts. I also happen to have a Shocker RSX for testing, so I measured its parts at the same time. The two ASA adapters are very similar to one-another, using the same screw pattern and same air port size. However, I found the position of the air port was different in the two markers by just a slight amount. This seems backwards since both Luxes and Shocker RSX markers are built by the same company (although they were designed by different people) and they're manufactured in the same overseas machine shop. By all rights they should use the same ASA, but no! When it came time to design a drop forward for the markers, the overall shape and features are nearly identical, but the position of the air port is slightly different between the two designs. For this reason I chose to engrave the marker name on the top of each drop forward (and drop-back) to help with identification.
After releasing an upgraded "pseudo-hoseless" grip frame for Automag markers, I very quickly received requests for a drop forward that could carry on the frame-routed air porting. It seemed only fitting that I build this product since the N-Mag grip frame was an entirely unique mounting concept.
At this point in time, the drop forward design had become almost identical between different markers, changing only in the exact mounting methods and position of the air porting. It appears this drop forward can be used with T-rail ASA's but that's actually not true; this drop forward doesn't use a T-slot mounting method since the parts need to form a pressurized gasket seal between one-another.
