Editing Automag (section)

=== Development ===

Tom Kaye began developing semiautomatic paintball markers in 1987 while operating Technacore Industries, the business that subsequently became associated with Airgun Designs.

Early prototypes included the Panther, a gravity-fed blowback marker designed as an alternative to the existing semiautomatic equipment of the period.

The Panther design was sold to Direct Connect for proposed manufacture by Daisy, but the project did not enter commercial production.

Kaye subsequently developed another blowback prototype, the Panther II, before abandoning the operating system because of difficulties achieving reliable recocking under different pressure and temperature conditions.[1]

The next design, originally called the Panther III, introduced a substantially different operating mechanism.

Instead of using gas pressure to return the bolt to its firing position, the new system used regulated gas pressure to drive the bolt forward and a spring to return it.

This became the basis of the Automag.[1]