HomeCompaniesJoe "Viper" O'Connor's Dogs of War Stroker

Joe “Viper” O’Connor’s Dogs of War Stroker

Chris “Relief” Van Horn sent over the video above and photos below of a Palmer’s Stroker he recently purchased from Sacramento based player, Joe “Viper” O’Connor.

left side stroker full shot
Left side full view of P249

O’Connor played with the Dogs of War from 1989 until 1999 and participated in Lively Series events and Great Western Events with the Northern California based team.

right side stroker full shot
Right side full view of P249

O’Connor’s Stoker started life as a .22 caliber Sheridan pellet pistol and was first converted by Palmer’s to a .68 caliber pump and then to a Stroker.  The pellet to .68 caliber conversion wasn’t uncommon during that time since sheridans were in high demand and many players had a spare pellet gun around to use instead.

Viper's Stroker P249
O’Connor’s Stroker P249, right side view
Serial number close up
Serial number close up and Sheridan pellet pistol identifying marks on lower tube.

Although Glenn’s personal semi automatic rifle, Camille, was created much earlier, the “tournament” debut of Palmer’s semi automatic production rifle, the Hurricane, was July 1990 at the Bay City Open by the Dogs of War. I believe the Dogs of War were competing in the ten man event at the Bay City Open but I’m not 100 percent sure of that.

Find more information on the Bay City Open and the Hurricane’s debut in this interview article with Glenn on Warpig: http://www.warpig.com/paintball/pictures/gear/camille.shtml

Gear assortment
Chris sent this photo of Joe “Viper” O’Connor’s remaining set up.

O’Connor’s Stroker has a couple neat features which aren’t super common, first the Pellet gun base which I mentioned above, and second, a soldered on extension piece attached to the lower tube.

left lower tube view with extension
An extension was added to the lower tube to first accommodate the quicksilver and then later the lpr when it was converted to a stroker.
right lower tube view with extension
Chris took these photos as he was rebuilding this Stroker. Since this was originally a pump it has a quick silver drop out slot for the 12 gram. When it was converted to semi the LPR fills that slot.
Close up of right lowertube view
Close up of Right lowertube view with lpr removed as Chris was rebuilding the Stroker. Notice the do not oil stamp on the bottom.

Chris texted me, “The gun is interesting. [The serial is] P249 but it has a quick change side cut out.  [O’Connor] said Glenn made them for [the Dogs of War] so it may have been [built] off an existing pump, [since there is] no need for a quick change on a typhoon.”

Classic Stroker Internals
Classic Stroker internals broken down as Chris was doing his rebuild.
stroker Orings have turned to slime
Stroker Orings have turned to slime between the outer CA input body and the red constant air pass through (to the lpr?). This typically happens to my palmers markers after they’ve been sitting unused for 10-20 years. After a change of seals they function perfectly though.

Palmer’s Pursuit Shop keeps probably the most accurate records in paintball and based off the serial number Lori, Glenn or Craig can typically identify when work was done to a paintgun.  Once Chris purchased this Stroker from O’Connor he called to check on it’s build date.

Chris texted me, “Just spoke with Lori [Wilcox].  It was converted to semi in 1992, which is when the P249 was put on.  But [this paintgun] was a tricked/tuned pump before that.” 

Lori also told Chris, that “They would sometimes extend the lower tube to accommodate a different pump handle, quick change and later for better lpr fit.”

Attached Inline Stabilizer
Attached Inline Stabilizer and right side quick strip slot.
Quicksilver to lpr slot
Side profile of quicksilver slot turned to lpr slot while Stroker is assembled.

Lori went on to tell Chris that this Stroker has a “right hand field strip ’cause [Joe] was left handed.”

Lori Wilcox Harness, front view
Joe “Viper’s” custom pack made by fellow Dogs of War player and Palmer’s Pursuit Shop manager, Lori Wilcox
Lori Wilcox Harness, back view
Back Side of O’Connor’s harness made by Lori.

Along with the Stroker, Chris also received a custom harness that Lori Wilcox had sewn together early on. Chris writes, “[Joe said that] Lori made him this pack. [The material] looks like seatbelt fabric.”

Paintball Jungle Patches
Carpet Bobs/ Paintball Jungle Sportsman patches.

Joe also had several Flag Pull / Sportsman patches from Carpet Bob’s or as it is now known, Paintball Jungle.

Dogs of War Team Packet
Dogs of War Team Packet

And one of my favorite items to see was this page of Dogs of War code words which was sandwiched in a package of old Great Western Series printouts.

And now for some stats on The Dogs of War courtesy Steve Davidson’s WPF stat book.

WPF Dogs of War Stats 1991
WPF Dogs of War I and II stats from the July 1991 Bay City Open. Dogs of War II finished 6th in this event.
WPF Bay City Open Stats 1991
WPF overall Bay City Open July 1991 Statistics. The Dogs of War I and Dogs of War II finishing results are shown here. O’Connor likely played this event on one of the two squads.

These Statistics have been scanned from the World Paintball Federation Quarterly Report, Second and Third Quarters, published 1991 by Steve Davidson / WPF Publications 1992. Find Davidson on 68Caliber.com.

Big thanks to Christian “Relief” Van Horn for taking all these photos and videos and spending the time to relay all the information to me. All photos are used with permission from Chris.

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