WGP Navarone Sniper 3 #23

Dale “Sugarstump” Price posted this Team Navarone Sniper 3 for sale on mcb two weeks back. It sold quickly (as expected) and Dale gave me permission to share his photos on here along with his history of the marker.

From what I’ve gathered these Black mini Navarone bodies are the second run of paintguns that Bud Orr supplied to Navarone. Navarone’s original batch of full bodied polished Navarone cockers was given to team members shortly after the introduction of the Autococker (see this article https://paintballhistory.com/introduction-bud-orrs-autococker-ironmen-lone-star-open-c-391 ), so Navarone likely received their likely late 1991 or early 1992.
I’m not sure when Navarone received the Black mini bodies but likely 1993 or 1994?

In his post Dale writes:

“Very rare Team Navarone WGP Sniper III #023
To some of you ‘young’ players this team doesn’t mean anything to you. But if you were playing in Southern California back in the 80s in 15 man tournaments, this was THE team you dreamed about (not that I dreamed about them much, okay, maybe a teeny bit…).
I was fortunate to have grown up in that area during that decade and ended up playing with and against them many times.

When the era of Navarone using the Line SI Bushamster ended (sniff), the team was then sponsored by Bud Orr (WGP).
When Bud came out with the Sniper III he gave the first run to Team Navarone.

This is #23. As you can see the Navarone [Team] name is milled in the side of the gun, and the Navarone ‘Shield’ is not just a thin foil sticker, the shape has been milled into the side of the gun and in that recess the metal shield was installed.

It’s a really cool looking addition to the gun.
The Navarone barrel plug and team foil sticker are included. The sticker shows it’s age, but I figured it’s worth it to included it. The gun itself is in great shape, as you can see in the pictures. It works great, but has been sitting in my gun stable for years now. The barrel has some scratches on the outside (I used a different barrel on it back then) but this was correct barrel for the ones the team received at the time.

This is just a great piece of paintball history. If I can find my Navarone team t-shirt I’ll include that as well, it’s pretty faded after 20 years, but if I find it I’ll send it along (no guarantees though).”

I emailed Dale and asked him a few more questions about this Sniper 3. Such as the original owner if he knew and whether these bodies came from Worr Game Products as Mini Sniper 3s or Mini Cockers. Since the other two I had seen were set up as Mini Cockers but this didn’t mean much since they could have been set up that way after Navarone received them.

Below is Dale’s reply,
“The gun originally belonged to Kenny Chamberlain, who played for Navarone, Marine Team One, P. Turtles, Iron Kids and a few others. I will get in touch with him and ask if he received this as a Mini Cocker or Sniper III (I remember he told me it had always been a pump).
I was NOT a roster member of Navarone. But I did guest on their team many times in tournaments and practices (hence the reason I received the gun). I couldn’t be officially recognized due to ‘sponsorship’ conflicts it would have created with my Paraplegic Turtles team.”

From Dale’s reply I would guess that Mini bodies were either supplied as Sniper 3s or as the players choice (either sniper 3 or Mini Cocker).

Find Dale’s original post on mcb at:
http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/buy-sell/247543-team-navarone-wgp-sniper-iii-023-a.html

Big thanks to Dale for letting me share his photos and information!

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