So why am I still disappointed?

Like many of you I picked up a Virtue Spire IR2 on Black Friday sale. It was already a good deal but including the spring ramp and Crown SF II made it hard to resist. After getting everything installed it may just be one of the best paintball loaders I have ever owned but I still find myself disappointed by a few things.

For starters, there is no manual. Not in the box, no QR code for a PDF, and nothing listed on their website. Though I still recommend it for new tournament players no documentation included or even available it makes that a bit difficult to recommend to those new to paintball. Thankfully it’s not rocket science to take apart. The two piece shell design is very easy to figure out. Once inside there is an arrow on the latch needed to remove the internals giving access to the battery tray.

Toolless to its core

The first road block came with the drive cone. It can be removed without tools but there is no real indication of how. I had watched some reviews of the IR2 from companies who sell them and some of them are still convinced that it does not have toolless drive removal. The good news is that you can remove the cone without tools, the bad news is you may break a nail getting it out. There are two small tabs on the top of the drive that if squeezed together the cone can come off. This process makes me wish they would have just used a screw, or better yet larger tabs. You won’t have to do this often but it is difficult and just unintuitive enough that even their own dealers aren’t sure how to do it. A manual would resolve all the confusion.

Even their retailers don’t know about these tabs

The next hurdle I ran into was the spring ramp. Again, there is no manual in the box of the IR2 so as expected the spring ramp did not come with one either. Thankfully there is really only one space that it can be placed into. It did take me a couple attempts to get the tabs in just right and I was left worried that I was doing something wrong or worse that I was going to break something. You may expect me to say that a manual would solve this issue but the true solution would be to include an installed spring ramp. The main competition to the Spire IR2 is the Dye Rotor LTR which has since the original loader always come from the factory with a spring ramp installed. The minor cost savings of not including a ramp was a mind boggling decision that really feels like a nickel and dime situation.

Thankfully it seems like Virtue has listened and the newer SE version of the IR2 comes with the spring ramp installed from the factory and at a price that still keeps it within range of its competition. In fact, the Spire IR2 SE is the number one recommendation on our best loaders for 2025.

The BEST speed feed ever?

My last point of annoyance was the Crown SF II. Let me be clear, this is the best speed feed I have ever used. Previously I have used molded models with rubber fingers. Moving to the spring loaded makes me wish I had made the switch to these more modern options years ago. Removing the lid was easy enough. The tab on the hinge is a great system and thankfully I had seen how it worked in a video before I made my purchase. Unlike the internal tab to access the batteries this does not have any indicators and a new user may be lost when trying to remove the lid.

The speed feed itself also gave me a bit of grief (and also did not come with a manual). It has a clip that holds it in place. Though it is very secure, it has enough resistance that you cannot just push it down and have to open the clip to get the ring in place. After I figured out that the clip needed to be opened while pushing it down it still took an uncomfortable amount of force to finish the installation. A manual explaining that this is the correct way to install the Crown would go a long way to ensuring the end users knows that this resistance isn’t them about to break their new rather expensive speed feed.

Still top marks for quality

All this being said, let me stress that this is still one of the best loaders on the market. I won’t be able to give it a proper review until April when my field reopens but the IR2 has everything it needs to earn top marks from myself. My current complaints are about the initial user experience, not the quality of the product. The first loader I ever purchased was an Evolution 2 and it is hard to quantify how far paintball loaders have come. Going forward the Virtue Spire IR2 SE is still my number one recommendation for higher end loaders, but Virtue giving some sort of manual would solve nearly every gripe I have.