Carmatech Engineering SAR 12 and Milsig Update

       Ok, I've decided to be a news outlet once a year for the paintball expo, just for the sake of the next two posts.
       I have a few updates regarding the last post about new Milsig products. First regards the internals and the construction of the M17: it sounding like there will be no charging handle on either the new Paradigm or the M17, and that they will be blow forward systems. Another interesting development is the HEAT upgrade for the K-Series MKII; this will let current owners of MKII's operate at lower pressures (about 500-600psi), and it does away with the side air tube for the MATS and CATS stocks, air goes directly into the back with the new internals.
       Now for some prices: Doug Brown of Psi Ops has been posting on the Milsig Owners Facebook page with a few figures like: FXR kit: close to 200, HEAT upgrade: 125, M17: 550 (no word on accessories included at that price). I was also incorrect on my assumption about the M17 being a cast aluminum receiver, turns out it is actually molded polypropylene which should help keep the cost lower than the all metal counterparts. There is no word on the pricing of the new Paradigm, but if the change in price of the original M-series if anything to work with, it could be as much as $2000 CAD!
       In related news, a new contender is stepping into the mag fed realm: Carmatech Engineering. They're ramping up for a September 2012 launch of their marker, the SAR 12. It's the first mass production bolt action paintball rifle on the market and it's quite the beast of a marker, if not a little niche. The rifle can also been changed to fire in semi auto mode without tools in a matter of seconds which is a pretty cool too. Carmatech is currently designing a number of accessories for the marker like new front ends, stocks, one of which will take 13ci tanks which the rifle will achieve about 170 shots off of. It will take first strike rounds in a stacked fashion in the mag, and when you run out of shots, you flip the mag around and use a second stack of rounds on the other side which is a pretty clever way to get the most out of a huge mag designed to look like the real thing. Price point looks to be $1000 US, and they're asking 150 for preorders!

Here's Carmatech's site

New Milsig Markers Closing the Gap

       I tend not to post news items here, but this stuff got me pretty excited. New markers have been appearing on the Milsig Owners and Milsig Industries pages over on Facebook for the last two days and it's been stirring up a lot of talk. Nelson over at Milsig is pretty strict about not letting the company turn into a hype machine, so anything new coming from them makes even their most manly fans giggle like excited school girls. These are Nelson's three aces as he calls them, and they are a new limited edition Paradigm, a new mass market platform known only as the M17 (no relation to the M-Series), and two fairly substantial pistol to carbine kits for the T8.1 and TPX called the FXR.

       Above is the new Paradigm Mk II. As you can see, there is the CNC'd hand guard we know and love which has been elongated on the new model, and the 13ci air in stock which appears to supply air directly into the back of the marker; no side air line. It can shoot first strike too, no word on if the pictured barrel is what will be included with the marker or if that's a Marksman Barrel. Also, it would appear that Milsig has finally found a way to close the gap between the magwell and trigger guard. Nit-pickers rejoice! There is debate over what the internals of this marker will be like. No confirmation has been given over whether it will use the same blow back design as the original and Mk II K-series markers, or of it's something we haven't yet seen in a Milsig; with a little luck, it will operate on lower pressure, so those of us who have troubles getting a Milsig over 270 fps out of the box will not have this issue any more.

       This is the M17 and receiver and internal wise, should be fairly identical to the Paradigm Mk II. This is the cast aluminum, non limited run model. It is also first strike ready.

       This is the FXR Force Multiplier Pistol to Carbine kit, which will be available soon for T8.1 and TPX. Word is there will be Air thru and air in stock options of this kit which is pretty nifty.

       More details about these two new markers and kits will be unveiled on the 28th at the upcoming paintball exhibition, like just what kind of internals they have, pricing, and what will be included with these markets when you purchase them. No word if Nelson has a fourth ace ready to show, but if he does, I think I know what we all hope it would be. I'll be sure to follow this particular story closely.

REVIEW: Original SWAT Classic 9" Side Zip Boot, Coyote

       In case you are a new reader to the blog, I feel it is necessary to link you to the review of the 5.11 ATAC Boot w/ Side Zip since to date, it is the golden standard to which I measure all boots up to. Here is the link to that review REVIEW: 5.11 Coyote ATACs 8inch. Have you read that one yet? Ok, good, so you probably know now that after going through a pair of those boots every six months over the last year and a half, I was in pretty bad need of some different footwear than 5.11 offerings both on and off the field. There was a sale on Original SWAT boots down at First Response Duty Gear back in mid June-early July, and I decided that there was no better time than the present to check out the offerings of a non 5.11 Tactical company. Of course, since I have enormous mutant feet, I had to find a size close to what my feet were and then guess what size I should order. On to the fit and feel of the boot.
       At first try on, they feel about as good as the 5.11 boots, at least around the sole, but they lack some of the additional padding which the ATAC boots have running up the back of the ankle. As a result, I've developed some blistering on the skin over my heel bone due to the lack of cushioning. I can't complain about any other friction or pressure points with the boot, however. In spite of the boot being a 9 inch boot, I have found that it feels like the top of the boot rests at a lower point on my leg than 5.11's 8 inch ones, and to this day it still feels a bit alien to wear them. This might be due to the fact that I continually switch between my nearly worn out 5.11 boots and the newer Original SWAT's.
      Design wise, the boots leave a lot to be desired. Although they have a few features that the 5.11's have, the features aren't nearly as heavy duty. The side-zipper isn't as robust, though I can't say that it's ever given out on me. The anti-bacterial sole doesn't do as good a job at minimizing foot odor. The boots have no one-way ventilation points on the inner sole like the 5.11's. Along the back and front of the sole, there are two layers of very wide stitching which for me have broken in several places so I now have tassels on the bottoms of my boots; I have no idea what these are for in regards of the construction of the boot but given how huge the stitches are, they can't possess any structural purpose. Last comment is regarding the quality of the materials used in these boots. Although they are still wearable and in one piece, they are deteriorating, especially where the boots have to flex. There are small holes forming on either side of the base of the ankle on them and it won't be long before the holes are the size of the eyelets the laces are woven through.

Something is falling apart in the sole

      The chief redeeming quality of these boots is the soft sole they have, it's nice to walk on, and it's significantly softer than the 5.11 boot sole, albeit, the sole and treading is quite a bit thinner. I accidentally developed a clever means of testing the softness which involved foot breaking on a longboard and seeing how effectively the boot could slow me down. These boots are quite grippy and can stop a person in motion very effectively, so much so that they've nearly caused me to fall forward on several occasions. As a result, taking off into a sprint is similarly easy as your feet don't slide around at all. But there is a downside to the soft sole, and that's on tile and linoleum floors, especially when the soles are wet. Every step will squeak absurdly loud if you go from outside to in on a wet day. Not much of a big deal for a paintballer, but if you're a curious law enforcer or military type reading this and thinking these might make for a boot that one can sneak around in, I'd recommend avoiding these boots, everyone will know precisely where you are at all time if these boots are moist.

Material falling apart in where there's flex

       Overall, I feel like the Original SWAT's aren't a boot which is worth 30-40$ more than the 5.11 equivalent. A lower price point might make me feel a little more fond of them, but I paid for these on sale what I would have paid for 5.11s at full price and am not convinced it is in any way superior, in fact, I think these boots lack some of the features the 5.11 ATACs have, and feel that the next time I need to make a boot purchase I will go with what's been tried and true for me.

REVIEW: 5.11 TDU Rapid Assault Shirt

       When Valken made several mistakes with my teams’ first order in summer of 2011, it resulted in my giving a team mate the large Zulu jersey I’d purchased for myself while I waited for his to sell locally and recycle those funds into a replacement. By the time that jersey had sold however, the team had already received order number two, this time for Underground Productz, and it too was incorrect and incomplete. I said bollocks and decided to purchase a different brand of combat top from somewhere that would get it right the first time.

       The solution came through First Response Duty Gear, the local mom and pop tactical shop I’d been seeking sponsorship from for boots and gloves for my team. I looked at a few of their Multicam offerings from Tru-Spec, BlackHawk, and 5.11, and settled on the 5.11 TDU Rapid Assault Shirt. It closely resembled Valken’s Zulu offerings but had a few more features I liked, such as the non Lycra (Spandex) torso section, a zip-up front (upper third), a collar, ergonomic patch areas on the arms, velcro wrist cuffs, generally tougher materials all around, and I definitely got what I paid for in the end.

       Feel-wise, the shirt is very comfortable. I usually find myself wearing XL everything and hoping it shrinks down to a size between XL and L after the first wash. I grabbed a Large Rapid Assault Shirt and found it fit perfectly right away, not what I was expecting from a company that usually makes gear for those with athletic body types, but I’m not complaining on that one. It was a good fit, not too long on my short arms, and not too clingy on my torso. The material on the arms, shoulder, and collar is a 65% polyester and 35% cotton blend, and the material on the torso is 55% cotton, 37% polyester, and 8% lycra, and while it does have some spandex in it, it’s not super noticeable. The top has integrated elbow pads which won’t save your elbow if you hit your funny bone on a rock, but they are much larger than the elbow pads on the Zulu Jersey and are more than adequate for crawling through unforgiving vegetation. One the topic of arms, they also have quite a bit of real estate for patches, as well as pouches to store small odds & ends. The patch areas are also sewn on at 45 degree angles and contour to the arms which is nice for keeping your profile a little more stream lined and having a few less bits of clothing poking off of you. The zip up collar is a nice touch as well, it’s great to do up on a chilly day of play and you can unzip it for temperature control on hot days as well. The tough canvas it’s made of also means it will take the bite out of balls that hit you in the neck.

       After a half season of playing in this top, it has only suffered one war wound. I took a ball to the chest at very close range, and the jagged shell of the ball punched a very small, neat, hole in the 100% cotton material there. I did not get around to mending it, but after playing for the rest of the season and letting the tear do its own thing, it hasn’t spread or become any larger than the day it was inflicted on the jersey. There have been no broken stitches anywhere on this top or any other quality control issues to speak of. The 100% cotton material on the torso is much more durable and breathable than the material on the Valken Zulu Jersey, the arms are also much tougher and heavier duty, but they don’t breathe quite as well on a hot summer day in the desert around Kamloops. The only improvement I can think over there would be some ventilated cotton material running the length of the upper-inner arm around the armpit. But yes, the whole thing is very indestructible, I’ve played several games running only a pistol and have crawled across some pretty gnarly surfaces only to inspect the shirt after and find no frays or rips anywhere

      I’m feeling exceptionally lazy today, and don’t want to lug out the big ‘ol SLR to take pictures of my own shirt, so I’m going to link you directly to 5.11’s page for the this top which is right here. And if you’re concerned about the hole I mentioned earlier, don’t be, seriously, it’s smaller in circumference than a Bic ball point pen.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: Tippmann TPX or Tiberius 8?

Tiberius T8.1

       At some point in the last couple of weeks I had a nearly complete post regarding which pistol I recommend to people when they're hunting around for one, but I also somehow managed to lose it between then and now. I wanted to get something up in time for the holiday season regarding pistol purchases so you could take advantage of all the sales that appear around this time, so hopefully putting in double the effort to deliver this post to you will pay off for all of us in the end.

      Alright guys, so most of you know I'm Canadian, and as such, I tend to purchase a lot of stuff from paintballgear.ca. With that being the case, I'm going to use their website for all of the price comparisons herein. So let's examine the price tag of the pistols on their magazines first. The price of a Tiberius 8.1 here in Canada is $199.95 which is down from $227 the last time I checked the price. The price of the Tippmann TPX is $278.95, nothing much had changed there since the pistol's release a couple years back. I give the win in this department to Tiberius, but Tippy's pistol can still shine through, lets take a look at the price of the magazines.

Tippmann TPX

       Tiberius 8.1 magazines cost.... Oops, apparently paintballgear.ca doesn't have T8.1 magazines, however the prices listed on some other sites tell me that T8.1 mags are currently sitting at 45-50$ a pop. That's a bit steep. Tippmann TPX magazines are going for the same price, but you get 2 for the price of 1, so that's 22-25$ per magazine for a TPX. Ok, Tippmann, you win that round.

       How about the construction of the two marker's themselves. The grip and trigger of the T8.1 is plastic, but the rest is all metal, even the magazines. Tippmann's pistol has a lot more plastic on it, the magazines are all plastic, and metal parts are for the most part limited to the trigger, barrel, and internals. To some, this isn't a problem due to the next point, but I give the win in construction to Tiberius.

       How are the ergonomics of both pistols? How do they feel in the user's hands? The TPX being mostly plastic is a lot lighter than the Tiberius 8.1, the grip is smaller, the receiver is narrower but a little "taller" in the user's hands due to where the 12gram powerlet is installed in the pistol. The metal that goes into the T8.1's receiver and it's mags makes it a lot heavier, and I personally like this. I don't like a heavy paintball assault rifle, but I do like a heavy pistol; I enjoy the heft in my hand, it feels reassuring. The T8.1's 12gram CO2 goes in the grip with the magazine which makes the pistol's grip beefier than that on the TPX and a lot of people aren't fans of this, they say it feels too bulky and alien. I can't complain about this myself and I have smaller hands than most gentleman and grip feels quite natural for me. But I'm in that generous Christmas spirit right now, so I'll go with what the majority has to say about the TPX's grip and give them the comfort point there, even though I feel it's a draw.

       Accuracy: Depending on the forums you spend your time on, you'll see different reports of what kind of accuracy people have had with the different pistols. Some swear by the TPX, some by the T8.1. I think a lot of this comes down to avoiding buyer's remorse. When someone shells out a bunch of money on a marker, they will defend that purchase, sometimes to the point of making themselves look like a complete ass to avoid acknowledging contradictory evidence suggesting they picked up a sub par marker. Accuracy wise, I have not been able to do a controlled side by side experiment with these two pistols, but I'd imagine most accuracy will come down to the user's skill and paint in the magazine. You will find your accuracy increases out of necessity when you play with limited ammo in any case. It's a good way to train! I call accuracy a draw for both pistols in this case.

       So we're all tied up, even though I'm personally still kind of leaning in the T8.1's favor, and it sort of looks like we've covered all the bases. What's going to be the tipping point? Air delivery. Imagine you're on the field with a TPX, you place the CO2 powerlet in the marker, shoot about 3 mags (24 rounds), and you're out of gas, you have to change the CO2 cartridge out of the marker. Now let's try the same exercise with the T8.1, take those same 3 mags, put a CO2 cartridge in each since they go into the mag in the T8.1 and not the pistol itself, and start blowing away the opfor. But! Every time you slap in a new magazine, you're also slapping in a new CO2 cartridge which seals when you eject it so it's not wasted. As long as you have a mag with CO2 in it, you can keep shooting, you don't need to change the CO2 out of the pistol itself. You can put more paint in those 3 mags, and shoot each one 2 more times before having to swap out the 12gram giving you a grand total of 72 shots. What I'm saying here is with the T8.1, you could hypothetically shoot through an infinite number of magazines 3 times over before having to swap out a single CO2 powerlet, but with the TPX, you have to make the swap every 24 shots no matter what (unless you use a remote coil). To me, that's an important selling feature the T8.1 has over the TPX. 

       Both companies have a great reputation, stand by their products, and have customer service second to none though. Regardless of what you buy this holiday season, you likely won't be sitting on the sidelines teching a temperamental marker, I just find there are certain things that tip the scales in the T8.1's favor and felt I'd share these observations to help you make an informed decision.

STILL ALIVE

       I feel like a bad blogger again, having not posted for, oh, let's see, two months I think it's going on? But I figured it was time to throw something online so folks know I'm still alive, still sorta writing, and have no interest in letting the blog die, but times are busy right now. As I've said in the past a few times, when I'm pressed for time, writing a micro-essay on paintball isn't at the top of my to do list. As much as I love other blogs like GreyOps and Catshack Reports, which I go to very regularly for news and reviews of paintball stuff, I'm not the sort to do a two or three sentence post and link out to a different website for a story. I like having 100% original content on here and unless I'm posting some kind of photo gallery, I have a minimum length I like to keep my posts at, that being about one page, single spaced, 12-font, typed in Open Office.

       So outside of Eight Pound Ops, here's where I am: I'm taking a heavier course load than ever before in school which is gobbling my time up, as a result I don't get to go to the field very much these days, I even missed the end of season last weekend. I don't have the same inclination to write in my free time when writing happens to be all I'm doing in my other time. I've been getting out on the longboard a lot, which has been nice since I don't need a ride anywhere to do that, don't have to pay a fee, and don't need a few buddies to make it a good time. As a result I should be probably posting on that blog more than I am, but it's like ever since I started the second blog about longboarding, suddenly the thought of maintaining two blogs is scaring me away from doing anything on either one of them. Crazy.

Do you smell something burning?

       I have a few articles which are near completion, though only a few, and most of them are reviews, too. There's a chance I'll be able to post some of them before Christmas which itself will bring some free time to write a little more. There is the 5.11 TDU Rapid Assault Shirt, Milsig Hydration Vest, a little commentary on pros and cons of the T8.1 and TPX pistols, and just to mix things up, I hope to do a review of the latest Call of Duty installment as well (I can only do one and not the other so Battlefield will have to wait!). That review would also come way-late since only being able to pick one game for the next couple weeks means Skyrim takes priority! I have no stories up my sleeve right now for this blog though, given that playing doesn't fit into the schedule as it used to, and this makes me sad as well since Kamloops Paintball Games just started selling some really excellent smoke grenades.

        A fellow recently posted on the Facebook page (which by the way has a staggering 2 fans!) that he liked the Week of Valken, and was sorta sad to see there had been no new content appearing on here in over two months. That was a bit of a motivator for this post and has got me back to thinking about doing something I'd been considering since mid-August, that being a “Week of GoPro”, which given the recent release of the HD Hero 2, might just be a smashing idea. I'll let you guys know a little closer to Christmas how that's shaping up.

       Don't be a bonus baller!

AN INTERVIEW: With Nelson "Noc" Lau of Milsig

Lau, posing for some product shots of Milsig's
2009 limited run paintball marker, the M-Series Paradigm

       Milsig hasn't always been the Milsig it is today. Those loyal to the brand are familiar with a magazine fed marker know as the TM4 which precluded the very popular K-Series, and also know of Milsig's involvement in assisting RAP4 in the creation of their Gen 3 T68. How far back does Milsig go? What are the origins?

       The gun you know as the K-Series actually goes farther back than the MILSIG brand. The platform existed for 2 years before MILSIG was launched. My partner Cho designed the original K-Series, and RAP4 picked it up and re-branded it as the T68 Gen5. Then we went into a partnership with a company called SWAT systems, they rebranded it Tactmark TM4...and then we launched MILSIG on our own. Before MILSIG was launched, we did massive upgrades to the original system, and throughout its life cycle, we’ve continued to make improvements.
       As for even older markers, RAP4’s T68 Gen 3 line was also our design. It was based on the stacked tube (SPYDER) system. RAP4’s current mag fed design is basically a T68Gen3 converted to mag fed. I guess they decided to upgrade our earlier design after we broke ties with them. You’ll also notice that RAP4 magazines are identical to ours as they pretty much copied our design.

       Was being the president of a milsim paintball company always a goal of yours? Or was there something special along the way that kindled an interest in the industry?

       I actually never set out to start a MILSIM PB Company, and I didn’t play a lot of PB growing up in Vancouver. I was actually heavily involved with airsoft and real steel. I got my first airsoft gun when I was 14, and I founded the British Columbia Airsoft Club when I was 19. I was literally one of the “pioneers” of airsoft in Canada. Eventually, my interests in airsoft and guns in general led me to run a small but successful business selling and fixing airsoft guns...which eventually led to a lot of lucrative work in the movie industry as they had just “discovered” airsoft guns as movie props. My life basically revolved around Airsoft, Real Guns, and MILSIM. When I wasn’t working with Airsoft, I was out shooting them with the guys at the club.
The BCAC was run by a pretty tightly knit group of older professionals, and we steered the club towards a true MILSIM mantra. Unlike a lot of clubs and even businesses today, the word “MILSIM” had true meaning to us. A bunch of guys running around with BDUs and space guns and playing different versions of capture the flag is NOT MILSIM. We were all drawn to airsoft because we were a bunch of military buffs, and the game play reflected that. All we played were objective based scenario games.
       There was very little conflict, and while we always played on the same few local fields, the changes in scenarios and objectives kept things fresh. Over time, more newbies joined, and all they wanted to do was play “shoot em up” games. They all wanted instant gratification, and doing recon, patroling, and stalking was WAYYYY too boring! It became the same “team A out to kill all the guys on team B”, and vice versa. And as bragging rights and egos got out of hand, the finger pointing started and everyone was accusing everyone else of cheating. In the end, I quit airsoft, and I often wondered “Wouldn’t an airsoft gun that marked solve the problems in airsoft?” “What about a more realistic paintball gun?”
Years past and I eventually moved to Taiwan as my long time girlfriend was “summoned” home to Taiwan to help with the family business. Out of shear luck I met my manufacturing partner Cho when I attended a PB bachelor party at one of his fields. We quickly became friends because of our common interests and he eventually asked me for help on a project.
       He was working on a contract for an American company intending to turn one of his products into a Less Lethal Launcher for Law Enforcement and Military use. I was brought on as a consultant to help with the R & D. I spent 18 months on this project and I got to know Cho’s product inside and out. Eventually, the project ended as the company we were working with had some legal and financial problems...but we didn’t walk away from this project empty handed.
       While working with the American partners with the LE Project and launching Tactmark, I saw a void in the Paintball Market. Accessorized Tippmann A5s were all the rage, and everyone wanted to make their marker look more real. I looked at these things and I thought...” Why add a hunk of metal to the receiver to make it look like a magazine, only to continue feeding balls from a top heavy hopper?” “Why add a CAR stock to a marker to only put a gigantic air tank underneath?” “Why pay hundreds of dollars to wrap your marker in folded sheet metal just for looks?” I asked a lot of WHYS and realized that we already had the perfect product. We already had a realistic and robust marker...with a working magazine! The answer to the questions I asked myself when I quit airsoft was staring right at me... 

        The rest as you’d say is HISTORY!

       On the way to the spot you are in now, was there any person in (or outside of) the industry who you aspired to be like?

       I met a lot of people along the way, and I learned a lot from many different people. I can’t say that I want to be like any one person or company in particular as everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. If I have to identify certain people and their positive traits, I’d say Doug Brown of PSIWORX for his passion and understanding of the industry...or in particular what is WRONG with the industry. Eric Bratten of Tiberius for his candor and professionalism. Finally, Gino Postorivo of Valken for his vision and ability to spearhead such a come back in such a short time.

       Some individuals at the woodsball field I hail from and some from others have criticized the design of the K and M-series markers for being somewhat archaic, relying on high pressure output for operation instead of a lower pressure poppet for maximum air efficiency. When one considers the MSG RRV vest which holds 8 mags (160 rounds) and the MATS Stock grants around 130 shots, they make a reasonable point, what would you say to address nay-sayers?

       I don’t doubt that there are more efficient systems out there, and that the inline blowback design is quite old. But the oldie is a goodie as there are more inline blowback markers out there by volume than any other designs. We chose to use the inline blow back system ourselves because the action most feels like a real gun as the blowback action creates some sensation of felt recoil. It’s NOT the most efficient system, but for the sake of realism, there must be some tradeoffs.
       As for the vest holding more mags than the 13CI HPA tank can shoot...get a bigger tank and a remote line! I honestly don’t know why we get so much slag in particularly. From our own tests, our markers are actually more efficient than other brands’ blow back markers...so why so much hate?
As for guys that run MATS with the 13CI HPA alone, most of them report that they never go through all of their ammo before air runs out. I will say this though...we WILL look into a system upgrade or change at some point in the future, but we’ll stick to our core values.

       Milsig is somewhat famous with it's fans for not being a “hype machine” like other paintball companies when they choose to market new products. Some fans are crying for some kind of teaser from Milsig for anything from new marker accessories to the long awaited box-magazine. Are there any plans to throw them a bone in coming weeks? Anything you'd be willing to share about the "Milsig 2.0" teased on Facebook?

       I’m not totally against hype, as excitement is a key marketing tool. However, unless I’m 100% good and ready to release a properly tested high quality product, I’d rather not talk about it much at all. I disappointed a lot of fans for a failure to deliver a box mag, which we hyped... In the end, our competitor beat us to the punch, and I vow to not make the same mistake again. I’ll let the end results speak for themselves...talk is crap unless you deliver substance.

       Milsim paintball and limited ammo play is becoming hugely popular, unfortunately for new players, the price of a magazine fed marker is pretty huge itself. Does Milsig have any plans to make it more accessible to new players in the future?

       Without revealing too much, part of MILSIG 2.0 is to make the entry barrier into mag fed play lower...stay tuned.

       Accessibility aside, where do you see Milsig paintball or mag-fed play as a whole in the future?

       I think more players will see the benefits of limited ammo or mag fed play. I don’t think one needs to shoot a case of paint per outing to have a good time, and the cost benefits will outweigh some “spray and pray” tendencies. I think over time, field operators will see the light and realize that you don’t need your players to burn through a lot of paint to make a profit.

       If you weren't involved with Milsig as you are now, what do you think you'd be doing instead?

       Well, truth be told, MILSIG isn’t how I make my living. I’ve recently taken on a more active role and spend as much time running MILSIG as one would at a full time job, but I have other business interests. The company behind MILSG does a lot more than just make MILSIM paintball products. We do considerable ODM (Original Design Manufacturing), OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing), and R & D work for clients from a diverse range of industries including the automotive, firearms, airsoft, and paintball industries. On top of that, we do a lot of military and law enforcement contract work here in Taiwan and abroad.
When I’m not doing the manufacturing stuff, I’m involved in property development. I guess I just like to “build things”.

       Lastly, what is Nelson Lau's favorite game to play at the field?

       Capture the flag! No, just kidding... I actually don’t have a favorite game. I like to take part in objective filled scenario games...just like it was from the BETTER days. I like it more when an event takes on an unpredictable life of its own, where the outcome isn’t solely determined by “which team killed more of the other teams’ guys”. I’ve played in games where I fired a lot of paint, got into many firefights, and made a lot of kills and not felt fulfilled. I’ve had others where I did a lot of sneaking around where I didn’t even make a kill but felt way more enjoyment. Teamwork and comradery are more important to me than having the coolest toys or the most kills.

REVIEW: Tippmann X7 Phenom

       I'm not going to lie, writing this, my first ever marker review on Eight Pound Ops isn't exactly what I want to be doing with my first Monday off in four months (obviously posting this late), least of all with a copy of Borderlands Game of the Year Edition sitting in it's plastic wrap, glistening in the late afternoon sun coming through the window and calling out to me. But alas, I've had the X7 Phenom for awhile now since selling my Milsig Paradigm, I've beat it up a fair bit, and it's time for an after action report of the thing. The pictures you'll be seeing of the marker in this review are of my own X7, which I painted, there is no SKU of the gun which looks like that. I've been using the X36 stock on it, with a Milsig PDW grip more often than not, as well as a FLASC Barrel kit, but for the day of consistency testing and chronoing I only used the stock barrel the marker itself comes with. In these pictures it's sporting a Versapod Bipod instead of the PDW grip, and sadly there is no Tippmann Phenom label where it should be since it wouldn't stay on and fell off in the bush somewhere. The air I've used has for the duration of use has always been supplied by a Pure Energy 70/4500 outputting at 800 psi, and is delivered to the marker via a PSI Worx Pro Connect III. I should also mention the bolt is regularly lubed with Tech-T Gun Sav.

       Let's break the Phenom down and talk about some of the cool features you get with the gun out of the box. First off is an awesome submachine gun look. The magazine on the marker is a durable light weight plastic and so although it doesn't do anything for the gun functionally (unless you stow allen keys in yours) it doesn't take away from the Phenom by adding any more weight to it. Second is no gap between the grip and magazine for you whiners who hate an air line going into the gun right there. The Phenom also has a gas thru grip meaning there is no line running outside the gun to power tube anywhere on the marker, your propellant goes right through the pistol grip of the marker and the Phenom accepts both CO2 and HPA. As the old X7 and A5 before that, the Phenom also comes with Tippmann Cyclone feed system which really is a hell of a loader. Most folks with gripes about the Cyclone loader are those forum users with several thousand posts who wanted to make their Tippmann a speedball marker and inevitably failed at doing so. If the Cyclone isn't broken, so don't think you're the guy to improve upon it. The thing capably feeds 17bps fine out the box without any tampering so nit-pickers should just leave the thing alone, seriously, you don't even need squishy paddles. The Phenom has a nice select fire switch for jumping between mechanical and electric operation, the usual iron (plastic) sights found on bushball guns these days, a low profile hopper, and a pretty respectable stock barrel. Perhaps a personal favourite feature of the Phenom is the way the velocity is adjusted at the back. There is an open area on the rear right side of the marker which allows access to a dial for velocity adjustment, but no specific allen key is required. All one needs is any small, skinny object which they can put in there to rotate the dial up to lower velocity, or down to raise it.

And it folds away to fit in a backpack nicely!

       The X7 Phenom comes E-gripped to go full-auto out of the box unless you specifically are trying to buy the mechanical version. If the battery in the Phenom's grip dies, however, it can still shoot in semi automatic unlike most other auto-electric markers. Firing modes included on the board are 13bps auto, auto-response, 3 round burst, and 15bps turbo where you must continue pulling the trigger to stay at 15bps; this last mode is essentially a ramping mode.

       Internally, the gun is not like any Tippmann before it, with the exception perhaps of the TPX Pistol. The bolt and air nozzle of the Phenom are pretty much the same as the TPX, and users of Tiberius pistols and even Invert Mini's and BT TM series guns will be familiar with the way the marker operates. The “powertube” of the Phenom is a long black tube which runs the length of the marker, inside are all the things needed to regulate air pressure down to 400psi, adjust velocity, and effectively deliver air to the air nozzle and bolt to fire the marker. Some gas is also supplied from here to power the Cyclone Feed System. The Phenom doesn't have the same blow back system for recocking as your typical Tippmann marker would, and instead of a spring and hammer pushing the bolt forward to shoot, it's all done by air. Once the bolt has delivered the air and fired the ball, a spring in front of the bolt pushes it back to it's cocked state to be fired again. As a result, there are no outside levers to pull to cock the gun, nor are there additional springs and metal rods running the length of the marker's internals.

Image credit goes to "Merc" of A5OG

       Disassembly of the Phenom is a breeze too, which is a nice departure from having to break down one's entire Tippmann as was the case in the past. To clean and due routine maintenance on the Phenom, all one needs to do is pop out the two rear push pins where the stock would go, pop out the pin at the front of the trigger, and then remove one last plastic pin which runs through both the body of the marker as well as the powertube, keeping everything inside secure. Once this has been done, the internals will begin to slide out and user only needs to ensure the hose running from the Cyclone Feed to the marker is out of the way and guts will come out with ease for maintenance.

       So how about performance? As earlier mentioned, I've been using the marker for about three months or more and have had ample time to break it in. It's become my primary marker and I'm already dreaming up ways to build my next one since I love the thing that much. I had a few bad days at the field right away when I was using it though, so I didn't want to review the marker right away. The bad days were not due to the gun, but other life things which would probably have muddied my objectivity for a review which is one of the reasons I held off for so long. I've scored tonnes of kills with this marker, had lots of good days since the one or two personal rotten ones when I received it, and had lots of winning games, but I can't chock that up to the marker alone. A lot of that goes to personal experience from so much practice, as well as the skill of the team I'm on. The gun definitely feels great though, it's light, manoeuvrable, and super easy to keep tight to the body with or without a stock on it, and the fake magazine makes for an adequate foregrip all on it's own. The only thing I'd recommend getting is your preferred stock to complete the look of the gun and maybe a barrel kit. It's a rocking marker all around, but the review wouldn't be complete without a consistency test and target shoot, right?
       I'll get to that in just a second. It seems that right after posting this, some folks thought my review might be a little biased and that I needed to hunt high and low for some cons of the X7 Phenom to talk about. After many hours of chin scratching, I've found three, and they aren't super big complaints. First is the biggest: it seems that there are quite a few Phenoms which have come off the production line with some rough bits on the bolt, this issue has been identified by Tippmann, I'm sure they are looking in to it, until they do however, all you need to do is take your bolt and lightly sand off any rough nubbins you feel right where the air exits it to propel the ball out the barrel and you will be chop free. I had to sand my own, and I'll be sanding a friends the same way very shortly. Problem two: where the Cyclone Feed's hose enters the power tube. This part that plugs into the power tube is plastic, if you give your Phenom's back end too rough a tap to make the internals slide out, they might get to much momentum and sheer this bit off. This happened to mine, but Tippmann replaced the part very quickly and it was an easy fix to do on my own. Tech T's MRT bolt kit also comes with a metal fitting to go into the power tube instead of the plastic one which is stock on the Phenom. Last complaint which isn't a problem for me but might be to others: the profile of the Cyclone Feed and hopper. This marker uses a wide mouth loader and hopper and it's kind of a bulky thing to have hanging off the side of your marker. If you play at a field where gun hits count, the hopper on the Phenom will get tagged more than you do, landing you in the dead box. You can keep your head in behind your bunker, your arms and marker in tight to your body, but that Cyclone hopper is going to hang off the side no matter what . What you can do to overcome this is try shooting lefty, this will keep the hopper inside the bunker so only your guns fore-end is sticking out while shooting. This isn't an issue for me at Kamloops Paintball Games since gun hits don't count there, but I can attest that this markers hopper takes a lot of hits. Now onto the tests at the chronograph...

Did I mention that not one ball missed?

       I did this chrono test at a big, red, X-Radar chronograph after all those moths of play to break the marker in so bare with me on the numbers. Shooting off of the air delivery system mentioned above, with GI SPORTZ 4 Star paint and the stock barrel, I obtained these successive numbers: 282, 287, 298, 296, 298, 300, 302. It would seem that for the most part, the marker shoots within 2 fps of the previous shots with the exception of those two warm up balls. I also have another picture here of a target I fired at, and an additional shot taken at 50mm focal length (approximate human eye equivalent) so you can see how far off it was; only about 60 feet in this case, but good grouping for a stock barrel I think.

       That's the Tippmann X7 Phenom for you and I'm going to put it out there that this marker is the Eight Pound Ops Marker of Choice, up there with the Dye I4 as the preferred mask, and the Milsig Hydration vest as the preferred vest. I should probably get around to reviewing that vest soon.... anyhow, I hope you liked the read, and regulars will hopefully let me know how the first gun review on here went so I can tweak how future gun reviews go!