This month we are reviewing the Tippmann X-7 marker.  I had a chance to spend a day at the local field using an X-7 and let me tell you, this thing turns some heads.  I got a lot of compliments on the marker’s military looks (even in stock form).  One of the major selling points of this marker is it’s versatility, there are tons of accessories available to change the appearance of this marker.   You can make it look like anything from an M-16 to an AK-47!   The marker I used was new and in stock form, except for the addition of a forward grip, (see next month’s review).   I usually don’t like to make any changes to an item that I am trying out, but I found the weaver rails to be a bit uncomfortable to hold. 

 At first, I spent a good amount of time just checking out the box, as it shows pictures of the many ways it can be customized.   After I finished daydreaming I decided to check out the marker itself.  Out of the box, I thought that the marker seemed to be very well made, of high quality materials. The marker is partially held together by some really cool self-locking push pins, which makes it easy to field strip for cleaning.  The diagrams in the manual looked really intimidating at first, but the written instructions were very thorough and easy to understand.   The hardest part of assembly was getting the Styrofoam dust out of all the nooks and crannies.

 On the playing field, I was impressed with it’s performance on the whole.  When I went to chrono the marker for the first time, I found that it was already shooting in a safe range, so no adjusting was necessary.  I used a couple variations on the tank setup.  I was happiest using a remote line, but a 20 oz. tank mounted directly to the grip was surprisingly well balanced.  I was able to comfortably one-hand it with that setup.  I did find that the trigger had a tendency to stick at first, but that went away when I cleaned and oiled the trigger assembly.  I was happy with the performance overall.  There are a lot of diehard A-5 users out there, but that was the rental unit at the field I was playing and I hit them more than they hit me!   I look forward to upgrading this marker and writing about it in later installments.  Time will tell for sure but so far I think this one is a keeper.

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