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Review of the Tippmann TPX Paintball Pistol
By: Raymond 'Tater' Hickey of TKO Paintball Warriors
First a little history about the writer.... Raymond 'Tater' Hickey is 21 years old and has been playing paintball for 5 years. He has been the 'General' at one large scenario paintball game in the past and is the founder and captain of the paintball team TKO (Tactical Knockout Ops), a competitive woodsball team from South Carolina. Now on to his spectacular, comprehensive review of the Tippmann TPX Pistol.....
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At the unboxing, the TPX (Tippmann Project X?) comes in a very nice plastic carrying case. When you open the case there sits your new baby, trust me when I say Angels will sing! It's beautiful! The TPX comes with Grease, o-rings, Allen keys, owner’s manual, blocking device and a squeegee. Right out of the box it feels great in your hand; light and not front heavy. The barrel, which is A-5 threaded comes out easy as does the quarter-turn CO2 12 gram cap.
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When I test fired this marker from one 12 gram CO2 cartridge, I got 27 good shots - that’s four magazines plus. I do not know the FPS (Feet Per Second) out of the box. The Weather was just after a 15 minute hard rain, 76 degrees and at 51% humidity in the wet woods. The TPX shot like gold at 30 feet away from a 4 inch wide tree, while slow walking I hit the tree two times ball on ball; I only fired twice. I also shot at a 12-inch wide = 2 brick pillar at the same distance; all 8 shots hit the pillar with deadly accuracy. With a fully loaded magazine (8 shots) and the 12 gram CO2 cartridge, the TPX pistol weighs less then two pounds.
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The Magazines are very easy to load; simply lock down the spring and load in .68 caliber paintballs. You’ll have to apply careful pressure to the paintballs to get it pass the ball catch, which holds them in the magazine while its not loaded into the paintball marker. The paintballs should sit in an offset manner. The last paintball, will be a little hard to push in but not too much more than the first seven.
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Airing up the TPX is very easy. Take the CO2 cap off the marker, place the 12 gram co2 in (SMALL END FIRST!) and replace the CO2 cap. You’ll need to give the cap a small amount of pushing, twisting pressure. Then just point and pull the trigger. Don't forget to make sure the safey is on when airing it up; also make sure you have a Paintball mask on and anyone near you has one to. Once you hear the marker air up, and you're ready to go.
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I also performed a few field tests on the TPX pistol to measure it's accuracy and speed in different conditions. To measure night speeds, testing was done at 7pm in an open field, 75 degrees with no wind. I used Procaps paintballs (2-3 months old - paintballs stored correctly will have a shelf life of about a year).
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Shooting at Night Speeds (250 FPS): I have one word, perfect! I averaged 250 to 244 in the first mag and 248 to 239 in the second. It dropped from there, but I was on the third magazine before this started to happen and it only dropped a bit. There was very little to almost no recoil; I shot 10 mags at this FPS from 30 feet away.... I was able to hit a 12" X 12" target every single time and the balls broke every time. At 65 feet it was less accurate but not by much at all, 10 mags as well and about every sixth shot was off. Considering this, I’d say if you're shooting at a person, if you don’t hit them your certainly going to make them jump.
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Shooting at Day speeds (280 FPS): This is where I feel the TPX could have worked better. When I tried to change the FPS, it was so sensitive that a light touch sent the FPS to 305. When it was this high I shot 8 times and all 8 where in the 305 range; I played with it a little more and got it to shoot 280 on the dot. From there I reloaded and the first shot was 279; then for the next 18 shots the fps lowered every time until the last shot was at 138. I tried it again and the same thing happened. Accuracy was the same the whole way through... beautiful!
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So considering these tests, I will be shooting at night speeds during the day and night. For some reason, it just had the more reliable FPS at night and honestly I won't engage someone more than 30-45 feet away with any paintball pistol period.
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…And now for the guts of the TPX…
To get to the insides of this pistol there are 7 screws that must be removed. Yes, it’s a 20 clam shell just like the Tippmann A-5. Once you get the screws out there’s a small latch at the bottom of the pistol where you put in the mag, simply push it apart and it will open right up for you….. you should be looking at all the pretty internals. From right to left is the barrel shroud, then the barrel adapter (what you screw the barrel into). Then the Air valve with firing valve attached…. this is: the Bolt, spring and regulator. Out of the regulator you’ll see a brass tube that runs to the Puncture Valve; to the right of the Puncture valve - this is where the 12 gram CO2 cartridge goes, to left the trigger. You’ll see a little white thing that’s what the trigger pushes to puncture the 12 gram. And that’s just about all the good stuff. JUST MAKE SURE THE PISTOL IS NOT AIRED UP WHEN YOU TAKE IT APART!!!
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Overall, the Tippmann TPX is a great marker, one of the best I have ever owned or shot! I give this Marker a 5 out 5 paintball splats! A must buy! Great for CQB! Now I must tell you this...
When my baby came in, she came broke; the whole air system was shot - it was like it wasn’t getting the air it needed to fire. I called Tippmann and they over-nighted me a new puncture valve thinking that would fix it, which it didn’t. I had to send my baby to Tippmann where she got everything she needed, and came back a few days after I sent it. Tippmann when out of their way to help me, and that shows the true heart of a company - that they care for their customers, and that why I will still buy from them.
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All in all, I love this Marker and I’m glad I got it! Its well priced for what it is, the TPX comes with two mag’s and everything you’ll need to work the marker and do it safely (it does not come with 12 gram CO2’s). You can buy this wonderful Marker at Choicepaintballguns.com at the price of $219 and all the extra gear you’ll need for it, as well as any other of your Tactical or Competition needs. Also check out the Tippmann TPX holster, silencer, hammerhead barrel and tactical vest package.
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Note: All prices in US Dollars
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