Chris Schneck

I had such high hopes for this marker. An electropnuematic milsim marker that can run on c02, is easy to maintain and looks fantastic. Out of the box this marker is nice and light and was very comfortable to hold. Its covered in rails to mount all the bi-pods, red dot sights and lasers you could ever want. All for under $180 Canadian, was this too good to be true?

Yes.

I admit its first use was on a cold December day, but this marker is supposed to be able to run at <= 180psi. Its not that it didn’t work at all, its just that it didn’t work enough to use to play. The marker would turn on and appear to be functioning, it just wouldn’t fire all the time which is pretty essential to play paintball. Someone else in our group who had also bought an SP1 on boxing day was having the same problem so I’m confident I didn’t get a lemon.

Aside from the disappointing winter performance of this marker it is impressive, in concept. Maintenance was too easy, 2 Phillips screws on the back remove a plate and another hex key removes a bolt and everything falls out the back for cleaning. The Smart Parts SP1 comes stock as a true semi auto electropnuematic but can take a black heart board as an upgrade later on. The clamping feedneck was nice and sturdy and held a full VL Revolution nicely. I cant comment on the regulator and how it performed, since it really didn’t, but it is there.

All in all if you like to play paintball year round, and are using strictly c02, im going to recommend you pass on this marker. I ended up trading in my Smart Parts SP1 straight across for a Tippmann Custom 98 w/a.c.t. go figure that id choose a marker that’s about a decade old over something that just came out.

A well constructed and functional offering from RAP4, although I’m not 100% impressed. Don’t take my opinion as fact, a lot of people wear RAP4 gear and seem to like it, I’m just not convinced this vest was specifically manufactured for a Tac 8 pistol like their site would have you believe. The same Tac 8 magazine pockets are sold with their vest designed for airsoft and MP5 clips, so the Tac 8 clips don’t exactly fit where they’re supposed to, although they are very secure. The holster for the Tac 8 is also not to ideal size, but it works. An additional clip can be stored on the holster side of the vest, but again I don’t think it was specifically designed for the Tac 8 and the clip falls into where it could go, far enough down that its irretrievable.

Overview of this tactical vest :

• pod placement on the RAP4 vest isnt ideal for crawling -1
• RAP4 vest doesn’t have an internal elastic waistband to help secure your load -1
• radio pocket is a tad too small -1
• RAP4 vest comes with 2! internal zippered pockets +1
• RAP4 constructs their vests from the a durable mesh +1
• top right utility pocket has a velcro’d 12gr c02 holder +1
• RAP4 vest is highly modular and affordable +1

This line of vests from RAP4 are highly customizable and even though you might buy one configuration, later on you can just buy alternative components individually and change the vest entirely. It really is a tough choice if youre choosing between Special Ops Paintball and RAP4. With Special Ops they make a different vest for every style of play but RAP4 makes one vest that you can customize depending on your mood. Special Ops Paintball gear is indeed high quality and has a price tag to go with it. RAP4 gear is very near the same level of quality but impressively more affordable.

Your choice in the end should come down to how well the vest fits you, and does it carry everything you need comfortably. RAP4 loses out slightly in this department, in my opinion. Having my pods and air source on my back and having an internal elastic waist band makes my Special Ops tactical vest feels far more secure then a RAP4 vest with a lighter load.

With vests though, seriously, try before you buy!

A high end revolutionary pistol that ended the spyder clone side arm era. By now there’s no reason you shouldn’t have heard of, or seen in person, the wonder that is a Tiberius Arms Tac 8 paintball pistol. They are as accurate as they are beautiful and using one as your primary marker is very much an option.

The Tiberius Arms T8 and its newer relative the T9 rifle are unique in that your paintballs and air source are both in the well constructed magazine. A 12gr c02 cartridge and 8 paintballs are held in the magazine and fed into the grip frame, replicating the functionality of a real firearm. With the push of a button the magazine in the grip frame falls out and a fresh magazine can be slapped in, making the reloading process near instantaneous. The Tiberius Arms T8 runs at, or less than, 300psi and I’ve found that I can get around 22 shots from a 12gr c02 cartridge before I notice a drop in velocity.

General cleaning and maintenance is pretty easy, but care should be taken when disassembling the marker as there are things that shouldnt be taken apart ( refer to your manual ). Since the nature of the magazine system is to be constantly inserting and removing a clip very near to the internal essentials of the marker, it has happened to me once that a piece of bark got inside and prevented my marker from re-cocking. So the lesson there is always check your magazine before cramming it back in

Chopping paint is a nightmare, paintball shell fragments and fill will really mess up the overall performance of your pistol. Worst case scenario is that your T8 will stop working completely and have to be taken apart and cleaned, yes that happened to me. Barrel breaks are bad, but not so bad that your day will be ruined. The barrel on both the T8 and T9 are easily removed with a push-twist-pull action, because of the larger bore of the T8 and T9 barrel breaks aren’t too common. The magazines seem gentle on paint and I’ve yet to have an issue, that I can prove, that was the fault of the magazine crushing paint.

The Tiberius Arms T8 gets an enthusiastic endorsement from me. If you’re in the marker for a sidearm or want a challenging new primary marker, you shouldn’t overlook this marker. If you want the best of both worlds, go for a T9 rifle, you wont be disappointed either way.