The new Tippmann X7 Phenom, Tippmann’s first electro pneumatic paintball marker is being hailed as nothing short of phenomenal by some of the teams currently to have this hardware in their possession.
The Catshack Reports took a moment to look up some of these very well known teams to get their personal observations and reactions to the new product created by Tippmann. It is of course our intent to show the masses some insight into the product via testimonials from these very reputable people of paintball.
Welcome Lonnie “Grendel” Colson of The Hellions Paintball Team based out of CPX Sports in Joliet Illinois. This Elite Tactical Scenario Team loves to paintball and sent their thoughts on the new Phenom as follows
Innovations: The new “Flex Valve” is a very remarkable innovation. The blow forward, searless design is revolutionary in my book. Rather than adding a whole new set of features that exponentially increase the difficulty maintaining it, they simplified everything while improving it. The breakdown, which I will cover later, is the easiest I have seen of any marker. Even the velocity adjustment is player-friendly. They put a + and – sign above and below the adjustment wheel to remove any confusion. The hardest thing to get adjusted to was the lack of a cocking handle. It’s not needed anymore. The first few times I aired it up I flipped it back and forth searching for one out of habit. The benefits of a lower operating pressure cannot be emphasized enough. More shots per tank; more reliable action; more consistent velocity.
Recoil/Accuracy/Range: For anyone who has ever fired a
Tippmann A-5 or X7 or even been on the field in the vicinity of someone firing one, the first thing that they probably noticed was the noise it made. The X7 Phenom is completely different. It has more of a ‘punch-punch-punch’ sound when fired. I cannot emphasize the drastic difference in the X7 and the X7 Phenom. Accuracy is also improved from the reduced recoil and consistent lower operating pressure. At shorter distances on the firing range aiming at small targets it was like driving nails. It did not seem to have the hiccup paintballs that seem to affect the standard X7. The range was about average for a stock barrel.
Breakdown/Cleaning: The X7 Phenom is incredibly simple to break down. Gone are the days of needed a dozen Allen wrenches
and a little luck to get your marker apart and then back together. There are only 7 basic parts to the X7 Phenom: the receiver, E-Grip, Flex Valve, Cyclone, foregrip, butt plate and barrel. The receiver doesn’t even really need to be disassembled, which makes cleaning a breeze. Pop two push pins in the front and the foregrip slides off. Two more and the butt plate is gone. Only one more and the E-Grip comes free. After you have removed the E-Grip, there is a pull pin to free the Flex Valve. Once it slides back you can remove the Cyclone’s gas line on the other side of the receiver. Then the Flex Valve slides right out the back. You are done. Pretty much everything can be cleaned and maintained from that point. The receiver doesn’t really need to be disassembled except for repairs, etc. That entire paragraph of text only takes 2 or 3 minutes the first time. The second time is probably half that time.
Development: We had an opportunity to see the marker now being called the X7 Phenom evolve over the season. One day
Tippmann asked us to meet them at our home field of CPX Sports to test fire the marker, it was mid-winter in Chicago. They had several new features they were dying to show us, but an unforeseen problem emerged. The paint was too brittle to be shot through the cyclone. We seemed to break as much paint as we managed to shoot down range. We told them that most of us used after marker upgrades to the cyclone in order to operate in the cold Midwest. Paul Dagnino, CPX’s Marketing Director, found us some winter fill practice paint that was more cooperative. Months later, when they returned we noticed that they had done quite a bit of work on the Cyclone as well as a few other suggestions that we had made.
The last time that we met Tippmann’s reps at the field, they emphasized that the new Flex Valve was small enough to pare the marker down to almost a pistol frame. As the resident mil-sim team, they asked for our input on the final overall look. We felt that unless it was a radically new frame that resembled a different real world firearm, it should be compatible with most or all of the original X7 mods. We knew the vast numbers of X7 users out there would be excited to know that they would not be forced to purchase a whole new set of accessories. When the pre-production markers arrived, the team definitely felt some pride in seeing that all of our feedback had been incorporated into the as-then-unnamed X7 Phenom.
Team’s Gut Feeling: As die hard military-simulation/scenario players, we all own at least one Tippmann. Some of us have several including the X7, TPX pistol and the ever-reliable A-5. The X7 Phenom is completely different from anything that Tippmann has ever produced. The ease of sliding the bolt out the back without any need to further disassemble will appeal to veterans and rookies alike. The lower pressure operating system–improved air efficiency–and shift on the fly firing modes are features that grab the attention of first time Tippmann shoppers. The fact that the E-Grip will still work even when the battery goes dead is something that will sell it to everyone who has ever made the long walk back to the car at the worst possible moment.
Link to my personal review of the X7 Phenom in our team forum:
http://www.hellions.net/Warzone/showthread.php?p=15838#post15838
Welcome once again to The Catshack Reports, Team Tippmann of Scotland.
When asked about the Phenom, Mike had much to say
I have to say I am really impressed with this piece of kit, and yes I will be taking this over my current X7.
The important bits first
Out of the box it appears to be an X7 but you start to notice the differences straight away, there’s no cocking handle and the top line has cutaways, there is no airline and this runs through the grip instead.
The over all body length is shorter, the fore-grip is about half the size (guess they have seen the shortened fore-grip mods on the forums).
The mag is a short Ump style mag which doubles as the tool kit, the mag well is a fixed 9mm which is a bit of a change but both the well and the mag are robust.
The velocity adjustment set up has changed and it is a lot easier to fine tune the velocity on the new marker.
The standard barrel is longer at 9.5″ and is ported. It looks a lot better than the original stock barrel.
I put it through it’s paces at a couple of games and loved it.
I ran with this marker for the morning, other than adding the MP5 mods and a stock I left it as it was. Using the stock barrel and a 3000 fill I took the field carrying 5 x 140 pods and 4 x 50′s and a full hopper and when I left the field at lunch time the marker was on 0 psi but had fired up to this point quite well. I had fired about 900 balls. With my X7 I tend to get about 800 rounds.
There is no recoil and it was faster out of the box. The marker can fire mechanical and electro. This means that during the game if your battery dies simply flick the fire selector to mechanical and play on. This is a great addition. There are the usual fire modes in the electro settings to suit all styles of play, response, ramping etc
The maintenance could not be simpler. Simply remove the back-plate or stock, release the grip and the internals will slide out. There are very few moving parts and I would expect very little internal wear if any. There is no sear, the Flex valve is a great piece of kit, even the cyclone has been upgraded, it has direct air feed which means it will keep going until the marker is out of air”
Mike,
Team Tippmann Scotland
So there you have it, the new X7 Phenom while new has the backing of some very reputable paintball players all of whom know what they want and what they are looking for in a paintball marker. Check out the new X7 Phenom at your earliest opportunity, I know I am.
Photos courtesy of The Hellions
