Paintball Ideas / News From Tippmann - TPX First Strike Conversion Kit

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TPX First Strike Conversion Kit

Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: Tippmann Paintball
Forum Name: Paintball Ideas / News From Tippmann
Forum Description: Got a new idea or a way to improve something?
URL: http://www.tippmannsports.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=182216
Printed Date: 19 May 2024 at 1:21am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: TPX First Strike Conversion Kit

Posted By: rbensey0077
Subject: TPX First Strike Conversion Kit
Date Posted: 27 June 2009 at 5:54pm

Everbody knows the Tippmann TPX pistol. But Tiberius Arms mad a paintbullet called the First Strike. To shoot these, it has to be muzzle loaded, but i think they should make a connversion kit for the TPX. Leave your comments.

Replies:

Posted By: NickVanDick
Date Posted: 27 June 2009 at 8:07pm

Not a bad idea i guess. but those First Strike's are expensive. And from what i have heard is the TPX shoot really accurately as it is.

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Posted By: new jersey
Date Posted: 29 June 2009 at 1:29am

Probably some form of copright infringement will prevent it, as well as some design complications

Posted By: brock
Date Posted: 05 July 2009 at 8:25am

ugh im just waiting for upgrades. I FINALLY got a pistol and wanna mod it up,.. but,... no shrouds,.. no stocks,. no rails ...

frustrated incorporated....

Posted By: p shooter
Date Posted: 05 July 2009 at 11:22pm

1st strike has an extra 200ft of range so its more than just accuracy,,,,, a conversion kit would be cool

Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 1:24am

200 feet? you realize what you're saying right?

There are so many physics limitations on those first strike rounds.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 11:49am

The Guy wrote:

There are so many physics limitations on those first strike rounds.

Not to mention practical limitations. There's enough 'wrong' with the idea of them that I won't look into using them any time soon. They're great for people who get all pants happy over something like a 'real bullet' but they're just so completely impractical right now.

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Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 12:01pm

Reb Cpl wrote:

The Guy wrote:

There are so many physics limitations on those first strike rounds.

Kinda curious about the physics limitations mentioned. I watched the vid by Tiberius and honestly was pretty impressed. As for practicality, for rec play, they may not have a lot of use, but for scenario play, I can see a fair amount of uses for them. Unfortunately, I probably won't be purchasing any anytime soon unless just to do some bench testing. But at approx. .75/round, they won't be getting rich off of me.

Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 6:31pm

I'm referring to the drag, and added weight of the first strike part. What do you have to chrono these at for them to be safe against a mask? Since they have added weight from the back part.

Not to mention the drag associated with the fins. I have a Tiberius, and I also don't see how these can actually be loaded into the mags.

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Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 6:46pm

From my understanding, they are very near the same weight as a standard paintball. I think you need a conversion for teh Tib. I know they released or are releasing very soon a T4 which is first strike ready.

I will say that in the vid that I saw there was no FPS statement. I did see another one, but can't seem to find the link where a guy was putting them in what I believe was a pump Cocker. He was chronoing them at 280-290 if I remember correctly.

Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 7:28pm

did he get an extra 200 feet out of them?

I really want to buy a tube, just to compare to regular paintball.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 7:34pm

I found the other video. It was TechPB. I can't link the video because he says a naughty word.. Also has a video about whether they hurt or not.

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 06 July 2009 at 11:41pm

Reb Cpl wrote:

The Guy wrote:

There are so many physics limitations on those first strike rounds.

I do not get "pants happy" over the idea of something like a "real bullet" for paintball. (I get "pants happy" over pretty much all new paintball gadgets in general.)

I swapped my T8 for a stripped down version of the T9 kit (basic rifle w/o the lights, lasers, bipods, etc that comes with it as these had been sold off of it separately) that was at my local paintball store. I added an X7 G36 sight rail (which looks quite nice on it despite the cut out for the hopper) and stuck a red dot I had setting around on it. I am waiting for the conversion kit to come in.

I made this decision based on the advice of some friends who got to test one at a recent big game and made an immediate purchase. In their hands-on testing the First Strike rounds fired at 250 fps were equaling the range/accuracy of a standard marker/barrel fired at 280 fps. They stated that they allowed engagement of man-sized targets at farther ranges than normal barrels with more accuracy than backspin barrels. I trust these guys so I was intrigued enough to give it a try.

Once I get it all together and mess with it a bit I will post the results. I don't think I would want to use such a set up as my primary marker because it would take some of the fun/excitement out of the game for me if they turn out to work exactly as promised. However, they would be good for the days when my back or knee interfered with my ability to be as tactical as I would like.

The Guy wrote:

Not to mention the drag associated with the fins. I have a Tiberius, and I also don't see how these can actually be loaded into the mags.

My understanding is that the conversion kit comes with a different magazine just for these rounds and a new bolt as well (in addition to the different barrel).

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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 07 July 2009 at 2:07am

maybe i'll look into it for my T9, Right after I give it an urban camo ano job.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 07 July 2009 at 11:15am

Mack wrote:

The Guy wrote:

Not to mention the drag associated with the fins. I have a Tiberius, and I also don't see how these can actually be loaded into the mags.

My understanding is that the conversion kit comes with a different magazine just for these rounds and a new bolt as well (in addition to the different barrel).

http://www.rockstartactical.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=4585 - http://www.rockstartactical.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=4585

Looks like as Mack said, barrel, bolt and mag. Need to forward to my brother to see if he gets happy pants.

Posted By: TinMan
Date Posted: 11 July 2009 at 2:42pm

I assume the TPX hammerhead barrel would work, wouldn't it?

So a different mag and breach should do it. Though I wouldn't

spend the money on it.

I tried my Apex on the TPX. You could shoot it all day as your primary

and have a fair bit of fun. Total cost, a J&J barrel to cut and machine.

Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 24 August 2009 at 2:44pm

OOOOO, I am Necroposting. lol. But for good reason:::

Mack, did you ever get the kit and install it? What were your results?

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 24 August 2009 at 4:51pm

Hasn't come in yet. Asking about it will be top of my list when I visit the store later this week.

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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 10 October 2009 at 10:13pm

still nothing eh?

A team i play with is sponsored by Tiberius, and they are also all certified techs now. We talked a lot about them a lot at the Tippmann Challenge. I am all for them except for the price.

The rounds are poly-styrene instead of gelatin, ans only the front half is filled with paint. If you hit netting or something with them, you can actually pick them up and re-use them. A sharp impact will break them as usual, but they dont' deform from moisture. They break down by sun exposure, rather than water.

I would probly go all the way and convert my Tiberius 9 over to First strike, if they were't $1.25 per round. Thats almost $4 just to chrono. If they bring the price down, I could see more people switching over to them, but not like this.

As far as getting back on topic. A pistol firing these would be impractical because of the rainge associated with a pistol. With the range of a first strike, it works best in a suppported or braced (steadied) position. Such as being prone, or using a bi-pod. Unless you can fire a pistol that accuratly, using these round in a pistol would be wasted. Unless you put a stock on it.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 10 October 2009 at 10:44pm

Still nothing, I was in the shop Thursday and he's giving them a holler on the order for me. You make a good point about them not deforming. A friend of mine with a Tib-9 was using these at the last D-day. The (standard) paint in his longbow magazine turned into a gooey mess but the First Strike rounds remained viable.

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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 10:08pm

he had first strikes in a longbow mag?

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 11:12pm

He was running regular rounds in the longbow mag and First Strikes in the regular mag and alternating usage as needed by rotating the T9 barrel to select ammo.

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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 5:56pm

thats cool. I thought about that idea later, but I would think the chrono speed would be off.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 8:31pm

I've been kicking the same idea around except I would run a Q-Loader for the normal rounds. I made a tacky little bracket a while back that attaches it to picatinny/weaver rails. (This is of course assuming that I can find the bracket.)

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Posted By: evil_fingers
Date Posted: 01 December 2009 at 10:01pm

People are forgetting one thing about the FSRs, theyre not Cheap to Buy.

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Do not steal....the government hates competition!

Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 2:14am

that point isn't lost. I guess you didn't bother to read any responses.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: evil_fingers
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 5:14am

The Guy wrote:

that point isn't lost. I guess you didn't bother to read any responses.

Just puttin in my 2 cents.

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Do not steal....the government hates competition!

Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 02 December 2009 at 2:58pm

Yeah, its the biggest complaint that the company gets. But then what company DOESN'T get cost complaints.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: SSGCarmichael
Date Posted: 21 January 2010 at 9:08am

I agree a conversion kit would be outstanding. I saw the rounds in action on good old "youtube" I was impressed. With the T4 at 290+ they hitting targets at 300 ft outdoors.

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Headshots r funny, watch me laugh

Posted By: sonu panwar
Date Posted: 26 February 2010 at 1:27am

I owned a Tac8, and sold it when I first got to handle the TPX. As far as lightweight, and ergonomics go, the TPX wins, except for one thing- the mags suck. They're inexpensive, yes, but in any kind of humidity or moisture they crush the hell out of anything short of winter paint in just a few minutes and jam. The T8 is susceptible to this as well but at least with the straight mags the balls might deform but not jam. You might get a couple of breaks but at least you can easily dump the mag out, swab it, reload it and be good to go. The TPX mags you'd have to pick the balls out with a pair of pliers because they'd glue themselves to each other and to the walls of the mag.

Case in point- I was at West Point for the Fall game. It was kind of dew-y in the morning, I loaded 10 mags, all with the springs locked down the way they should be. I made it from camp, to the insertion, chrono'd in, everything was fine. About a half hour later by the time I actually reached OpFor and needed it, every single mag was jammed solid, even with "no" (I quote that because even with the springs locked down the mag followers still exert a bit of pressure on the balls, even though they shouldn't) spring pressure on them. That was my breaking point.

If you live in the desert, or somewhere with very low humidity during the playing season, TPX is a great pistol. For me, its not versatile enough to function in my particular climate.

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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 26 February 2010 at 1:30am

I've never had a problem with the paint deforming in my T8 mags. I even accidentally left paint in them for a couple months, and the balls just came out dented bad. Not mushed or stuck together at all.

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http://www.anomationanodizing.com - My Site

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 26 February 2010 at 10:48am

I lost a Tac 8 mag on the field last summer and found it when I came back two weeks later. There had been two rains in the meantime and the balls were not deformed. (They were stuck together like 8 beads on a stick, but they weren't deformed. It was very odd.)

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Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 19 April 2010 at 12:16pm

Updated: Because for the time being I am abandoning my Q-Loader/First Strike capable T9 plans.

The Facts:

The First Strike rounds are impressive. (Got to see a demonstration.)

Simplest explanation would be Flatline range with normal after-market barrel accuracy.
Unless there is wind, the low velocity still makes them very susceptible to wind.

I put this idea on hold because I wasn't happy with the way the Q-Loader was feeding. (Which makes me very happy that the First Strike System never came in.)

Granted, it is an older Q-Loader I got for free from my local paintball store. (Owner had picked it up in a trade and used it as a loaner to demonstrate the capabilities. People kept bringing it back messed up and he got tired of cleaning it. Since he knew that I like gadgets, I ended up with it.)
I think the Q-Loader would probably have worked better with the new detent system on the T9.1s but I am not willing to spend the money to find out..

For now, the T9 is on consignment at the local paintball place. If it doesn't sell, I may revisit this project but for now I am currently messing with other stuff.

Yes, I know this thread was dead awhile and I essentially double posted, but it seemed a good place to revisit issues discussed earlier in the thread. If you don't like it feel free to send rude PMs to fe or jmac.

Edited for accuracy.

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Posted By: The Guy
Date Posted: 19 April 2010 at 12:50pm

Mack wrote:

I lost a Tac 8 mag on the field last summer and found it when I came back two weeks later. There had been two rains in the meantime and the balls were not deformed. (They were stuck together like 8 beads on a stick, but they weren't deformed. It was very odd.)

Was the magazine spring still in the catch?

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Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 19 April 2010 at 1:14pm

^^^Yes, but given the rain I would still have expected swelling/deformation.

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Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 09 May 2011 at 10:55am

Updated: Because although this is a necro-post, most of the background information for what I'm posting is in this thread.

The T9 project became viable again when I found a too-good-to-pass-up deal on a T9 First Strike conversion kit. I've been messing with this for about eight months and here's what's happened so far:

Constant air

Used the remote adapter that goes in the magazine
Mounted a part similar to http://palmer-pursuit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=40&products_id=964 - this on the bottom rail in front of the trigger with a scope ring
Ran hose from this part to the bottom of the mag
Use it as an ASA for a 13 cu. in. air tank

Feed system

1st strike rounds feed fine out of proper magazine
Regular rounds feed well from Q-Loader through jury-rigged attachment
Also tested T9 hopper adapter with 45 round loader

Experienced chopping--decided to only use this setup for testing

Observations/conclusions (opinions based on observation only--no truly "scientific" testing)

The feed/firing system is such that if you want to switch ammo types by twisting the barrel you will have one round of the no longer wanted type in the chamber that must be fired before desired ammo is available--this is annoying but understandable
Experienced velocity deviations in the vicinity of 40 fps when using mixed paint (different brands) with the First Strike bolt in place

The risk to others associated with this led to the decision to run only a single type of ammo if I continue this project--the marker will be limited to First Strike rounds only

With this in mind, a second First Strike capable magazine was purchased

Switching magazines negates the ability to run constant air with the current set up

Am trying to find a fitting that will replace the overpressure valve and allow me to run constant air through this location

This is an odd size (probably to specifically prevent what I am trying to do) and will require an adapter that fits this location and allows attachment of 1/8" NPT threaded hose
This will also require additional parts/modifications

Regulator will probably have to be modified to prevent air escape through magazine well when magazine is removed--am hoping I can seal it internally
An external in-line regulator (several in the parts box) will be required for velocity adjustment as air feed would bypass the regulator

If this works, not even an empty 12 gram will be required in the magazines and some parts could be removed to reduce weight
For now, I will just run it off 12 grams

First strike performance

Range and accuracy is definitely superior to standard projectiles from standard barrels
Flatlines/Apex still seem to have range advantage on level shots but the accuracy advantage goes to the First Strike system
As a low velocity projectile, they are still affected by crosswinds although I believe somewhat less than standard projectiles from any barrel (it has always been my experience that balls from backspin barrels really have issues with crosswinds)

I would limit my use of this, when completed, to calmer days

I haven't decided yet if this system makes "sniping" and "snipers" really possible in paintball yet. While it does allow effective engagement from a longer range compared to normal markers, that range is still not sufficient (in my opinion) to prevent detection followed by deployment and engagement from the hostile force. I have always advocated backspin barrels as adding another tool to one's paintball repertoire by filling a suppressive fire role and I do think the First Strike system fills another niche. It seems like it would be perfect in the designated marksmen role for staying just behind the main line of engagement and engaging targets that are creating difficulties for one's team members. At least, that is how I plan to initially use the system at the field I play at.

Edited: For correction/additional info

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Posted By: Arson24
Date Posted: 09 May 2011 at 4:56pm

ok my buddie is not gonna to run with first strike rounds but i did find this
and he is qloading the tpx

but this might help with the qload t9

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MY TIPPMANN COLLECTION

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 09 May 2011 at 5:09pm

Can't Q-Load it through the handle because the First Strike rounds only work in the magazines.

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Posted By: CHiKUN_PiMP
Date Posted: 05 October 2011 at 8:31pm

ATTENTION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEUqUC2o8ok&feature=player_embedded - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEUqUC2o8ok&feature=player_embedded

That is all

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Ignorance is bliss, why aint you smilin?

Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 08 October 2011 at 12:52pm

nice

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Posted By: Lightningbolt
Date Posted: 08 October 2011 at 1:51pm

This is a great thread. Thanks for the first-hand review and test notes.

Posted By: CHiKUN_PiMP
Date Posted: 08 October 2011 at 11:41pm

Oh, I'm sorry. That wasn't me but something I took off the first page of Mcarterbrown.com.
Just thought it was relevant and should've given credit where it was due.

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Ignorance is bliss, why aint you smilin?

Posted By: UCAP
Date Posted: 26 October 2011 at 1:00am

I got a gunhead first strike adapter in my TPX. It replaces the block that you thread your barrel into.
After I cut out the clips to feed first strikes, I was bustin caps. But you will need a barrel with a large bore cause the first strikes are kinda big. For that I use the .688 (red) insert in my python compression kit. When I first got the new block, somehow a first strike got stuck in my stock barrel (it was a really really tight fit). It helps put a stronger spring in the mag too, its like the first strikes are heavier or drag in the clip a bit. The ability to use first strikes is awesome cause now I can keep up with my buddies with tiberious arms T8 and T9 pistols.
I knew something had to be done the day a single first strike hit me in the top of the head ( I thought I was completely out of range) and knocked out my contact lens. I couldn't figure out why the left side of my mask lens was so blurry until after the game. My contact was stuck to the inside of my mask.

Posted By: ballstothewallPB
Date Posted: 01 January 2012 at 2:08am

I run a paintball proshop and 2 indoor fields in MA. We have a customer that is a woodsballer, but comes in every Sunday for his HPA and paint. He brought in his TPX, modified to take First Strike rounds, yesterday.

This guy is is pretty talented, and built me real wood grips for my Beretta 92FS firearm, he is a pretty solid craftsman.

Anyway, it worked beautifully, and I shot 2 mags outside the shop to test them. They shot about twice as far as regular balls and were quite impressive.

No loading issues, if any of you are using the 8 round TPX mags, lose 'em. I've sent more back to TIppmann than I care to count, they replaced them with 7 round mags that have no issues. He modified the magazine, and I believe nothing in the breach, to accommodate the rounds.

For what it's worth, it can be done, and with a little ingenuity and care.