Tippmann TPX - Review (Field Review Added)

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   Please also see Enos' thread in the Marker Gallery, of course.

(Crappy pictures are at the bottom)

Here is (more or less) what I wrote to Tippmann after holding the TPX for the first time:

Oh.My.God.

This is, without a doubt, the best-looking paintball pistol I have ever seen. Easily in the top handful best-looking paintball guns of any type.  The visual design is absolutely amazing.  This looks like something Arnold would use.  Little-boy fantasy come true.

The feel - absolutely amazing as well.  Haven't loaded it up yet, but empty it just feels right.  The grip is a little fat, as expected, but not uncomfortably so for an adult male, and the slight oversized design is consistent for the whole gun.

The magazine ejection and insertion:  awesome.  Built-in rail:  awesome.

CO2 quick-changer:  awesome.  Excellent solution to a difficult problem.

The only question-mark before trying it out is the magazine loading process.  Pulling the little tab down on the mag might be difficult with gloves on or in field conditions.  While reloading in the field will hopefully be minimized, it will obviously happen.  We shall see.

(To load the magazine, you first pull a little tab on the side of the mag all the way down, where it locks in place.  This tab is very small.)

But pre-shooting, I cannot rave enough.

And just in case there wasn't enough awesomeness already:  The holster - it is awesome.  Ambidextrous:  awesome.  Pouches for magazines and 12gs: awesome.  Drop-leg design:  awesome.  Again, haven't tried it in action yet, but the out-of-box reaction is that this is EXACTLY how it should have been.  I had planned on spending some time looking for good holsters - I no longer have to do so.  It is expandable to fit your undermounted laser.  It is adjustable for belt use, back use, and presumably whatever-else-you-can-think-of use.  It is just a really, really nice holster.  

Of course, both the gun and the mags are "standard" shape and size with several firearms, so you can easily use a variety of non-paintball gear with the TPX as well if you choose.

Big kudos to congratulate the Tippmann design team on bringing sexy back.  This is a winner.  Assuming decent performance, if this product does not sell well, it is proof that there is no real pistol market.  Having held this and many other paintball pistols, I can not imagine even considering any other pistol.

The thing even has a clever barrel plug.  A barrel sock won't do well with the pistol design, and most places don't allow traditional sitck-in barrel plugs.  This barrel plug fits loosely but has a sock-style elastic strap.  The strap fits over the gun, and also fits on the outside of the holster.  Another great innovation.  It also fits nicely in a 12g slot in the holster.  Awesome.

I then took the gun to the local proshop/range to shoot the gun.

When I brought the gun in, the guys there (jaded old-timers who have seen a thousand paintball guns) couldn't keep their eyes off it, and couldn't wait to have their go at shooting it.  This gun just BEGS for you to pick it up and play with it.

So, after showing off the gun/mag/holster, off to shoot it.

Loading is fun.  Definitely gives me the "I am at the pistol-range popping shells in my 9mm" feel.  Easy and quick.  Be careful, though - you can jam nine balls in there if you try, which presumably would lead to bad things.

I want more mags, just because I like popping them in and out.

Shooting the TPX is fun and disappointing at the same time.  Fun because the gun is just so awesome.  Disappointing because I emotionally want it to sound and kick like a Desert Eagle, which it does not - just the same old lame paintball "pop" - but I guess you can't have everything.  Thinking of mounting my Intimidator to the end of it.

Eight rounds goes VERY fast - keep those mags handy.

With a new CO2, the first trigger pull does not shoot a ball, it just punctures the CO2 - remember this when the baddies are coming down on you.

Had a bit of air leaking out the velocity screw in the back sometimes after a new CO2, but that sealed up after a couple of shots.  Got about 18 good shots from a 12g - I would change the CO2 after the second mag.  That means that if you go in with only 1 spare mag, you don't even have to bring a spare 12g.  I also expect to see a 16-18 round aftermarket mag by Christmas.

Opening the quick-change chamber to change a not-depleted CO2 was a little hard (or I am just weak), so I just shot out some blanks before changing.

Accuracy is hard to say, since aiming a pistol one-handed is hard to do.  I could have shot it two-handed, I guess, but it way too much fun to wave the thing around while quoting movie lines.  Bonus - you can shoot it gangsta-style.  Awesome.  Now I need some of those special gangsta sights.

We all took turns shooting the gun, giggling like little girls the whole time.

Chronoing was a different matter.  It was all over the place.  Randomly ranged from 290 to 240.  Shooting fast or slow did not seem to affect the velocity.  But frankly, since my aiming is atrocious anyway, I don't plan on shooting anybody further away than 20 feet with this thing.  Better work on my fieldcraft.

For the heck of it, I unscrewed the stock barrel and put in a stock A-5 barrel.  Sticks out about two inches, and actually looks kind of cool.  Thanks to the awesome open-bottom holster, it fits just as well with the longer barrel.

A drawback:  Aftermarket barrels with fat rear ends won't fit into the TPX without some modding.  We tried to stick a 16" AA in the thing, and no dice.  And since most barrels these days have fancy designs, it could be hard to find a nice barrel to fit.

Anyway - bottom line is that I/we put about 100 rounds through it.  No breaks, no problems, perfect behavior right out of the box.  Awesomeness factor at an all-time high.  I can't wait to play.  I will be pistol-only, and show those young punks that eight rounds is all you need.

Awesome.

Now for some crappy pics:

TPX:

TPX w/A-5 barrel:

Various shots of TPX in holster: